here's an idea: what if we take a 3000 year-break from the misogyny, white supremacy, exploitation reevaluate after and see what we think how might that go

SNARGE, my brain delivers in all-caps at 9:45 pm more than 24 hours after I referenced the phenomenon in conversation.

So many people who can reasonably be described as “that little shit” are in charge of so much of society.

Hey science journalists! I preparing to send out a call for pitches for Quanta's biology section. If you have facility with and interest in neuroscience, molecular biology, biophysics, cell biology, evolution - please shoot me a private message with your email address to be added to the list.

Using this as the headline on every piece I file from now on

Thanks to @springernature.com HR and their representatives, we’ve heard a lot of silly union-busting comments and we’re close to hitting bingo! We can’t wait for tomorrow to say we’ve voted YES to recognition.

It's the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season (so for those who live in hurricane-prone areas, time to think about any preparation you need to do). But why are hurricanes a seasonal phenomena? @meghanbartels.bsky.social explains 🧪:

YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK

Man summer was brutal I’m so happy it’s autumn I love back to school season!!!

Today, @springernature.com has invited staff to a third “informational meeting” with union-buster Ronn English. Who knew “union avoidance” was a recognized skill on LinkedIn?

Have questions about hantavirus? Add them here! 🧪 🛟

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It’s official! @springernature.com refused voluntary recognition and is requiring a vote on June 2. 🙄 An overwhelming majority of staff signed union cards, so forcing a vote disrespects our voices. We’re not fooled, we know a union-busting tactic when we see it—but it won’t work! 👊

Moments ago, NASA's Psyche spacecraft made its closest approach of Mars! The images should be *spectacular* (but we have to wait until next week to see them) 🧪 🔭

Ok, several items: 1. I called Dr. Snuffleupagus (a fish version); he's as delightful as you would expect. 2. My editor did not let me make the share headline "Science confirms Sesame Street’s Mr. Snuffleupagus is real" but you guys I really tried. 3. My mom's gonna be so proud of me. 🧪 🌍

In the patriarchy, men establish their masculinity by rejecting anything associated with women. This includes the environment. It's feminising to want to save the planet.

The Persian Gulf is shockingly young, its summers are broiling, its winters are chilly, and its waters are remarkably salty. Yet it is bursting with life--life that's holding on amid climate change, development, and war. 🧪 🌍

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Do you know how much of my life I have spent listening to my parents complain about tanking in the NBA?? Please, numbers people, save me!! 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/tank...

Just reposting this essay I wrote about learning more about the universe and adjusting my language accordingly for no particular reason today. (PS if Pluto is a planet then so are Eris and Makemake and Haumea and Ceres and and and... More planets! More!!) 🔭🧪 www.narratively.com/p/pluto-tran...

Candy Hansen-Koharcheck was one of my favorite people to interview. She died last month, after nearly 50 years in planetary science. I wrote about her enthusiasm for capturing cosmic wonder and sharing it with everyone on Earth, for @sciencenews.bsky.social: www.sciencenews.org/article/spac...

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This article includes one of the wildest phrases I've ever had the delight of reading: "solidified blocks of 50,000-year-old regurgitated stomach oil from Antarctic Snow Petrels" 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/poop...

As biologist M. Picard wrote in the June 2025 issue of Scientific American, “Mitochondria communicate, both within their own cells and among other cells, reaching out to support one another in times of need and generally helping the community flourish.” We’re proud to help @sciam.bsky.social thrive!

For example, a telltale sign of an unhealthy mitochondrion is an irregular inner membrane folding pattern. But when in contact with with other mitochondria, those folds realign into a healthier pattern.

Mitochondria are dynamic. They can morph from one shape to another, swell and contract, and even divide and recombine. Recent research has revealed complex interactions between mitochondria.

As Siekevitz put it, “Some of the energy of ATP is used in the mitochondrion, but most of the ATP is immediately shot out to power the other activities of the cell.”

Mitochondria are widely known as the “powerhouse of the cell,” a phrase popularized by an article from P. Siekevitz in the July 1957 issue of Scientific American. The nickname reflects their ability to convert oxygen and foodstuffs into ATP—a form of usable energy.

