Chris Gorski

Two books side by side, the Penguin book of Brexit Cartoons is on the left and project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is on the right

Very happy about today’s little library findings

Annie! Cool story. Hi!

Spooky will-o’-the-wisps finally explained A newly discovered molecular phenomenon is responsible for the spectral balls of light seen in swamps and cemeteries

cen.acs.org/environment/...

At long last, scientists have figured out what causes will-o’-the-wisps. It’s not ghosts or ghouls, but a newly discovered phenomenon called “microlightning.” Learn more in my latest for @cenmag.bsky.social

My Chemical Story: How ‘Frankenstein’ made me want to be a scientist The book is more than a tale of horror; it’s a psychological drama about the drive to develop knowledge and be seen

Reading the novel ‘Frankenstein’ made Victor Olet want to be a scientist working in this was so much fun cen.acs.org/people/Chemi...

Some art has perfect moments and that’s amazing.

I love this way of thinking about the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I think of the 4th season of “the bear” as having such ordinary moments. It also excels at showing people loving their work and struggling with their boundaries. Not every scene can be so moving, they just have to push ahead

I’m at the Baltimore comic con today in a session about the logistics of making a comic. So much of this guidance is applicable for science journalism too. Timelines, what to do first, etc

Trump administration reverses course on shutdown layoffs at CDC More than half of the approximately 1,300 reduction-in-force notices sent to the agency's employees on Oct. 10 were in error, the Department of Health and Human Services determined as it reinstated st...

Several employees at the CDC’s Office of Science Quality and Library Services, for example, remain RIF’d. Without those clearances, “CDC can’t publish any scientific documents,” says a recently RIF’d CDC employee. cen.acs.org/policy/regul...

I was injected with dengue virus to learn about clinical trials I became a test subject in a clinical trial for a new dengue treatment. Here’s what I discovered

In need of a weekend read? May I recommend Max's latest

cen.acs.org/pharmaceutic...

This MOF is hot to go A ZnH-studded material that works at high temperatures could snatch CO₂ from industrial exhaust

We agree (research news from last year) cen.acs.org/materials/me...

The 2025 chemistry Nobel goes to MOFs Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi win the prize for developing metal–organic frameworks

MOFs are pretty darn cool. Here's our story, in @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/people/nobel...

Kitagawa rides the train and uses the time to revise manuscripts "Many professors like driving, but I think driving is a waste of time. Everyday there are traffic jams, and you get nothing to do but to listen to music, that’s too bad."

This interview!--"50 is a magic age. Before my age of 50s, my research was not recognized in all the areas of chemistry, and I did not even receive any big research funds... when I was 46, I published the first paper on robust MOF . After my age of 50s, I received quite a lot of research funding."

Interview with Professor Susumu Kitagawa CONTENT TYPES

From a 2019 interview with Kitagawa -- "it was common sense that organic materials could not make a stable porous structure. People thought we were doing “useless” research because they did not realize the potential of the seemingly trivial space inside the pores." pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Phew, that feedback on the youtube stream stopped #nobelprize

Less than 5 minutes until the announcement of the #nobelprize in chemistry -- our team is ready to report @cenmag.bsky.social

Quantum tunneling trio win the 2025 physics Nobel John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis get the award for demonstrating quantum mechanical effects at the macroscale

It's nice to be excited about science again. Congratulations to my old colleague, Michel Devoret!

Being quoted in this article about this amazing achievement is a major bonus 🤓

cen.acs.org/people/nobel...

#NobelPrize #Physics #Science #PhysicsNobel

I should specify that he’s saying that’s the appeal to him — he also says biology is the science of the future

Also check out Devoret's description of why he chose physics over biology -- "Intellectually, biology as a whole is
fascinating, but experiments in biology do not have the richness of physics experiments
in terms of immediate sensory experience." (the full answer describes physics' personal appeal)

New nobel laureate Michel Devoret once led a course on Cinema and Physics physics.yale.edu/sites/defaul... -- he told a historian that he was surprised when the enrollment for that was larger than a course on differential equations

they have one for John Martinis as well repository.aip.org/node/129661. After building a quantum computer, he says, "we still have to do something useful, so that's the next challenge"

The @aip.bsky.social's oral histories are a great resource on the physics #nobelprize. Delighted to be able to read Michel Devoret's where he calls his work "low-energy physics" repository.aip.org/node/129778 - dealing with "ordinary matter consisting of mundane particles like electrons and atoms"

The laureates' 'prize-earning' papers in Phys Rev Lett, Phys Rev B from 1985 + 1987 have 276, 342 and 518 citations [Scopus] - low for Nobel-winning work, maybe?
[1/2]

Macroscopic quantum tunnelling wins -- goes to the trio of
Martinis, Clarke, and Devoret

currently there's lots of throat clearing and paper shuffling

It's physics nobel prize day! --
Youtube stream pre announcement room noise is a highlight of the #nobelprize reporting and editing experience

1/ 🧪🍃🐙📰 We @biographic.bsky.social have been hard at work for the past 8 months developing a deep, rich, behind-the-scenes feature story exploring how the Trump Administration's cuts to international conservation are affecting biodiversity on the ground.

A small city in Utah voted to keep fluoride in its water. Then the state banned it. Brigham City is caught in a public health battle pitting uncertain health risks against decades of clear dental benefits

Fluoride has proven dental health benefits, this common additive to drinking water is now banned in Utah. Other states may do the same. Is there any real risk to fluoride at the levels present in drinking water? Story by Priyanka Runwal for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/environment/...

Roundtable: How to Cover Science During Sociopolitical Disruption - The Open Notebook Since the second Trump administration took office, news on how the nation’s leaders are systematically dismantling the practice of science in the U.S. has arrived in a daily deluge. In this roundtable...

“My inbox is flooded with [potential news] items every day—which is part of the administration’s “flood the zone” strategy. They are overwhelming us intentionally.” – @hayleysmith.bsky.social. Five reporters share what it means to cover science in the U.S. right now.

Its just unforgettable that one. I have such a strong memory of watching this as a kid, with my neighborhood and elementary school friends (and their mom, who encouraged us to watch that specific episode).