Trinaries and the Pitfalls of Medical AI
I have successfully moved to my new house, though much of the furniture is still displaced and a lot of stuff is still in boxes. But! the hard part is done,...
A Busy April Ahead, and a Book Giveaway!
This month is going to be busy even by my standards: I have no fewer than five articles and comics scripts due — along with all the interviewing and...
Writing to Tell You I'm Not Writing
I have a newsletter topic planned and everything, but I have two articles to finish and submit this weekI have multiple interviews for one of those articles...
A New Book and a Titanic Adventure
I spent last weekend in Boston for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting, where (among other things) I met an...
The math of stressed-out cells, plus 10 years of reporting on Elon Musk
I am on deadline (big shocker) and stressed as tickety-boo (also a big shocker), but let no one say I skipped the newsletter this week! Stressing Microbes to...
Gender is culturally-defined ... but so is sex
"I was born a girl, I grew up a girl, I studied as a girl and I fought like a girl. Those who attacked me? Of course, they were enemies of glory. But,...
Tracking hidden meltwater in Greenland with GPS
OK, strictly speaking it’s not GPS but the broader system known as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS, which I pronounce as “gneiss” because that’s the...
Big Projects, Big Changes
As 2024 limps to a close, I’m dumping some random information that might be of interest or not, depending on how closely you follow what’s going on with my...
[fixed] If Clocks Run Faster on the Moon, Why Does a Day Last a Whole Month?
[The first version of this for some reason didn’t include the link to the story! Apologies for that!] As a joke setup, that needs some work. Anyway, my...
If Clocks Run Faster on the Moon, Why Does a Day Last a Whole Month?
As a joke setup, that needs some work. Anyway, my latest for AGU Eos actually uses my expertise as a physicist trained in the theory of relativity! In brief,...
The Physics of Crowds
As an American science journalist — and someone who simply cares about human rights — I am distressed beyond words about the results of last week’s national...
On Christopher Columbus and Genetic Nationalism
Before getting into the topic of today’s newsletter, I wanted to thank everyone who donated after my last message! A few people unsubscribed, because...
Decision Point
Though I haven’t been anything close to regular about sending newsletters, I’ve been doing this for a while now. So, I wanted to talk through where we are...
It was either The Police or Soundgarden
September is shaping up to be extraordinarily busy even by my standards, so this (long overdue) newsletter installment will be to the point. First up: my...
Saving the planet from space rocks with radar
I have only one new publication scheduled this month, but it’s a big one: a feature article for AGU Eos about using radar to help defend Earth from hazardous...
Let This Radicalize You
“Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair.” -Mariame Kaba Honestly, things in general are not good right now, both in the United States where...
Hot Sun, Cold Ice
The newsletter silence lately has been because I have been working on no fewer than seven major pieces over the past months. One fell through, but two of...
Gary-mandering and Feline MAYHEM
I learned a few years ago that we all pronounce "gerrymandering" wrong. We say it like "Jerry", but 19th century Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry...
Ice Clouds and a New Cat
I know which bit of this newsletter is gonna grab your attention, so I'll keep the sciency bit brief. Turbulence Giveth, Turbulence Taketh Away High-altitude...
What Do Journalists Owe Our Communities
I know, it has been some time since my last newsletter. Life and health problems have intervened. However, I'm sitting here on a Sunday afternoon writing...
Past Tense, Present Tension
It's premature to wrap up 2023 just yet, but even with a month to go, I can declare it to have been one of the most difficult since becoming a full-time...
This Topic Was Inevitable
This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States, so it's an abbreviated work-week in which I must nevertheless pack a full normal amount of work. As a...
Mars, Wildebeest Math, and Vultures
Dear Dormice and Mad Hatters, I guess this is issue 3, so I'm keeping this thing going. As it sometimes happens, after a drought two new articles published...
Science, Human Rights, and Responsibility
One of my biggest science-writing influences is the late evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002). He had the enviable position of writing a...
Welcome to the Bowler Hat Science newsletter!
Welcome to my second attempt at a newsletter! My hope is to send two of these every month, consisting of up to three parts: Summaries and possible further...