Sophie Bushwick
@sophiebushwick.bsky.social
Science & technology communicator, editor, podcast & video host, book reader
Love this! Humans Love Having Pets. Seems Like Some Other Primates Do, Too. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/s...
Humans Love Having Pets. Seems Like Some Other Primates Do, Too.
We aren’t the only animals that like to take care of other species. A new study finds that the roots of keeping a pet may stretch deep into our primate past.
nytimes.com
The sky is falling! And you can help astronomers watch. www.scientificamerican.com/article/crow... 🔭 🧪
You can help scientists track shooting stars. Here’s how
Meteor camera networks can reveal the hidden history of the solar system, and you can assist from your own backyard
scientificamerican.com
NEW: After ProPublica contacted leading vaccine skeptic Dr. Joseph Mercola for an article on babies dying after parents turned down vitamin K shots, he publicly reversed his long-held stance that the shots weren't needed. “The data is clear: vitamin K saves lives,” he wrote.
A Popular Doctor Had Long Warned That Vitamin K Shots Are Risky for Newborns. Now He’s Changed His Tune.
After ProPublica contacted Dr. Joseph Mercola for an article on babies dying after parents turned down vitamin K shots, he publicly reversed his long-held stance that the shots weren't needed. “The da...
propublica.org
Waiting for updates on the ISS situation now, where an air leak in the Russian Zvezda module doubled rapidly.
Zach Weinersmith@zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 4mo agoYikes www.reuters.com/science/inte... One thing we tried to emphasize in A City on Mars is that this sort of thing is pretty common. A lot of doing space is maintenance, not gazing out at the horizon. However, this is pretty extreme. Hope it gets resolved quickly.
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Astronomers may have just found a primordial black hole at the Milky Way’s edge that could help solve the mystery of dark matter. They’ve named it “Phoebe.” Nice piece by @astrojonny.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/did-...
A primordial black hole nicknamed ‘Phoebe’ may help solve the mystery of dark matter
A blip of light in the outer reaches of the Milky Way might be a bizarre black hole born at the beginning of time itself—and the long-sought solution to the mystery of dark matter. Astronomers are cal...
scientificamerican.com
Researchers at Stanford University modeled how many people could die or be disabled in 25 years if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria were no longer available. We decided to illustrate it.
The Horrors That Could Lie Ahead if Vaccines Vanish
Researchers at Stanford University modeled how many people could die or be disabled in 25 years if vaccines for polio, measles, rubella or diphtheria were no longer available.
projects.propublica.org
This was a hard story to report. Newborns who don’t get a vitamin K shot are 81 times more likely to develop a condition where they bleed uncontrollably. But more and more families are declining the shot. And babies are dying. www.propublica.org/article/more...
Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth
A lifesaving injection given at birth to prevent severe bleeding has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.
propublica.org
Important science underway here!!!
Ben Holmen@benholmen.com · 5mo agoThe intrusive thoughts overwhelmed my last two brain cells
I think what we need to emphasize to kids for the most part is, the point of the book report isn’t because there is a shortage in this world of book reports. The point of the book report is that the act of writing it is exercise for your brain. Making AI do it is like lifting weights with a forklift
A wave of darkness is spreading across Mars. These images show dramatic changes to the Martian surface over the past 50 years, as volcanic dust blows through an ancient impact basin. 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
The first epidemic of the 1918 flu in the United States occurred at the military’s Camp Funston, Kansas (later Fort Riley). Infected soldiers headed to WWI battlefields carried the flu to Europe. Millions died It’s not *vaccination* that weakens force readiness.
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 5mo agoBreaking news: The military will no longer require U.S. troops to receive the annual flu vaccine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, rolling back what he described as “overreaching mandates that only weaken our war-fighting capabilities.” https://wapo.st/4eAG2sx
New gas-powered data center projects linked to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI could emit more greenhouse gases than entire nations, according to a @wired.com investigation from @mollytaft.com -- happy earth day, don't miss this one!
New Gas-Powered Data Centers Could Emit More Greenhouse Gases Than Entire Nations
A WIRED review of permits for data center projects using natural gas and linked to OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and xAI shows they could emit more than 129 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.
wired.com
The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, running faster than the human world record in a show of China's technological leaps. n.pr/4sP50Ij
A humanoid robot sprints past the human half-marathon world record in Beijing race
The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, running faster than the human world record in a show of China's technological leaps.
n.pr
Blue Origin nails the landing, but puts the payload satellite in the wrong orbit
Blue Origin nails the landing, but puts the payload satellite in the wrong orbit
Wouldn't be the first time a Jeff Bezos company left a package in the wrong place Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket nailed the landing this weekend, but failed at the crucial part of delivering a satellite to a usable orbit.…
go.theregister.com
More updates from Artemis II 🧪 www.npr.org/2026/04/07/n...
