This week's mental health hack: fan to the face, hair down, feel like a pop princess. Why does this work.

If you are an expert on air quality and have 10-15 minutes to talk to me today or tomorrow about important things journalists should know while reporting on wildfires and smoke, my DMs are open, or you can email me at karen at OpenNews dot org.

Monday? Shan't. Won't. Can't make me. #MondayMotivation 📷️ Paul Browning

Most of Earth's volcanism happens under the ocean's surface, which makes it hard to for scientists to see. But this eruption is offering a rare peak into an underwater event. (By @meghanbartels.bsky.social)

Secret eruption offers tantalizing glimpse of underwater volcanism

Frothy rock floating on the ocean near Papua New Guinea is the sign scientists needed that, hidden from view, an underwater volcano was erupting

scientificamerican.com

While I was out, Sky & Telescope posted this little story of mine about the *second* meteorite to crash through a New Jersey roof in the last few years: skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

New Jersey Meteorite Offers Early Solar System Clues

When a meteorite tore through a New Jersey home, the homeowner quickly preserved the fragments. Now, they're giving scientists a look at Earth's early history.

skyandtelescope.org

Want to learn more? Here is an ancient Nursing Clio post about the dangers of ice cream

A Historian’s Guide to Summer – The Ice Cream Edition

Whether you’re overlooking the sandy shores of your local beach chowing down on a Gaytime, discretely licking the sides of your mouth to make sure there’s no lingering trace of that chocolate Paddl…

nursingclio.org

I'm super happy that Mamdani is cutting red tape for small businesses. Frozen dessert permits seem frivolous now, but ice cream used to be really deadly! Absent good sanitary practices, it used to be carry of all sorts of diseases (remember typhoid mary?). The initial law was a public health win!

There is a lot to say about the Nolan Odyssey movie. But one point that I think has not been emphasized enough is: this is a film about living in LA, as Nolan, my erstwhile British compatriot and age mate, has done for years. I gather it’s a strange place.

I am still hustling to get Assigned Media back on track after our big platform change. If you've been meaning to subscribe, maybe a lazy Sunday morning is just the time?

Assigned Media@assignedmedia.org · 2w ago

Have you subscribed to Assigned Media yet? It's journalism by and for the trans community (and our allies) and we're completely reader funded. Put your subscription money somewhere that matters. Join us today! assignedmedia.org/support/

A sign I can get behind: ALWAYS BE YOURSELF UNLESS YOU CAN BE A DRAGON

The Writers Guild of America will not stand idly by as Paramount attempts to violate our country's antitrust laws and deepen the contraction entertainment workers already feel. #BlockTheMerger

Springer Nature's decision last month to sell Scientific American and lay off staff—in the middle of their union election—is a tragedy for scientific journalism in the U.S.

Today at 10 AM EDT Sotheby's will start the live bidding on its natural history auction featuring one of the largest, most complete skeletons of T. rex ever found. It could fetch $30M+ and go to a private collector. Here's what science--and the public--stand to lose. My story for @wired.com 🧪

Sotheby’s Big T. Rex Auction Raises Concerns Hype and Wealth Are Upending Science

Private buyers are increasingly outbidding museums for fossils. That’s making it difficult—or even impossible—for researchers to improve our understanding of the past.

wired.com

Bernita Bowlding's brother: "They say that 'We love you, we got you,' but the reality is that this woman is homeless." The white supremacy in the frame and the homelessness outside it. A distinctly American story.

The Woman in the Photo Wanted to Be Alone. Instead, She Went Viral.

America saw what it wanted to see on the face of its newest icon. And everyone saw it wrong.

notus.org

Yn a moment of "beinge extremelye god damn symbolic," ther ys trouble at the magazyne *Scientific American*: www.wgaeast.org/wgae-scienti...

