Eric Niiler

As Winter Warms, Olympic Athletes, Organizers Hunt for Elusive Snow

Athletes are going higher and farther to train and race as the winters get warmer and shorter. That's forcing organizers to rethink how they stage the next few Winter Games. Here's new research about the Winter Games climate resiliency: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/c...

NASA’s Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts

My old pal @eniiler.bsky.social with a killer story. What we save defines us as a culture—the archive is our memory and our future. And we’re throwing it away? Madness.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...

Shale drillers have turned the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico into a pressure cooker that is literally bursting at the seams

U.S. Helped to Weaken Report at U.N. Environment Talks, Participants Say

Trump administration helps torpedo policy summary on recent U.N. global environment outlook:
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/c...

"[458627 #-high-flying-kite]."

Shifting Climate Alters Pattern of Atlantic’s Giant Seaweed Blobs

Shifting Climate Alters Pattern of Atlantic’s Giant Seaweed Blobs www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/c...

Scientists Observe Rogue Planet’s Explosive Growth in Real Time The record-breaking event is providing insight into how these strange objects form.

Weird (and hungry) "rogue planet" gobbles up billions of tons of stellar material per second. www.wsj.com/science/spac...

Panic-Inducing Rumors Went Viral Ahead of the French Revolution The tools of epidemiology were used to trace how false tales spread from place to place, and provoked a revolt.

Is there a lesson here? Researchers applied modern-day tools of epidemiology to trace how the spread of false rumors provoked the “Great Fear” of the French Revolution. @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScienceShorts www.wsj.com/science/fren... via @wsj.com

Did NASA Find Signs of Ancient Life on Mars—Or Is It Another False Alarm? Earlier evidence pointing to ancient microbial life on the red planet hasn’t held up.

Science Shorts: NASA announced it has found potential evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars. Is it another false alarm? @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScienceShorts www.wsj.com/science/spac... via @wsj.com

Did NASA Find Signs of Ancient Life on Mars—Or Is It Another False Alarm? Earlier evidence pointing to ancient microbial life on the red planet hasn’t held up.

Could third time be the charm for NASA's hunt for life on Mars? www.wsj.com/science/spac...

THE COLOSSAL SQUID IS MASSIVE. MUCH BIGGER THAN PEOPLE THOUGHT. THEY SAID IT WAS A MYTH — WRONG. I’VE SEEN IT. TOTALLY DOMINATES THE OCEAN. OTHER SQUIDS? VERY WEAK. VERY SAD.

Violent Collision of Two Black Holes Rippled Across the Universe The pair merged to create a single hole about 225 times the mass of the sun.

Scientists detected the largest-known black hole merger, resulting in a black hole 225 times the mass of the sun @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScienceShorts www.wsj.com/science/viol... via @wsj.com

‘With What Water?’: Texas, Mexico, and the Disappearing Rio Conchos Drought has hollowed out Chihuahua’s Conchos Valley and bred civil unrest as South Texas demands the water it’s owed.

Farmers, water managers, fishermen, river advocates, and everyday residents told me they would fight for their water to the very last drop. Others have already begun asking the existential question: Where will we go when the river runs dry?

How Terrain in Texas Hills Turned Stalled Rainstorm Into Flood Disaster Water cascaded down cliffs and swelled waterways when shallow soil failed to absorb the deluge.

The steep cliffs and narrow canyons that characterize Texas Hill Country channeled torrential rain from a stalled weather system into overflowing rivers and creeks @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScience www.wsj.com/us-news/clim... via @wsj.com

Dangerous Heat Dome to Bring Record Temperatures to Much of the U.S. Officials warn of health risks as massive weather system traps sweltering air.

A massive heat dome will cover 200 million people across the Eastern U.S. in the coming days, prompting concerns about health-related illnesses. @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScience. www.wsj.com/us-news/clim... via @wsj.com

The Sun’s Fiery South Pole Is Revealed for the First Time New images are key to understanding solar magnetic storms and other space weather that can disrupt systems on Earth.

First-ever images of the sun’s south pole reveal secrets vital to understanding the solar magnetic storms that can affect Earth.

How Trump Blew Up Northwestern’s Business Model The federal government froze the university’s research funding. It hasn’t offered the school a way to get it back.

The Trump administration froze Northwestern’s research funding. It hasn’t offered the school a way to get it back. https://on.wsj.com/440ZN5L

RFK Jr. sent Congress 'medical disinformation' to defend COVID vaccine schedule change A document circulated to members of Congress misinterprets studies and cites debunked research, scientists say. It could influence congressional perceptions of vaccine safety.

