......After she became the 5th African-American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics in the US, she became the first African-American member of the faculty of Baylor College. There's a bronze bust of her at the Department of Mathematics.
3/3
https://phillys7thward.org/2025/02/vivienne-malone-mayes-black-educator-hall-of-fame/
... So she studied at the University of Texas. It had been desegregated by Federal order. She was rejected by her classmates, who had their off-campus meetings at a coffee shop that did not allow entry to African Americans. Vivienne said, ""My mathematical isolation was complete... It took a faith in scholarship almost beyond measure to endure the stress of earning a Ph.D. degree as a Black, female graduate student...."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivienne_Malone-Mayes
2/3
This is the awesome Vivienne Malone-Mayes (1932-1995), when she graduated from high school in Texas in 1948. She became an outstanding mathematician, but was refused admission to postgraduate study to Baylor College in because of her race in 1961. You can see the rejection letter in this story about her: https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/malone-mayes-vivienne-lucille
...1/3
Saving Knowledge
It turns out, what I "knew" about the Library of Alexandria was junk history, springing from the intersection of ancient and urban myths. I didn't realize that till recently. The library wasn't a collection in a single giant building, and it never held all the knowledge of ancient Egypt and Greece, though it was immense. It wasn't at its peak one day, and destroyed by fire the next, collateral damage in war.
https://hildabastian.wordpress.com/2026/10/21/saving-knowledge/
We Still Owe Clinical Trial Participants More
Back in 2000, when I was Chairperson of the Consumers' Health Forum of Australia, I chaired the development of a joint National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Forum national statement on consumer and community participation in research. This month I saw that it has recently been revised—the second revision since "our" version was published in 2002. Over 1,100 people attended consultation workshops for this…
https://hildabastian.wordpress.com/2026/09/09/we-still-owe-clinical-trial-participants-more/
Introducing the NextGen Covid Vax Tracker!
https://vaxtracker.wordpress.com/2026/07/29/introducing-the-nextgen-covid-vax-tracker/
A monthly update on vaccine progress, featured vaccines, analyses, plus lots of background info.
A big month for next generation Covid vaccine trials!
— Details of an exciting trial in Tanzania of an intranasal vax for low-resource communities—results may come soon;
— Results from a trial of a pancoronavirus vax, with a 2nd trial for another underway in Europe;
—A pancoronavirus vax trial in Australia expands to Sydney;
— Overview of the Covid human challenge studies, as one reaches a milestone
This & more in my latest vax update @PLOS
It was a slow month for next generation Covid vaccine results reporting, but a big month for clinical trial news:
- A new clinical trial for intranasal and inhaled versions of a vax is on the starting blocks in the US;
- Another intranasal vax trial has expanded to another 2 cities in the US; and
- A trial for a "variant-proof" vax going into phase 2a trial in Germany.
Plus some preclinical reports & more in my latest monthly update @PLOS
In February 2021, a town in Brazil showed up for a groundbreaking whole-of-town randomized Covid vaccine trial, providing evidence of population effects of mass vaccination in a pandemic.
My latest @PLOS post digs into this exciting precedent, and why it matters so much:
https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2026/03/28/a-unique-pandemic-control-trial/
Another vaccine approval and more in my latest next generation Covid vax update:
- Self-amplifying mRNA vax Kostaive approved in the UK
- New trial for a mucosal vax on the starting blocks in Finland
- Some results from AstraZeneca phase 1 trial for mRNA vax
- 11 preclinical reports, including 2 for mucosal pancoronavirus vaccines
A major milestone for next generation Covid vax: The first clinical trial for a pancoronavirus formulation of an existing vaccine was registered.
There are more clinical trial results for a vax for people with immunocompromise, & news on mucosal vax trials. Plus 12 preclinical reports.
In my monthly update @PLOS
My latest update on nextgen Covid vaccines is a whopper, in part thanks to catching up with a new vax tracker:
- Clinical trial results for 2 vaxes
- 3 new clinical trials, incl a phase 2 intranasal vax trial in the US – and a pancoronavirus version of a vaccine that's already been rolled out
- 26 preclinical reports, with more showing prevention of transmission &/or durability
- a shelf-stable mucosal vax
Now @PLOS https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/11/06/a-bumper-update-on-next-generation-covid-vaccines-no-34/
Have you been noticing the flurries of new or returning people leaving Bluesky due to recent controversies?
It got me thinking about how a real Bluesky exodus would play out, and digging into the studies of the 2022 Mastodon migration from Twitter. I found 14 studies. TLDR; a Bluesky flight would be different.
Here's my new post @PLOS :
https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/10/30/a-mastodon-migration-from-bluesky-would-be-different/
Want to be able to start micro-editing on Wikipedia in a few minutes – and know why you could be very glad you did? Then my new post @PLOS is just what you need!
The Onion: "Fearful Americans Stockpiling Facts Before Federal Government Comes To Take Them Away".
https://theonion.com/fearful-americans-stockpiling-facts-before-federal-gove-1819579589/
Fiona Godlee, former Editor in Chief of the BMJ, is one of the protesters arrested in London. ✊ She was holding a sign reading: "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
My next generation Covid vaccine update this month includes a surprise new phase 1 trial funded by US Project NextGen, & some trial results.
Plus 10 new preclinical reports, mostly for mucosal vaccines.
Now out @PLOS : https://absolutelymaybe.plos.org/2025/08/31/more-new-covid-vaccine-candidates-trials-and-preclinical-studies-nextgen-update-32/
...Also, bookmark lolz. An oldie from a spy museum bookshop.
Finally catching up on reading this classic – and from Theodore Porter, it is as good as expected. With a new foreword for this edition...
My rapid response at BMJ is online now. I joined the chorus of protest about an opinion piece claiming people with severe ME/CFS can recover by "reframing their beliefs" &c. People with ME/CFS deserve so much better than that: