In a spectacular example of forward planning, people are thinking through how piracy might work in space - Feedback in @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035961-000-shiver-me-timbers-do-we-have-to-worry-about-space-pirates-now/

Last year, @newyorker.com reported that Oliver Sacks lied in "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat". So for @newscientist.com, I re-read the book to see if there's anything worth salvaging. https://loom.ly/HmOqenE

This is great and captures something I feel, and which I imagine many of you feel too

What does it mean that ChatGPT got fixated on goblins, wonders Feedback in @newscientist.com - and finds a possibly surprising answer. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035952-700-when-chatgpt-went-full-goblin-mode/

OMG

A step forward in the use of ancient proteins to study human evolution: proteins from teeth believed to belong to Homo erectus. @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526391-ancient-teeth-hint-at-links-between-denisovans-and-homo-erectus/

We often imagine that the first tools were used for hitting or cutting, but what if they were actually used for storing and carrying? @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2526004-the-story-of-the-first-human-tool-the-humble-container/

Via tannoy at train station: “Once again please do not swing golf clubs on the platform.”

Been working offline for most of today, has anything happened in UK politics?

In the runup to Eurovision 2026, @newscientist.com's Feedback picks through a study of every song ever performed at the contest. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035941-100-less-nostalgia-more-pain-scientists-study-1763-eurovision-songs/

I went on @kqedforum.bsky.social (California public radio) to talk about the life and work of J. Craig Venter, especially his contributions to sequencing the human genome. https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101913771/what-did-mapping-the-genome-get-us

"Beyond Belief" by @helenpearson.bsky.social is a gripping account of the evidence revolution: the ongoing effort to apply experimental data to everything from conservation to parenting. https://loom.ly/xEYR1YA

Trevor Project released its annual LGBTQ youth mental health report. The results are shocking. 40% of trans youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Trans youth who wanted hormones but couldn’t access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.

🎙️ON AIR: We're talking to @innovativegenomics.bsky.social's @urnov.bsky.social and science writers @philipcball.bsky.social and @michael-marshall.bsky.social about how sequencing the human genome changed our understanding of life. ❓What are your questions about DNA mapping? 📻 Listen:

😆😆😆

I went on the @newscientist.com podcast to talk about the geneticist Craig Venter, who died last week. We all had a LOT of thoughts. Apple: https://loom.ly/RzUVxGI Spotify: https://loom.ly/BGQu6PE YouTube: https://loom.ly/qkx7eRs

‘I’m fighting two wars. One against the Russians. And one inside myself.’ Ukraine is reshaping warfare through its use of drones. Yet human operators remain at the controls. For @ftweekend.com, I profiled one Ukrainian FPV drone pilot to examine the personal costs. www.ft.com/content/95f5...

Craig Venter - hero, villain, both? With @pennysarchet.bsky.social, @rogerhighfield.bsky.social and @michael-marshall.bsky.social youtu.be/1Jin3rAZ9vg

Meta is building an AI avatar of Mark Zuckerberg that will interact with staff. @newscientist.com's Feedback foresees some negative outcomes. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg27035932-100-is-an-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-or-any-boss-a-good-plan/

Could have been more encouraging to his #LondonMarathon running friend! #London #Marathon

Craig Venter, who has died, helped sequence the human genome and drove forward synthetic biology. He ruffled a very large quantity of feathers along the way. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2524928-the-rich-but-complicated-legacy-of-genome-pioneer-craig-venter/

I’ve been hearing so much anger and disappointment from frontline workers about the BBC investigation into fraudulent asylum claims. One of the most damning responses has come from one of the experts they interviewed, solicitor Ana Gonzalez. It’s really worth reading her response in full:

That's $10 billion of missiles. For absolutely no benefit whatsoever.

