Bob Park’s What’s New: October 10, 2025
No, Bob Park — the physicist who wrote the What’s New newsletter for years — did not write this. Instead, I am imagining what Park would have said were he alive today. The opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Bob Park (but they should be).
What’s New, by Bob Park
Friday, October 10, 2025
1. RFK JR FIRES MORE NIH LEADERS
Last week, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health — was fired from her position by Health and Human Services director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Three other institute directors who were also recently fired are Eliseo Pérez-Stable (National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities), Diana Bianchi (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) and Shannon Zenk (National Institute of Nursing Research). In a statement, Marrazzo wrote “my termination, unfortunately, shows that the leaders of HHS and the National Institutes of Health do not share my commitment to scientific integrity and public health… Congress must act to protect scientific research from those who would serve political interests first.” The key words are “Congress must act.” The federal effort in science, and in biomedical science in particular, is being gutted. Qualified experts are being fired and replaced by political appointees. The only option is if Congress acts to stop this antiscience administration.
2. FORMER SURGEONS GENERAL SPEAK OUT
On Tuesday, six former US Surgeons General — Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello, and David Stacher — published an opinion piece in the Washington Post. The Surgeon General is the leading spokesperson on public health in the federal government. They wrote “over recent months, we have watched with increasing alarm as the foundations of our nation’s public health system have been undermined… Repairing this damage requires a leader who respects scientific integrity and transparency, listens to experts and can restore trust to the federal health apparatus… Instead, Kennedy has become a driving force behind this crisis.” Adams was Surgeon General during President Trump’s first administration. In a recent interview, Adams was asked where people should go for their health information. He said “Continue to talk to and trust the person who you would trust to take care of any other issue that you or your children have — your primary care physician, your pediatrician. Go to them, ask them what they think, what their societies are recommending. Don’t go to social media, and unfortunately, and it pains me to say this, you can no longer go to the federal government, to the Department of Health and Human Services, to the CDC, or the FDA, because the information that they are putting out is much more ideological than it is based in science.” Again, who said this? Trump’s own choice for Surgeon General during his first term.
3. ARE WE AT PEAK DIRTY ELECTRICITY?
According to the environmental activist Bill McKibben, the world has reached a milestone: Global “solar and wind grew so fast that they covered all the growth in demand for electricity so far this year, with room to spare.” This means that when it comes to electricity generation from fossil fuels, we may have reached peak dirty. It’s too early to say if this represents a fundamental turning point rather than a statistical fluctuation or a local maximum, electricity is not the sole contributor to climate change, and we have to reduce emissions and not just flatten them out, but let’s celebrate this sign of hope anyway. McKibben adds “China is now exporting more clean energy than the U.S. is exporting dirty energy.” China may have its faults, but let’s give credit where credit is due: At least the Chinese government has not embraced antiscience and climate change denial. Go, China, go!
4. SCIENCE UNDER SIEGE
I’m currently reading the new book by Michael Mann and Peter Hotez, titled Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten our World. I’m only about half way through, and I’ll give you a full report later this month. But as a teaser, let me quote from Chapter 1: “It is currently impossible for global leaders to take the urgent actions necessary to respond to the climate crisis and pandemic threats because they are thwarted by a common enemy — antiscience — that is politically and ideologically motivated opposition to any science that threatens powerful special interests and their political agendas.” Guess what? Mann and Hotez take the gloves off in Science Under Siege. I love it.