Hello friends,
You might notice that this issue of the newsletter is early. I am headed into several weeks of travel and in-person meetings, so this is the first of several abbreviated or off-schedule updates. Wish me luck!

This was Year 2, Week 19

What's happening in science & higher ed

• Canvas went down today following a hack, making course assignments, exams, and instructor communication unavailable right at the end of the academic year. I know some schools have already postponed exams through the weekend: my heart is with everyone trying to get through finals and grading. Roughly half of all American universities and colleges use Canvas as their central learning management system,¹ and by my quick search, all but one of the 25 largest schools use it.² The hack was first reported earlier this month, and is part of an ongoing attempt to extort organizations, using stolen data as leverage.³ Earlier today, the hackers escalated the situation by injecting a ransom notice into student login screens, prompting parent company Instructure to move the system into maintenance mode. The system is tentatively back up as I write this, but hackers are threatening to publish stolen data if they aren’t paid off before May 12.

• While we’re thinking about ed tech and how universities are managing sensitive data and tech infrastructure, it’s worth spending a moment to note that a widely-circulated meta-analysis of the educational benefits of ChatGPT was retracted this week, due to discrepancies in the analysis.

• Ongoing changes to visa programs are impeding the work of international researchers and clinicians. A massive backlog in the HHS Exchange Visitor Program may force hundreds of doctors to leave the country after their training is complete. Under this J-1 visa waiver program, newly-trained doctors can stay in the country in exchange for committing to work in locations with provider shortages. If these clinicians are unable to update their visa status, understaffed clinics and hospitals don’t seem likely to have the new $100,000 H-1B visa fee it would require to bring them back.

• I do have good news to close this update out though! A major court decision came through today, finding that when DOGE canceled $100 million in National Endowment for the Humanities grants, the action was "unlawful, unconstitutional, ultra vires⁴, and without legal effect.” You might remember some of the coverage around this particular set of decisions, a particularly egregious instance using ChatGPT to kill politically-disfavored projects. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon has ordered the administration to rescind the 1,400 termination letters it sent. She permanently enjoins it from terminating the same grants on the same or similar grounds in the future and cites “irreparable injury” suffered by the plaintiffs, who continue to push for the reinstatement of those funds. Thanks to the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the Authors Guild for taking on the effort, cost, and risk to make this happen.

• And finally, a bit of interesting news about measles. Immunocompromised people and babies too young to be vaccinated might have better treatment options in the future, should they contract the disease, thanks to new research out of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. These are still preclinical findings in cotton rats, but monoclonal antibody therapy might be important. The paper was published in Cell Host & Microbe.

That’s it from me tonight. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Liz

As ever, thanks for reading & thinking with me. Meeting the Moment will always be free, but if you want to contribute, you can ⤵️

If this email was forwarded to you, hi! 👋 I write briefings on the week’s news for those of us who care about science and higher education. If you like what you see ⤵️