Matthew Warren
@mattbwarren.bsky.social
International news editor at Science Magazine, lapsed neuroscientist, Kiwi, dad
Reintroducing myself as Ailie, neuroscientist-turned-science journalist 👋 Incredibly grateful to be an @embo.org Maria Leptin Science Journalism Fellow this year - I'll be spending my fellowship writing for @science.org, starting with headbutting goats 🐐 www.science.org/content/arti...
Goats love to bash heads—but it might give them brain damage
Three headbutting goats showed signs of neurodegeneration similar to those in humans following head injuries
science.org
A disturbing vision of the future night sky: 'Each of the 50,000 reflectors would shine as bright as Venus, the brightest object in the sky after the Moon. In a light-polluted city, hundreds of these bright pinpricks would likely be the only “stars” visible.' By @danclery.bsky.social
Proposed new satellite fleets could overwhelm the night sky
Orbiting data centers and sunlight reflectors would scupper astronomy by leaving streaks on telescope images and brightening skies, study finds
science.org
Russian geologists plan to drill 8km-deep boreholes in an attempt to prove a fringe Soviet-era theory: That major oil deposits can form without any organic matter. www.science.org/content/arti...
Russia’s plan to drill superdeep holes in Arctic revives controversial theory of ‘endless oil’
Soviet-era theory touted by Putin’s former campaign manager claims oil deposits can form without organic matter
science.org
"Is the scene consistent with the physics of the real world? 'Shadows are amazing. Lighting is amazing. Geometry is amazing,' he says. '3D reconstruction is a huge part of what I do.'" @kakape.bsky.social for @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti...
Deepfakes are everywhere. The godfather of digital forensics is fighting back
Hany Farid, who's spent his career building tools to detect fake images, is facing his biggest challenge yet: AI
science.org
Timmy, the humpback whale stranded in Germany for 6 weeks, was released on Saturday after a chaotic rescue operation that shocked marine biologists. It's unclear where Timmy is now; he may already be dead. Here's my story about the case: www.science.org/content/arti...
Chaotic whale rescue shocks marine biologists
Timmy, a humpback whale stranded in Germany 6 weeks ago, was ailing and may already be dead
science.org
“Generative AI doesn’t know about physics, doesn’t know about geometry, and it does all kinds of crazy shit.” Great profile by @kakape.bsky.social on Hany Farid and his relentless attempts to answer the question we're all facing every day: Is that image real or AI? www.science.org/content/arti...
Deepfakes are everywhere. The godfather of digital forensics is fighting back
Hany Farid, who's spent his career building tools to detect fake images, is facing his biggest challenge yet: AI
science.org
Nearing a decade @science.org, this is a point I should stress more. It's only $25/year to support one of the largest science-focused newsrooms in the world. Independent and nonprofit.
Michael Greshko@michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 5mo agoNow more than ever, independent journalism is vital. Please consider supporting the work of @science.org's journalists: 1. Sign up for @nerdychristie.bsky.social's *excellent* ScienceAdviser newsletter: www.science.org/content/page... 2. Subscribe for $25/year. www.science.org/content/page...
Many science journalists are concerned about plans to hold the profession's flagship international conference in China - a country that ranks 178th on the World Press Freedom Index www.science.org/content/arti...
Censorship and safety concerns cloud China’s plans to host science journalism conference
Organizers of the 2029 World Conference of Science Journalists defend Beijing meeting as opportunity to connect with Chinese scientists
science.org
Calling all budding science writers! Applications for our paid London-based internship, starting in June, are now open. Deadline: 9 March 2026 Full info here: springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Spring... #PaidInternship #Internship #Journalism
Are #openaccess fees that some journals charge authors too high? The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the world’s largest research institution, reportedly thinks so and plans to stop funding some, a move that could shake up #scientificpublishing. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals
Move comes amid effort to grow the country’s own journals
science.org
Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials. Then he had to get out alive. This is his story. 🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive
A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story.
wired.com
One of the issues that has come up again and again in my reporting on misinformation and social media is the massive influence social media companies have on research in the field. Last night a preprint dropped that tries to get at this with some numbers. My piece in @science.org (and 🧪🧵 coming):
Nearly a third of social media research has undisclosed ties to industry, preprint claims
Industry-linked studies were also more likely to focus on particular topics, suggesting these ties may be skewing the field
science.org
My latest: in which I visit Oxfordshire's 'Rubbish Mountain', buy a Twirl in the country's most violent Sainsbury's, and explore the absolutely dismal response of the Environment Agency.
