Meghan Bartels

"The Islamists oppose women getting an education," I mutter, as I aim my missile at the girls school

A broader takeaway I think is nobody should be allowed to be so rich that being told no, or being held accountable, represents such a moral injury to that person's psyche that they feel like their only recourse is to burn the world down.

On moonshots and Minneapolis Space exploration can bring people together and reflect deep societal divisions.

I've been really struggling to write about space while living through the ICE occupation in Minneapolis this winter. I was shocked to find myself thinking, "Who cares about sending people to the moon?"

That feeling is more historically resonant than I thought. 🧪🔭
www.sciencenews.org/article/moon...

imo the threat posed by CBS News and CNN getting absorbed by pro-regime billionaires isn't that they're going to produce right-wing slop that convinces people to be right-wing, it's the dismantling of newsrooms capable of doing investigative reporting on the administration. Fewer eyes on the street.

Please also tell your oldest that we talk to the rovers at least twice a day so they don’t get scared. Recently, we gave one of them its own map, so it will never be lost. We try to be the best parents to them that we can.

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

Fun vocab: sweet gum balls are more formally called syncarps!

I spent an hour and a half this evening listening to a nice man talk about tree identification and it was the most soothing thing I can remember offhand from within <waves hands >, 10/10 highly recommend

🧪 🌎

Rubin Observatory has started paging astronomers 800,000 times a night Asteroids, exploding stars, and feasting black holes swarm in the first-ever batch of nightly alerts from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Wake up, astronomers—the sky is calling.

@vrubinobs.bsky.social has unleashed its first rapid-fire alerts of new celestial activity. 800k of 'em—a nightly number that will soon rise to a million+!

By @meghanbartels.bsky.social

www.scientificamerican.com/article/rubi...

I have had the Darth Vader theme song stuck in my head all day from hearing it played in sneaker squeaks, cannot recommend this highly enough

Listen I don't like to tell you what to do but you need to watch this masterpiece.

The surprising new physics of squeaky basketball shoes A new study explains why basketball shoes make a high-pitched squeaking noise when they rub against the hardwood. The ridges on the sole hold the key

My basketball era predates Bluesky but this is a prime example of a question that NEEDED answering and I am glad physics has risen to the challenge: 🧪

Picture of myspace Tom with the writing it didn’t have to be this way over it

in a world of bad outcomes we collectively chose and funded some of the worst

For real. Some of us chose to become writers because we are 👏 ugly and 👏 awkward and 👏 have 👏 bad 👏 voices! (Those are my reasons, tbh.) I'm not liking the necessity of video these days.

🧪 🦑

In addition to being absolutely brilliant, amazing & charming in her own right, we all know she was raised by a single dad w/4 siblings and that he came to the US bc of persecution bc of his participation in the ‘89 Tiananmen democracy uprising, right?

🧪 🛟

Substack announces a partnership with Polymarket. “Journalism is better when it’s backed by live markets.”

Digital Trial Offer Get digital access to Scientific American for 90 days for just $1!

Hi! I know pay walls can be frustrating, but they're how companies pay journalists like me (and how we pay our rent). We have a great $1-for-90-days trial if you'd like to check us out: www.scientificamerican.com/getsciam/90-...

This fossilized vomit is older than the dinosaurs Vomit is gross—but 290-million-year-old vomit is a scientific marvel

Please come on this journey with me, the journey of the 290-million-year-old barf, I promise we'll have fun: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Part of the reason this is all so tiresome is that what we're calling AI is a political project combining a bunch of preexisting sociotechical processes designed to shift power from the masses to the managerial class. A non-exhaustive list in no particular order:

Awww I'm sorry he couldn't come with you, that's so tough!

Eeeeee what a nice friend you've got there!!

Happy Year of the Horse! Let’s trot out some fun horse science According to the Chinese zodiac, 2026 is the Year of the Horse—so saddle up for some equine science

Where my horsegirls* at? 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/luna...

*(gender neutral)

Searching for Birds An interactive story about the birds that capture our curiosity, told through data, visuals and illustrations

What a lovely data visualization to remind me that spring is around the corner (ish): 🧪 🪶 searchingforbirds.visualcinnamon.com (h/t @unamandita.bsky.social)

“That’s no longer feasible” is doing SO much work here. “That’s no longer feasible” because most people in charge of journalism see it as an industry that must make them money, while most people who consume journalism see it as a public good they shouldn’t have to pay for.

Can confirm a delight!

“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...

ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from.

We'll let their words speak for themselves.

Hi #chemsky! If you're navigating the NIH grant application process right now—or if you decided not to—I'd love to hear from you.

Email: LDattaro@proton.me
Signal: LDattaro.73