Ross Andersen
@rossandersen.bsky.social
Staff Writer at The Atlantic // Working on a book for Random House // Rep’d by Elyse Cheney // ross@theatlantic.com
Since he's returned to office Trump has attacked the Smithsonian as "out of control" where everything discussed "is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was." Lonnie Bunch has been the person who has put himself between Trump and the Smithsonian. This is the story of his work to protect it.
First the Kennedy Center, Now the Smithsonian
How long can the museum system’s leader, Lonnie Bunch, survive?
theatlantic.com
I wrote about the quest to invent new kinds of psychedelic experience www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...
Magic Mushrooms, but Better
What if your next trip could be customized?
theatlantic.com
I've spent months speaking to current & retired Black service members about being part of the military in this political moment. What I found were officers and soldiers despondent at the resurgence of racism, yet often insistent that they were fighting for what this country could be, not what it is.
The Betrayal of Black Patriots
They devoted their lives to serving the United States. Now the nation’s top military leader is sending the message that they’re not welcome.
theatlantic.com
Whichever of the purple dots you look at turns more purple.
With AI wearables, even the average person might need to worry about their every move being recorded, @rossandersen.bsky.social writes. He reports on a growing list of technology that is cropping up to counter this surveillance:
Everything You Do Is Being Recorded
Is there any way of fighting back?
bit.ly
This is a story about life extension for dogs, in which my own pup makes several appearances www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Your Next Dog May Live Longer
A new pill could soon extend dogs’ lives. How will that change our relationship with our pets?
theatlantic.com
Claude Mythos Preview is, of course, a big deal for cybersecurity. But perhaps more importantly, the model brings into stark relief how AI companies are amassing more power and influence than nation-states. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Most Beautiful Moment of the Artemis II Mission. It had little to do with science or celestial bodies; instead it was a moment shared by four curious, caring humans, united in purpose, far from home. [theatlantic.com]
The Most Beautiful Moment of the Artemis II Mission
It’s all in a name.
theatlantic.com
I wrote a tiny thing about the most beautiful moment of the Artemis II mission www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
The Most Beautiful Moment of the Artemis II Mission
It’s all in a name.
theatlantic.com
The astronauts on Artemis II have now traveled farther from Earth than any human before them. Last week, @rossandersen.bsky.social reported on the mission's historical gravitas:
Why Doesn’t Anybody Realize We’re Going Back to the Moon?
On the ground at the Trump era’s most important space launch
bit.ly
Last year, the Trump White House tried to cut funding for NASA’s science missions by 47 percent. Congress told them no, but now they’ve decided to try again. If they get their way, here’s roughly what it will look like:
Going to the moon is objectively awesome. Even when you don't land on it. I love this @rossandersen.bsky.social dispatch from the Artemis II launch: www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Why Doesn’t Anybody Realize We’re Going Back to the Moon?
On the ground at the Trump era’s most important space launch
theatlantic.com
On the Florida bridge watching the new mission to the moon take off with @rossandersen.bsky.social and realizing that much of the nation may not be aware it's happening. www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Why Doesn’t Anybody Realize We’re Going Back to the Moon?
On the ground at the Trump era’s most important space launch
theatlantic.com
“Brad Kowalski, who lives nearby, told me that Trump should have at least come down to see it. “It’s significant that the son of a bitch isn’t here,” he said”
Ross Andersen@rossandersen.bsky.social · 4mo agoI went to the moon launch and wrote about it Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
I went to the moon launch and wrote about it Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Had a blast talking about the Artemis 2 launch with this crew bsky.app/profile/ians...
Ian Sample@iansample.bsky.social · 4mo agoMore than 50 years after Apollo, what would it mean to return to the moon? Great insights from Jan Woerner, former DG at @esa.int and @rossandersen.bsky.social from @theatlantic.com Kudos @madifinlay.bsky.social And @elliebury.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
In my history of science classes, I narrate how the U.S. system of doing science came to be dominant... @rossandersen.bsky.social's new essay will help round out this story by showing that such systems are fragile, don't last forever, and can be broken. www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
The Shocking Speed of China’s Scientific Rise
When will Chinese research pull ahead of the U.S.’s?
theatlantic.com
"American science has been the envy of the planet since the Second World War at least, but it has recently gone into decline." www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
The Next Scientific Superpower
When will Chinese research pull ahead of ours?
theatlantic.com
I wrote about the metascientists who will know first if and when China surpasses the U.S. in science www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
The Next Scientific Superpower
When will Chinese research pull ahead of ours?
theatlantic.com
“Anthropic’s dispute with the Pentagon is a reminder that the people who create a powerful technology don’t usually get the final say in how it’s used.” Ross Andersen for @theatlantic.com
Dario Amodei’s Oppenheimer Moment — The Atlantic
It came earlier than expected.
apple.news
I wrote about Dario’s Oppenheimer moment and the utopian dreams of the nuclear age www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Dario Amodei’s Oppenheimer Moment
It came earlier than expected.
theatlantic.com
From an ignorant outsider perspective, NASA making the cuts before the budget passed (which it never did) felt so insane to me
Paul Byrne@theplanetaryguy.com · 5mo agoA mission competition going from two to one candidates directly because of NASA complying with the White House's Presidential Budget Request—which was ultimately ignored by Congress.
New details on the dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic; how the negotiations broke down, and a particular sticking point on AI in the cloud vs inside of edge systems. by @rossandersen.bsky.social / tip @techmeme.com
Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon
New details on precisely where the lines were drawn
theatlantic.com
"The big 'aliens exist' bets would make sense only if the traders actually believed that they would pan out, perhaps because they knew something about a hushed-up discovery that the rest of us are about to find out."
The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · 5mo agoTwo large bets were made this week on a prediction market for proof of alien life. Did they come from some overexcited UFO diehard with a hunch and money to burn? Or does someone know something the rest of us don’t? Ross Andersen reports:
Important point about AI and math in this excellent @matteowong.bsky.social interview with Terrance Tao www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Michael Jackson was so good at creating the cinema of himself that the only striking images here are direct copies of those he already made bsky.app/profile/phil...
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 6mo agoA new trailer for “Michael,” starring Jaafar Jackson and directed by Antoine Fuqua, is out:
“For more than a century, scientific journals have been the pipes through which knowledge of the natural world flows into our culture. Now they’re being clogged with AI slop” www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
Science Is Drowning in AI Slop
Peer review has met its match.
theatlantic.com
Anthropic wants to be the AI industry's superego, but is caught between the pressures to be safe and fast, rigorous while being commercially successful. I profiled the company and its leadership, who seem earnest but torn, anxious but at times hubristic: www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
Anthropic Is at War With Itself
The AI company shouting about AI’s dangers can’t quite bring itself to slow down.
theatlantic.com
