Mari-nerd friends can we blow up BlueSky with stars and anemones and other gorgeous explosions, of any taxonomy? Go 💥 💥 💥

I think it's time to replace "An eventful week at @Ssciam.bsky.social.." With "A terrible week at Scientific American..." Not messing with euphenisms." See comments for details.

An eventful week at Scientific American. Owner Springer Nature rushed to sell SciAm 3 days before the staff overwhelmingly voted to form a union, and laid off a lot of people. Including me. I got to work with amazing writers during my time, people who made me better. Thank-you list in comment below:

People who think your research is too tied to diversity and inclusion can sue you-- and bring along the Justice Dept as lawyers. That's in the proposed Trump Admin rule controlling research, reported in @science.org .

There's a lot of journalism layoffs going around. Here's how a union is helping a group at the big Minneapolis paper: workingpartnerships.betterworld.org/campaigns/st...

Late Sunday musing: Changed my LinkedIn status to "open to work" last week (see thumbnail for why). Suddenly flooded with invites from "executives known for transforming organizations." Big common profile phrase. If there's so much transformation, why do orgs stay the same? (Or get worse.)

Hire this awesome journalist!

Scientific American is 180 years old. The most eminent science magazine for the general public. And today, sold off as scrap to stop the staff from unionizing. Many top editors I've worked with for a decade on several articles have been fired. What a disgrace @sciam.bsky.social

Hi! This is for any Scientific American fans, a support rally in Manhattan on Tuesday. (Not as elaborate as the #Knicks parade, unfortunately. )

More on #Sciam downsizing from an outside source, journalist Maggie Fox: open.substack.com/pub/maggiefo...

An eventful week at Scientific American. Owner Springer Nature rushed to sell SciAm 3 days before the staff overwhelmingly voted to form a union, and laid off a lot of people. Including me. I got to work with amazing writers during my time, people who made me better. Thank-you list in comment below:

Wow! 🧪 How to deal with tick bites without panicking.

Worth reading this project. Framing hostile to trans people is a bad problem. I wonder about the rubric fed to the LLMs & cause/effect assumptions. # of state laws that are anti-LGBTQ+ has shot up. Stories on the laws will show up as anti-trans in the rubric. Is that bias? Or reporting on the laws?

I learned a lot about glow-in-the-dark brains and how neurons 'talk' from @adam-bowman.bsky.social . My story about his cool work is in @sciam.bsky.social profiles of Young American Scientists, just out today! Thanks, Adam, for your patient explanations! 🧪

8 years ago I edited this story by @lindy2350.bsky.social about the return of infectious diseases www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-wa.... Now @amymaxmen.bsky.social shows US policy has made things worse: in Utah measles regularly bring death and tears.🧪 kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...

Aww. Sad news. In memory of Anthony Head, here's a fav quote from his character Giles on #Buffy the Vampire Slayer: “Demons after money. Whatever happened to the still beating heart of a virgin. No one has any standards any more.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/05/a...

Elle Cordova takes on Virginia Woolf on Tiktok-- with a baaad beat! vm.tiktok.com/ZT92HAhXaWTP...

www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

The high # of people already infected by Ebola will shock you. 🧪 www.linkedin.com/posts/lauren...

Somehow, I’m not particularly worried. 🧪 “Here, we introduce Robin, the first multi-agent system capable of fully automating both hypothesis generation and data analysis for experimental biology.” 1/2 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This may be one of the worst health articles I've read. "Let's scare you to death and then tell you there's probably nothing to worry about." Ick. #medsky

Starbucks is selling protein-enhancing lattes. (I tried one. If you like gritty froth...) Pop-Tarts boasts of extra protein too. But this craze for extra protein in extra-processed foods isn't that healthy, @beebrookshire.bsky.social reports now in @sciam.bsky.social. 🧪 #medsky Read why:

Hello, Bluesky! We, the staff of Scientific American, are pleased to announce we have formed a union with @wgaeast.bsky.social. Just as mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, we are the powerhouse of the publication, and we’re excited to have a new way to contribute to its success.

