As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we invite you to honor the past, elevate the present, and invest in the future of science journalism. #TON15 www.theopennotebook.com/15thannivers...

The Moon, Venus and Regulus in the predawn sky, from Colorado. #skywatching

Yeah, no, don't want to know, thanks www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Just wrote about a wild new #geophysics finding: Satellites have detected the gravitational signal of mass redistribution in the deep Earth, near the core-mantle boundary. 🤯 www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

RIP GOAT Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.

"It’s a study in the perils of relying on the ultrarich to fund science: when the guy with the billions is ready to move on, the whole project is off." Remember Breakthrough Starshot, which was supposed to send a fleet of tiny probes to Proxima Centauri? By @sarahscoles.bsky.social in SciAm 🧪🛰️

“Nothing in the Dark,” Twilight Zone episode, 1962. RIP.

Democracy dies in whiteness

I'd love to follow other early-career and early-ish-career science journalists on here. Who's out there? What do you write about? Please say hi and maybe post a recent story you're proud of — or shout-out someone who's writing great stuff. #scicomm

Great thread from a seasoned science journalist who has studied misinformation. Work your way upward through his posts and links for solid perspective on the situation. ⬇️

Ten years ago, the #LIGO gravitational-wave detectors in Louisiana and Washington first heard the ripples in spacetime created by some of the most violent cosmic collisions. For @nature.com, @jennaahart.bsky.social looks back at LIGO's greatest hits: www.nature.com/articles/d41... #physics 🧪

From filing lawsuits to tracking canceled grants to writing op-eds, here are some scientists pushing back against the Trump administration's cuts to science. Story in @nature.com by @dangaristo.bsky.social @maxkozlov.bsky.social @heidiledford.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

Many US-based scientists have hinted at leaving the country to work elsewhere, given the massive disruptions in federal funding, academia, visas, etc. I talked to some who left during Trump 1.0 to see what they advise: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

Duffy says today's announcement is consistent with "the president's vision and mission of continuing science to support human exploration beyond Earth." Fact check: this administration has proposed canceling Mars sample return.

To sum up: we have 🪨 A cool rock from #Mars that may or may not hold evidence of ancient life 🛰️ An internal fight over whether NASA should spend its money on science or human exploration, and on what planet 🤔 A totally uncertain future for this amazing rock 🧪

There are many layers going on in this NASA press conference. Notably, the head of science Nicky Fox just gave a hard sell for NASA science missions, in the presence of the acting administrator who has not said a lot about science to-date.

There's a lot of conflation between #Mars and Moon exploration in this NASA briefing. The rock we're talking about today is an ancient rock from Mars, which could be brought to Earth for study by a robotic mission. This is very different from sending astronauts to land on the Moon (aka Artemis).

Welp, the acting administrator of NASA just said "This could very well be the clearest sign of life that we have ever found on Mars." And we're off....

This story began with a JPL press release in July 2024, soon after the #Mars rock was discovered. www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-p... Today is the publication of the peer-reviewed paper describing what's in it. That @nature.com paper is here www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪

The #Mars rocks in question were collected by NASA's Perseverance rover, which has collected dozens of interesting rocks. NASA is supposed to fly these to Earth for analysis, but the "Mars sample return" mission may be canceled for $$$. If so, we won't know much more than we do today.

Fundamentally the #Mars announcement NASA is making today boils down to: there could have been some chemical reactions in these ancient rocks that could have been mediated by living organisms. The word "could" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting there. 🧪

There will be some "life on #Mars????" excitement at the top of the hour, when NASA holds a press conference on a new paper describing some rocks in Jezero Crater, Mars. Here's what you can expect to hear, as I reported from LPSC in March: www.nature.com/articles/d41... [see reply for free version]

Often the news happens so quickly that there's little time for it, so we took a step back to talk about the stories of the researchers who have been fighting back against the Trump administration's assault on science. w/ @maxkozlov.bsky.social and @heidiledford.bsky.social

I see an opportunity for #MinCup25 mashup with neuroscience and AI: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A meteorite mineral? Vote #kosmochlor for #MinCup25 🧪

Hematite is rust and it’s at the Moon’s poles so vote #hematite or regret it forever #MinCup25

You've got less than a minute to vote #calcite

To sum up the judge's ruling: - The Trump administration's freezing of Harvard funds on or after 4/14 is arbitrary and capricious, and is set aside. It also violated the First Amendment. - The administration is also forbidden from implementing any freeze or termination of Harvard federal funding

Visit the world's largest mosquito factory - with @marilenharo.bsky.social 🧪🦟 #splat www.nature.com/articles/d41...

