We moved to Germany in November. In late December, we received a refund from our medical insurance company, because they had made more profit than allowed by law and were obligated to return that extra $. Also I paid $0 to give birth there and at week 2 was as recovered as 7 months here. FEELINGS

madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · 5d ago

three different times i had symptoms of appendicitis and the USA refused to remove because insurance and then the same thing happened here and the NHS had me in surgery IMMEDIATELY and they were like "we're not sure but it's better to check!" they were all ovarian cysts but hey, no more appendix!

This has been lighting up one of my chat spaces this morning. We are all 👀 with many feelings about using AI in the creative process and predictions about how this will play out

Jonathan Jarry@jonathanjarry.bsky.social · 5d ago

If you’re a science communicator and you use AI, read this. This is about what’s happening to Hank Green.

How to get a slop-free Google search every time without having to type "-ai" at the end of your searches (because I was just telling friends in a group chat and they are happy so here you go) My screenshots are from Chrome, but this should require similar steps in whatever browser you use

YES. It's not wrong to blame politicians and scrutinize the media environment we were and are in, but I've seen a lot of ONLY that. We must consider how brains and bodies cope with trauma if we want to fully understand how people think about public health now (+ why) and chart a good path forward

Aaron Huertas@aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 6d ago

Having trouble finding it but I think NPR interviewed a historian about the drop in diary entries around the 1918 flu pandemic. The memory holing is partially propaganda but also a collective trauma response.

This is a fun thread 😬

Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · last wk.

Hey 🧪! I was just reminiscing with a friend about the time a very senior academic called a mid-career guy's work "completely meaningless" at a meeting and now I want to hear your best (public, academic) disses

My grandmother was a computer for pre-NASA Langley (Not quite 100 years but that was actually her job title- my parents found the job offer letter in her attic a few years ago)

Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d ago

Enough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?

What if we just mispronounced it all to make the goons feel less powerful? puhl-AN-turr space-HEEKS meh-TAY open AAAEEEEEE!!

When I worked in a wildland fire science part of the US government, I learned that Canada and the US (used to) routinely exchange resources and personnel, to fight fires but also to learn and train and to prevent fires from starting in the first place I've been wondering about such exchanges

PEIPolitical 🇨🇦@peipolitical.bsky.social · 2w ago

Carney: "I'm going to take this opportunity to thank President Scheinbaum and the Mexican people for sending 200 firefighters to help us with our fires here. That's what friends do when you have crisis and fires." #cdnpoli

This is the first time I've seen one of these headlines when my daughter is the age of the (in this case, fake) kid they're preying on And I am floored by what I feel right now. I've always hated this, but now *I understand who they are going after*. I will never get over this kind of knowing

Scott Horton@robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2w ago

Mark Zuckerberg's assistant at Meta, Josh Felker, who was responsible for Meta's "digital experiences for kids," was arrested after admitting he tried to sext a 13-year-old during an undercover sting. nypost.com/2026/07/20/u...

My kids' school uses Yondr pouches - locked to enter the building, unlocked by a teacher on their way out. However: 1. The kids learned to break the pouches so fast 2. Kids put fake "phones" into the pouches And: 3. *Parents want kids to have their phones* in case of gun violence/other emergencies

Elise Cutts@elisecutts.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hot take maybe? But why don't we just... ban the phones. The physical (smart)phones. Who cares if kids use social media on desktop? You can't take a desktop with you everywhere and open it every 5s by drawing a tiny device out of your pocket. The "all the time everywhere" component goes away.

Good morning this made me giggle and gasp and is science, so here you go

🌈Dr. Frizzle@swilua.bsky.social · 2y ago

Feels like a good morning to tell Bluesky the story about when I overdosed on my underwear, so let’s do this! 🧵

🦀 see a crab, post a crab 🦀 I love sally lightfoot crabs so much- they feel like calm in a storm, glorified

Bob Wehädababeitsaboy@jokingguy.bsky.social · 2w ago

🦀 see a crab, post a crab 🦀 a slightly tinier crab (i don't know crab names) from Central Queensland

Did my husband write this

darth™️@darthbluesky.bsky.social · 2w ago

the mens world cup is over but the hydration breaks continue keep drinking my friends

Where are the other millennials that remember Hexxus? This visual is hitting me right in my childhood (link to original: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5665)

NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | Long-range Transport of 2026 Canadian Wildfire Smoke into the United States (July 14-20, 2026)

Powered by NASA's GEOS model, this animation visualizes the transport of brown carbon from July 14 to 20, 2026, and its impact on U.S. air quality.

svs.gsfc.nasa.gov

Dr. Thomas Ronge@thomasronge.bsky.social · 2w ago

Pretty cool and dramatic NASA animation showing the long-range transport of 2026 Canadian wildfire smoke.

