Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
Historian of science & medicine and writer @ Johns Hopkins & Berkeley. Biography of James Watson expected fall '27 from Basic Books. Also rock climbing, roots music, tattoos, dogs, humor. My opinions are his –>
I really do wonder when, as a nation, we realize that these people running the federal government are enemies of the state.
Alan Regenberg@aregenberg.bsky.social · 23h ago‘Zombified’ CDC, Hobbled by Cuts, Struggles to Fulfill Scientific Mission. The agency has lost its independence and nearly a third of its staff, as Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and associates have tightened control. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/h...
Annals of Illiteracy: Nature magazine has told me we cannot expect their readers to know who Gregor Mendel was. Who else don't they know? Einstein? Newton?? Aristotle???
From an environmental justice POV, it's just the opposite. Global avg carbon footprint/capita: ≈4 metric tons/yr Avg American: ≈17 tons Avg African: <1 ton If we're gonna prioritize lives for everyone's good, we should start by euthanizing billionaires climatecrisis247.com/news/this-is...
This is Donald Trump’s Carbon Footprint
At the most fundamental level, resource consumption drives carbon emissions – and it should come as no surprise that the wealthy tend to have a larger-than-av
climatecrisis247.com
Faine Greenwood@faineg.com · last wk.Nick Beckstead, noted longtermist and "effective altruist,” just comes out and says it: "But it now seems more plausible to me that saving a life in a rich country is substantially more important than saving a life in a poor country, other things being equal."
now you see? this is what we need these days more books, fewer walls
elia ayoub@ayoub.bsky.social · last wk.Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
“Our critique of the Cloud has too often stopped at the exhaust, or more recently, at the vast amounts of freshwater consumed.” Brilliant environmental critique of data centers from Nathan Ensmenger, who’s been doing this since way before you realized it was a problem
Patrick McCray@patrickmccray.bsky.social · 2w agoNathan Ensmenger on "dirty bits" thebulletin.org/premium/2026...
Nathan Ensmenger on "dirty bits" thebulletin.org/premium/2026...
The dirty parts of the computing world, revisited
Ten years ago in these pages, I argued that the environmental costs of computing were the dirty little secret of the digital economy. That secret is now out: Data centers have become the subject of co...
thebulletin.org
By my count, @philipcball.bsky.social has published more than forty books. I haven't come across one yet that wasn't worth reading. Theory alone suggests you should get it. QED.
Philip Ball@philipcball.bsky.social · 2w agoI don't really do that unboxing thing, but I'm delighted that this package arrived today. Here it is in the flesh, and I think it looks very handsome. And in time to take to Copenhagen in a couple of weeks!
1) The dark, wooded house on the street below mine with a weird tooth-and-gear trolley cart up to the house 2) Falling asleep 3) Revolution #9
Carsten Timmermann@ctimmermann.bsky.social · 2w agoThings I was frightened of as a child: 1. Our house burning down. 2. My mum dying while I’m asleep. 3. The kids living along the way home from school, who threatened to beat me up.
important piece from @alondra.bsky.social on the new Polyanna research platform: basically, it’s science-by-Doordash.
Alondra Nelson@alondra.bsky.social · 2w agoResearchers across the country are turning to side hustles to fund their work. Behind the cuts sits a bigger shift: whether American science can still sustain durable research capacity. @lindseydcameron.bsky.social and I examine the stakes in a new piece @science.org: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
I once asked a hotshot & open-minded GWAS guy what polygenic indexes were good for, if, as he agreed, they v rarely tell you anything about the biology of the trait of interest. He shrugged & answered, "Prediction." <makes "The Scream" face> Did he realize what he'd just said?
Rebecca Sear@rebeccasear.bsky.social · 3w ago"genomic knowledge claims are not neutral but reflect a particular set of evidentiary norms, political rationalities & epistemological commitments that remain contiguous with the genetic determinism & race science from which the majority of contemporary genomics scholars distance themselves"
This elegant bio sketch of Jim Watson by @matthewcobb.bsky.social is balanced, nuanced, and graciously acknowledges my work on Watson. Even more graciously, it doesn't spill the beans on the many ways my book challenges the history of the gene. Coming next fall from Basic Books!