Artemis II astronauts swung by the moon, broke an Apollo record, and saw an eclipse
The NASA moon mission completed several key milestones as its crew looped around the lunar body. It's expected to splash down on Earth on Friday.
npr.org
Swapna Krishna@swapnakrishna.com · 6mo agoEarthset from Artemis II. I am overcome.
“Past ferocious fliers didn’t incorporate oxygen into their muscles any more generously than their smaller counterparts do today.” 🧪
How did ancient bugs get so big? The prevailing theory may be wrong
Flying insect respiratory systems suggest abundant oxygen can’t explain ancient gigantism
science.org
Artemis II mission will send humans back to the Moon for the first time since 1972. The first time around, in 1969 it was a global event that had almost everyone glued to the TV screens. Turns out many scientists are not that excited by what’s scheduled for April 1st 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Humanity is heading back to the Moon — why aren’t more scientists thrilled?
Some researchers remain underwhelmed by NASA’s upcoming lunar fly-by.
nature.com
What a way to say it: "The anticipation couldn’t be higher, but the Sun may have other plans." 🧪
Sun's Latest Outburst Complicates Planned Launch of Artemis 2
An X-class solar flare and coronal mass ejection threaten to interfere with the most anticipated space launch in over 50 years.
ino.to
if you want to know the history of this kind of policy, I made a podcast two years ago that explained why these tests make no sense, how they were already used and eventually abandoned by the IOC in the 80's and 90's, and the devastating impacts they have on real athletes: www.tested-podcast.com
TESTED – A surprising history of women’s sports
tested-podcast.com
Reo Eveleth@reveleth.com · 6mo ago*sigh* well... I guess we're doing this again www.olympics.com/ioc/news/int...
Google is now screwing with the 10 blue links in traditional search and rewriting headlines - including ours - to be the worst kind of slop. This sucks so bad www.theverge.com/tech/896490/...
Wait, what?! Grammarly made an AI persona of me and all these other journalists?!!!!! Thank you @caseynewton.bsky.social for shaming them into at least offering a paltry optout— although obviously that is not enough. www.platformer.news/grammarly-ex...
Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it
The company tells Platformer it will let experts opt out of the controversial feature — but how different is it than what every other AI company is doing?
platformer.news
Pretty cool 🧪 first-of-its-kind vaccine protects children from deadly E. coli infections ino.to/G0PRGFw
First-of-its-kind vaccine protects children from deadly intestinal infections
ETVAX is the first vaccine that offers significant protection against pathogenic E. coli in children
ino.to
“Even if this technology were perfect — which it isn’t — I think most Americans don’t want machines that kill people without human oversight running around in an America that’s become an AI-powered mass surveillance state.”
We don’t have to have unsupervised killer robots
Employees at some companies with defense contracts feel betrayed.
theverge.com
My latest for Scientific American! The prime numbers -- math's "fundamental particles" -- may help to unravel some of the universe's most elusive secrets. www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-... #math #physics #science 🔭👩🏾🔬
Are prime numbers hiding inside black holes?
The strange case for prime numbers at the heart of physics
scientificamerican.com
"My problem with claims being made by big tech companies around AI and climate change is not that they're not fully quantified, but that they're relying on hypothetical AI that does not exist now, in some cases…” — @drolnick.bsky.social ino.to/BQ1Saun
Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn’t Offer Much Proof
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.
ino.to
I got a tip that all over the world, people are using a dead-simple hack to manipulate AI behavior. It turns out changing what AI tells other people can be as easy as writing a blog post *on your own website* I didn’t believe it, so I decided to test it myself www.bbc.com/future/artic...
I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took 20 minutes
I found a way to make AI tell you lies – and I'm not the only one.
bbc.com
NEW: David Greene was the voice of NPR's "Morning Edition." Is he also secretly the voice of Google's popular AI podcast tool, NotebookLM? Google says no. Greene thinks they're lying. My story today breaks the news of his lawsuit and compares the two voices. Listen for yourself: wapo.st/3ZHRvho
He spent decades perfecting his voice. Now he says Google stole it.
NPR’s David Greene says he was “completely freaked out” when he heard an AI voice that sounded just like his own, and he’s suing over it.
wapo.st