SO MANY CONGRATS to @maxkozlov.bsky.social for winning @sciencewriting.bsky.social's Clark-Payne award for young science writers! Max's reporting on the impacts of the Trump administration "gives readers straight answers at a confusing time," one judge said. casw.org/news/max-koz...

Nobody wants asbestos. Vote pectolite! #MinCup25

20 years ago, when I was just 11 years old, my family hunkered down for Hurricane Katrina in a trailer in south Mobile County, just a few miles from the Gulf. Read my latest, a #HurricaneKatrina remembrance, in @insideclimatenews.org. insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

Want to know who new CDC head Jim O’Neill is and what he stands for? Look no further. @jesshamzelou.bsky.social put together this very timely in-depth profile for you. www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/30/1...

Do you drink Budweiser or Sam Adams? Here's @jennaahart.bsky.social with the latest science on what that says about the chemistry of your taste preferences 🍻🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Here's another deeply reported piece by @nature.com on a timely issue: @helenpearson.bsky.social explores the complex causes of autism 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Science writers reminder! If you need $$ to attend #SciWri25 (virtually in October and/or in-person in Chicago in November), the deadline to apply for grant support is TOMORROW 8/28: sciencewriters2025.org/grants/

Some really neat historical and scientific connections here. The earthquake which birthed modern seismology is still returning dividends.

Fantastic piece on subsurface microbiology.

There's tons of new & interesting content at @sciam.bsky.social today for their 180th anniversary. Happy birthday Scientific American! 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/180-...

Meet @danielleboyer.bsky.social - an Anishinaabe engineer and inventor who works with robots to preserve Indigenous languages and to center AI ethics and data sovereignty in Indigenous cultures. Words by me in American Indian magazine: www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/Daniel...

Huge if true: New JWST observations may have detected primordial black holes in the extremely early universe. Before galaxies, before stars ... black holes may have generated the first light after the Big Bang. 🧪🔭 www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

NOW LIVE: the program for #SciWri25 which looks amazing. If you need financial assistance to travel to Chicago in November (or attend the virtual components in October), you MUST APPLY by August 28. sciencewriters2025.org/grants/

In which @stephaniemlee.bsky.social reports for @theopennotebook.bsky.social on using public documents for investigative science journalism. With @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social @primateyell.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social & more: www.theopennotebook.com/2025/08/12/h...

Trump's new executive order "looks like an explicit attempt to destroy peer review for federal science grants,” a physicist in Texas tells @dangaristo.bsky.social. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

NIH Statute Question: How much grant making authority does the Director (Aa Presidential appointee) of the NIH have? 1/2

The president just issued an executive order asserting new and wide-ranging authority over the issuance of federal grants. This will have huge repercussions for the daily operations of US science. 🧪 Also, lawyers are gonna be lawyering. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

ALPHA CENTAURI PLANET CANDIDATE DIRECTLY IMAGED BY JWST #kermitflail 🧪🔭

Researchers need to keep up pressure to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again. Scientists must “engage with policymakers and the public to create a shared, knowledge-intensive understanding of the calamitous consequences of nuclear war”, says a Nature editorial.

We've been waiting for this report from NSF for many months — results of a survey on sexual harassment at US Antarctic stations. The numbers aren't good, but at least this problem is out in the open & starting to be tackled. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"The suspended NSF grants, a list of which Science obtained from an agency source, span work from computer science and plasma physics to the measurement of volatile compounds created by this year’s Los Angeles fires." By @dangaristo.bsky.social in @science.org 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...