Jennifer Ouellette
@jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
I cover science and culture at Ars Technica. Former science editor, Gizmodo. Ex-vangelical. Rodeo fan. Married to @seanmcarroll, servant to two cats: Ariel and Caliban. Baltimore, MD. She/her.
Boston Tea Party Relic on Display for Decades Is Something Else Entirely gizmodo.com/boston-tea-p...
Boston Tea Party Relic on Display for Decades Is Something Else Entirely
The findings don’t devalue the artifact’s significance, but the story behind it is much different from what we thought.
gizmodo.com
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Brought to You by President Donald J. Trump
Helen Kennedy@helenkennedy.com · 3h ago"The vote to add “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” is an aggressive test of a judge’s order to remove his name." Oh my god www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/a...
Builder with own observatory captures solar eclipse www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Suffolk builder with own observatory captures solar eclipse
Simon Wallace, who got hooked on astrophotography in lockdown, shares his images of the spectacle.
bbc.co.uk
A Virtual Ride on the Titanic’s Anchor to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench laughingsquid.com/titanic-anch...
A Virtual Ride on the Titanic’s Anchor to the Bottom of the Mariana Trench
Epic Spaceman (Toby Lockerbie) virtually explored the Mariana Trench on the Titanic’s anchor, explaining deep-sea exploration and creature adaptations.
laughingsquid.com
ZOMG Nerdist has an exclusive preview: the first five pages of STAR TREK: ZERO POINT #1 See a starship crashed on the moon! Admiral Janeway's radical plan! Seven of Nine wearing a tie and suspenders! Raffi's granddaughter! D'Vana Tendi has a lot of questions! nerdist.com/article/star...
STAR TREK: ZERO POINT Warps Into the 25th Century (Exclusive Preview)
IDW's Star Trek: Zero Point introduces us to the crew of the starship Endeavour, a 25th Century Federation ship captained by a fan-favorite.
nerdist.com
Thinking about how Admiral Holsey retired rather than remain in place to be Hegseth's POC scapegoat for racist war crimes. Wise decision.
MS NOW@ms.now · 6d agoMS NOW EXCLUSIVE: In fiery meeting, military families confront acting Navy secretary over conditions on the USS Lincoln www.ms.now/news/navy-me...
Breaking News: The Kennedy Center board voted again to close for President Trump’s renovations. The decision will be subject to the approval of a federal judge who took issue with the board’s original vote to close the center.
Trump-Led Board Votes Again to Close Kennedy Center for Renovations
The decision will be reviewed by a federal judge who previously said the board had not thoroughly evaluated the president’s plan.
nyti.ms
My only comment about Woke 1 vs Woke 2 is that neither of these things is real &, for the thousandth time, we don’t have to frame <every topic in American politics> on the terms of the far right authoritarian party & right-wing pundits. Other, more serious choices are readily available:
this entire issue is downstream of the fact that kids are trapped in car-dependent suburbs, unable to develop any sense of autonomy until age 16, when they're suddenly allowed to drive a 4,000 lb vehicle
Central NJ Yimby 🏗️🚲🚇🇺🇸@princetonyimby.bsky.social · 6h agoThe moral panic about e-bikes... "In New Jersey, the state legislature passed a law requiring registration, a license and, in some cases, insurance for anyone to ride an ebike...In this regulatory wild west, legal ebikes are caught in the crossfire." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Sure. The problem with using "AI" at any point in the book production process is that people will think you'll use "AI" at any point in the process. When I learned about my "AI" cover I apologized, made it a contract point it couldn't be used again, and donated to an arts org helping young artists.
Simulflow (Jerrified)@simulflow.bsky.social · 5h agoMy author friend gets a lot of flak for AI cover art on occasion. People insist that it means she must be using AI to write the books. 🙄
We've flown a radiation-blocking vest to the Moon and back, and it worked arstechnica.com/science/2026...
We've flown a radiation-blocking vest to the Moon and back, and it worked
Let's shield the astronauts instead of the spacecraft.
arstechnica.com
my colleagues in the natural sciences (and mathier social sciences) can correct me if I'm wrong but my impression is that if you produce a result of field defining significance your chances of getting a tenure track job are still pretty good
Peter Whitewood@pwhitewood.bsky.social · yesterdayApparently the test of the modern university is whether it would accommodate a seventeenth century academic exactly as he was
"In this moment, the obsession with wokeness that seems to monopolize the thoughts of America’s commentary class is utter decadence, a prime example of the total lack of moral seriousness among many of the people who presume to explain the world to ordinary Americans.” 👇
Sam Ulmschneider@samulmschneider.bsky.social · 21h agoNormally I just appreciatively read @jamellebouie.net 's columns-sharable video content just isn't my bag. But this is a very, very, very trenchant piece of commentary that captures a lot of how I increasingly understand the disjunction between the commentary environment and on-the-ground politics.
