Shaena Montanari
@shaena.bsky.social
Associate staff writer, sleep at Wirecutter. Go Heels.
BREAKING: The world's most sensitive dark matter detector has announced it has spotted something it can't easily explain: a single event that's tantalizingly consistent with a type of theorized dark matter particle. Very early days yet, but pretty wild. www.science.org/content/arti...
World’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle
It’s far too early to declare a discovery, physicists with the LZ detector say
science.org
I started in journalism in 2017 and I can’t really express how different it is in only less than a decade.
Asher Elbein@asherelbein.bsky.social · 3mo agoEmployees at Scientific American were told today that the magazine has been sold to LabX Media Group, the outfit that runs Discover Magazine and IFLScience. And that means -- of course! -- editorial layoffs. The media mass extinction rolls ever onward.
I’ll be at the SLEEP 2026 meeting in Baltimore next month….anyone else? #neuroskyence
SCOOP: The F.D.A. blocked the release of studies finding that Covid and shingles vaccines were safe. In the case of Covid, FDA staff had to withdraw studies heading toward publication: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/u...
F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe
nytimes.com
Breaking: Trump has fired the membership of the National Science Board, which is oversees NSF. I have confirmed separately with multiple now-former members of NSB.
Ranking Member Lofgren Reacts to Latest Trump Scheme to Undermine Science | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
democrats-science.house.gov
We’re on strike today! Support our fight for a fair contract by NOT visiting the @propublica.org website or engaging with ProPublica stories today. Tell ProPublica’s management you won’t cross the picket line: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...
I’m quoted in this important Guardian article by @whatsitlike.me about colon cancer. I got the bad news today that chemo didn’t do the trick after 24 treatments. I start immunotherapy next week. Get tested folks; don’t ignore your health. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Colon cancer now leading cause of cancer deaths under 50 in US
Experts warn younger people not to dismiss symptoms such as rectal bleeding as diagnoses rise for those under 50
theguardian.com
Breaking News: The Nobel laureate Richard Axel said he was resigning as co-director of a Columbia brain institute over his friendship with Jeffery Epstein.
Leader of Columbia Brain Institute Quits Over Friendship With Epstein
The Nobel laureate Richard Axel is not accused of wrongdoing but called his association with Jeffrey Epstein a “serious error in judgment.”
nyti.ms
Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...
Prince Andrew's Arrest
Across the pond in Britain, justice and accountability is a serious matter
open.substack.com
Scoop: Ring's CEO told staff Search Party is not going to be just for dogs, according to a leaked email I obtained. Said it is "first for finding dogs" before suggesting it would be expanded to be used for crime: www.404media.co/leaked-email...
Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans to Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs
Ring's CEO told staff the feature is “first for finding dogs,” indicating a plan to expand.
404media.co
A journal has retracted the largest leucovorin trial in people with autism—one of just five randomized clinical trials assessing this treatment in autistic people. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/lar...
Largest leucovorin-autism trial retracted
A reanalysis of the data revealed errors and failed to replicate the results.
thetransmitter.org
I wrote about an extremely strange fellow from 410 million years ago defector.com/who-the-hell...
Who The Hell Was This? | Defector
It was a bonnie morning 410 million years ago in what are now the Rhynie chert fossil beds in Scotland. The mists had begun to lift and swirl over the landscape, where hot springs burbled, lichen pape...
defector.com
Just got back from CES, and on a related note I want to live off-grid now
BREAKING: Federal health officials on Monday announced dramatic revisions to the slate of vaccines recommended for American children, reducing the number of diseases prevented by routine shots to 11 from 17. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/h...
Kennedy Scales Back the Number of Vaccines Recommended for Children
nytimes.com
Neuroscientists are working to solve a behavior problem in preclinical psychedelics research: Instead of identifying a simple test yielding a universal result, they are designing more nuanced tasks that better reflect human behavior. By @callimcflurry.bsky.social #neuroskyence bit.ly/4jc24lW
Psychedelics research in rodents has a behavior problem
Simple behavioral assays—originally validated as drug-screening tools—fall short in studies that aim to unpack the psychedelic mechanism of action, so some behavioral neuroscientists are developing…
thetransmitter.org
One of the funniest things I ever did was quit academia because I thought finding a job in journalism would be easier
I know my work is kind of silly now but we all do need a pillow. Should you get a custom pillow? www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...
Can You Design Your Dream Pillow? It’s Worth a Try.
This custom pillow aims to take the guesswork out of shopping. Our sleep team put it to the test.
nytimes.com
“Basic neuroscience hasn’t produced new drugs.” 💊 Not true - zuranolone (PPD), suzetrigine (pain), gepants (migraine), and more... were born out of a long arc of studies in the lab. I wrote a Perspective on why this matters. @thetransmitter.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/drug-develop...
How basic neuroscience has paved the path to new drugs
A growing list of medications—such as zuranolone for postpartum depression, suzetrigine for pain, and the gepants class of migraine medicines—exist because of insights from basic research.
thetransmitter.org
Just got off the list for 11/22/63 at the library. Chat what do we think about this book?
Are you wondering hey, what’s the best memory foam pillow out there? I have some options for you in my FIRST GUIDE as a staff writer for Wirecutter! I seriously never thought I’d get to have a job this cool so I am not gonna shut up about this for a while… www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...
We Tested Dozens of Memory Foam Pillows. These Are the Best.
These adjustable and single-piece memory foam pillows offer firmness and support, especially for side sleepers.
nytimes.com
The work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social #neuroskyence www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...
The FDA wants to expand the use of leucovorin to treat autism traits, based on an analysis of the scientific research. @thetransmitter.bsky.social has obtained the list of 23 studies. By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/exc...
Exclusive: The 23 studies the FDA based its expanded leucovorin label on
The studies include 46 people, mostly toddlers, who have cerebral folate deficiency due to variants in a folate transporter.
thetransmitter.org
As we're all taught, you can (usually) only directly date the age of a rock if it cooled from lava. But here, scientists have dated dinosaur eggs, using uranium-lead ratios in the calcite. Hugely exciting, maybe groundbreaking. My take @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Scientists directly date dino eggshells for the first time
The new findings narrow age estimates for the clutch of eggs—and may help identify which species laid them
science.org
We lost Mark Norell today. Dinosaur hunter extraordinaire. The coolest dude alive. My PhD supervisor. Wherever you are, raise a glass of your favorite lager or single malt, as it is what Mark would want.
Just so saddened to lose my doctoral supervisor and mentor Mark Norell today. He was one of a kind and his personality almost defies description. A legendary scientist but also human. I will be missing him so much.
New: I teamed up with @elenashao.bsky.social and nytgraphics to map more than 100 public TV and radio stations that are at risk of closing as a result of tonight's vote: www.nytimes.com/interactive/... This is a time bomb that will go off in the fall, when the last federal grants run out.
Where Congress’s Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR
The loss of federal funding threatens scores of public TV and radio stations across the United States.
nytimes.com
Today is my first day at @nytwirecutter.bsky.social! Beginning my journey of learning about sleep products such as mattresses, sunrise alarm clocks and more. 💤
