Tessera

Hey energy friends - I have a solar question. I'm looking for the energy an acre of solar panels can generate. I thought it would be easy, but I'm getting dodgy references, and government sites not working. If you have a good reference for that number, I'd sure appreciate it! 🙏

It boggles the mind that Calley Means is accusing @marionnestle.bsky.social of being on the sugar industry payroll. She's had a strict no-money-from-industry policy for decades. She wrote a whole book about industry capture of nutrition. And ... www.foodpolitics.com/2026/07/sett...

Setting the record straight: Calley Means - Food Politics by Marion Nestle

Washington Post's Tim Carman reported charges made against my work by Calley Means. These charges are false.

foodpolitics.com

I have no doubt that some people on govt assistance (Medicaid, SNAP) could work, but don't. Some poor people, like some rich people, are lazy, feckless, and irresponsible. But I think a civilized society provides food & medical care anyway. www.statnews.com/2026/07/30/m...

Chronically ill people face confusion over new Medicaid work rules and ‘medically frail’ exemption

Patients, advocates, and experts fear the difficulty in documenting a frailty exemption to Medicaid work requirements will lead to millions losing coverage.

statnews.com

Interesting weight-loss trial for bitter hops extract. Over 24 wks, subjects lost about 4% of body weight - but all was fat mass. They actually gained a bit of muscle mass. Ozempic, it ain't. But WAY better results than any weight-loss supplement I've seen. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · last wk.

There's a new study that supports my priors but is nevertheless a crap study. It's on ultra-processed foods, and it's crap for the same reasons the stories that don't support my priors are crap - you can't tease out the effect of UPFs from observational data. www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Good diet matters more than how processed food is, study suggests

Health of participants in long-term study depended on nutritional quality of what they ate rather than whether foods were ultra-processed or not

thetimes.com

I'm interested in finding and potentially supporting people who are interested in doing long-form writing on the big efforts in global health: Gavi, Global Fund, PEPFAR, etc. If this is you or someone you know, please make yourself known!

Christie Aschwanden @cragcrest.bsky.social · last wk.

Huge congrats to Jane Qui, who has been awarded the @sciencewriting.bsky.social 2026 Sharon Begley Award for Science Reporting for her wide-ranging reporting on everything from Tibet's grasslands to CRISPR babies and the lab leak controversy. casw.org/news/jane-qi...

Jane Qiu wins 2026 Sharon Begley Award - CASW

casw.org

Jesse Hawken@jessehawken.bsky.social · last wk.

Ozymandias is RIGHT THERE

Studio execs are going to want to adapt more poems for the big screen now

Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · last wk.

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I just don't like cumin.

Asked how he did it, the lad said: “A B C, easy as 1 2 3” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #NiceThings

Jaxon, 5, praised for calling 999 for injured mum.

Very interesting piece by @minzlicht.bsky.social about the danger of mixing science and activism. As a journalist, I've been convinced that the biggest threat to the objectivity I aspire to is my own prior beliefs. Confirmation bias rules the human psyche. ... www.chronicle.com/article/when...

Opinion | When Bad Research Feels Good

My work advanced social-justice causes I believed in. There was just one problem.

chronicle.com

"I used this on a patient and she got better" is what passed for science before we had controlled trials. It's why blood-letting was a standard treatment for, like, 400 years. And now it's giving us unregulated peptides. @juliabelluz.bsky.social reports. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/o...

Opinion | The Peptide Wild West (Gift Article)

Welcome to the new Wild West of peptides.

nytimes.com

I try not to do much kids-these-days, but damn. Half of Gen Z doesn't know what country we declared independence from or how many branches of government we have. www.cato.org/blog/gen-z-f...

Has anyone done the test where watermelon pickers ID the good and bad ones, and then people taste them blind? Until then, it's a wives' tale. Harrumph. cooking.nytimes.com/article/how-...

The One Thing Watermelon Experts Do to Pick Sweet Ones

It’s not a myth: You really do need to slap them and listen carefully.

cooking.nytimes.com

Obesity is ticking down. Can't say for sure it's the drugs, but I think it's a decent hypothesis. Caveat: This is self-reported data news.gallup.com/poll/712157/...

About 45 minutes. www.bonappetit.com/story/does-w...

How Long Does Wine Last After You Open It?

And how do you store a bottle to keep it tasting its best?

bonappetit.com

Leah Reich@leahreich.com · 2w ago

Most animals are super cute when they're young. And then there are herons.

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great Wednesday. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows what a baby heron looks like. Ok bye see you later www.instagram.com/p/DateeyJCE3Y/

This is a screenshot of an Instagram post from a rescue organization featuring a bearded animal protection officer with a tiny rescued heron baby on his hand

Have you read a science or science-adjacent book lately that you loved? I want to know about it. Just finished THE MAN FROM THE FUTURE, a biography of John von Neumann, and I need the next read.

GLP-1s are making people healthier. But they're also a tool for upward mobility, especially for women. Like it or not (I emphatically don't), we live in a society where a woman's weight can close doors for her. The drugs just might open them. (Gift link.) wapo.st/4frQotv

Column | The benefits of GLP-1s for women no one is talking about

Whether we like it or not, appearance — and weight — affects women’s job and relationship prospects.

wapo.st

I am pro-organic because it is profitable for farmers and that can give them wiggle room to experiment with low-input systems. This, despite its glaring downside, a 20-30% yield penalty. But we shouldn't spend taxpayer dollars on it for schools. civileats.com/2026/07/21/c...

Can This Group Get Organic Food to 6 Million California Kids?

Conscious Kitchen wants to transform the school food supply chain.

civileats.com