Hey remember when the CDC dropped 6 of the 8 foodborne illnesses from the nationwide monitoring system in July and one of them was listeria? Mentioning for no particular reason www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

YES! THIS on GenAI! Please read this absolutely splendid piece of writing that had me cheering, a little bit weepy, and writing in the margins: "An extraordinary amount of money is spent by the AI industry to ensure that acquiescence is the only plausible response. But marketing is not destiny."

Article, always article. I have neither the patience nor auditory processing to sit through a video the number of times it'd take for the information to finally sink in

so we partner with our local library on an all-queer, all-kidlit little free library... and for the second weekend in a row, somebody has stolen all the brand new books. we are working on a plan, but if you are a queer kidlit author with some books or swag you'd like to donate, can you message me? 🌈

Thinking a lot about connection tonight and how important it is to not feeling alone and how we need other people. Lots of thoughts. Friends are critical.

Interesting episode of short wave about the origin of endometriosis. I really appreciate that they end with how uncertainty in NIH funding affects the future of their work. www.npr.org/2025/09/26/n...

The most accurate recreation of DS9 I've seen.

Today we are thankful for Planned Parenthood.

I need you to read this thread to understand why so many historians are revolted by this regime's crimes against the past

"No hate, no fear! Immigrants are welcome here!" Absolutely massive crowd at the New Yorkers Against ICE march. Blocks long!

English muffins are buy 1 get 2 free at the grocery store, so...guess who's living on English muffins for the next couple of weeks despite not even liking them that much

Actual thing said to me today: Wait, what's your first name? Is it Gates? Most people have two first names, but you have two last names.

I'm mulling over how sleuths are depicted on screen in my new newsletter, Silver Screen Sleuths. Want to sign up? msemilyedwards.com/2025/09/23/s...

I'm putting this on the same level as the news that Huntington's has been successfully treated in people. Science is amazing when it's supported and allowed to do its thing.

Something I shared on Facebook, the only place I've personally seen people justifying Trump's and RFK's Tylenol claims, and I felt compelled to say something. Figured I'd share here as well 💙

Autism is a natural divergence from neurotypicality. It's normal & not the tragedy these clowns are making it out to be. Transness is a natural divergence from cisnormativity. It's normal & not the tragedy these clowns are making it out to be. Just deal with people being different than you.

This is AMAZING! Eager to read a peer-reviewed paper ASAP...

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Ever have one of those days where it feels like your entire world is collapsing around you and this has to be a bad dream, right? Right??

I AM AUTISTIC. IT IS GENETIC. I got my autism from extremely autistic computer programmer father and my extremely autistic Trekkie mother. I gave it to my kid. The neurodivergent nerd runs strong in our family. We have strengths & we have support needs but we are all valid, autonomous humans.

It's nice to have a boss who validates me, especially after other people make me feel small and foolish

Speaking as an astrophysicist, I would not take scientific advice from a guy who stared directly at a Solar eclipse. YMMV.

Now accepting suggestions for dealing with heartbreak that don't involve eating, I cannot stomach food.

This is the kind of solidarity that gives me hope in people

A group of local tow truck drivers are offering to tow people's work vans to work sites without charge if they're afraid of being taken by ICE while driving, which is a neat spontaneous community response to all of this

(1/3) @orca-open.bsky.social bsky.social, alongside the American Academy of Arts and Sciences & @aspeninstitute.bsky.social, is calling on US colleges, universities, & departments to reimagine hiring, promotion, & tenure.

This morning we are grateful for the hospital scheduler who called me back and showed kindness when I had no idea what she was talking about because I'm new to the area. I hope this comes back to you tenfold and you have a wonderful weekend 🙏

You know, I try not to valorize politicians. But I've seen multiple NYC reps show up time and time again to speak up for the most vulnerable, and I'm happy we've got 'em.

As you cancel streaming services, here is a casual reminder that only 16% of Americans read for pleasure anymore, and your local library has hundreds or thousands of books you haven't read. They would love to see you stop by and renew your library card.

Just spent the last 2 HOURS (& 15 phone calls, not counting transfers) trying to navigate our royally messed up healthcare system. Deepest gratitude to the 4 people who showed me kindness on the phone and helped because I was on the verge of tears.

PSST, check out some of the cool work I've been a tiny part of in the last few months! Academics, definitely give this some thought

A Black man and a homeless man were found hanging from trees in Mississippi yesterday, for those who haven’t seen yet because it’s barely made it out of local news.

Do. Not. Miss. This. The experience of sitting through a 70mm film on a real screen is irreplaceable. Please yourself a favor and got to a screening if you are anywhere near the Paris Theater, or anywhere that lets you see Panavision, Todd-AO, or any broad-screen formatted film on a big screen.

Apparently my sister told my mum that I'm dating a guy and both my sisters were freaking out when they didn't hear from me all day... Can confirm, I'm alive. We spent 11 hours hiking, of which only 1 was hiking, the other 10 were sitting in the same place talking and being mesmerised by everything.

Yesterday I spent 8 hours just talking and spending time with a new person and we're getting together again in an hour and I'm completely smitten. The world is a mess, but this little corner is doing alright today

I'm actually very proud of my cat for catching the mouse. She's truly a cat. I feel like I've gone through a cat owner rite of passage, I've never had a cat bring me a dead mouse before

Mouse corpse has been disposed of after several minutes of my cat having the time of her life playing with it. And so endeth the mouse saga. I wish this had a more peaceful resolution. But also, pretty sure it was a quick (and natural circle of life) death.

It was inevitable: the mouse is no more, my cat proved she is truly an apex predator. ...and now she's playing with it.

FINALLY someone is doing her JOB and earning her keep

""apex predators"" pffft

I feel a little bad for the mouse, but it has no place in my living space. The goal: eviction, as quickly and peacefully as possible. In a perfect world, my foolish cats would've already chased it off. But they aren't great at being cats today, so. It falls to me. Time to put my training to use...

Have confirmed: it's a little brown mouse.

There is possibly a mouse in my apartment*, and it took almost 3 hours for either of my cats to get up and do their jobs, aka hunting it. It's about time they earned their keep... *I saw something small scurrying beneath my chair

Wanna know more about Einstein's anti-racist work, usually in collaboration with the great actor/singer Paul Robeson? I wrote about it for Smithsonian! (don't tell the White House) www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

violence is bad (i’ve been pretty consistent on that for a long time), and when you ignore the terror and violence that man unleashed on marginalized people in your pieces about violence being bad, you are erasing his victims

Behold, the best 9/11 humor of all time: The Onion's TV listings (my favorite row is MTV)

When you find out about Libro.fm, an alternative to Amazon-owned Audible that’s 100% employee owned, a Certified B Corporation, and shares profits with 4,000+ independent bookshops 😍

Also: contact your congresspeople and yell at them to continue funding incredible science like this (via NSF and other mechanisms)

Please join me in geeking out so hard about this amazing news!! www.npr.org/2025/09/11/n...

This is a Melissa Hortman appreciation account for the next 24 hours.