Exclusive: Once again, child dies in gene-editing trial in China, rekindling debate on transparency and safety www.statnews.com/2026/08/05/c...

Once again, child dies in gene-editing trial in China, rekindling debate on transparency and safety

With a second delayed report of a child's death in China, criticism is rising of a looser form of clinical trial. One expert: what "bothers me is the lack of transparency."

statnews.com

16 months after a young girl died in a gene-editing trial, the study's entry in clinicaltrial. gov has finally been updated to acknowledge the death. The move comes after @science.org and @retractionwatch.com revealed the fatality 1/ science.org/content/arti...

Wonderful review of Lost in Curiosity in Science: "Young scientists’ passion and commitment take center stage in a moving portrait of research in action... Kwok brings readers to the wings of a play whose ending has not yet been written" www.science.org/doi/full/10.... by @vijee.bsky.social

While on the water out of Seward, Alaska last month, we had the incredible experience of encountering a group of ~20 uncatalogued Alaskan resident orcas on back-to-back days. Check out this incredible mid-air salmon grab that was one of the highlight moments of the trip! #orcas #whalesky #alaska

What do orcas get up to at night? A LOT, it turns out. Find out more in my latest piece for Salish Sea Currents magazine from @pugetsoundinstitute.org: www.eopugetsound.org/article/orca...

Orcas by night: A rare look at the nighttime activities of endangered killer whales | Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Killer whales are active both day and night, but most scientific research focuses on their daytime activities. A recent study looked at a small group of endangered southern residents to find out how o...

eopugetsound.org

NEW: Big new feature from me about offshore wind farms as anchors for wildlife! For example: seals swimming *into* turbine towers to, apparently, hunt fish - and scour protection at the base of turbines used by sea creatures as a dwelling place. atmos.earth/science-and-...

The Sea Life Making a Home in Offshore Wind Farms | Atmos

Offshore wind farms can pose risks to birds and marine life. But their foundations also serve as artificial reefs, offering essential habit.

atmos.earth

Seattle, I'll be giving a book talk at Smarty Pints (science + beer) at the Burke-Gilman Brewing Company on August 17! UW physicist Meg Wynne will also talk about neutrinos and the origins of the universe. Details: www.burkegilmanbrewing.com/smarty-pints About the book: www.robertakwok.com/book

The mission to rescue the Swift Observatory is experiencing technical problems. They may be solvable, but it's a nail-biter. Unclear if the observatory will survive. 🧪🔭 arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...

Corey S. Powell@coreyspowell.bsky.social · last mo.

NASA & Katalyst Space are attempting to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, a powerful gamma-ray telescope that's on a death-spiral toward Earth. A booster spacecraft, called Link, is now on its way. It will attempt to grab Swift & lift it to safety. 🧪🔭 spacenews.com/pegasus-laun...

Going to see the Odyssey later this week (Imax 70 booked up completely- if I enjoy the squished version, will go again when the exc has died down). This from classicist @daisydunn.bsky.social in the Literary Review is a well-informed, thoughtful review, far from the various polemics.

This interview between Nolan and Chinese academic and doctoral student Yiyang Zhuge is one of the best interviews I’ve seen in a long, long time. Skips past the routine questions about performances, IMAX cameras etc and really makes him work for his answers. youtu.be/wa4I8Ch2TRo?...

Christopher Nolan talks narrative decisions, film critics and whether he Christianised The Odyssey

YouTube video by Nolan Archives

youtu.be

As wildfires continue to get bigger and more frequent, humans need a better way to know how safe it is to be outside, @engber.bsky.social argues.

Weather Forecasts Aren’t Made for Smoke Like This

We need a better way to know when it’s safe outside.

bit.ly

From tides to eclipses, the slow departure of our moon will affect life on Earth, say our correspondents

Last Word: What changes will occur on Earth as the moon moves further away? | New Scientist

From tides to eclipses, the slow departure of our moon will affect life on Earth, say our correspondents

newscientist.com

The US owes the Pan-American Health Organization $135 million in past dues. Trump's budget proposal cuts funding for PAHO entirely, even though our contribution is 0.001% of federal spending. The result will be even weaker defenses agst measles, dengue & more. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/h...

Former Officials Protest U.S. Plan to Defund Pan American Health Organization

The group of former health and national security officials warned that Americans will be more vulnerable to infectious disease threats.

nytimes.com

Opinion: The ability to remember you and your preferences is rapidly becoming a big selling point for AI chatbots and agents. That creates the potential for unprecedented privacy breaches that expose not only isolated data points, but the entire mosaic of people’s lives.

What AI “remembers” about you is privacy’s next frontier

Agents’ technical underpinnings create the potential for breaches that expose the entire mosaic of your life.

trib.al

I went to Utah to see what life is like in America's new reality, where vaccine-preventable diseases are common again. Utah's measles outbreak has lasted 10 months. Pediatricians teared up in interviews. Mothers were stressed. 🧵My latest @wired.com @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/anguis...

