I just tried to highlight a section of text in a PDF about deep-sea mining regulations and I accidentally clicked "Generate Image" instead of highlight and I HATE AI I HATE IT I DON'T WANT AN IMAGE OF WHATEVER THIS IS IN MY PDF PLEASE MAKE THE AI GO AWAY

Can we get directions to the ones that are still in need of defacement

This is also how I learned today that when deep-sea ecologists find just one individual of a species at single sampling location during an expedition (which apparently happens often, the deep-sea has high species diversity but low abundance), they call it a SINGLETON. 😭

Spending my Sunday reading about the BBL community

This fall marks 25 years of continuous human life in space aboard the ISS. This feature was delayed a bit by the government shutdown, but now it's finally time to celebrate. Check out what NASA's learned from the last quarter century:

The folks at @nyutandon.bsky.social asked me to write a feature for their annual magazine. It was a pleasure talking to a really diverse group of scientists and engineers there and trying to grab hold of the common thread that ties all their research together. 🐦🐝🦴

I love writing book reviews. If you'd told 10-year-old me I'd be getting paid to read books I got in the mail I simply would not have believed you.

I just listened to the audio version of this story and it played a liberty mutual emu ad first 😭

"Recognized by AI" not a selling point 😭

If he didn't name it the Borealis idek what to say

Scientists long assumed that inactive vents, without the mineral-rich plumes that make active vents so mesmerizing, didn’t host unique lifeforms. “It turns out that we just weren’t looking very closely,” says marine biologist Jason Sylvan. www.biographic.com/life-finds-a...

Air fryer?? I was told there's no air in space.

Why would I want 37g of protein in my Starbucks latte 😭

Oh and even better, here are JFK's post-speech action items, if someone knows how to get these to him?

We've been putting old speeches and mission recordings into Otter for an upcoming podcast series and its so funny to see the AI try to do a meeting summary of like, JFK's Moon speech

Unironically I LOVE getting my features fact checked. You are so right, mallard ducks and quails do sometimes eat insects. Saved me from looking like a fool in front of the birders 🦆

I adore a good editor's note. This one is hall of fame worthy (from the @wired.com story on cybertruck owners)

Do we really want 250,000 mirrored satellites in Low Earth Orbit? Hasn't the Starlink megaconstellation already done enough damage? 🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social

I need someone to explain to me who on earth wants this. And how its creators can convince me that it could possibly do anything other than harm.

This is a really lovely museum. Now I want to go back and see the ship in its new digs 🛶

Scientists in the Bay Area have gotten corals to spawn in a lab at the same time they do in the wild in Australia. One of their tools: LED lights that simulate sunrises, sunsets, and even moonlight.

ScienceWriters2025 will take place in Chicago, November 7-9 sciencewriters2025.org North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science. Early bird registration ending Oct. 1

I'm heading to Acadia in a week to visit my sister who works there. It's peak leaf season and the fee collection staff will be furloughed, but the park will stay open with (unpaid) essential staff cleaning bathrooms, etc. Seems crazy the park could lose out on $1.5 million in revenue to this...

And finally, this story from @christianelliott.me taught me everything I didn't know that I didn't know about the reproductive habits of cold-water corals. For months during the reporting and editing process, I talked about coral sex at parties.

Honored to have made it into this always fantastic anthology as a "Notable" for my piece in Hakai Magazine (one of the last features the magazine published) about cold-water coral research in Chile. @pulitzercenter.org @biographic.bsky.social

I made the "notables" list! The Best Science and Nature Writing of 2025 is available starting October 21. What a huge honor to be in the company of so many amazing journalists. 😊

Egregious to leave out the worm

You interact with technology created by NASA every day. You can check out how on this fun interactive site

Speaking of, cool to see NASA listed as one of the Webby Awards most iconic companies in internet history today!

A little blast from the past... NASA's website has come a loooong way 🖱️

NASA’s Perseverance rover found potential biosignatures in a rock sample named Sapphire Canyon from Mars’ Jezero Crater. The rock shows minerals and organic molecules possibly linked to ancient microbial life collected in July 2024 from an ancient river valley. Further analysis is needed to confirm.

Impossible instruction. If the force I apply is correct it by definition cannot be excessive, right??

I want to believe

My Friday newsletter for @niemanstoryboard.org: Featuring @jasonkpargin.bsky.social, @tromano.bsky.social, @christianelliott.me, @timherrera.bsky.social @rusty.todayintabs.com, @jiatolentino.bsky.social, @indiejournalists.bsky.social, @transjournalists.org niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/05/l...

Amusing how 99% of people using LLMs forget how these things work: They are advanced probability machines. They generate the next most likely token (word) based in the input and their training. Under the hood, it’s a giant matrix multiplication that has eerily good output.

wrote about really interesting new research about how technology that removes PFAS from drinking water also can remove other carcinogenic chemicals:

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Chicago this fall!

Because it is the best

enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits

Given the state of our long-term planning, this'll register like a fart in a hurricane, but also it kind of is, because in this scenario, we will already be experiencing so many other catastrophic systems failures that there won't be much of human civilization left.

'Until I get that request from that guy, I’m not going to do anything about it.' Trump says he won’t fund invasive carp barrier unless Pritzker 'asks.' But the money has already been set aside. And officials from his administration visited the project site last month. For @chicagotribune.com:

Chicago has the most lead pipes in the nation. We mapped them all. Here's what the data reveals about who's most at risk. grist.org/accountabili... #Maps #IL #Chicago #Illinois #Lead #Toxic #Pollution #Health #Children

Oh my god I've never felt seen to this degree thank you @alexlaughs.bsky.social / @defector.com, reading this is cathartic (and deeply depressing)

We just got some fan mail for NASA's Curious Universe podcast that absolutely made our team's week 🥹

I have to know what the cookie means Pips #9 Easy 🟢 0:14 🍪

It's a rough time for journalism, podcasts and science, but reviews like this from listeners keep us going:

NASA's holding a contest to have people design a zero gravity indicator stuffed animal that will be fabricated at the Thermal Blanket Lab and fly to the Moon on Artemis II next year. The 25 finalists were just revealed and they are SO adorable!!!

Every tech update now is like: "Great news, the word processor you've relied on for twenty years has learned to juggle! Is it good at it? No! Does it help in any way? Of course not! Has it made it insufferable to use? Oh, absolutely."

What a blow to Antarctic research in the US and all of us in the international Antarctic science community that rely on the logistical and intellectual infrastructure - sending strength to colleagues affected this 🌊

Getting some seriously mixed signals here