Beautiful and revelatory map:

"Organizers promise 850,000 fireworks in roughly 40 minutes over the National Mall this Saturday. I did what a mathematician does with a big number: I divided." Excellent piece: chadtopaz.com/essays/firew...

Scientists created a synthetic cell that feeds, grows and reproduces. We did this quick piece with some animations to show you how it works tinyurl.com/muhecan5 (gift link)

This is a gorgeous piece. There is simple beauty around you that we cannot yet show. One of my most vivid childhood memories is of seeing flameback woodpeckers for the first time. They are an intense, luminous gold - framed in red, black and white - that I couldn't believe existed in real life.

For all you birdwatchers, here's an interactive plot showing species whose colours cannot be accurately shown on screens. Courtesy @moultano.bsky.social , who very kindly shared his data compilation. www.mridulkthomas.com/undisplayabl...

Incredible—and turns out it's a "philosophical treatise on ethics." scrollprize.org/firstscroll

Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!

Fantastic reporting, and clear visual examples, of the danger posed to pedestrians by bigger and bigger trucks with huge blind spots www.nytimes.com/interactive/... from @mhkeller.bsky.social

Since I did do my PhD in cyanobacteria growth and treatment optimization modeling AND work in the water treatment industry, I’m gonna share my theory as to what’s happening here and how to fix it. People are focusing on the painted bottom of the pool increasing residual heat, and while that 1/19

"The court classified Google as a direct infringer because the "AI overview" is its own content, not just a list of search results. Google's AI overviews had falsely tied two publishing companies to scams... [A]t Google's scale, it means millions of wrong answers every hour"

Today was another day when I thought to myself: "I really really love NYC." Sitting in public library with 85 people who came out on the Saturday (when they could be doing anything else) to discuss the life of Martin Sostre. It was a diverse group of people. Folks came out to be and learn together.

For anyone thinking the scientists in question did anything to merit getting kicked out, it’s on video. They are literally just calmly handing out printouts as folks walk by. I guess ADA will also kick out all the exhibitors in its exhibit? www.youtube.com/shorts/vpTTQ...

The Fred Rogers Production has started uploading every episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for free. www.youtube.com/@misterroger...

This is beautifully illustrated: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Joke's on you Copilot, I've been creating Word documents with just my words since before you were born

#OTD June 5 2012, i took pictures of the transit of Venus materials needed -- binoculars, sheet of paper, camera result -- priceless your next opportunity will be December 10, 2117 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit... #space

This is terrific reporting: www.wired.com/story/meta-s...

"“You either enjoy looking at the world or you wander through it without seeing it" www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Imagine becoming the world expert on a topic, making a major contribution to its scholarship and correcting its historical record. This video somehow does all that while also being super charming and delightful! m.youtube.com/watch?v=kL1P...

Just what the world needs: less information about what's happening to the oceans.

"By dismantling such a system, we push the United States back yet again into a rear seat in global scientific leadership.”

This is bad. Bad for researchers. Bad for science. Bad for universities. Bad for professional associations. For example: 1. Every award would be vetted by political appointees, who could overrule peer reviewers and deny the award if it doesn't advance the president's priorities. 1/🧵

Extremely cold takes: The sound of music is a great movie.

This is what the internet was made for.

On NSF’s postdoc page, the biology and earth science fields have been completely eliminated; the only remaining fellowships are in math, astronomy, engineering, and “entrepreneurship.” Weird choice not to support research on the life support system for 8 billion people. www.nsf.gov/funding/post...

Divorce, by occupations: flowingdata.com/2026/05/07/d... Actuaries, professional estimators of risk and very on brand, are the outlier with the lowest rate.

Great visual explainer by Agnes Chang and @pablorobles.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Using the rules of linear perspective to combat ai slop can I get a hell yeah

A limerick. Based on a true story.

It's pub day at last! Here's what I've been up to, and (of course) what an animal has to say about it: elizabethgpreston.substack.com/p/how-to-brood 🧪

4. Meanwhile, detainee deaths at ICE facilities are skyrocketing. From 2018 to 2024, the average number of people who died in ICE custody annually was 8.9. Since ICE stopped medical reimbursements on October 3, 2025, people have been dying in ICE custody at a rate of 51.7 people annually.

On ladders. From The Comfort Book by Matt Haig.

Fascinating piece about a piece of the early social web that endures www.anildash.com/2026/04/30/a...

Fascinating and very insightful piece by @tonyzador.bsky.social about how we lose understanding when AI does science for us. www.thetransmitter.org/machine-lear...

It's the end of poetry month so still time to share this brilliant poem from my now-13-y.o.. He wrote it at the early days COVID lockdown in April 2020 when he was a 1st grader, frustrated about writing poetry.

"On the internet, if you stop speaking: you disappear. And, by corollary: on the internet, you only notice the people who are speaking nonstop." notes.andymatuschak.org/Work_with_th...

A couple of people wanted the math for the relativity calculations for GPS, so a very brief version is below:

Post Office Momence, IL

Time for a new edition of my Feynman Diagram Bauhaus! minouette.etsy.com/listing/1143... #linocut #sciart #printmaking #quantumMechanics #physics

Glaciers had one of their worst years in 2025: 👉 408 billion tonnes of ice mass lost 👉 ≈1.1 mm added to global sea levels 👉 6 of the 7 worst years have happened in the past 7 yrs Since 1975: ~9,600 billion tonnes gone (≈26.4 mm SLR) This isn’t a gradual change... www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Earth. In the dark. From Artemis II.

Poetry "is about looking seriously at the world and seeing what’s right in front of you, but you’ve forgotten to notice." www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This video [ tinyurl.com/bs8ytpap ] is just 1min 32sec long. But behind it lies a great deal of work: mapping, coding, interviews, data processing, 3D printing, and even manual labor—painting the model. Take a look to the final piece in the link above. 🚀🌝 To the moon and beyond!

Kelsey Young, Artemis Science Officer hears that the crew saw impact flashes.

This is extremely worth watching right now as Artemis is an hour away from its closest approach to the Moon 🌖 m.youtube.com/watch?v=z-j1...

Watch 1 minute and 50 seconds of the Artemis II launch from the Orion capsule, including booster separation and adapter panel jettison... ...set to "No Time for Caution" from the Interstellar score.