Shaena Montanari

Congratulations to the greatest @callimcflurry.bsky.social!!

The work with bats on barren, 7-acre Latham Island was Nachum Ulanovsky’s most complex undertaking yet.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/neuroetholog...

Exclusive: The 23 studies the FDA based its expanded leucovorin label on The studies include 46 people, mostly toddlers, who have cerebral folate deficiency due to variants in a folate transporter.

The FDA wants to expand the use of leucovorin to treat autism traits, based on an analysis of the scientific research. @thetransmitter.bsky.social has obtained the list of 23 studies.

By @claudia-lopez.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/exc...

They got me

Scientists directly date dino eggshells for the first time The new findings narrow age estimates for the clutch of eggs—and may help identify which species laid them

As we're all taught, you can (usually) only directly date the age of a rock if it cooled from lava.

But here, scientists have dated dinosaur eggs, using uranium-lead ratios in the calcite. Hugely exciting, maybe groundbreaking.

My take @science.org

www.science.org/content/arti...

So many good stories but the embargo for sharing them all is still not up...!

This is too funny

How Mark Norell, a Paleontologist, Spends His Sundays (Published 2016)

We laughed when this came out but I'm glad I can go reminisce now www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/n...

We lost Mark Norell today. Dinosaur hunter extraordinaire. The coolest dude alive. My PhD supervisor.
Wherever you are, raise a glass of your favorite lager or single malt, as it is what Mark would want.

Great photo, complete with the favorite Life is Crap hat

Just so saddened to lose my doctoral supervisor and mentor Mark Norell today. He was one of a kind and his personality almost defies description. A legendary scientist but also human. I will be missing him so much.

Currently having the same problem with my 7 month old…

Because of course you did and I’m 100% on board

Where Congress’s Cuts Threaten Access to PBS and NPR The loss of federal funding threatens scores of public TV and radio stations across the United States.

New: I teamed up with @elenashao.bsky.social
and nytgraphics to map more than 100 public TV and radio stations that are at risk of closing as a result of tonight's vote:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

This is a time bomb that will go off in the fall, when the last federal grants run out.

If you have any thoughts about sleep products let me know and perhaps I can investigate 🕵️‍♀️

Today is my first day at @nytwirecutter.bsky.social! Beginning my journey of learning about sleep products such as mattresses, sunrise alarm clocks and more. 💤

Neuropeptides reprogram social roles in leafcutter ants The mechanisms that control the labor roles of ants may also be conserved in naked mole rats, a new study shows.

Leafcutter ants’ specialized roles can be reprogrammed by adjusting two neuropeptides, a new Cell study shows. And the molecular mechanisms that control the labor roles of ants may also be conserved in mammals.

By @shaena.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/social-behav...

My job is available for you though, check it out if you are some combination of neuroscientist and journalist! bsky.app/profile/thet...

Bittersweet: today is my last day at The Transmitter. I had a great time working here and writing about fascinating work in the field of neuroscience. Also if you just follow me for brain stuff there won't be as much of that anymore, so I apologize. Although...new exciting things are on the horizon!

Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows An analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science shows the impact of the administration’s budget plan on the kind of studies that produce the most breakthroughs.

Trump Seeks to Cut Basic Scientific Research by Roughly One-Third, Report Shows. Gift link: nyti.ms/44KFFFv

Nature retracts paper on novel brain cell type A 2022 paper was retracted after an independent team of researchers reanalyzed the data and questioned its validity.

A 2022 Nature paper identifying a cell type linked to the brain cancer medulloblastoma has been retracted after an independent reanalysis questioned the cell type’s existence, despite objections from the original authors.

By @shaena.bsky.social

www.thetransmitter.org/cell-types/n...

Our award-winning news team is looking for an enthusiastic trade journalist to join our fast-paced newsroom in NYC. This is an excellent opportunity for a science journalist to develop a beat in the field of neuroscience. For more info, please visit: bit.ly/4nvAy4k

#neuroskyence

Why Can’t Americans Sleep? Insomnia has become a public-health emergency.

My favorite writer wrote about sleep! Or lack thereof...a predictably excellent story from Jennifer Senior at The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Are you a science journalist who loves neuroscience? There's an opening for you here! Happy to answer any questions.

Null and Noteworthy: Neurons tracking sequences don’t fire in order Instead, neurons encode the position of sequential items in working memory based on when they fire during ongoing brain wave oscillations—a finding that challenges a long-standing theory.

The neurons that encode sequential information into working memory do not fire in that same order during recall, a finding that is at odds with a long-standing theory. Read more in this month’s Null and Noteworthy.

By @ldattaro.bsky.social

#neuroskyence

www.thetransmitter.org/null-and-not...

Expanded view of hippocampal function comes into focus After decades of debate, the region’s role is being rewritten. Rather than using sensory input to simply log key points in time and space, the hippocampus may serve to contextualize our experiences…

Interesting new idea about what the hippocampus does: "contextualize our experiences and provide a scaffold onto which we can form memories" 🧪 www.thetransmitter.org/memory/expan... from @thetransmitter.bsky.social

Applications are open for the first Cephalopod Neuroscience Gordon Conference, to be held February 2026! Hope to see many of you there! 🐙🧠🔬
www.grc.org/cephalopod-n...

Election worker: “Emily Mandel. Isn’t that a writer’s name?”
Me: “I’m a writer.”
Election worker: “Oh, I was thinking Hilary Mantel, never mind”

Star-responsive neurons steer moths’ long-distance migration Cells in the bogong moth brain respond to astral landmarks to orient the insects in the direction they need to go.

Super entertaining story about the miraculous migration of Bogong moths in Australia--they travel 600 miles to a cave they've never been to before. How do they do it?! www.thetransmitter.org/animal-model...