concentration camps.

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

Research into how a father’s choices — such as diet, exercise, stress, nicotine use — in the weeks and months before conception may transfer traits to his children has become impossible to ignore. Ending a year of Quanta biology with a bang: www.quantamagazine.org/how-dads-fit...

This year, Quanta’s biology stories ranged widely, from ancient life’s relationship with plate tectonics, to the neurons that feel geological rumblings. 🧵

In a recent study, the fitness of a father mouse at the time of conception was found to have metabolic and mitochondrial benefits for his offspring. Similar signatures were found in the sperm of well-exercised human men. @ivanamato.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/how-dads-fit...

This, too, is outrageous -- firing an immigration judge because he granted asylum to six people. Trump's folks have made clear they want "deportation judges." Just rejecting any semblance of due process. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Santa says Starbucks gift cards are a NO, NO, NO! Baristas are striking because Starbucks refuses to remedy 100s of unfair labor practices and negotiate a fair contract. Stand with workers by skipping Starbucks gift cards. #NoContractNoCoffee solidaritywithbaristas.org

"I refuse." This is it. There's no reason we should accept a narrative of an already settled future which marginalizes humans and individual agency. No one wants this. No one asked for it.

Space news is the best. Like, what do you mean there's a runaway supermassive black hole 10 million times bigger than the sun moving through space at 2 million miles per hour www.space.com/astronomy/bl...

This is happening around the country and it's the new normal in immigration court — the creation of a "heads I win, tails you lose" system where the government is seeking to dismiss virtually EVERY SINGLE asylum claim through so-called "safe third country" agreements.

NEW: The Trump administration is stepping up its battle against NYC's immigrants—stopping their asylum cases and instead filing motions to send them to other countries across the world. One Latin American woman was told this week she'd be sent to Uganda. hellgatenyc.com/trump-asylum...

It's been quite a year for Quanta biology! In this year-end post I highlighted some favorite stories by @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social @theuniverse.bsky.social @peterbrannen.bsky.social @mollyherring.bsky.social and Ariel Bleicher - and I want to share more of our great work from the year below!

Read about this year’s biggest moments in biology.

Incredible visual journalism. Badass. www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Here's our reporting on the proposed dismantling of the jewel of US atmospheric science, @ncar-ucar.bsky.social. The plan is to break NCAR apart and disburse some parts to other locations (like the research aircraft fleet) and eliminate others. www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪 #AGU25 #climate

NCAR is a unique & valuable asset - far more than a climate model, or observations, or technology, or training ground, or gathering space. It covers weather, space weather, data, climate, paleo-climate, and everything in-between. It's building is an icon, but it's iconic status goes far beyond that.

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership. Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources. Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet. Unbelievable.

Are you someone who's Very Online, early in your reporting career, and eager to get clips? We're hiring a Breaking News Reporter at @motherjones.com. $65k-$75k salary. www.motherjones.com/careers/brea...

SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...

Is language core to thought, or a separate process? www.quantamagazine.org/the-polyglot...

My preferred version of this headline: These Ancient Wacky Plants Make HEAT to Lure POLLINATORS Biology Is SO RAD 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/befo...

When you hire a white man because they’re a white man that’s not identity politics. Identity politics is when you get hired and you’re not a white man. The anti wokeness hysteria was always a backlash to integration of white collar jobs bsky.app/profile/jami...

This is exactly analogous to thee centre-right "don't mention climate" idea that has taken hold in climate comms since 2022. As @doctorvive.bsky.social pointed out: the right constantly talks about climate change. They're now setting the entire frame and agenda.

Fascinating study covered by @maxkozlov.bsky.social that analyses the shared genetic roots of many neurodevelopmental (ADHD, autism) and mental health conditions www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Writers and editors, don't forget to nominate work for The Best American Science and Nature Writing! Deadline is 12/20 (for anything published by then). Info and submission form here: jaimegreen.net/basn

Thanks to Nikki Greenwood for talking up Quanta's biology section in @theopennotebook.bsky.social ! www.theopennotebook.com/2025/11/25/i... Writers, I welcome your pitches of "obscure" biology stories! Email me [email protected] for my pitch guidelines.

