There was a fucking hole in our planet’s *atmosphere* Like a legit, no joke, “this will unravel our entire ecosystem” hole in the world, and then we fixed it by working together across national and political lines As a species we decided, “we will survive” Let’s do that some more
Michael Druker 🇨🇦@mdruker.app · 2d agoSocial media loves talking about how everything is getting worse. But what’s something that you’ve seen get _better_ in your lifetime?
As dozens of bogong moths bounce joyfully off my window, I’m rereading @rebeccagiggs.bsky.social gorgeous essay for @emergencemagazine.bsky.social emergencemagazine.org/essay/noisel...
Noiseless Messengers – Rebecca Giggs
Very small beings are often responsible for vast surges of life. Rebecca Giggs follows the mass migration of the bogong moth in alpine Australia: a story of superabundance and apocalypse.
emergencemagazine.org
Four decades, 42 million deaths and 91.4 million infections since its discovery, the end of AIDS as a global public health threat is in sight. Australia has reached a key eradication milestone four years ahead of schedule, reports Bianca Nogrady. trib.al/t25gXoz
Australia reaches a major milestone in the effort to end AIDS
Australia has joined a small group of nations in reaching a turning point in the effort to end AIDS, although the benefits are still not shared equally across communities.
trib.al
If you're a journalist, or aspiring journalist, interested in learning more about reporting on the UN and climate change the Science Journalists Association of Australia is hosting a free webinar with @roycerk2.bsky.social and I on Tuesday 29 September at 6pm Melbourne/Sydney time.
‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament - Guardian analysis reveals that dozens of policy submissions from across the political spectrum incorrectly summarise real research and invent or wrongly cite sources www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament
Exclusive: Guardian analysis reveals that dozens of policy submissions from across the political spectrum incorrectly summarise real research and invent or wrongly cite sources
theguardian.com
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.
I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...
The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab
Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...
carlsonlab.bio
Fed up with people shirking responsibility by arguing that the UK causes just 1% of emissions? Here are two fantastic analogies from a primary school teacher, Mark in Coventry, who called Sheila Fogerty on @lbc.co.uk - one involving dog poo 😆 Other arguments here: www.nebriefing.org/mp-dialogue
I had the most adorable cupcake at the Illawarra Stingrays game today. How did I get this cupcake? I had my cheeks swabbed by Stem Cell Donors Australia to try and help Stingrays U14 player Harper Patterson, who needs a stem cell transplant, amongst countless others worldwide.
Every time the Merck MMR vaccine goes into an arm, it is a father’s lasting revenge against a virus that made his daughter sick. Why Trump's move to split up the MMR shot could be dangerous: www.statnews.com/2026/08/11/h...
How we know that splitting up the MMR vaccine could be dangerous
It's no mystery. History tells us that President Trump’s executive order calling for the MMR to be split into separate shots could do real harm.
statnews.com
Today is Venn Day, in celebration of the mathematician John Venn, born on this day in 1834. To commemorate the occasion, here’s a poem in the form of a Venn Diagram.
In fifteen years, the UK has deleted coal power from their power system, halved fossil gas use, replaced most of that with wind and solar, and the country has not suffered the hellish blackout apocalypse conservatives and media outlets promised would happen. ember-energy.org/data/electri...
Our criteria for success are disastrously skewed. In my view, a successful person is one who does more good than harm, on any scale. On this measure, most billionaires are massive failures, while humble folk in my neighbourhood who look after other people are highly successful.
I'm late to this but holy hell, I could write an entire book about this single screenshot. The way the image just perfectly captures the journalists doing luxury, disengaged hand-wringing about blackouts while the ACTUAL THREAT plays out in front of their eyes.
With all the July model runs now in, it is very likely that 2026 will see the largest El Niño event since records began in the late 1800s – and potentially by a truly mind-blowing margin. The median estimate is now 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record (2.75C). www.theclimatebrink....
🧪 If science journalism is going to survive and thrive, it has to reorient itself and rethink the incentives that currently drive it. Reflecting here on some great @chriscmooney.bsky.social pieces about where we might be headed. nobreakthroughs.com/adrift-in-a-...
Adrift in a Sea of Similar Science Stories
For six months in 2025, I spent my days working from a small office on the bottom floor at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies. My window was almost roof to ceiling, looked out onto the I...
nobreakthroughs.com
The Science Journalists Association of Australia is running two free online workshops for all journalists. 1. How to read and understand a scientific paper (with me), 6pm-7.30pm (AEST) Wednesday 29 July. Register: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... and ...
We asked one of the most eminent human rights lawyers in the world, Geoffrey Robertson KC, to write about the sentencing of the "Elbit Four" as terrorists and the dangerous precedents being set by the Starmer government. www.thekeymagazine.com/p/palestine-...
Punishing Protest as Terrorism
The eminent human rights lawyer on the sentencing of The Elbit 4 and the UK government's unprecedented suppression of protest
thekeymagazine.com
I've spent the last two months putting together this exhaustive analysis of the New York Times coverage of trans people. It covers 3,242 articles over 12 years. In 2022, the NYT shifted towards a hostile stance towards trans people in their framing. www.thedissident.news/exclusive-ho...
Exclusive: How The New York Times Changed Its Coverage of Trans People
An exhaustive analysis of over 3,242 articles by the New York Times covering transgender issues from 2014-2026 revealed a stark shift towards hostile framing in 2022. In January 2015, the New York Ti...
thedissident.news
Remember the current NIH director going on about protecting researchers from government censorship? Today his people called the police in to forcibly remove my colleagues from their own society meeting for sharing an editorial published in their flagship journal that was critical of him. Gift link
Police Remove Diabetes Experts From Conference for Distributing Critique of Trump Administration
nytimes.com
“As long as there is football, there is some hope that somehow, someday, ordinary life might be possible again.” @mohamhawish.bsky.social in @equatormag.bsky.social on the World Cup and the perseverance of football culture in Palestine www.equator.org/articles/wor...
As Long as There Is Football • EQUATOR
In Palestine, the results matter less than the fact that the game persists
equator.org
danah boyd recently argued that social media (as we knew it) is mostly dead; what we have now is parasocial media: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... I agree. Networked social media is disappearing, replaced by a new logic/structure of content creator, creator-centered community, & algorithm.
Social Media Is Now Parasocial Media - danah boyd, 2026
When practitioners used the term “social media” to describe the internet tools that emerged in the mid-aughts, they were giving a name to the kinds of platforms...
journals.sagepub.com
"Australia’s climate policy has long been characterised by elaborate frameworks – offset schemes, emissions intensity baselines, safeguard mechanisms – that are genuinely difficult for the public to evaluate, and that fossil fuel companies [...] have proven adept at shaping to their advantage."
What it would take: four steps toward a fossil fuel phase-out
The Australia Institute is attending the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, in Santa Marta this week, with a clear brief: cut through the complexity of emissions accounting and ...
thepoint.com.au
On ANZAC Day, we remember those who've served and given their lives in wars and peacekeeping operations. We also remember the journalists and war correspondents that risked (and continue to risk) their lives to report on these events. (Image: AWM)
