The good life with Sadie

"Standing up to bullies is the hallmark of a civilized society." - @rbreich.bsky.social More: explorers.com/robert-reich/

City of Awe. @illuminatethearts.bsky.social

“The test of an economy is not the size of its gross national product. It is the quality of life of the people.” - @robertreich.substack.com.web.brid.gy More: explorers.com/robert-reich/ @inequalitymedia.bsky.social @nationalacademies.org

RIP Om Malik

Farewell, @om.co explorers.com/my-friend-om/

In a new Science editorial, NAS President-elect @neilshubin.bsky.social reflects on the Academy's 1863 founding by Lincoln and Congress during the Civil War, and why that same long-term investment in knowledge matters just as much today. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Photo: @christophermichel.com

“The only way to find out if something can be done is to actually try it.” — Sebastian Thrun Sebastian helped launch the self driving revolution, led Stanford’s winning DARPA Grand Challenge team, founded Google X, and cofounded Udacity. More: explorers.com/sebastian-th... @nationalacademies.org

For all our technology, we still live by ancient rhythms. Today is one of the oldest markers we know: the solstice.

Most scientists build knowledge. Paul Ginsparg changed how knowledge moves. In 1991, he created arXiv, allowing researchers to share papers instantly with colleagues around the world. More: explorers.com/paul-ginsparg/ @nationalacademies.org

There is something almost impossible about seeing a polar bear in the wild. Not because they are rare, but because they belong so completely to this place that they seem made from the ice itself. #Photography

The map ends here beneath the ice and silence something still remains #Antarctica

“Knowing without seeing is at the heart of chemistry.” — Roald Hoffmann A Holocaust survivor, Nobel Prize-winning chemist, poet, playwright, and humanist, Roald Hoffmann spent a lifetime helping us understand the hidden logic of the molecular world and the human one. explorers.com/roald-hoffma...

Sometimes the dream is real. Deep Field, Antarctica.

National Academies: New Heroes by @christophermichel.com Truly beautiful portraits of scientists including @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social and @nogaleslab.bsky.social explorers.com

Occasionally in front of the lens. Me and Sadie outside Linea Caffe, one of my favorite spots in San Francisco. Great coffee, great people, and the kind of place that reminds you why neighborhood cafes matter. The genius of Andrew Barnett. Photo by @felixuribe.bsky.social #Leica M EV1

Good morning! You woke up on a small, spinning rock, orbiting an ordinary star, one of hundreds of billions in a galaxy that’s been here for a long time. And somehow, in all that vastness, you’re here, making meaning out of a single day. Feels pretty miraculous to me. #sciart

RIP Bob Thurman. One of the world’s great Buddhist scholars and teachers. I was grateful to know him and to photograph him. The world feels a little less bright without him. A few thoughts and a portrait here: explorers.com/bob-thurman/

[email protected] has spent years documenting life in San Francisco’s Tenderloin with patience, empathy, and respect. His photographs reveal the dignity and humanity that exist beyond the headlines. @catchlight-io.bsky.social

One of the best photography tips I know: compose and wait. People sometimes assume this photo was luck. It wasn’t. I spent hours on the Antarctic ice, watching penguins launch themselves from the sea waiting for the moment when everything lined up. www.nationalgeographic.com/photo-of-the...

“The future is not something to be predicted. It’s something to be built.” — Steve Jurvetson Long before reusable rockets transformed spaceflight, Steve Jurvetson was one of SpaceX’s earliest major investors.

Every colony has its dissenter, its lookout, its dreamer. The one who leaves the crowd, finds a higher perch, and looks beyond the horizon. #Antarctica #Photography

“People heal faster when they think a treatment is potent even if the medication is identical. Housekeepers who were told their daily work counted as exercise showed improvements in weight & blood pressure without any change in actual workload. Mindset became part of the treatment itself.”🧪

"Taking this job is a bet, or maybe a hope, that the best science will drive the conversation over the long run." Incoming NAS President @neilshubin.bsky.social spoke with @nytimes.com about the state of American science and his hopes for his 5-year term as president: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/s...

Most of us assume the body responds to reality. Alia Crum’s research suggests it also responds to our interpretation of reality. Her studies have shown that expectations can influence health outcomes. Read more: explorers.com/alia-crum/ @nationalacademies.org

“We could wait another million years for the protein we need to evolve, or we could design it ourselves.” — David Baker For billions of years, nature was the only protein designer. David Baker helped change that. explorers.com/david-baker/ @nationalacademies.org @nobelprize.org

"Just by doing our work, we will be viewed in a partisan light no matter what. So our job is to double down on the science. We need to be a trusted source of data."

Bringing up baby

An important moment for science. @neilshubin.bsky.social is preparing to become president of the @nationalacademies.org, helping lead at a time when evidence and expertise matter more than ever. Also glad to see my portrait of Neil! www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/s...