In a minority of people, the Epstein-Barr virus causes multiple sclerosis. We're finally figuring out how - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2524077-huge-study-reveals-how-epstein-barr-virus-may-cause-multiple-sclerosis/

So much was said about the Artemis II moon mission, and some of it was bizarre - Feedback in @newscientist.com (Before you ask, Naomi Wolf's "what is the light source" post was cut for length) https://loom.ly/VkLltTw

Studies in animals suggest that it might be possible to reduce deaths from sepsis by filtering a key protein out of the blood - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2523669-a-whole-new-way-to-prevent-death-from-sepsis-shows-promise/

This stupid advert is 2026’s “he tweeted it out”

City soils are degraded and trapped under concrete. So researchers are working to fix them using nature-based remediation, as I reported for @nextcity.org https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/european-researchers-are-working-with-residents-to-restore-urban-soil

The conspiracy theory that Jim Carrey has been cloned has a few, just a few, tiny holes in the reasoning - Feedback, @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2522669-why-cloning-anyone-even-jim-carrey-isnt-the-best-plan-ever/

In March, Matt Ridley gave the inaugural "Scientific Freedom Lecture" at NIH, on a lab leak origin of COVID-19. The talk was so full of misrepresentations, omissions, falsehoods and lies that I will need several blog posts to debunk it. Here's Part I: pandemonium.hypotheses.org/995 🧪 #covidorigin

I tried to make sense of all the conflicting data and ideas about the origins of the Neanderthals, for @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2522913-are-neanderthals-descendants-of-modern-humans/

I went on the @newscientist.com podcast to talk about the Neanderthals' last few thousand years on Earth. Listen/watch at: NS: https://loom.ly/TcuVYLQ Apple: https://loom.ly/xKObrsY Spotify: https://loom.ly/pCFJpN4 YouTube: https://loom.ly/l8OxnDg

It's obscene the level of which this administration has gone after trans youth to make their lives a living hell. The latest attack on care will completely defund any hospital or clinic that provides care to trans youth. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

I'm back from holiday with a suggestion for where you might go on your next jaunt: the world’s one and only (as far as we know) sculpture park dedicated to foraminifera. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2522140-is-this-the-most-niche-scientific-tourist-attraction-in-the-world/

So satisfying to see a pompous arsehole get so thoroughly dismantled

Here's your daily thought about the Roman Empire: Did droughts really help to trigger conflicts in late Roman Britain? @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520194-historians-dispute-link-between-drought-and-rebellion-in-roman-britain/

Researchers studied the use of humour in the talks at academic conferences, in order to combat the tedium of the talks at academic conferences. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2521449-how-many-academics-does-it-take-to-tell-a-joke-time-for-a-study/

Thanks to @michael-marshall.bsky.social for this great write up of our new response piece in @newscientist.com! #Skystorians #MedievalSky

We now have proper causal evidence that "autoantibodies" targeting people's healthy tissues are one of the drivers of #LongCovid - @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2521476-attacks-from-our-immune-system-are-a-cause-of-long-covid/#LongCovid

Awesome 🤩

A new book makes the case that flowers, far from being purely decorative, have been transformational for all ecosystems. We literally couldn't live without them. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26935880-400-what-to-read-this-week-the-persuasive-how-flowers-made-our-world/

It shouldn't be possible to spend several hundred words figuring out how large a "shedload" actually is, but here we are. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26935882-400-how-big-is-a-shedload-lets-ask-the-nuclear-physicists/

OK, now, don't panic, but suppose the UK got dragged into a full-scale war. Here's what the health system would need to do to handle the casualties - @doctors-net-uk.bsky.social https://www.doctors.net.uk/news/what-would-it-take-to-prepare-the-nhs-for-a-war

If you have an hour to spare and don't mind my face, here's an online talk I gave for @newscientist.com last week on prehistoric peoples https://app.events.ringcentral.com/events/deep-time-journeys-a-cross-continental-look-at-early-human-archaeology/replay

In the 40,000 years before their extinction, the Neanderthals lived through massive upheavals. @newscientist.com https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520319-genetic-clues-tell-the-story-of-neanderthals-decline/

For several months, people have been wondering why Reform hasn't declared any crypto donations, despite Nigel Farage saying they'd received some Now @theobserveruk.bsky.social can reveal why...

It's interesting how The Daily Wire attacks the idea that gender is a performance when their sets are all about gender performance. Look at the aesthetics here — the cigars and crystal decanter with Japanese whiskey, the black dress shirt, the tight suit with two-toned double monks and tie bar ...

If (as Andrew Neil says) GB News has become Reform TV then maybe there’s a case for the @ElectoralCommUK to start taking an interest app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/72784/...

WTAF

This is a decisive moment in the push to give Harriet the recognition she deserves. I actually gasped when I read the headline.