My dad introduced me to Phil Ochs as a kid (I wrote a parody of Draft Dodger Rag for a 4th grade project about the circulatory system like a Very Normal Child) and I've had his music stuck in my head all year. Can't imagine why.

I'm pleased to announce the creation (birth?) of my perfect luminous son.

This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...

Tasseled wobbegongs are wonderful, but this is the underappreciated goosefish! Great camouflage paired with an angler spine to attract fish snacks (and the occasional diving seabird).

It's that time of year! The time when deer guts start to undergo a magical transformation! (Also the time of year many well-intentioned people accidentally mess the whole thing up, leading to dead deer!) 🧪 jasonbittel.substack.com/p/the-deer-t...

how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...

"One formative influence was Watson’s making his one and only important scientific discovery when he was only 25. ... he discovered nothing afterward, even as colleagues were cracking the genetic code or deciphering how DNA is translated into the molecules that make cells (and life) work."

In the last 18 hours, I was broken up with, got to pet a live opossum, fangirled at a writer I randomly saw at a taxidermy museum, and am starting my favorite conference. Having a normal one!

A small crab break is exactly what I needed

🔥🔥WATCH: “Rappers are smarter than economists”👇🏽 @dossdiscourse.bsky.social explains more cops doesn’t lower crime it just means more money for private prisons— Addressing poverty/hunger/health care lowers crime… but Trump’s trillions transfer just made all that MUCH WORSE… meaning crime will rise.

We spent eight years giving the best centrist, moderate argument the Democratic Party could make the best chance possible. And that gave us Trump. So it's time for something different. Time, and past time.

This is so very good.

“Squared off”

One pro immigrant protester being carried unconscious to the other end of the street here in Paramount, CA, was hit by a federal agency vehicle. Getting attention from protester medics.

This article by @ykarenkwon.bsky.social is so important. Thanks to @sciam.bsky.social and then-EIC @laurahelmuth.bsky.social for publishing it. (Photo by Pablo Monsalve/Getty).

"Quite frankly, after seeing the horrors, I think abolishment is a middle ground. I think the proper course of action is to explore criminal prosecution against these agents, based on what they’re doing.”

Video of the international student at Tufts being arrested by "federal authorities" in Massachusetts has been released and it's terrifying. They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks. From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY

Been thinking a lot recently about how Charles Sumner almost got beaten to death on the Senate floor for taking a side in Bloody Kansas but not a single Senator now will resist unanimous consent. Not even slowing down the chamber.

It's so many more than I thought! And, as Kendra points out in this thread, showrooms are owned by Tesla - these attacks directly affect the company, not a middleman

Highly recommend taking a break to read this extensive hippo thread

Boxing out the people who can tell the world why your work is important is a hell of a choice

“There is no theater community without the immense contributions of queer trans artists,” said Giselle Byrd, executive director of The Theater Offensive. www.aclu.org/press-releas...

Duckworth N CLOTURE FAILS, CONGRESSIONAL SPORTS BAN WILL NOT HAPPEN. Last few votes rolling in.

“opposition movements always seem hopeless until they’re not”

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, her staff, and audience doing great work in a telephone town hall. Pressley is dipping out periodically for the budget votes happening now on the floor.

When my friends are sick: Oh no! Do you need tea? Meds? Help with chores? I can be there in ten. When I'm sick: I'd hate to bother anyone by asking for help. I'll just die here on the floor and eventually my dogs will eat me.

Killer whales are so damn scary that they've shaped how other whales speak

Scarboard is the best shark

I can’t believe it - after years of advocacy, exclusionary zoning has ended in Cambridge. We just passed the single most comprehensive rezoning in the US—legalizing multifamily housing up to 6 stories citywide in a Paris style Here’s the details 🧵

@bostonglobe.com chose to change the photo caption on a Bloomberg story to add transphobic language. Guess they really are trying to compete with the NY Times.

They do not want immigrants. OK, February 3, will be a day partially without immigrants, their family, or friends. Don't purchase anything and, if possible, do not work.

I'd be delighted to be replaced by a pile of rats

Small dog probably sensed the earthquake coming, ran into the room looking anxious 30 seconds before it started, relaxed as soon as it was over. Large dog couldn't be bothered to wake up.

Either Boston just had a tiny earthquake or my house is so cold it has started to shiver

I just got one heck of a welcome home. Volume up, but not too high. The wolves were singing tonight. A few seconds in you’ll hear the closest howling wolf I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t see it, but it might have been at the end of my driveway. I went right back inside after this. 😊🐺🦊

Happening now, a transgender sports ban is being heard in Congress. This ban might ban trans people from dancing, darts, and even chess in many universities. It'll also target 9 year olds playing soccer. I'm covering live, follow along with me. live.house.gov

My friends do a gift exchange where all presents must be a craft that you have never tried before. I drew my 3yo nephew, and decided to make plaster masks of the adults he lives with.

omg a student somehow accidentally wrote an email addressed to a faculty-wide NYU listserv and my inbox is now a master class on who understands the difference between a listserv and an email chain

Apparently someone on Friends once claimed that lobsters mate for life?? (They do not) I have never seen Friends, but I'm always happy to derail a group chat to explain lobster reproduction (and their projectile forehead pee). I'm great at parties, probably

My newsletter is chaotic but always a good time

6 hours under martial law: a drunk scene report from Seoul www.theverge.com/24312920/mar...

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today about Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for young people. This is not a both-sides story. One side is right and the other is dangerously wrong. Nazis were the first people to try to destroy trans health care. @bschillace.brandyschillace.com (1/n)

Took some photos hiking through the section of the blue hills that burned a few weeks ago #bluehills #wildfire #boston

Was about to click on a perfectly targeted "suggested for you" on Instagram... then realized that I wrote the article 😂

Scheduled a zoom call to talk about some loon research and am now just singing "loon zoom" to the duck tales tune. Totally normal work morning.

Good morning to every dog that *didn't* step in my oatmeal

"I want to read publications whose leaders are not afraid to call a fascist a fucking fascist. I worry what Helmuth's loss means for Scientific American, and for anyone doing and covering science." Yes. Exactly this.

Laura started as SciAm's EiC at a very dark time, April 2020, just as U.S. COVID deaths peaked. Nationwide, morale was low and fears were high. She led SciAm thru that storm—and beyond—with extraordinary brilliance, vigor, and compassion. I'm sad to see her go, but eager to see what she does next.

I wrote a little story about my new favorite extinct ocean weasel nautil.us/a-mink-tale-...

"Nothing has changed. We have work to do, and we have to get to it" -Joseph L. Graves Jr. #SciWri24