Anguished Parents, Crying Doctors: Life Amid Utah’s Measles Outbreak

The state’s outbreak means adapting to America’s new reality, in which vaccine-preventable diseases become common again.

wired.com

"A concentration camp, in its most basic definition, is a place where a targeted civilian population, not necessarily accused of a crime, is detained and at least some of their basic rights are suspended," writes @jwashing.bsky.social. "That’s precisely what’s happening in the United States today."

Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John Washington

I’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilities

theguardian.com

New from James: how fire danger is changing across Europe 🧪

James Dinneen@jamesdinneen.bsky.social · 2w ago

Fire suppression in Europe has led to an overall decline in wildfire since the 80s, despite a global warming-fueled rise in risky fire weather. That can't last. "This is the kind of trend that is unstoppable." New in @nature.com:🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Thread. Smart.

Kathleen Bachynski@bachynski.bsky.social · 2w ago

“I’ve tracked more than half a dozen other personal injury lawsuits filed against major food manufacturers… I’ve become increasingly convinced that litigation may be our only path to a healthy food environment… delving into the history of public health litigation [I] started to feel some optimism.”

“One of the things I’m personally concerned about, we’re starting to have more and more of these outbreaks here in the United States,” said the senior director of food safety and quality at Fresh Express.“I am concerned that we may not have really hit the peak of the outbreaks.”

As Cyclospora Cases Climb, FDA Official Says Food Supply Is Safe (Gift Article)

The acting deputy commissioner for food said the agency was taking action even though finding the root cause of the outbreaks is difficult.

nytimes.com

There's a reason why double- or triple-screening your devices makes you feel tired, says NPR's Manoush Zomorodi. She explains the science of information overload and how to reclaim calm and focus. n.pr/4ftjn1x

Digital habits that rob attention and energy — and how to combat them

There's a reason why double- or triple-screening your devices makes you feel tired, says NPR's Manoush Zomorodi. She explains the science of information overload and how to reclaim calm and focus.

n.pr

This matches my feelings on reading what Burnham said about social care today. A step forward.

Andy Burnham wants to fix social care. It’s personal for him and for a lot of us too

Finally a grownup is in charge who speaks to voters as fellow adults. If he fixes this, he’ll achieve more than most other PMs

theguardian.com

The death of 15 elephants in the span of a month in southern Kenya’s Amboseli National Park under unexplained circumstances has sparked outrage in the country, where wildlife tourism is an economic pillar.

Death of 15 elephants in Kenyan national park sparks outrage, investigation

The unexplained deaths over the past month have raised fears of poisoning.

washingtonpost.com

Drone warfare is making the skies more dangerous, even for airplanes far from the battlefield. www.wired.com/story/a-civi...

A Civilian Plane Crashed in New Mexico. Was the Military’s Tech to Blame?

Drone warfare is making the skies more dangerous, even for airplanes far from the battlefield.

wired.com

When applying for @ksjatmit.bsky.social, I was advised to make a case how it would be a transformative experience As someone aversive to hyperboles, I cringed. It turned out to be transformative in ways more than one, without which this award would not have been possible. bsky.app/profile/scie...

CASW@sciencewriting.bsky.social · 2w ago

Congratulations to @janeqiu.bsky.social for winning the 2026 Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award! Judges called her work masterful, trailblazing and fearless. Her award grant will support a book project on emerging infectious diseases. casw.org/news/jane-qi...

Congratulations to @janeqiu.bsky.social for winning the 2026 Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award! Judges called her work masterful, trailblazing and fearless. Her award grant will support a book project on emerging infectious diseases. casw.org/news/jane-qi...

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...

22 years ago today, Francis Crick died. You can read about his life, his brilliance and his failures in my biography, available in hardback in the UK and USA (and as an audiobook and ebook) and soon in a chonky UK paperback.

It took the couple 4 years before their daughter Mei was born Mei suffered from mild genetic condition but appeared to be improving with speech & occupational therapies Then she died from a reckless gene editing therapy ✍️ Brendan Borrell @retractionwatch.com @science.org bsky.app/profile/retr...

Retraction Watch@retractionwatch.com · 3w ago

A couple paid more than $800,000 for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died, and it wasn’t made public. An exclusive from us and @science.org.

The world is full of stories about eccentric geniuses having a eureka moment that leads to groundbreaking scientific discoveries @robertakwok.bsky.social corrects that narrative glossing over & reveals the messy reality of doing science ✍️ @goesbykim.bsky.social www.sciencenews.org/article/revi...

Lost in Curiosity reveals the messy reality of doing science

In her new book, science journalist Roberta Kwok takes readers behind the scenes to understand how researchers get nature to give up its secrets.

sciencenews.org

While we are in this Greek Mythology moment, may I remind you that Emma Thompson is adapting Pat Barker’s take on The Iliad, and she’s struggled to get it made bc the focus on what acts of war against women and survival thereafter actually look like (the core of Barker’s narrative) is too intense.

Emma Thompson adapting feminist retelling of Iliad for big screen

The actress told the Hay Festival she is writing a film version of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls to draw attention to sexual abuse in war zones

thetimes.com