Alex Music
@alexmusicwrites.bsky.social
Writer, journalist, and geographer based in Brooklyn. Currently reporting @spectrum.ieee.org and socials-ing @theopennotebook.bsky.social (plus various other hats) | AAAS MMF ‘25 🐛 she/they https://linktr.ee/alexmusicwrites
McClatchy, whose titles include The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, executed its most severe layoffs in years on Thursday, cutting newsroom staff at some papers by upwards of 40%. www.poynter.org/business-wor...
McClatchy cuts more than 90 staff in its most severe layoffs in years - Poynter
At least 13 papers — including The Miami Herald, The Sacramento Bee and The Kansas City Star — lost reporters
poynter.org
A new GAO report reveals how funding cancellations may weaken long-term U.S. chip innovation, though manufacturing incentives are panning out
GAO Warns CHIPS R&D Stall Could Cost U.S. Chip Leadership
Commerce has only spent 5% of $11 billion research fund
spectrum.ieee.org
New research shows earthquake sensors can “hear” a hurricane, providing data that could complement existing tools for modeling the intense storms.
Earthquake Sensors Quietly Listen In On Hurricane Chaos
Hurricane modeling could improve with repurposed tech
spectrum.ieee.org
Are you an early-career or student scientist interested in science communication? Want to go to #SciWri26? Apply for @comscicon.bsky.social's workshop by 8/28! Fellows get: ➡️ Travel support ➡️ Mentorship ➡️ @sciencewriters.org membership ➡️ A byline on CASW.org docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
More than 1,000 people protested outside tech company headquarters and congressional offices across 20 states this week in a coordinated effort called “Dump Big Tech.” Earlier this month, New York and Texas became the first states to ban data centers. spectrum.ieee.org/new-york-dat...
New York last month became the first state to place a moratorium on data centers, with Texas following suit on Monday. In my reporting for @spectrum.ieee.org, I found that NY’s power grid is in crisis, but blaming the state’s data centers is a mischaracterization. spectrum.ieee.org/new-york-dat...
Will New York’s Data Center Ban Calm Energy Fears?
State’s electricity woes are driven largely by other factors
spectrum.ieee.org
Our new book, The Best Science Stories and How They Work, by the numbers: 📃 208 pages 🔭 11 annotated science stories 👥 22 authors and annotators 📰 11 original publications Available now! www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci...
The Best Science Stories and How They Work: A Collection with Commentary - The Open Notebook
An invitation to engage with some of today’s most respected science journalists as they take readers beneath the surface to tell the stories behind eleven of the best science stories.
theopennotebook.com
Incredible reporting by Zoe Beketova, '26, copublished on @thexylom.com and @thenation.com on the healthcare crisis older people face in US prisons: www.thexylom.com/post/washing...
‘We Are Such A Punitive Country’: America’s ‘Death by Incarceration’ Machine
America’s prison population is aging into disability and disease. Understaffed clinics and delayed treatments turn serving life into a death sentence: as the system breaks down, the logic behind decad...
thexylom.com
🚨 Last day to register! We’re so excited to host our editing workshop on 8/21 before #OWAA26 in Madison, WI, this year. Grab your spot while you still can! www.theopennotebook.com/editing-fore...
Editing Forensics: Hands-On Workshop to Strengthen Editing and Writing - The Open Notebook
Great writing depends on great editing—and great editing is a skill that can be learned. In this highly interactive 6-hour workshop offered in partnership with the Outdoor Writers Association of…
theopennotebook.com
Tiny Sleep Patch Could Track Brain's Nightly Cleansing Ritual
Tiny Sleep Patch Could Track Brain's Nightly Cleansing Ritual
Monitoring the elusive activity of the glymphatic system could aid Alzheimer’s research
spectrum.ieee.org
So excited about this! It’s been a blast planning and producing social content around our new book. Thank you to the whole TON team, the authors, annotators, and everyone behind the scenes!
The Open Notebook@theopennotebook.bsky.social · 2mo agoOur new book is out today! Edited by our own @siricarpenter.bsky.social, the collection contains 11 exemplary science stories with commentary. Thank you to our authors and annotators, @sloanfoundation.bsky.social, and @uchicagopress.bsky.social. Order here: www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci...
Out tomorrow! 🍾 Here’s a sneak peak at some excerpts from our new book, The Best Science Stories and How They Work. Pre-order through @uchicagopress.bsky.social using code UCPNEW for a 30% discount. 🧵 www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci...