Why did the Scientific American union choose mitochondria as our symbol? A key part of working at @sciam.bsky.social is caring about getting good science to people. To that end, please enjoy some mitochondria fun facts! 1/🧵

So delighted to be in a union with the kind of nerds who want to share fun mitochondria facts with the world!

This whole thread on the Met Gala is great, of course, but wanted to highlight this post and the following in particular.

Here’s how the AI Boom, such as it is, has impacted my life: it has been used as an excuse to lay off my friends for bot equivalents that never came. It has made mass culture and art immeasurably worse. I have a stalker with AI psychosis. So, no, I don’t more data centers. I want less of all that.

We’ve been told @springernature.com brought in a union-busting consultant to ensure @sciam.bsky.social workers get "accurate information" about unions. If that’s the point, why are they fighting to keep our members from even being part of the process? Stop union-busting!

As @springernature.com continues to employ tired and costly union-busting tactics, we just wanted to say we’re so grateful to all the subscribers, scientists and journalists who’ve reached out and said they’ll stand with us as we fight to ensure @sciam.bsky.social lasts another 180 years. Thank you!

Did you catch @alieward.bsky.social and I being nerds about Antarctica on @ologies.bsky.social yet? Nerd out here: www.alieward.com/ologies/anta... ...then go stream my new PBS series LIFE UNEARTHED to see Antarctica up close! www.pbs.org/show/life-un... 🧪 🦠 #scicomm

And there’s more—we’ve met the company’s labor consultant. The NLRB has cited union-buster Ronn English for his “glaring lack of credibility” and he is associated with a firm that spreads QAnon conspiracy theories. He also explained basic arithmetic to our staffers—come on!!

Happy May Day! It’s been a busy week for SciAm Union’s mighty mitochondria. In good news, @springernature.com formally responded to our demand for voluntary recognition. But disappointingly, instead of working with us directly they are dragging their feet and calling in the NLRB.

I feel like we’re willing to make Pluto a planet again, at least provisionally, if they’re willing to fund astrophysics. I’d say $100 billion/year is reasonable But if you keep cutting our budgets, I swear we’ll keep eliminating them. Hope you like a three planet solar system!

When radioactivity was discovered, there was a rush to market for all sorts of radioactive consumer goods. There were water jugs made out of uranium glass, for example. I think about that a lot these days whenever I see AI products being marketed to consumers.

SUPPORT THESE DATA CENTERS {from Magic City Books magiccitybooks.com }

Social media is no longer social. Most of it is passive viewing of videos and pictures from people we've never met. But we're still studying social media like it's 2010. We've entered the post-social media era — and research needs to catch up. osf.io/preprints/so... preprint w/ Richard Rogers

Workers deserve transparency and respect, not intimidation. We demand Springer Nature work with us directly and voluntarily recognize our union instead of wasting SciAm’s staff time and resources on meetings like these.

The SciAm Union is disappointed that @springernature.com dragged our colleagues into a last minute meeting this morning with the notorious union-busting law firm Littler Mendelson (the same one Starbucks and Amazon hire 👀)

Today is Earth Day. Two weeks ago, humans saw the Earth from the moon for the first time in 54 years. I wanted to know what historians were thinking about the moment, and the images we all loved so much. 🧪 🌍

Happy Earth Day! 🌍 We've got several stories @sciam.bsky.social, including a look I took at where some blast-from-the-past environmental issues stand. (Hint: not all are in the past, though there has definitely been progress.) 🧪

Hey Bluesky! 👋🦋 We’ve been reading your replies about our paywall, and we’re listening. We want to share why it’s there—and an easy, low-cost way to read more. TL;DR: You can unlock every Scientific American article for 90 days for just $1 spklr.io/6003EyRIR More context below 🧵 1/6

We're blown away by all the solidarity with and love for our announcement! If you'd like to read more about why we're unionizing, check out this press release from @wgaeast.bsky.social. Excited to share where we go from here!

If you need me, tough, I'm busy huffing my neighbor's lilacs until I feel like a human being again.

Happy new issue day! The May issue of Scientific American goes deep on heart disease, weird magnets, the science of luxury and so much more. Dive in here: www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/202...

Hey, look at Substack promoting Andrew Tate as the #1 new bestseller. The company's amoral leadership & backers will platform anyone, even ludicrously toxic rapists & human traffickers.