One time I said that MrBeast was working with an ocean org that was no good Jimmy (Mr. Beast) called in the month of chaos that ensued, to say "our campaign manager knew that but it's ok" Then later, his campaign manager called to chew me out while I was at a festival w my kids on a Friday night

amy brown@amybrown.xyz · 2w ago

a friend sent me this because she thought it would make me laugh and she was right

This was my PhD! 🦑🧪 1. Roots that grow into the Caribbean seafloor are bare, because sea stars eat the stuff that grows on them 2. Roots that dangle into the water get covered in stuff and are great habitat 3. Fertilizer -> more leaves, so we need to protect roots specifically, not just trees

FMSEA@fmsea.bsky.social · 2w ago

You think a mangrove is a tree. The fish in its roots disagree. 🌿 Florida's red mangrove prop roots shelter juvenile snook and sheepshead, grass shrimp, sponges, oysters, and tunicates. A nursery, an apartment building, and a water filter, all at once. #FMSEA

…bugs is shrimp.

Proposal: "killer" is SO correct that it outweighs the incorrectness of the "whale" bit, and we can call them "killer whales" again You're going to say that "murder porpoise" is right there, but I really feel it's too lighthearted for this situation

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2w ago

Roses are red, Amphibians are frogs and toads,

My first independent and first paid research projects were on Pacific gray whales. It was fun to work on them bc they were (relatively) abundant and doing well- they were a conservation success story This news makes me so, so sad.

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 4w ago

Pacific gray whales facing ‘catastrophic’ die-off as climate crisis hits food supply

I remember screaming road names to my parents from the back seat with the enlarged square of Buffalo in my lap while they screamed at each other and back at me But I have only ever driven where computer says to go

Alex Navarro@alexnavarro.bsky.social · 4w ago

people talk a lot about pre/post-internet microgenerations but let me hear from all the others in my microgeneration, the “printing maps off Mapquest” microgeneration.

It is a warm day and *I* would like to perch on a small pebble

Marshal Hedin@mhedin.bsky.social · 2y ago

it's that time of year in southern California when our local populations of #Habronattus ustulatus become active, perhaps lasting until mid-March. on warm days they'll be perched on small pebbles in chaparral barrens or in mid-elevation sandy washes here's a little female. she is 100% adorable

Is it wasting time if I feel happier when I finish reading?

Bill Childs@billchilds.bsky.social · 4w ago

Here. We. Go. myemail.constantcontact.com/Just-Announc...

When I was studying tropical biology in Costa Rica, a farmer picked, peeled, and handed around pieces of something that looked like an un-colored orange on the outside but cacao fruit on the inside. It was heavenly, and I have no clue what it was

Jacquelyn Gill@jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 4w ago

What’s a meal that haunts you because you can never have it again? Mine is mango rundown tofu, from Jamerica in Madison. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to recreate it form other recipes and nothing has ever come close. And if you search for it, you find tons of posts from other people who also miss it.

We don’t actually know why armadillos evolved their candy-coated shell. In fact, it might not be to protect them from predators, parasites, or thorn bushes. The armadillo’s armor may just be to protect them from each other! 🧪

Jeremy Goldkorn@goldkorn.bsky.social · 4w ago

In the woods near Nashville this morning:

In year 2 of our marriage, my husband drew the nitrogen cycle for me on a napkin during a date 🥰

Jennifer Caroccio Maldonado, PhD@drcaromaldo.blacksky.app · 4w ago

I think my favorite thing about being married to another academic is that over dinner I used a napkin holder, a glass of water and pill box to visually demonstrate how I've revised my dissertation into my book and where I am in the process. #AcademicSky

Yes and: If you haven't had coverage but you want it, introduce yourself to media people who cover similar work or your field (do this with journos AND your institution's press folks) Keep these intros/updates short and easy to read, and tie your work to current news stories/topics if possible

Elise Cutts@elisecutts.bsky.social · 4w ago

Can confirm: if you like how a journalist writes about your work or field, emailing them to say so and keep them up to date on your current stuff is a great way to 1) make someone’d day and 2) increase the odds of getting press coverage of your research

Can confirm: if you like how a journalist writes about your work or field, emailing them to say so and keep them up to date on your current stuff is a great way to 1) make someone’d day and 2) increase the odds of getting press coverage of your research

Elizabeth Preston@inkfish.bsky.social · 4w ago

Dear researchers: I love when you do this. 🧪

Origin story for a guy I met who was building an LLM for a specific science subject: - Woman advisor tells him (when he's an undergrad) that his miracle, save-the-Earth idea won't work - He thinks (literally, these are his words): "I'll show her" - He starts scraping together lit "on his side"...

Jo Wolfe, PhD@jopabinia.bsky.social · 4w ago

This LLM appears to be going through @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social automatically and emailing authors its "opinions" on figures/data supplements (scare quotes mandatory). It's a separate thing from QED, which has similar functions for text. Who asked for this??? 🧪 bgpt.pro

To celebrate/atone for the 250, y'all should donate to Indigenous causes and/or buy stuff from Indigenous artists. I'll list some below, but if you know of any, feel free to add. Bc I'm Inupiaq, this is going to be Alaska Native heavy....

This is the correct opinion

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D.@sarahmackattack.bsky.social · last mo.

Pretty sure this is an "old man yells at cloud" opinion, but I want my invitations to stuff in my email not text. I get these partiful invites and then I never know where to find them or completely forget to go to stuff because it never made it onto my calendar. Put my out to pasture, party people.