How does global warming cause colder winter storms? whowhatwhy.org/2019/11/23/t...

In brain scans of around 1,400 people, the cognitive scientist Ev Fedorenko has identified a sort of digestive system for language. Fedorenko spoke with Quanta about the system’s workings and how they might be compared to an LLM or the digestive system. www.quantamagazine.org/the-polyglot...

ICE raided a James Beard award winning restaurant & because the chef/owner was prepared, left emptyhanded:

Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impressive array of tricks to ensure their dietary needs are met. ✍️ Katarina Zimmer knowmag.org/49VWwcC

For years, I've been using these same resources to explain to writers what made Hakai Magazine's admittedly odd news section tick. It's the same viewpoint I've carried over to @biographic.bsky.social, and I'm happy I finally put it somewhere permanent colinschultz.wordpress.com/2025/10/25/d...

"Started in 1978, the Great Green Wall was created to slow the expansion of deserts. Over the last five decades, it has helped grow forest cover from about 10% of China's area in 1949 to more than 25% today." www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

A 6-year-old boy is missing after ICE arrested him and his dad in NYC last week and shipped them off to separate facilities. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/02/i... @thecity.nyc @gwynnefitz.bsky.social

The highest calling of journalism isn’t to tell two sides of a story. The highest calling of journalism is to tell the truth. And acting like a stenographer is a betrayal of your audience.

“It’s insane to have them rip our family apart.” Federal agents are arresting the foreign spouses of Americans during interviews at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services offices. The couples and their lawyers said they had followed the required steps to secure permanent residency.

Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.) RTs appreciated.

New York Focus is seeking a full-time politics reporter to help lead our coverage of New York state politics in a pivotal moment. You’ll have your work cut out for you in 2026. nysfocus.com/hiring

Genome sequencing technology is introducing biologists to a world of quasi-life forms that they’ve never met before. @jakebuehler.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/a-cell-so-mi...

The Queens Daily Eagle remains undefeated.

For @quantamagazine.bsky.social, I wrote about an incredible arctic expedition, the deep blackness under the polar ice, and the mind-bending limits of photosynthesis among the organisms that live there

You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?

the nuzzi story is fun and all but at the center of it is the elevation of a man who has dedicated his life to making children catch preventable diseases to a position where he can enact harm at enormous scale

Hi freelancers, I just posted a call for pitches for @technologyreview.com's upcoming print issue. The theme is Nature. Pitch deadline is December 5. More info here! www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

Come hang out and chat New York City birding with me and @ryangoldberg.bsky.social — and read his new book! Tomorrow night in Ditmas Park.

If you're in Brooklyn, I'll be discussing my new book tomorrow with @hanner.bsky.social at the great indy bookstore Taylor & Co. Books in Ditmas Park. It starts at 7:30pm. Plus! On Thursday I'll be at the Hoboken Library, and on Saturday at the Montauk Library. Links to those in the comments.

The cost of Trump's immigration surge: Stalled investigations into child sexual abuse, Iranian oil smuggling and human trafficking, among others. My latest piece is a big team effort on how DHS has been transformed into the Department of Deportation. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...

@thetransmitter.bsky.social presents a portrait of the state of neuroscience in 2025 through four lenses: its focus, its output, its people and its funding. Each view features analyses of major trends and more. Explore the end of year report: bit.ly/4oNeTVC #neuroskyence #StateofNeuro

Life Finds a Way, Even on Inactive Hydrothermal Vents In the darkness of the deep sea, animals flourish on hydrothermal vents that have gone cold. by Elyse Hauser www.biographic.com/life-finds-a...

Deep lakes across the world are changing. Mixing processes, fundamental to their health, are slowing — and in some lakes have stopped entirely. @rachelnuwer.bsky.social visited the research station at the center of Crater Lake to find out why: www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...