WGAE-Scientific American Union Statement on Springer Nature’s Decision to Sell the Publication and Lay Off Staff | Press Room

The following is a statement from Writers Guild of America East members at Scientific American on Springer Nature’s decision to sell the publication and lay off staff: “Earlier today in an all-staff m...

wgaeast.org

"...the recently announced layoffs at Scientific American have elicited shock, dismay, and grief throughout our science writing community." www.nasw.org/July2026soli...

NASW expresses solidarity with journalists facing layoffs and loss of freelance work

To the workers affected by this round of layoffs, both in terms of staff jobs and the loss of freelance work as a result of those eliminated positions, and to those still recovering from similar actio...

nasw.org

I made a spreadsheet and color-coded it and don't feel any better, how rude.

Three days after Springer Nature sold Scientific American without warning, the NLRB conducted our scheduled union vote count, despite Springer Nature’s attempt to stop it. And guess what? WE WON. What’s more, it was nearly unanimous, with 31 out of 32 voters checking YES.

Join us for a rally outside of Springer Nature offices on Tuesday, June 30th at 5pm ET to call out the company’s callous treatment of Scientific American’s staff, publication, and legacy—and to stand up for science journalism everywhere. RSVP: wgaea.st/sciam-rally

Scientific American Union Rally 6/30

On Tuesday, the international scientific publisher Springer Nature sold Scientific American, the iconic 181-year old publication famous for its authoritative coverage of science to LabX Media Group. L...

wgaea.st

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 (🧵)

🛰️ ⬇️ 🔥 🌏 ☠️ but wait 🚀 🤖 + 🛰️ ⤴️ will it work? Words by me 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A spacecraft is falling to its doom — can NASA save it?

A successful rescue of the Swift space observatory could be a good omen for the Hubble Space Telescope.

nature.com

I recently found a tick on my body and didn't know what to do. I went into journalist mode to find out. Here's what I learned about how to manage tick bites, with illustrations of the tick species that cause diseases in humans by Diogo Guerra and maps of where they occur by @jenchristiansen.com 🧪

Bitten by a tick? Don’t panic—do this

Knowing what kind of tick bit you and where you got it can help inform next steps

scientificamerican.com

Mars scientists have detailed, deliberate plans for what missions can give them the data they most want about the Red Planet. SkyFall's trio of helicopters (relying on the first-ever nuclear-propulsion spacecraft and mid-air deployment, all with a 2028 launch date!) is...not among them. 🧪 🔭

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

My work, my endless joy in sharing science and wonder. The joy of my colleagues. Our work, our training and our experience, mashed up and extruded out as the most mediocre version of it all, that YOU are using to answer your email. To do something you could do yourself, and just don't wanna.

I'm absolutely obsessed with the "beautifully designed" fancy new astronomy array being built thanks to an "amazing" collaboration with "bakeware-manufacturing company Fat Daddio": 🧪 🔭 www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

How one new telescope is going to change astronomy forever

Construction of the Deep Synoptic Array is about to start in rural Nevada. It will reveal untold galaxies in stunning detail and help explain how they form and grow

scientificamerican.com

this may well be the defining joke of our era theonion.com/guy-who-suck...

Guy Who Sucks At Being A Person Sees Huge Potential In AI

SAN MATEO, CA—After spending the past three decades of his life being totally unable and unwilling to engage in any meaningful way with the world around him, James Parker, a local guy who sucks at bei...

theonion.com

Trying to reach as many people as possible to resubscribe or become new members. Changing platforms is brutal, but with your help I know we'll make it through this crucial transition.

Assigned Media@assignedmedia.org · 2mo ago

Hello! Are you a monthly member of Assigned Media? I need you to check your email and resubscribe in our new platform! (Yearly members - hang on for now, we're working on a way to ensure we don't overcharge you for months you've paid for.)

My words say I’m fine; my actions in seven unsupervised hours say I need a piece of cake, a pastry, and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, just in case.

My favorite shirt so far is Brunson, egg & cheese.