Krista Langlois

bumping this because it's the coolest, most fascinating thing i've learned about in a long time, and i say this as someone whose entire job is learning about plants and animals and fungi

A screenshot that reads: "The aim of science is to illuminate the mysteries of nature and discover the elemental truths pulsating sublime and indifferent beneath the starry skin of the universe. The aim of art is to give us a language for wresting meaning from the truth and living with the mystery. Creativity in both is a style of noticing, of attending to the world more closely in order to love it more deeply, of seeing everything more and more whole — a word that shares its Latin root with “holy.”

I love love love @mariapopova.bsky.social's description of science and art and how the two can converge, from her homage to Jane Goodall: www.themarginalian.org/2025/10/01/j...

Glowing from Within - bioGraphic With more scientists and artists turning their attention to bioluminescence, new information about glowing fungi is coming to light.

Just in time for spooky season, I got to learn all about bioluminescent fungi, including some fungi that interlace with the wood of trees to create glow-in-the-dark trees! Read all about it here:

www.biographic.com/glowing-from...

link appears broken :(

Big thanks to @jaimealyse.bsky.social for making this book possible, and to all the writers and editors and photographers and sources who make sure that regular people can still read accurate, compelling narratives about about science and the natural world at a time when both face continued assault

The Secret Sex Lives of Deep, Dark Corals | Hakai Magazine A unique fjord in Chilean Patagonia gives scientists a chance to unlock the reproductive secrets of cold-water corals that typically live thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface.

And finally, this story from @christianelliott.me taught me everything I didn't know that I didn't know about the reproductive habits of cold-water corals. For months during the reporting and editing process, I talked about coral sex at parties.

A Protected Place Faced with overgrazing and desertification, communities in the Middle East are reviving the concept of the hima, an ancient land-management practice that bridges tradition, culture, conservation—and f...

I also love stories that intertwine science and religion, like this @biographic.bsky.social beauty from Diana Kruzman. One of the best parts about being an editor is getting to immerse myself in the stories of places and species and people I might never encounter in real life.

The Owls Who Came From Away | Hakai Magazine Over the past 80 years, one of the most resilient and hearty owls has practically engulfed a continent. Not everyone is pleased.

For Hakai Magazine (RIP 🙁), I worked with the always-wonderful @judeisabella.bsky.social on this feature about barred owls, the labels we attach to wildlife, and what it means to belong to a place. I love stories like this one that take a creative approach to structure!

The Eider Keepers - bioGraphic An age-old tradition in Norway illuminates the bonds between wild ducks, wild places, and the people who care for both.

Exquisite wordsmith @devonfredericksen.bsky.social traveled to a remote Norwegian archipelago for @biographic.bsky.social to document the human stewards who care for wild seabirds, and the reciprocal relationship that benefits both. (Stay tuned for Devon's book that stemmed from this assignment!)

I've loved this anthology for as long as I can remember, and this year I'm stoked to have edited four -- count 'em, four! -- of the notable selections. I'll link to the stories and their authors below.

What if NIH had been 40% smaller? Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research

Totally fascinating, data-driven alternate history: what if NIH had always been 40 percent smaller? What advances in medicine would never have happened? www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

😆

"Alabama sturgeon don’t matter to most of us: They aren’t ecosystem engineers, shaping habitat for other species; there’s no argument suggesting that we need them to improve our lives or watersheds. They simply glide along the river bottoms as they have for hundreds of millions of years." 🫶

Shadow Fish The modern race to save an ancient and vanishing species.

In explaining why nonhuman species deserve to live, journalists often find ourselves focusing on how a particular animal benefits the broader ecosystem, or offers people an economic or medical benefit. Which is why I love @hannahnordhaus.bsky.social 's reminder that sometimes, awe is enough...

Join me this Thursday for a virtual panel on the state of play on US scientific research, along with Obama Administration Science Advisor John Holdren and @thebulletin.org President and CEO Alex Bell.

one of my favorite parts of the world <3

How the Right Claimed ‘Crunchy’

I thought this was a good exploration of this kind of co-opting www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/w...

My employer New York Public Radio just announced that it is offering @onthemedia.bsky.social, @radiolab.bsky.social, and other programs to at-risk public radio stations for free! More info: current.org/2025/09/wnyc...

It took us two years and endless bureaucracy to move to British Columbia. I feel incredibly privileged. And I am also so sad that it took moving to another country for me to feel like my child is safe at school, and for her to learn a second language, and get to be a kid for a little while longer <3

In Colorado, I was worried about being away from my phone during the school day in case there was a security issue--I didn't want to miss the notification. I feel so much more relaxed here.

Here in BC, instead of doors that unseal for three minutes while children file into the building, the doors are wide open at drop-off time. Children play outside, then the principal rings an actual hand bell, and everyone goes in. It feels wildly wholesome.

The biggest difference is security. Our elementary school in Colorado had double-sealed doors that were locked at all times, a police officer, and lockdown drills twice a year. One of my daughter's most memorable moments from first grade was an actual lockdown. She was terrified.

We came from a relatively well-off community in Colorado, and the facilities there were more modern and nicer. But teachers and parents had to buy a lot of their own supplies, whereas the district here seems to supply teachers with everything they need for the classroom.

My daughter also reports way more outdoor time here: longer recesses, more outdoor PE, and more field trips. There is no school lunch program (students must bring their own lunches from home) but she says they get more time to eat, too, so she isn't trying to rush all her food down.

When my daughter started first grade in Colorado, they were doing standardized tests on computers within the first two weeks, and other computer work. There has been way less screen time here in BC, and no standardized testing yet.

First big difference: we lived in a comparable sized town in the US, and there were zero language immersion options. Here, there's a tri-lingual public elementary school, with classes taught in English, French, and the Tla'amin (local First Nations) language.

My daughter started grade 2 in a small town in British Columbia this year after we moved here from Colorado. I know Canada and U.S. are culturally similar, but the differences in our public school experiences have been stark. If anyone is interested, I’ll do a thread...

Does anyone here know of a weather blog guy, like Cliff Mass for Seattle or Chris Bianchi for Denver, but for coastal BC? I’m lost without a nerdy weather guy blog to read

You Can Rent One of Colorado’s First 3D-Printed Homes in Buena Vista The two-bed, two-bath residences made by a robot were priced at $625,000. We got the lowdown on these avant-garde accommodations.

2) In Buena Vista (where you will be run out of town if you pronounce it the proper Spanish way), a 1,100-square-foot 3D-printed home is renting for $3,500 a month 🙃

District announces plan to purchase Lightner Creek Apartments for staff housing Durango School District (DSD, formerly known as 9-R) announced Sept. 23, 2025, during its regular Board of Education meeting that it plans to purchase the Lightner Creek Apartment complex in Durango t...

In case you're wondering how bad the affordable housing crisis is in Colorado, I present two stories:

1) In Durango, the school district is purchasing an apartment complex to house teachers because there isn't enough regular affordable housing