Explorer Mike McDowell helped open Antarctica, space & the deep sea to travelers. From Quark to Space Adventures, his legacy is unmatched. @antarcticlogistics.bsky.social Full story 👉 glass.photo/cm/x8lMzVoDj...

For most of history, we didn’t know the universe’s age or what it was made of. David Spergel helped change that. Through his work in cosmology and as President of @simonsfoundation.org, he continues to expand our understanding of the unknown. explorers.com/david-spergel/ @nationalacademies.org

Long before AI became a household term, David Donoho was helping build the mathematics behind modern data science. His work transformed fields from MRI imaging to machine learning, and helped define how we extract meaning from data. More: explorers.com/david-donoho/ @nationalacademies.org

What if wonder was treated as public infrastructure? Ben Davis & @illuminatethearts.bsky.social has spent years turning that idea into reality. Through projects like The Bay Lights, he has helped millions of people experience San Francisco a little differently. explorers.com/ben-davis/

Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart helped make the Moon landings possible. Seeing Earth from space changed his life. He returned determined to help protect our fragile world, later co-founding the @b612 for planetary defense. explorers.com/rusty-schwei... @nationalacademies.org

Approaching 90° North. The ice looked solid from a distance. Up close it was alive. Plates grinding together. Leads opening into black water. The entire landscape in motion. Even here, at the top of the world, nothing stands still.

There’s something unsettling about Hunters Point. The empty piers, abandoned warehouses, and skeletal cranes feel frozen in time. Ships exposed to Pacific atomic bomb tests were once brought here for decontamination. Today the bay is quiet, but the history still lingers.

When HIV first swept through SF, Ward 86 became a frontline in a battle few understood. Diane Havlir helped change that. Her work transformed HIV care and helped turn a devastating diagnosis into a manageable condition for millions. More: explorers.com/dr-diane-hav... @nationalacademies.org

I made this portrait of Jacinta in San Francisco in the famed stairwell that leads up to the Poets Corner at @citylightsbooks.bsky.social Some places shine because of their lights. Others because of the conversations they inspire. San Francisco is lucky to have both. 📚✨

Occasionally in front of the lens. I’ve lived in SF decades, and honestly, San Francisco has never felt better. The city feels more alive. The parks are full. New restaurants keep opening. The energy is returning. Photo by Jacinta M. Jiménez

It’s hard to express what the amazing feeling was when the COVID vaccines were being made available. I was working alone in the lab when Mr. Saw Win came in practically giddy, telling me that he just got the vaccine and his family would be safer for it. bryanwjones.com/2020/12/mr-s...

“One of the chief features of incompetence was an inability to see it in oneself.” — Kim Stanley Robinson, Galileo’s Dream Kim Stanley Robinson has spent a lifetime writing about the hardest thing humans ever try to do: see clearly. Read more about Stan here: explorers.com/kim-stanley-...

Silver water beneath a dark Arctic sky. Svalbard, Norway.

“Until Planet Nine is caught on camera, it does not count as being real. All we have now is an echo.” — Konstantin Batygin A possible planet 5-10x the mass of Earth may be hiding in the darkness beyond Neptune. We haven’t seen it. We see only its fingerprints. More: explorers.com/konstantin-b...

“Resilience is not about powering through. It is about how we recover, adapt, and grow.” — Dr. Jacinta M. Jiménez Dr. Jiménez is widely recognized as one of the leading high performance coaches in the country. Read more about Jacinta here: explorers.com/jacinta-jime...

“I was never the smartest person in the room, but I was usually the one who was most obsessed with the problem” - @ardemp.bskyverified.social Ardem's work changed how we understand one of the most fundamental parts of being human: how we feel. explorers.com/ardem-patapo... @nationalacademies.org

As Director of JPL, Charles Elachi led during missions including Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Perseverance, Cassini, and Juno, helping reshape our understanding of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and our place in the cosmos. More: explorers.com/charles-elac... @nationalacademies.org @nasajpl.bsky.social

“No water, no life. No blue, no green.” — Sylvia Earle More about Sylvia here: explorers.com/sylvia-earle/ I made this portrait as part of my New Heroes project, which is about spending time with the people shaping our future and trying to see them clearly, as they are. @nationalacademies.org

J.D. Talasek is the Director of Cultural Programs at the National Academy of Sciences. He has spent more than two decades building exhibitions, conversations, and collaborations that bring artists, scientists, engineers, and humanists into dialogue. @nationalacademies.org @nasonline.org

“We do our worst when we’re surrounded by a lot of people who agree with us.” — Robert Sapolsky Robert Sapolsky has built a career challenging some of our most comfortable assumptions about human behavior. More: explorers.com/robert-sapol... @nationalacademies.org @robertsapolsky1.bsky.social

"The best science is done in the spirit of artists who are in love with their work." - @francesarnold.bsky.social Frances Arnold does not just study evolution. She learned how to harness it. Read more about Frances here: explorers.com/frances-arno... @nationalacademies.org