Today's a day to remember the amazing success of the polio vaccine. It conquered both a disease and fear. www.linkedin.com/posts/kevin-... 🧪

There's an important new idea about the cause of heart disease--and there's a way to treat it and save lives. @sciam.bsky.social is having a webinar on it on April 16. Join me & @tanyalewis.bsky.social & @sethfletcher.bsky.social at 1pm, 4/16, at www.scientificamerican.com/page/events/

Cephalopods don't get no respect.

Go @jojofoshosho.bsky.social !

A blessing on public libraries, who--unlike tech companies--serve communities in so many ways beyond lending books.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz made an unannounced visit to the Everglades concentration camp where she describes the inhumane conditions she witnessed.

🧪 Microplastics and health news from @sciam.bsky.social

More weight loss, fewer needles: New GLP-1 pill just approved by FDA. Foundayo pill will go head to head against the Wegovy pill for weight loss and diabetes. Private insurance could make the cost $25/month. Read the news from @laurenjyoung.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social 🧪 #medsky

Orca are chomping salmon all around lamprey but Orca don't recognize lamprey's host as food because their echolocation is confused by lamprey's presence!! Orca can't detect chinook's swimbladder with Lamprey attached!! #2026MMM ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/m...

Just watched TCU Horned Frogs knock Washington Huskies out of March Madness. Key science question: why does Texas call them frogs (amphibians) when they are really lizards (reptiles)? I mean, it's a big difference, and Horned Lizard is a cool name. So what's up, Texas science? 🧪

Its a #FroggyFriday!

More on the CDC vaccine advisory panel (ACIP). Robert Malone (RFKjr-appointed ACIP member) was wrong yesterday when he said the panel was disbanded. But RFKjr hasn't told the public what he intends to do after a court ruled he violated the law with his appointments.

Breaking from @sciam.bsky.social : ACIP, the CDC's crucial vaccine advisory panel, may be totally disbanded by the Trump Administration, its former vice chair says.🧪 #medsky

One day you’re just a guy, and the next you’re King Sammy I, emperor of the robot vacuums

Mathematicians at Scientific American take on March Madness basketball: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

More evidence that Trump Rx is not cheap. Its prescriptions charge more than you'd pay in the UK, for the same drugs. To be fair, any medical care in US costs more. But evidence shows the White House is offering worse help than the ACA. Reuters story share.google/4FXTdC15h603...

Would you be happy in polyamory? Relationships with several people at the same time? 1000s are, according to Rebecca Lester, psychotherapist and anthropologist. It's tied to American values about liberty. Not an excuse to sleep around. Listen to the @sciam.bsky.social interview: 🧪

Justice sure took a long while… apnews.com/article/henr...

Fly to the complex molecular gas in the centre of the #MilkyWay!🧑‍🚀 In this chaotic and extreme environment, stars don’t necessarily form in the same way as they do in the Milky Way’s outskirts. But new ALMA observations will probe how stars evolve there. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2603/ 🔭🧪

The Age of Reptiles: How One Mural Changed The Way The World Saw Dinosaurs 🧪🌿🌎🪶🐡 #dinosaurs #paleontology open.substack.com/pub/alwaysso...

Now, if Kansas cops pull over a driver who looks like a man but their drivers license says "female," will cops be suspicious and detain them? Simply for being who they are and obeying this new Kansas law?

Vaughn Cooper’s new Scientific American article offers a clear look at the potential threats posed by mirror‑life. He trained with MGI's Rich Lenski @relenski.bsky.social, whose contributions to the field are referenced in the piece. Important context for a complex topic.

What happens when the person being watched and discriminated against is you? www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-chil...

@vscooper.micropopbio.org hi Vaughn. Would it be more accurate, in the subhed, if we changed "are close" to "are moving closer"?