The Best Science Stories and How They Work: A Collection with Commentary - The Open Notebook
An invitation to engage with some of today’s most respected science journalists as they take readers beneath the surface to tell the stories behind eleven of the best science stories.
theopennotebook.com
AI Turns DNA Into Tiny Dogs and Mona Lisa Nanostructures
AI Turns DNA Into Tiny Dogs and Mona Lisa Nanostructures
Generative AI model designs DNA origami for any shape
spectrum.ieee.org
New Science & Community Impacts Mapping Project (#SCIMaP) analysis on the impact of the WH plan to eliminate NSF's Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences directorate. @malar0ne.bsky.social @asinclair.bsky.social @cl10.bsky.social @alexmusicwrites.bsky.social scienceimpacts.org/insights/SBE...
New for @spectrum.ieee.org: A generative AI model allows researchers to create nanoscale “origami” structures of any shape using DNA, with some super creative examples. spectrum.ieee.org/ai-dna-origami
AI Turns DNA Into Tiny Dogs and Mona Lisa Nanostructures
Generative AI model designs DNA origami for any shape
spectrum.ieee.org
nyc giving out free KN95s at these public libraries (for the wildfire smoke on its way, but like, let’s do this all the time) www.nyc.gov/site/em/abou...
NEW: Kenya has never had an Ebola case. However, a planned quarantine facility exclusively serving Americans exposed to the virus in Africa has sparked massive protests, leading to a deadly police crackdown. “Why can’t the facility be in America?” asked Lucy Kagure, mother of a killed protester.
Kenya Has No Ebola. But Trump’s Planned Quarantine Facility Has Already Claimed Its First Life
The American government’s decision to build an Ebola quarantine facility over 700 miles away from the outbreak sparked protests, legal concerns, and the untimely death of a teenage boy.
thexylom.com
As extreme summer heat puts strain on power grids, these air conditioners actually take load off. They shift to battery power for short periods of time, taking themselves off the grid when utilities need a little help.
How a Power Bank Can Turn Your AC Into a Grid Superhero
Home heating and cooling units switch to battery when grids are strained.
spectrum.ieee.org
The Chinese money plant might understand geometry better than you. Scientists have discovered its leaves display a clever pattern that hints at a new explanation for how some plant veins can develop. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chinese-money-plant-leaves-voronoi-pattern
Chinese money plant leaves hide a mathematical pattern
Tiny water-secreting pores appear to organize the major veins of the plant leaves into an arrangement known as a Voronoi diagram.
sciencenews.org
New for @sciencenews.bsky.social: Researchers found that the leaves of the Chinese money plant display a geometric pattern called a Voronoi diagram. But the traditional explanation for how leaf veins form couldn’t explain why. www.sciencenews.org/article/chin...
Chinese money plant leaves hide a mathematical pattern
Tiny water-secreting pores appear to organize the major veins of the plant leaves into an arrangement known as a Voronoi diagram.
sciencenews.org
My first article as an intern with Spectrum!
IEEE Spectrum@spectrum.ieee.org · 3mo agoGene Therapy and Sound Waves Team up to Steady Failing Hearts
The Miami Herald adds Amaia Gavica to launch Surviving Miami, covering affordability, traffic and quality of life with solutions for residents in South Florida.
Herald launches ‘Surviving Miami’ beat with addition of reporter Amaia Gavica
The Miami Herald adds Amaia Gavica to launch Surviving Miami, covering affordability, traffic and quality of life with solutions for residents in South Florida.
bit.ly
I’m in June’s @sciam.bsky.social! I love stories about math in nature, and the coastline paradox is one of my favorite examples. What’s new: the coastline paradox helped define fractals, but it turns out coasts are much less “fractal” than we thought. www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
The prospect of Congress approving legislation this year to ease the federal infrastructure permitting process is uncertain at best as current events and “wild card” moves by the Trump administration slow good-faith negotiations in the Senate, analysts say. cen.acs.org/policy/legis... #chemsky 🧪
In my first article for @cenmag.bsky.social, I cover where reforms to the federal infrastructure permitting process currently stand in Congress. Lawmakers across the aisle are starting to agree reforms are needed, but recent Trump administration moves are stalling debate. cen.acs.org/policy/legis...
Alex is one of my first science journalist friends— he and @thexylom.com took a chance on me when I had basically zero clips and was trying to see whether this could be a real career option for me. His work is incredible, and I’m so sad to see this happen. Support him however you can!
Alex Ip 葉清霖@alexip718.com · 4mo agoIf you're reading this, my cat and I have boarded a one-way flight out of the United States. The Trump administration wrongfully denied my work permit renewal; after months of demanding that they follow the law, we have run out of legal recourse, and I have no choice but to leave the country. (🧵)
Wildfires are burning in Georgia and Florida this week. My discussion of how Hurricane Helene from 2 years ago may be making them worse www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...
Why Hurricane Helene Affects Fires Burning In Georgia Right Now
Wildfires are ravaging parts of Georgia and northern Florida. Drought is a significant factor. Here's why Hurricane Helene may also be playing a role two years later.
forbes.com