Rubbish Mountain
A gigantic pile of rubbish was dumped in a field in Oxfordshire. The response sums up everything wrong with British bureaucracy.
martinrobbins.substack.com
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Exclusive: CDC to end all monkey research
Studies related to HIV and other infectious diseases will be phased out, sources say; fate of the agency's animals remains unclear
science.org
Fun piece for @science.org that pretty much wrote itself. Interview with AP photographer Lindsey Wasson telling the story of being the one to tell a disbelieving Mary Brunkow that she’d just won the @nobelprize.bsky.social Prize in Medicine— www.science.org/content/arti...
What’s it like to tell someone she won a Nobel Prize?
Science chats with photographer Lindsey Wasson, who captured how Nobel winner Mary Brunkow reacted to life-changing news
science.org
The proposed Horizon Europe successor has 2x the budget, but there's a controversial catch: The previously civilian-only program will be opened to "dual-use" research with defense applications. ... that's, of course, if this thing passes the EU Parliament. New from me for @science.org 🧪
Europe mulls boosting military R&D with civilian science funding
Worried about regional security, bloc pushes forward on controversial “dual-use” approach
science.org
Last month, 140,000 Danes found out that their genetic data was being used in a massive research project-- without their consent. I unpacked how this happened, and why it matters for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Blood taken from Danish babies ended up in huge genetic study—without consent
The iPsych project, which investigates the genetics of psychiatric disorders, has sent 140,000 opt-out notices amid backlash
science.org
Thousands of Danes have just found out that their genetic data has been used in research for more than a decade, without their consent. Great reporting from @inampudi.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Blood taken from Danish babies ended up in huge genetic study—without consent
The iPsych project, which investigates the genetics of psychiatric disorders, has sent 140,000 opt-out notices amid backlash
science.org
Thousands of Danes have just found out that their genetic data has been used in research for more than a decade, without their consent. Great reporting from @inampudi.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Blood taken from Danish babies ended up in huge genetic study—without consent
The iPsych project, which investigates the genetics of psychiatric disorders, has sent 140,000 opt-out notices amid backlash
science.org
“The new law will negatively affect further international collaborations of Russian chemists and other scientists, as many of them will prefer not to participate in such projects amid the fears of possible attention from security services,” says one chemist www.science.org/content/arti...
Russian scientists’ international collaborations to be vetted by security services under new law
Move will have a chilling effect and further isolate the country from the global scientific community, researchers say
science.org
Well, this makes it real: I'm retiring in September and this is the just-posted job listing for my replacement. @Science.org is a fabulous place to work, so @sciencewriters.org, apply here! recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
recruiting.ultipro.com
The Science Media Centre has gathered several expert reactions to the "de-extinct the moa" publicity announcement. Each is withering in a different way. www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...
Moa "de-extinction" plans announced - Expert Reaction
An overseas company has announced plans to "bring back" the South Island giant moa. Colossal Biosciences, working with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum, says it expects to "resurrect" t...
sciencemediacentre.co.nz
“I think we desperately need to take some of the heat out of this debate,” @peteetchells.bsky.social says. “And this paper, for me, doesn’t do that. It has the potential to go the other way.” www.science.org/content/arti...
Social media consensus paper causes social media uproar
Preprint reporting common ground among researchers on smartphones and teen mental health is premature and flawed, critics say
science.org
for @ScienceMagazine i spent the past year investigating a brain technology used by Indian police to determine if suspects committed a crime. the technology has been used in hundreds high-stake cases. yet it has little to no science backing. 🧵 www.science.org/content/arti...
Indian police are trying to ‘read minds' of suspects, over neuroscientists' objections
A controversial profiling of the brain’s electrical activity has shaped court decisions and bail applications
science.org
Be sure not to miss the last bit of @jocelynkaiser.bsky.social's short, strange interview with NIH chief Jay Bhattacharya: www.science.org/content/arti...
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
Some new climate technologies are pretty controversial, but they could also be pretty useful; we should talk about it! To be clear, it's not a matter of convincing people; it's a matter of being in dialogue. Sounds woolly, but a number of fantastic researchers help me unpack what this involves:
Geoengineering could fight climate change—if the public can be convinced
Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward
science.org
One high level HHS official shown the door told Science, “I couldn’t have worked with these asshats anyway.” www.science.org/content/arti...
Trump administration purges U.S. health agency leaders
Reassignment letters come as reduction in force begins
science.org
Overseas universities see opportunity in recruiting U.S. scientists uprooted by Trump policies. Not capitalizing on the situation “would be wasting a unique opportunity,” one specialist says. | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Overseas universities see opportunity in U.S. ‘brain drain’
But many U.S.-based scientists seeking to leave may struggle to find positions in countries grappling with funding issues of their own
science.org