Erika K. Carlson

someone in city government's waited a long time to use this

Could A Planet Like Arrakis From ‘Dune’ Exist? A planetary scientist compares Arrakis to real planets and analyzes whether life could exist on such a sandy, scorching-hot world.

“Dune: Part II” is one of the year’s most highly anticipated films. It takes place in a scorching-hot world covered in dunes and home to giant, deadly sandworms.

Dr. Mike Wong joins us to discuss what sci-fi films get wrong—and right—about alien planets.

www.sciencefriday.com/segments/dun...

Superconductivity scandal: the inside story of deception in a rising star's physics lab Ranga Dias claimed to have discovered the first room-temperature superconductors, but the work was later retracted. An investigation by Nature’s news team reveals new details about what happened — and...

For those following this story, a wonderfully reported story here from Dan Garisto that explains exactly what was going on in Ranga Dias's lab and how these two papers came to be. Mindboggling. 🧪⚛️ #scicomm

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Happy birthday! 🎉

Breadfruit’s low carbon storage could be offset by fast growth, study finds On a hotter and hungrier planet, breadfruit is becoming a popular tree. It offers nutrient- and fiber-dense fruits that can feed a family and provide farming income, and with its long lifespan, it’s b...

I've sort of been on the breadfruit beat ever since learning about the potential of this "world-saving" tree with Gastropod last year—in my latest, for @mongabay.bsky.social, I covered the first study about this tree's carbon storage potential: news.mongabay.com/2024/03/brea...

At #APSMarch? I'm on a panel today! Come to #SciComm 101, How to Talk to Journalists, Work with Press Officers, and Promote Your Own Research. march.aps.org/events/scien...
@apsphysics.bsky.social

About 10 years ago, I got to attend a workshop by Flora Lichtman and Ray Levy at a SIAM meeting, on how to talk with journalists about science. I learned some things, have gotten to put it into practice, and now find myself on the other side as a #APSMarch panelist
meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR2...

Hello #APSMarch! Join us for a “Science Communication 101” panel today at 3pm, where @karenedaniels.bsky.social, @scienceisaverb.bsky.social, and @kpc.bsky.social will talk about all things science communication!

Details:
march.aps.org/events/scien...

Metal scar found on cannibal star When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life, it can ingest the surrounding planets and asteroids that were born with it. Now, using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (...

A white dwarf star that ate its worlds bears the scars of cannibalism, as a metal imprint in its surface shaped by the star's magnetic field.

Also, if I had a prog band, "Metal Scar on a Cannibal Star" would be the title of our first album

🧪🔭 #science

This was such a fun listen!!

(Way to go @miquai.bsky.social! 🖖)

Helloooo welcome!!

What Do We Owe Zoo Animals? | Defector As soon as Flaco died, in an attempt to soften our human guilt over the owl’s untimely death, people began jostling to find the right human to blame. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the conse...

I wrote about my complicated feelings about Flaco, both in captivity and in freedom defector.com/flaco-owl-wh...

The replies to this thread are wonderful, I'm learning about new-to-me female authors of color from decades and decades ago -- many of whom didn't get the SFF recognition they deserve

Women have always written specfic. Women of color have always written specfic 😊❤️

See What the Solar Eclipse Will Look Like across Most of the U.S. Even if you’re not in the path of totality, the solar eclipse on April 8 will offer a show to nearly everyone across North and Central America

Even if you're not in the path of totality for the April 8 total solar eclipse, you can still see a partial eclipse in most of North American — here's a map showing what to expect. 🧪 🔭 Don't worry about FOMO and enjoy the show! www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...

A rock that's mostly white with black speckles, but has a vaguely heart-shaped grayish-tan piece in it.

Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry this card is so heavy.

I pasted a sentence from a parasite paper (doi:10.2307/1312610) into Word, it reformatted & now reads like a poem:

When you see a snail
move through the intertidal
or observe a terrestrial isopod
crawl across the sidewalk,
what organism is at the controls
the snail, the isopod, or a parasite?