Matthew Cobb@matthewcobb.bsky.social · 3w agoI just published a brief account of Jim Watson’s life, aimed at students. It leans heavily on the insights of @nccomfort.bsky.social, whose biography of Watson will be out next year. Free link here: rdcu.be/M91CnnE3N4wa
y’all i’ve had some funny comments about Coyne, much appreciated, but no serious candidates for next Madman of Evolutionary Biology. Look lively ! i count on you for silly answers to life’s persistent questions!
excellent question. who even are the candidates? jerry coyne doesn’t rank near high enough on the madman scale
the nigh omniscient padishah innominate one@vir-innominatum.bsky.social · 4w agoWho will be the next madman of evolutionary biology?
@jowiph.bsky.social Did you see this piece on Trivers by @jhorganism.bsky.social? johnhorgan.org/cross-check/... @jhorganism.bsky.social: @jowiph.bsky.social has a pretty great trivers story, too
Robert Trivers Is Dead. I Once Thought He Was Going to Kill Me — John Horgan (The Science Writer)
HOBOKEN, MARCH 21, 2026. Evolutionary biologist Robert Trivers, in the news lately because of his association with Jeffrey Epstein , died March 12 at the age of 83, according to this obituary...
johnhorgan.org
Go brains! #teamrealintelligence
Brandy Schillace@bschillace.brandyschillace.com · 4w agoHEY! We have Angus Fletcher on our @peculiarbookclub.bsky.social show Sept 10--it's going to be fabulous. Here is a newsletter all about it (you can also sign up). The livestream is free. BRAINS BEAT AI! (Seriously, it is about how brains are so much better) peculiarbookclub.kit.com/posts/your-b...
People, what’s happened to Swiss cheese? it’s not in the grocery store, it’s not in the sandwich shop. what gives? was there some invidious Satanic kibosh when i wasn’t looking ? it’s my favorite cheese!
I've been revisiting my 2021 book How to Argue With a Racist, in light of the Cofnas situation - i didn't name him or the scientifically illiterati with who he breaks bread. But I thought these sections from the end might be of interest.
anyone out there have experience working with freelance @wikip1edia.org page editors? i’ve been approached by one and my page could indeed use a refresh any tips, experiences, pitfalls, or warnings welcome
Haven't dived deeply into this yet, but their notion of a "contextualized archive" = v interesting & an antidote to simplistic "Eugenics is bad!"-type histories. Many folks in my circle will be interested, but I'm thinking especially of @ayahnerd.bsky.social atm. ;)
Emily Pawley@emilypawley.bsky.social · last mo.Friends who are teaching the history of eugenics right now, I am *very* excited about this resource! eugenicstates.dartmouth.edu/scalar/eugen...
There are a lot these sorts of stories lately. They remind me of the early years of Facebook, when people posted nude drunk pix of themselves and learned painful lessons about teh interwebs
Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · last mo.“The incident shows that artificial intelligence has made its way [into] expert witness testimonies… The case also shows that the specific prompts used to create this type of expert testimony can be discoverable during a case, and that those prompts can be quite embarrassing.”
I'm still baffled by how Brits use "up." OK, one goes "up" to Oxbridge, wherever one is. But I've often read of "going up" to London—even from Cambridge! How can it be uphill both ways? If you commute between them long enough, will you reach v(escape)? And where the hell is Glasgow, then?
Amazing. This is not sugar-coated; it's carefully worded, using moderate, factual language. It makes no attempt to kow-tow or appease. It just tells it like it is. Bravo, @wikipedia.org, for setting an example.
Alex Ip 葉清霖@alexip718.com · last mo.ICYMI, over the past two weeks, English-language Wikipedia editors have engaged in a successful effort to change the first paragraph of the Republican Party entry to reflect its current status as a "neo-nationalist" political party. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republi...
I just sold my house of the last 17 yrs and did OK! Hence, I declare this Do-Whatever-the-Hell-You-Want-Just-Don't-Hurt-Anyone Day. Right now I want to take a nap.
OMG the genius of this photograph restores my faith in humanity. If it turns out to be Ersatz Intelligence, I will loaw the will to live.
Ian Boudreau@ianboudreau.com · 2mo agoThe beacon is lit
If you discount the record-breaking temperatures as outliers, climate change is nowhere near what the doomsayers are saying it is.
Eric Columbus@ericcolumbus.bsky.social · 2mo agoIf you exclude one specific scene, Mrs. Lincoln actually enjoyed the Ford's Theatre production of "Our American Cousin"
