Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials. Then he had to get out alive. This is his story. 🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...

One of the issues that has come up again and again in my reporting on misinformation and social media is the massive influence social media companies have on research in the field. Last night a preprint dropped that tries to get at this with some numbers. My piece in @science.org (and 🧪🧵 coming):

My latest: in which I visit Oxfordshire's 'Rubbish Mountain', buy a Twirl in the country's most violent Sainsbury's, and explore the absolutely dismal response of the Environment Agency.

EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org

Fun piece for @science.org that pretty much wrote itself. Interview with AP photographer Lindsey Wasson telling the story of being the one to tell a disbelieving Mary Brunkow that she’d just won the @nobelprize.bsky.social Prize in Medicine— www.science.org/content/arti...

The proposed Horizon Europe successor has 2x the budget, but there's a controversial catch: The previously civilian-only program will be opened to "dual-use" research with defense applications. ... that's, of course, if this thing passes the EU Parliament. New from me for @science.org 🧪

Last month, 140,000 Danes found out that their genetic data was being used in a massive research project-- without their consent. I unpacked how this happened, and why it matters for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Thousands of Danes have just found out that their genetic data has been used in research for more than a decade, without their consent. Great reporting from @inampudi.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

Thousands of Danes have just found out that their genetic data has been used in research for more than a decade, without their consent. Great reporting from @inampudi.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...

“The new law will negatively affect further international collaborations of Russian chemists and other scientists, as many of them will prefer not to participate in such projects amid the fears of possible attention from security services,” says one chemist www.science.org/content/arti...

Well, this makes it real: I'm retiring in September and this is the just-posted job listing for my replacement. @Science.org is a fabulous place to work, so @sciencewriters.org, apply here! recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...

The Science Media Centre has gathered several expert reactions to the "de-extinct the moa" publicity announcement. Each is withering in a different way. www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...

“I think we desperately need to take some of the heat out of this debate,” @peteetchells.bsky.social says. “And this paper, for me, doesn’t do that. It has the potential to go the other way.” www.science.org/content/arti...

for @ScienceMagazine i spent the past year investigating a brain technology used by Indian police to determine if suspects committed a crime. the technology has been used in hundreds high-stake cases. yet it has little to no science backing. 🧵 www.science.org/content/arti...

Be sure not to miss the last bit of @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social's short, strange interview with NIH chief Jay Bhattacharya: www.science.org/content/arti...

Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine

Some new climate technologies are pretty controversial, but they could also be pretty useful; we should talk about it! To be clear, it's not a matter of convincing people; it's a matter of being in dialogue. Sounds woolly, but a number of fantastic researchers help me unpack what this involves:

One high level HHS official shown the door told Science, “I couldn’t have worked with these asshats anyway.” www.science.org/content/arti...

Overseas universities see opportunity in recruiting U.S. scientists uprooted by Trump policies. Not capitalizing on the situation “would be wasting a unique opportunity,” one specialist says. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Language is the social&cognitive air that humans breathe. It underlies our thinking, connection, education. So what happens when, as a young child, you don't get access to it? Implants can help deaf kids hear – but that's not always enough to give them language 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

🚨 @newscientist.com SCOOP: I've exclusively obtained Peter Kyle's interactions with ChatGPT using FOI laws - in what I believe may be a world-first transparency release. The chatbot said "Lack of Government or Institutional Support" slowed UK AI adoption www.newscientist.com/article/2472...

Tariffs imposed yesterday could hit researchers by raising prices for scientific equipment. My latest for Science: www.science.org/content/arti...

My latest: The mass firings at NOAA can feel abstract. Here's what was lost at one research center -- the birthplace of climate modeling. Fired staff became U.S. citizens to pursue these dream jobs, only to have their dreams upended.

Give a group of scientists the same data and the same research question, and they should come up with similar answers—in theory. But they don’t. www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social)

Absolutely cracking PAID internship for an aspiring science journalist. Great hands-on experience. London office (hybird). We particularly encourage candidates from historically underrepresented groups 🫶 springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/de-DE/Spring...