"In two instances, the HHS memo makes claims about dangers to pregnant women that are actively refuted by the papers it cites to back them up."

Another study cited is a preprint and includes an alert that it "should not be used to guide clinical practice."

www.npr.org/2025/06/13/n...

Why Is Hail Getting So Big? Hailstorms cause billions in damages. Scientists are studying why it happens.

Why is hail getting so big? The largest study of hailstorms in U.S. history is trying to find out. @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScienceShorts www.wsj.com/science/envi... via @wsj.com

National Weather Service Struggles With Staffing Cuts as Hurricane Season Begins A downsized weather service is struggling to do more with less as the country heads into a storm season that is expected to see above-normal numbers of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.

The hurricane season is set to begin with the National Weather Service struggling to do more with less after several rounds of staff cuts www.wsj.com/us-news/clim... by @pattersonscott.bsky.social @eniiler.bsky.social ‪

Exclusive | White House Preparing Order to Cut Thousands of Federal Health Workers The executive order could come as soon as next week, if the Trump administration goes ahead with plans, according to people familiar with the matter.

The White House is working on an executive order that would eliminate thousands of jobs at the FDA, CDC and other federal health agencies www.wsj.com/health/healt... @lizessleywhyte.bsky.social and Betsy McKay report

Exclusive | Trump to Place at Least 100 EPA Environmental-Justice Workers on Leave The move would unwind a Biden administration program to aid poor communities recovering from environmental risks.

The Trump administration is expected to place more than 100 workers in the EPA's environmental-justice and civil-rights office on administrative leave

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Vaccine Information, Transgender References Disappear From Federal Websites Officials removed pages containing references to gender identity and diversity.

"Scientific journal articles that have been submitted or accepted but not published shouldn’t be published “if they do not align with” the executive order, CDC employees were told in an email." via a story from colleagues Friday
www.wsj.com/health/healt...

Bennu Asteroid Contains Material Needed for Life, NASA Mission Finds The discovery supports the theory that asteroids seeded life on Earth.

"Planetary scientists have discovered organic matter essential to life in dust and rock retrieved from an asteroid known as Bennu. The finding supports the theory that near-Earth asteroids, like Bennu, seeded life on Earth."

www.wsj.com/science/spac... by @eniiler.bsky.social

California Emergency Workers Are Battling a New and Potentially Deadly Threat: Mudslides Schools and roads closed after weekend storms brought heavy rain and snow to Southern California.

Weekend rains closed schools and roads, and SoCal residents are preparing for possible mudslides. I got out with geologists and hydrologists last week who study how rain affects areas burnt by wildfires: www.wsj.com/us-news/clim...

A Tiny Bat Surprises Scientists With Its Long-Distance Gliding Skills The common noctule is found in Europe, North Africa and Asia. Pregnant females hitch rides on storm winds to cover hundreds of miles.

A tiny species of bat travels hundreds of miles by surfing storm winds—surprising scientists who didn’t expect a “flapping flier” to glide. @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScienceShorts www.wsj.com/science/envi...

How Do People Survive Plane Crashes That Kill Nearly Everyone Else? Lots of variables determine a flight’s survivability, including the location of the seat—and plain luck.

It's not just luck that determines the survival outcomes of a plane crash. A look at who makes it by @wsj.com @mcjomcg.bsky.social www.wsj.com/science/plan...

The Sand Wars Dividing Cranberry Growers and Their Neighbors Growers dig up local sand for their bogs. Neighbors say they have gone too far.

Neighbors say Massachusetts cranberry growers are digging up too much sand. @eniiler.bsky.social reports for #WSJScience. www.wsj.com/science/envi...

Joanne Chory, Who Enlisted Plants to Fight Climate Change, Dies at 69 Biologist sought to breed crops that could store more carbon safely underground in their roots.

This @salkinstitute.bsky.social scientist followed her innate curiosity to make startling discoveries about how plants absorb carbon, and perhaps how they might help battle climate change: www.wsj.com/science/envi...

2023 Was a Year of Extreme Weather. Some Scientists Expect More in 2024. Areas across the globe experienced heat, wildfires and floods in trends that are expected to continue

2023 Was a Year of Extreme Weather. Scientists Expect More in 2024.

www.wsj.com/us-news/clim...