MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing
@mitsciwrite.bsky.social
A one-year journalism masters program that trains students how to interpret, explain, and contextualize science for the wider public: Sciwrite.mit.edu
Incredible reporting by Zoe Beketova, '26, copublished on @thexylom.com and @thenation.com on the healthcare crisis older people face in US prisons: www.thexylom.com/post/washing...
‘We Are Such A Punitive Country’: America’s ‘Death by Incarceration’ Machine
America’s prison population is aging into disability and disease. Understaffed clinics and delayed treatments turn serving life into a death sentence: as the system breaks down, the logic behind decad...
thexylom.com
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...
Fires in Europe are breaking records: here’s what the future holds
Countries such as Spain and France can expect fire regimes more like those of California as climate change favours hot, dry conditions, scientists suggest.
nature.com
A deep dive from @lisalsong.bsky.social on the harm of the proposed OMB fed financial assistance rule examining whether we could have achieved Nobel Prize level breakthroughs like the Higgs boson under such policies. www.propublica.org/article/fede...
How Trump’s “America First” Administration Could Shut U.S. Scientists Out of the Next Nobel-Worthy Discovery
A proposed White House rule would give political appointees unprecedented control over scientific funding. One physicist, who helped discover the Higgs boson, explains how the rule would’ve stifled th...
propublica.org
Thrilled to see one of our student documentaries published in @mongabay.com. Story by @alexmegerle.bsky.social, film by Alex, @theanageorgescu.bsky.social, Laura Martin Agudelo, and Lucie McCormick: news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-...
Why a New England city is building tunnels to protect an imperiled salamander
NEW HAMPSHIRE, U.S. — It’s a mild March night in Keene, New Hampshire, and the salamander brigade is out in full force. A constellation of flashlight beams wink and flash along a dark street, as rain ...
news.mongabay.com
Reporters—covering heatwaves this summer? Learn how they impact community health and infrastructure at our July 21 (1 p.m. ET) media briefing with @krisebi.bsky.social @uwsph.bsky.social and Dr. Line Roald @uwmadison.bsky.social plus on-the-record reporter Q&A: bit.ly/44DVXAg @aaas.org
!!!! Congratulations, James!
James Dinneen@jamesdinneen.bsky.social · 2w agoHello friends. I'm starting a new job today reporting for @nature.com on all things climate and Earth science, energy, and beyond.🌍Please get in touch if you're a researcher/gov staffer/startup with results/projects that deserve attention--or are facing problems we should know about. Contact in bio.
💥 Attention Journalists! 💥 Want to sharpen your research-vetting skills? Join us next Monday for "Reporting the Science: How to Vet Studies and Spot Red Flags," presented by @sciline.org! 🔬📰 🔗 Register NOW: https://bit.ly/4wuJvOZ 1/2 #Free #Webinars #Science #Journalism #Research
There's still time to apply for our Data Fellowship! 🔗 Visit bit.ly/2026DataFellowship (Deadline: 7/22) Hear what last year’s Data Fellows shared during their in-person training in Los Angeles. @uscannenberg #ASCJ #DataReporting #JournalismFellowship #InvestigativeJournalism
Professor of the Practice Alan Lightman writes about his early career and falling in love with science for @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/alan...
Alan Lightman’s childhood in science
The story of the author’s extremely early career
scientificamerican.com
Hey folks...I just had a great book conversation w. @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social at the legendary @politicsprose.bsky.social. We talked vaccines, current lethal folly, & how a historical approach to story telling might just be a way to break through the squid-ink spray of grifters' vaccine disinfo:
Author Talk: Thomas Levenson — A Pox on Fools - with Jennifer Ouellette
YouTube video by Politics and Prose
youtube.com
Stay tuned for our forthcoming story by @cgeib.bsky.social on Miami's urban corals and the underwater feed that gets called "the happiest place on the internet" 🪸🐠🐡🤿
Coral City Camera@coralcitycamera.bsky.social · 2mo agoOn this World Oceans Day we are proud to unveil the latest extension of the world’s longest underwater timelapse, starting May 1, 2023, and running for three years through May 1, 2026 🪸🌎🪸
By @cjgiaimo.bsky.social, GPSW '15
bioGraphic@biographic.bsky.social · last mo.A cemetery may seem like a strange place to survey frogs, but this one has balanced life and death since its founding in 1831. Guests come to visit their late loved ones, and to be among the living: to walk under trees, to point at warblers, and to volunteer for community science projects
Thanks to the New York Public Library for the chance to talk about my research on the history of deep Earth geoscience. The library has been such a fantastic place to work. Can't beat the feeling of opening books that seem as though they haven't been read for a century. www.nypl.org/blog/2026/06...
nypl.org
Just got off a fun Zoom talk on A Pox on Fools w. NESW: the New England Science Writers. Thanks to my host, @mitsciwrite.bsky.social alumna Saima Sadik. A reminder: if you have a group or a book club or whatever, and you're interested, I'm happy to talk to anywhere Zoom (equivalents) can reach.