Here's one described as "an artificial intelligence powered skin cancer inspection device with design thinking". It's literally a pistol with a screen attached.

Suspicious firms are selling scientists in India "inventorship" slots on what they claim are UK patents. In reality, these academics are not buying patents but registered designs - and many of these designs are frankly bizarre... 🧵 www.science.org/content/arti...

You've heard of paper mills - but what about patent mills? @cathleenogrady.bsky.social reports on a new type of academic fraud. www.science.org/content/arti...

Federal scientist taking the Trump buyout offer? Feel free to reach out, directly to me or via Science's news tip options. We're curious about what led to your decision and what/who your department or agency may be losing. Tips on other topics welcome too! www.science.org/content/page...

NEW: ‘It’s tectonic:’ U.S. foreign aid freeze deals a blow to research around the globe | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

Just putting it out there. @science.org has lots of fabulous writers covering many fields. 🧪🔭 bsky.app/starter-pack...

“These proposed reforms are akin to trying to make more lemonade by squeezing used lemons slightly harder, rather than investing in more lemons". Great reporting from @veronikameduna.bsky.social on the latest shake-up to NZ's science system. www.science.org/content/arti...

Hundreds of scientists have urged the UK government to reconsider a new funding scheme for biomedical research, warning that the changes will lead to the closure of distinguished research units that have been around for decades. @cathleenogrady.bsky.social reports www.science.org/content/arti...

Breaking news: A 2020 paper that sparked widespread enthusiasm for hydroxychloroquine as a #COVID19 treatment has been retracted, following campaigning by scientists who alleged the research contained major scientific flaws and may have breached ethics regulations. scim.ag/4iR9bQ6

"This decision defunds Māori research and researchers by stealth" Tahu Kukutai in my latest for @science.org on cuts to the Marsden Fund, NZ's only fund for "blue-sky" research; features Paul Spoonley, @nicgaston.bsky.social et al www.science.org/content/arti...

Science Magazine is now posting on Bluesky @science.org! We’re kicking things off with this beautiful News Feature on the global food trade. Give us a follow here if you haven’t already, and stay tuned as we share more research, commentary, news, and visuals from the Science family of journals.

‪Someone used @michaelgbertram.bsky.social's name and professional identity to write dozens of fake peer reviews, in a scandal that may lead to 47 retractions. I talked to Bertram about the experience. www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Back at work after a month of parental leave - this place has really taken off! I'm part of the news team at @science.org, looking after our European coverage. There's a bunch of us here now: bsky.app/starter-pack...

Really excited to see my story on blue zones finally out. It's always such a great pleasure to work with the wonderful people of Science magazine www.science.org/content/arti...

Whenever I read about some interesting science I know little about, I go and check out what my great colleagues at Science have written about it. Thought you might want to be able to do that too, so I'm collecting the bsky accounts of Science’s news department here 🧪 go.bsky.app/DMRTWEF

The first story is up now: It’s a look at the work of @katestarbird.bsky.social and her team, who study rumors at the University of Washington, specifically rumors around the US elections. www.science.org/content/arti...

Several works by Harvard honesty researcher Francesca Gino - who is already under fire for suspected data manipulation - appear to contain passages plagiarised from books, blogs, papers & student theses.

"We’re planning to require that any published article at Psychological Science has open data, materials, and code, with exceptions in cases where that’s ethically challenging." @simine.com on her big plans for her new job: www.science.org/content/arti...

A plan to move Kew Gardens' herbarium to a distant science park is causing a furore in the plant world

Woke up and Musk's latest change (removing headlines from links) has turned all our articles into surreal clickhole posts. Masterful gambit, sir.

The subject of today's ScienceAdviser was "Crocodiles can’t resist the screams of terrified infants." Kind of says it all, doesn't it? 🐊🧪 https://www.science.org/content/article/scienceadviser-crocodiles-can-t-resist-screams-terrified-infants

Finally made it over here from The Other Place. I'm European news editor at Science - freelancers hit me up with your hot scoops on science policy and research community issues in UK/Europe. https://www.science.org/content/page/freelancer-guidelines