Figure 1 from paper, pile of intact elephant turds. Caption reads: "Typical elephant droppings, near Mpala Research Centre, Laikipia, Kenya, May 2003. Two boli similar to those in this photo were used for our experiment"

Figure 2 from paper, elephant turnds are now just a lose pile of fluff. captions reads "One bolus of elephant dung, exposed overnight, at the next morning; Mpala Research Centre, Laikipia, Kenya, 8 May 2003"

Every day, the turd piles of a single elephant can feed 2 million dung beetles:

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Images below show pile of elephant turds before and after 1 night of beetles feeding on them

Congratulations on both! 🎉🎉

Mathematicians finally solved Feynman’s “reverse sprinkler” problem We might not need to "unwater" our lawns, but results could help control fluid flows.

Mathematicians finally solved Feynman’s “reverse sprinkler” problem. We might not need to "unwater" our lawns, but results could help control fluid flows in a broad range of applications. arstechnica.com/science/2024...

Japan’s SLIM spacecraft landed on the moon – but it's having problems The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface intact, but its solar panels aren't working so it is running on batteries

Japan has successfully landed its SLIM spacecraft on the Moon. It has power issues and may die soon, but it’s still a big success for JAXA. www.newscientist.com/article/2413...

Oof, I’m sorry! That sounds like the worst!!

Colleagues, are you currently recruiting for your paid science writing internships coming this summer/fall? Consider tabling at our 2024 NASW Virtual Internship Fair! Details for recruiters and students here:

Just want to say I love the specific shout-out of ramyeon (as opposed to ramen)!
Love, a Japanese American married to a Korean American

This looks fun: Lowell Observatory is having an essay/poetry/flash fiction writing contest about our place in the universe. lowell.edu/support/adc-...

🧪I am interested in chatting with scientists who like a good lab prank every now and then for a piece in Nature. Nothing sinister---I'm talking googly eyes on the sequencer---but please RT and name dish your colleagues!

JWST Reveals Distant “Galaxy” Is Six-way Galactic Crash Peering deep into the past, the James Webb Space Telescope’s keen detectors are revealing unprecedented details of some of the oldest structures in the universe.

The James Webb Space Telescope reveals a single galactic unit is actually six galaxies, crashing together to create a deluge of fresh stars.

— Read more on Sky & Telescope:

A vibrant pelagic red crab is perched on a rocky outcrop, with its large claws and legs spread out to balance the crab on the uneven surface. In the blurred background, a row of pink strawberry anemone is spread like pink polka dots on the rocky surface behind the crab.

A profile view close-up of a rainbow surfperch, showcasing its intricate scales in shades of orange, light blue, and gray against a pitch black background.

Perched up in a profile view, the close up of a Yellowheaded moray eel shows the fish with its mouth slightly ajar, highlighting its distinctive yellow head adorned with dark, almost purple spots, against its light-hued skin.

A green sea turtle glides through the open sea exhibit, with front flippers elegantly outstretched, revealing its captivating underside against the vibrant blue backdrop.

What a colorful world ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Diving into a world of vibrant hues and underwater wonders at the Aquarium! 🌈🐠✨

New to our National Association of Science Writers? You should know that volunteers are the backbone of our organization! Grateful to NASW members like @erikakcarlson.bsky.social who lend their energy to make our programs successful.

💚 www.nasw.org/article/nasw...
🎓 www.nasw.org/article/nasw...

New YorkTimes screenshot Headline: Science Teacher Finds Missing Piece of Boeing Jet’s Fuselage in His Yard Subhed: Bob Sauer said that his 50-foot cedar trees had acted on the same scientific principle as an airbag, disrupting the door plug’s fall in an act known in physics as impulse.

immense respect to this science teacher for seeing his opportunity and grabbing onto it with both hands