The Painful Truth of Exactly How ICE’s New Shock Gloves Work www.wired.com/story/the-pa...
The Painful Truth of Exactly How ICE’s New Shock Gloves Actually Work
ICE is spending millions on shock gloves designed to overpower subjects through intense, localized pain.
wired.com
h/t @cherylrofer.bsky.social @jamellebouie.net nails it. Let me add just one more anecdote. I'm an old. I knew several people directly harmed by McCarthyism...1/
Sam Ulmschneider@samulmschneider.bsky.social · 21h agoNormally I just appreciatively read @jamellebouie.net 's columns-sharable video content just isn't my bag. But this is a very, very, very trenchant piece of commentary that captures a lot of how I increasingly understand the disjunction between the commentary environment and on-the-ground politics.
WWII motorcycle and soldiers emerge from river muck in Hungary www.popsci.com/science/germ...
WWII motorcycle and soldiers emerge from river muck in Hungary
Historically low water levels in the Danube are revealing over 80 years of history.
popsci.com
Fair play to Danny León, the Spanish Olympic skateboarder. This shot may never be eclipsed.
Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/13/1...
Flock is tightening its rules in response to a growing surveillance backlash
The company is imposing new guardrails on its police tech after reports that officers are abusing it and cities are dropping contracts. But the changes leave glaring loopholes.
technologyreview.com
Science writing/marketing job listing at APS Journals on LinkedIn, via Anna Torres. #sciart #scicomm #marketing lnkd.in/p/g_PpK7Wd
Contract: Science Writer and Social Media Content Creator | Anna Torres
📣 Calling all science writers 📣 We're looking for a science content creator to temporarily help create social media content about new physics research publishing in APS journals. This contract is re...
lnkd.in
The Ocean Photographer of the Year Finalists Highlight the Sorrowful and Sublime www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/08/ocea...
The Ocean Photographer of the Year Finalists Highlight the Sorrowful and Sublime
"These photographs don’t just capture what’s beneath the surface; they surface the stories our planet most needs us to hear," says Will Harrison.
thisiscolossal.com
When the US Mail Was Delivered Underground at 35 MPH Through a Network of Pneumatic Tubes (1893–1953) www.openculture.com/2026/08/how-...
When the US Mail Was Delivered Underground at 35 MPH Through a Network of Pneumatic Tubes (1893–1953)
Twenty years ago, United States senator Ted Stevens drew long-lasting online ridicule by describing the internet as 'a series of tubes.' While some commentators noted that the analogy wasn't quite as ...
openculture.com
Wholesale inflation up 4.7% over the past year, BLS says qz.com/producer-pri...
U.S. wholesale inflation rose 4.7% year-over-year in July 2026
The Producer Price Index for final demand was flat month-over-month, as a drop in energy prices offset a rise in services
qz.com
Important advice from my dad for anyone who finds themselves being attacked by a badger.
Read a WWII Army private’s letters back home for the first time www.popsci.com/technology/w...
Read a WWII Army private's letters back home for the first time
Louis 'Speedy' Weber's messages chronicle D-Day, North Africa, and more.
popsci.com
It May Be Time to Panic About AI. " A group of AI models colluded for months, undetected by their maker, and hacked another company." www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
It May Be Time to Panic About AI
Bots are starting to conspire with one another. Can they be reeled back in?
theatlantic.com
US boosts drone surveillance as flesh-eating screwworms spread in Texas arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026...
US boosts drone surveillance as flesh-eating screwworms spread in Texas
Hundreds of Homeland Security drones retasked to survey wildlife and livestock.
arstechnica.com
ICYMI: Have physicists finally discovered glueballs? New evidence points to yes. arstechnica.com/science/2026...
Have physicists finally discovered glueballs? New evidence points to yes.
“It’s the strongest evidence yet that particles dominated by a glueball component can exist in nature.”...
arstechnica.com
New Ice Age Toad Species Discovered in La Brea Tar Pits Fossil Collection www.discovermagazine.com/new-ice-age-...
New Ice Age Toad Species Discovered in La Brea Tar Pits Fossil Collection
Learn more about a newly identified Ice Age toad species whose fossils sat unnoticed in a La Brea Tar Pits collection for decades.
discovermagazine.com
Jennifer Latour Preserves Ephemeral Beauty in Her Otherworldly Botanical Assemblages www.thisiscolossal.com/2026/08/jenn...
Jennifer Latour Preserves Ephemeral Beauty in Her Otherworldly Botanical Assemblages
In Jennifer Latour's sculptural assemblages, single flowers sprout from tree branches, appearing like otherworldly forms in the landscape.
thisiscolossal.com