A Pox on Fools by Thomas Levenson: 9798217155002 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
An urgent and profound history of vaccine skepticism, seeking to understand how our three most common fears about vaccines hardened into a lethal ideology—from a leading science writer “Brimming...
penguinrandomhouse.com
Today! Join our colleagues at the National Press Club Journalism Institute for a free webinar on public health reporting in an increasingly politicized landscape. Register for the 11 am ET/ 8am PT webinar:
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Public Health Journalism: Reporting on public health in the current political environment. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
As public health becomes increasingly politicized, journalists continue to face challenges in reporting clearly and accurately on issues that impact their communities and the broader public. Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute for a timely conversation with KFF Health News journalists Julie Rovner and Amanda Seitz. They will explore how journalists can gain audience trust and navigate misinformation and controversial statements from officials while producing accessible, fact-based journalism. Drawing collectively on decades of experience covering health policy at the national and local levels, Rovner and Seitz will share practical insights on: - translating data and industry jargon for broad audiences - making tough editorial judgements when covering major public health issues - building trust in a fractured media environment This program kicks off the NPCJI’s monthly webinar series produced as part of the Public Health Reporting Fellowship. In partnership with the Common Health Coalition, the fellowship offers training and financial support for mid-career journalists to complete reporting projects focused on the intersection of public health policy and health care delivery.
us02web.zoom.us
This is an amazingly well-reported story by @joshuasokol.bsky.social. And a wonderful use of "synecdoche". www.science.org/content/arti...
Amid a flood of AI advances, astrophysicists are questioning the soul of their field
Researchers see enormous power in new tools—but also the potential end of astrophysics as a human endeavor
science.org
In April I reported on some concerning conduct within the GHG Protocol. Now, Danny Cullenward, a member of its oversight board, has resigned in protest, accusing GHGP of handing standards development over to “a secret, industry-dominated drafting process.” heatmap.news/carbon-remov...
Tensions Mount at Greenhouse Gas Protocol as Scientist Resigns in Protest
The move by University of Pennsylvania researcher Danny Cullenward intensifies a debate over integrity at the carbon accounting organization.
heatmap.news
This week on the @science.org podcast, Joshua Sokol talks about the intense discussion happening in the astrophysics community as AI and ML become increasingly powerful www.science.org/content/podc...
It took months of asking questions for Columbia to finally explain how my SSN got swept into its data breach, along with an untold number of other victims who never attended, applied to, or worked for the school and were never publicly acknowledged until now. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
My SSN was exposed in a breach at Columbia—a school I have no connection with
Columbia admits last year’s data breach exposed victims beyond its students, staff.
arstechnica.com
Love, love, love to see connections between current students and alum. We can't wait to read what Zoe produces for @thexylom.com
The Xylom@thexylom.com · 2mo agoWe're excited to announce that Zoe Beketova will be joining us as a summer editorial intern starting today. From Moscow and London, Zoe is wrapping up her time at @mitsciwrite.bsky.social, with past stops at University College London and Yale University.
We're excited to announce that Zoe Beketova will be joining us as a summer editorial intern starting today. From Moscow and London, Zoe is wrapping up her time at @mitsciwrite.bsky.social, with past stops at University College London and Yale University.
A police cruiser can’t be docked at the charging station when a call comes over the radio. That’s where BetterFleet comes in. Read @andrewmoseman.bsky.social on how it’s helping London’s Met Police electrify their fleet: heatmap.news/electric-veh...
London’s Police Cars Are Going Electric With the Help of AI
The Metropolitan Police Service signed a deal with BetterFleet to manage the complicated logistics.
heatmap.news
When I did my thesis research at MIT, one of the first pieces of work I studied was this 10,000-word feature written by a fellow @mitsciwrite.bsky.social alum in 2005, of a young and eccentric Kentucky inventor alum named Thomas Massie. It's remarkable how he is the same guy two decades later:
When machines touch back : simulating-- and stimulating-- the most intimate of senses
Thomas Massie invented the Phantom, a computer peripheral for simulating the sense of touch, that became the de facto device for haptics research. The thesis recounts the story of Massie, his inventio...
dspace.mit.edu
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 3mo agoWASHINGTON (AP) — Ed Gallrein wins Republican nomination for U.S. House in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, beating incumbent Thomas Massie.
The pub date for A Pox on Fools is fast approaching...and today I have a short essay at Time on the old anti-vax trope that if you get sick, it's your fault. You didn't eat right, or exercise, or whatever. That's false, of course, but there's a history behind it, a dangerous one. Read more here:
Illness Is Not a Personal Failure
No amount of positive thinking or healthy eating will keep an illness from doing potentially lethal harm, writes Tom Levenson.
time.com
For @sciam.bsky.social I wrote about how powerful new x-rays and lasers are revealing an “explosion” of new minerals from Earth‘s mantle trapped in super-deep diamonds.🧪⚒️ www.scientificamerican.com/article/deep...
Deep-Earth diamonds are revealing a trove of never-before-seen minerals
Flecks of minerals captured in diamonds show hidden connections between Earth’s surface and its deep interior
scientificamerican.com
Our director @sethmnookin.bsky.social calls @theopennotebook.bsky.social's new book "an absolutely brilliant book that will be cherished by the general public (and will be on my syllabi) for years to come.” We're thrilled to have just ordered our copies.
The Open Notebook@theopennotebook.bsky.social · 3mo ago“This book renders the invisible visible," says Pulitzer Prize-winning author @danfagin.bsky.social. "Writers at all levels will profit immensely from the illumination." Preorder our new book using code UCPNEW for 30% off with @uchicagopress.bsky.social. www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci...
