The good news is that it's safe for humans to use m-dashes again without being taken for a machine. The bad is that LLMs have moved on to "not only... but also." www.economist.com/culture/2026...

The accompaniment to my "what just happened?" coverage, Derek does a great job of handling "what does it mean?" and "what do we do?"

Derek Lowe@dereklowe.bsky.social · 2w ago

Thoughts on the various Trump administration proposals to revamp US science funding - and what they all have in common:

"A dog starv'd at his master's gate / Predicts the ruin of the state." As Blake wrote, you can find the big story in little things. So, lately I'm seeing a similar erosion in daily life. Cars drive by with serious damage - I guess people can't afford to fix them. Once-full restaurants are emptier.

🚨 HEADS UP: If you haven't submitted a comment on the OMB proposal yet, there's still time - but it's running out! There are only 3 days left to push back against Russell Vought's attempt to give political appointees unprecedented control over federal research funding. Take Action: zurl.co/J92d9

Proposed rule OMB-2026–0034 will devastate US science and destroy the scientific talent pipeline in the country. Here is the comment I submitted about the rule: medium.com/data-feminis... You can make public comments until Mon, Jul 13th. Please do it and reach out to your colleagues to do the same!

Stop the Attack on US Science: Comment to the OMB about proposed rule OMB-2026–0034

The US government is attempting to modify how it allocates federal research dollars through a new proposed rule: “Regulation for Federal…

medium.com

This looks interesting -- "Quanta to Qualia" workshop coming up in Montreal, in August: quanta2qualia.org including public events on Aug. 11. One of the sessions will be moderated by @georgemusser.com #physics #science

A 5-day workshop at the intersection of quantum mechanics and consciousness.August 11–15, 2026 · Montreal & Eastman, Quebec, Canada.

quanta2qualia.org

If Pluto's downgrade got you upset, brace yourself: Uranus and Neptune might not be real "ice giants." 🧊🚫🪐 Research increasingly shows our outermost planets are far rockier than thought—and maybe even full of magma oceans.🔥 Read more @science.org : www.science.org/content/arti... #space #nasa

Uranus and Neptune may not be ‘ice giants’ after all

A growing number of theories propose Uranus and Neptune are rocky worlds

science.org

A few weeks ago I, along with @georgemusser.com @jomarchant.bsky.social and others, went to a small meeting about the QBist interpretation of quantum mechanics and why it is so often misrepresented. Here are some reflections on the event. www.marginaliareviewofbooks.com/post/the-qbi...

The QBist Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and the Future of Science Communication

PHILIP BALL | It was, in short, what felt like an immensely valuable exchange of a sort that too rarely happens.

marginaliareviewofbooks.com

@usmnt.ussoccer.com the right thing to do tonight is to bench Balogun. While I agree that the VAR call was dubious, Trump’s corrupt appeal is unprecedented and beyond the pale.

When you bump into a friend on vacation, or think of someone and then they call, is it "just" a coincidence - random happenstance - or could it be something more? Maybe not ESP or divine fate, but a middle ground: a natural but nondismissive explanation. I investigate for @nautil.us. 🧪

Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering

Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering: My search for a hidden structure to astronomically unlikely occurrences

nautil.us

At my previous job, LabX fired or otherwise ousted the entire journalism team so they could do veiled advertorials instead. Bad news for the industry!

I’m so sad to share that yesterday was my last day at Scientific American. It was an honor to work alongside my incredible colleagues and to speak with researchers across the sciences. If you’re looking to hire staff or freelance, please consider me and my other laid off coworkers (🧵)

Will NASA’s SkyFall Mars helicopter fleet sink science at the Red Planet? Mars researchers are wrestling with the potential costs of a flashy new NASA mission to the Red Planet www.scientificamerican.com/article/will...

Will NASA’s SkyFall Mars helicopter fleet sink science at the Red Planet?

Mars researchers are wrestling with the potential costs of a flashy new NASA mission to the Red Planet

scientificamerican.com

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft is prepping for a close encounter on July 4 with near-Earth asteroid and “quasi-moon” Kamo‘oalewa. Tianwen-2 will seek to grab samples from the small, enigmatic space rock for return to Earth in 2027. www.scientificamerican.com/article/chin...

