This year's gingerbread is the Vera Rubin Observatory! @vrubinobs.bsky.social

This is what it took to shame Kristi Noem into letting an Irish green card holder who bouncing $80 in 2 checks 10 years ago free after 5 months in detention: A veteran, Trump-voting spouse 9 US descendants Letter signed by 18 Senators 30 character witnesses www.star-telegram.com/news/nation-...

Women made up 21% of faculty members in US physics departments in 2024, up from 16% a decade earlier. The percentage of women faculty members in the nation’s astronomy departments rose from 19% in 2014 to 25% in 2024. #academia #womeninscience #faculty

via The New Yorker, Ellis Rosen cartoon

Electrifying development on EelTok @erinbiba.bsky.social

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

This story has everything: fake press releases, fabricated data, former NJ governor Chris Christie...check it out!

having a normal day in a normal country

Here’s a link to a playlist of amazing, funny, moving, stories from the workshop. I promise you it’s worth the click. It was a treat for my soul to hear these live from incredible scientists, journalists and communicators www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Last month I had the amazing opportunity to attend a storytelling workshop by Transom Story Lab. It’s so scary to stand up there with no notes 🫣 huge thanks to @scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org and Transom for giving me the training and the courage to tell my story youtu.be/MM3-S55LGAw?...

Do you have questions about that $1.6 million hepatitis study in Guinea-Bissau? My story answers (almost) all of them. Who are the Danish researchers leading this study? Why are they criticized by mainstream scientists and the Danish media? www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

Always shocking when a notable person follows you but never engages and it’s like ah shit the head of astrophysics was just silently reading all my posts about how Shao Kahn uses the toilet

I remember writing years ago about a then-new initiative by Amazon to disrupt local government procurement of things like office and school supplies. Turns out Amazon's become very popular with school districts, and it's using dynamic pricing to rip those schools off. prospect.org/2025/12/17/a...

NSF is about to dismantle NCAR at Russell Vought's direction to protect the fossil fuel industry. It's hard to communicate just how much NCAR does, so let's take a look: I've never worked at NCAR, and I've worked with NCAR researchers once ever. What scientific discoveries has NCAR made possible? 👇

One of the biggest moments of my career: USCIS canceled my client’s naturalization oath ceremony. We filed a lawsuit, went to trial, and the judge swore him in right there in the courtroom!

These are understandable concerns, given all that has happened at NSF, so I think it's worth addressing. Here is the exact language about internal reviews: "in those rare circumstances when an ad hoc or panel review request process fails to produce the minimum of two external reviews."

turtle’s first Christmas tree

Bovino, the man overseeing mass deportations, publicly declared that we must all have our papers on us, at all times, or we could be stopped, harassed, kidnapped, and detained, as they did with the man in this case, who is a US citizen.

And the prime minister resigned as a result www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/w...

How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device? (Ok the headline is slightly misleading as it was a Pu RTG, but this is the best write up of this incident I think I’ve seen). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

"Taking care of plants is my way to do hands-on science every day and remember that science is actually part of the real world, it doesn't just exist on your computer." Find out more about Amanda at #HumansOfLIGO: humansofligo.blogspot.com/2025/12/aman... 🧪🔭

Pardon me, but *holy shit* chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...

Just one final thing - someone filmed some of my departure speech after Monkey Cage last night (I should make it clear no one knew I was going to do it) and it has been put up here - i cannot deny i was very emotional #science #comedy www.chortle.co.uk/news/2025/12...

Unfortunately, under our Kavanaugh Stops regime, it is entirely rational for anyone who appears Hispanic to carry proof of citizenship at all times. The worst part is that it might not be enough: ICE/CBP keep arresting people who have proof of citizenship, refusing to accept its validity.

🧩 Available now! The latest episode of the Stress Puzzle podcast with Dr. Danielle King and host @ryanlinnbrown.bsky.social focused on the challenges of conceptualizing and measuring resilience. Listen now: www.stressmeasurement.org/podcast/epis... #psychscisky #resilience #socialpsych #scicomm

A decade of conservation work has kept the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list. But now, in the heart of a sage grouse stronghold in southeast Oregon, there’s a new threat looming from mining companies that want to drill for lithium, a valuable metal in batteries.

A thread about the contributions of pioneering astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, born #OTD in 1863. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🔭

MAGAZINER: How many veterans have you deported? NOEM: We haven't deported veterans MAGAZINER: We are now joined on Zoom by a combat veteran you deported to Korea

My takeaways from the American Society of Hematology conference: science is cool, puppies are cute, and Big Pharma is not worried about the chaos at the FDA (while smaller companies suffer). Check out my wrap-up here!

Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...

Don’t look away. sahanjournal.com/immigration/...

Thinking back to how people were "hysterical" for calling trump white supremacist and now he's doing nordic theory on the campaign trail

Proud to be supporting @rephaleystevens.bsky.social in filing articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. WE NEED YOUR HELP for the long fight ahead of us. Go to standupforscience.net/impeach-rfkjr and sign your name to our petition! stevens.house.gov/media/press-...

I'm very excited and honoured to announce my new position 🧪🔭 in the UK, starting in January! See here for more info: www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...

Webb breaks its own record by identifying the earliest supernova to date, a star that exploded when the Universe was only 730 million years old. To astronomers' surprise, this early supernova looks exactly like modern supernovae based on data gathered so far 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭🧪

some guy zoomed past me today right as I was about to cross the road. He was clearly not watching for pedestrians but thankfully i was pretty alert. So we’ve all avoided a news cycle about how evil immigrant women are denting beautiful american cars

So, it's Monday, and there's no way to say this that doesn't sound stupid, so I'm just going to come out and say it: I've decided to Twitch stream the entire writing of an NIH R01 proposal, and you can follow along at twitch.tv/ColinDoesScience

In 2021 when twitter was still twitter a journalist reached out to me about finding an outside comment for a story about launching trash into space as a waste disposal strategy. I promised I’d find someone who would be a good source and promptly forgot about it (sorry!!) Some months later I moved to

just climbing the wall nbd

My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.” Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?

A male rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) in winter plumage. Ptarmigan is from Gaelic 'tarmachan' meaning "croaker". The p- was added when people mistakenly assumed it was a Greek word. A bird forever warning people: "A werewolf!" (just in case of werewolves).

has anyone else noticed that food tasted better in the past? it was mushy and easy to eat. and the spoon would come at you like an airplane

IMPORTANTLY: Be honest with yourself about what you don't understand. Doesn't matter why you don't know. Could be something that was really unfair/not your fault. Racism in the classroom, sexist study groups, whatever. Go to therapy to deal with it! Don't let your pain be a barrier to your learning.

Klahhane may not be the biggest goat in the herd, but keepers say he’s the calm, confident personality everyone follows. Klahhane is named after Klahhane Ridge in Olympic National Park, the same area where he and other goats were translocated from as part of a conservation effort.

NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month. This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory! Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...

I realize I've been posting about my book a lot and want to share why 🧵 1. It's fucking hard to write a book and getting this one to the finish line with everything happening in my life has been a huge accomplishment for me. I'm excited. 2. Now is a hard time to get a book into circulation. Because

This evening's thought to ponder from Maggies Farm. How it all began.

Federal Government Announces Racial Profiling Campaign, Explains It’s Because of the President’s Personal Bigotry