China’s Tianwen-2 spacecraft will soon grab samples from a ‘quasi-moon’ of Earth

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is slowly closing in on the near-Earth asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, on a mission that would bring China’s first asteroid samples back to Earth in 2027

scientificamerican.com

Journalism is in crisis—including science and environmental journalism. The industry is in really rough shape, and this blow makes matters worse.

Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · last mo.

Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com

Today is my last day at Scientific American, which has been sold to LabX media group. For three decades I've led the magazine's coverage of human origins, archaeology, paleontology, animal behavior, ecology, BIRDS. End of an era. Anyway this feels weird to say, but I'm now available for assignments!

Scientific American is being sold to LabX Media, publisher of Discover: group.springernature.com/gp/group/med... They've fired me and other union staff, ahead of June 26 vote ratification. My rates are suddenly more reasonable, if you need editing or reporting - Argonaut2026@gmail.com

Self-driving cars would be great in the periphery of cities, but why oh why is Waymo focusing on urban centers? Shouldn't this huge investment be put into trains and buses?

Why Waymo’s Driverless Taxis Won’t Be on Your Streets Anytime Soon

nytimes.com

A travesty. Springer Nature offloads SciAm—the most storied science magazine in the US—onto a content mill consortium, LabX, during an almost certainly successful union vote. LabX now says it will lay off 15 people, over 1/3rd of the unit and 60% of the bargaining committee. Pure union busting.

Laura Helmuth@laurahelmuth.bsky.social · last mo.

Statement by @sciamunion.bsky.social on Springer Nature's sale of Scientific American and massive editorial layoffs right before a successful union vote is counted. www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...

Comet 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor that blew through our solar system, might have been a truly ancient relic. A new analysis of its unusual composition suggests the comet could be up to 12 billion years old, dating from the earliest era of our galaxy. 🧪🔭 esawebb.org/news/weic2613/

Hypnosis is just one instance of a special type of imagination called “phenomenological control,” according to psychologist Zoltan Dienes at @sussex.ac.uk. Does it make people vulnerable to manipulation? I investigate in my latest article for @pioneerwork.bsky.social's Broadcast magazine. 🧪

Entranced | Broadcast

The new science of hypnosis.

pioneerworks.org

Does anyone know why the @nytimes.com refers to the U.S. side as the USMNT and that of every other country as the country name?

I’ve officially resigned as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. It used to be a reputable journal, but became a case study in how forced automation destroys academic integrity. 👇

This experimental plane, which reached supersonic speeds yesterday, is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without creating bothersome sonic booms

NASA’s new supersonic plane notches key milestone

This experimental plane, which reached supersonic speeds yesterday, is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without creating bothersome sonic booms

scientificamerican.com

LIVE: ISS astronauts shelter in spacecraft for possible evacuation following leak reports www.youtube.com/live/ImnPJlc...

LIVE: ISS astronauts shelter in spacecraft for possible evacuation following leak reports

YouTube video by Reuters

youtube.com

I told ICE that they could NOT just plow through a crowd of civilians at Delaney Hall. They didn't care. Here's what happened yesterday.

What I saw at Delaney Hall reinforced what we already know: we can't continue to write a blank check to ICE while their violence and lawlessness continue.

Don't let ICE and this administration lie to you. I saw inside Delaney Hall with my own eyes. The conditions are absolutely unacceptable.

"Authoritarians don’t need to staff their regimes with ideological true believers, offer extreme enticements or impose draconian punishments.... They just need to figure out how to target their ideal labor pool: the frustrated and mediocre." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/w...

Actually, Democracy Dies in H.R.

nytimes.com

CBS News reported that newly released UAP files reveal Apollo 17 astronauts observed unexplained lights and triangular objects during their 1972 moon mission, while Apollo 11 astronauts including Buzz Aldrin also described unusual lights and unidentified phenomena during their journey to the moon.

UFO files reveal Apollo 17 crew saw mysterious objects, lights during 1972 mission: "Looks like the Fourth of July"

NASA's Apollo 17 crew reported seeing three mysterious dots and sparks that resembled fireworks, according to new files released by the Pentagon.

cbsnews.com