Jackie Flynn Mogensen

How to win The Traitors, according to science Experts say that to win a game like The Traitors, competitors should look for verbal clues over physical ones—and be friendly and open

Ahead of The Traitors finale tonight (!!) I spoke with some experts about the science of lie detection. Some fun things I learned:

-most people are terrible at detecting lies
-verbal clues > physical ones
-beware of the hot traitor "halo effect"
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Thank you, I'm proud of this important journalism

The physics of ‘Penisgate’ and how ski jumpers fly A scandal involving allegedly enlarged ski suits ahead of this year’s Winter Olympics has highlighted the intriguing physics behind ski jumps

How does adding extra room in the crotch area of a ski jumper’s suit actually change their jumping distance?

I spoke to some experts about the physics of 'Penisgate' and had too much fun writing this: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

FDA won’t consider a new mRNA vaccine for flu despite the technology’s life-saving promise The U.S.’s drug safety agency declined to review a next-gen flu vaccine that uses the same tech as the coronavirus shots

FDA is refusing to consider Moderna's mRNA flu vaccine. Yet, as @angierasmussen.bsky.social explains, if we had mRNA vax technology for flu, we might have been able to quickly update this season's shots to cover subclade K before it hit the US. @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social reports @sciam.bsky.social

What watching the Super Bowl does to your health Watching sporting events like the Super Bowl can influence our brains and bodies—and not always in a good way

What does watching the Super Bowl do to your health?

A fun one for today: www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...

The Schrödinger equation is getting a glow-up for its 100th birthday A century ago, Erwin Schrödinger came up with an equation that says how the quantum world behaves. Now scientists are asking what happens when the observer is part of that world

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: The Schrödinger equation just turned 100, but that doesn’t mean quantum physicists have solved all its mysteries. Chief among them: What, exactly, does it mean to incorporate observers into the gnarly math? By Joseph Howlett.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Video evidence and eye witness accounts: The science behind why people see different things Why can people watch the same video footage and see different things? Neuroscience can help explain

Why can people watch the same video footage—and see different things?

I took a deep dive on the psychology of video evidence and eyewitness accounts: www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

Mystery tower fossils may be a whole new kind of life Towering prototaxites ruled Earth before trees—and they may have been a form of life entirely new to science

The, er, thing below is called a Prototaxite. Turns out it may be a new branch of life. That is extremely cool and I have absolutely no idea why you are laughing... 🧪

Scientists Just Clocked a ‘Rogue’ Planet the Size of Saturn Astronomers just measured the mass of a free-floating planet without a star for the first time

Astronomers measured the mass of a free-floating planet without a star for the first time. 🪐

2024 award winner @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social describes a recent breakthrough that could enable further studies of “rogue” planets.

Read more: www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie... #scicomm #astro

U.S. Axes Number of Recommended Childhood Vaccines in Blow to Public Health The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reducing the recommended number of vaccines to protect against 11 diseases, instead of the 17 it recommended previously

Trump's CDC has officially changed the U.S. vaccine schedule, slashing the number of recommended shots in a move experts say will blow up decades of success with childhood vaccines. By @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...

This is definitely an important area of coverage, with more needed. Thank you!

Breaking News Reporter Jackie Flynn Mogensen Jacquelyn.mogensen@sciam.com Signal: JackiefMogensen.01

Excited to say that today was my first day as a Breaking News Reporter at Scientific American!

Send your story ideas, tips, fun facts, etc. to me:

Signal: @jackiefmogensen.01
jacquelyn.mogensen@sciam.com

That’s right, I said it!

Melissa! This is so kind thank you ❤️

Why do we trust ChatGPT? The science of how AI chatbots captivate, entertain, and influence us

Have you ever shared something personal—a secret, a worry, a problem—with ChatGPT? Asked an AI chatbot for advice? Just a few years ago, for many, that might've been an odd thing to do.

I spoke with scientists about what's changed: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

How to make people want to read about climate change Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Kolbert's new book is a master class in writing about the natural world.

Thanks to @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social and @motherjones.com for a fun interview!

Ditto! Was a pleasure chatting

RFK Jr. promised to take on plastic. Now he's part of an administration embracing it. Plastic is everywhere—including in us.

RFK Jr. promised to take on plastic. Now he's part of an administration embracing it.

“The administration’s explicit goal to unleash the fossil fuel industry will also unleash plastic pollution.”

I'm grateful to work at an independent non-profit newsroom, especially now.

Mother Jones runs largely on donations, so thank you for keeping us afloat for nearly 50 years!

“Spoiler alert: we found that public institutions in large, Republican-leaning states are disproportionately affected by the policy.”

Trans health care "skeptics" lost a key ally—now they're having a meltdown The godfather of evidence-based medicine on rejecting anti-trans "misuse" of his work.

For years, medical professionals and transgender advocates have been saying the "Society for Evidence-based Gender Medicine" was not following the principles of evidenced-based medicine.

Now the "godfather" of evidence-based medicine is leveraging the same claim against them. (1/)

People who want to organize their climate news:

New newsletter alert!

My colleagues have been working hard on this. Check it out:

I survived Katrina only to end up in the path of Helene. Now, nowhere feels safe. "I wanted to live somewhere where this would never happen again."

Thinking about Brandi Hand, who lived through Katrina 20 yrs ago today—and Helene.

What people don't realize about these storms, she said, is the "small stuff": "The very ground underneath your feet is not solid in the same way again, for the rest of your life." www.motherjones.com/environment/...

Got something a journalist should look into?

Here's our new "How to Leak to Us" page at the Center for Investigative Reporting—home to Mother Jones and Reveal.

I'm personally interested in tips about science, health, and the environment—but all topics welcome: www.motherjones.com/contribute/h...

Thank you for hosting me, @sejorg.bsky.social!

#SEJSpotlight: Meet SEJ member @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social, who covers climate, the environment and the politics of science @motherjones.com. Check out her investigative features, reporting on new scientific studies, health and science Q&As and more here: www.sej.org/sejspotlight...

Major US climate website likely to be shut down after almost all staff fired Exclusive: Climate.gov, which supports public education on climate science, will soon no longer publish new content

Scoop: NOAA's climate portal, climate.gov, will soon no longer publish new content after its staff were recently dismissed.

Former staff fear that the website may become a mouthpiece for the administration's anti-science views.

My latest for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Wall Street gutted Steward Health Care. Patients paid the price. One of America's biggest for-profit hospital operators is bankrupt, broken, and responsible for countless mistreated patients—thanks to its private equity overlords.

Sungida Rashid died after giving birth at a Massachusetts hospital run by the for-profit chain Steward Health Care.

She wasn't alone: @h-lev.bsky.social and @melissa.news uncovered 12 more instances of moms and newborns who died at these hospitals over the last 14 years: bit.ly/455xC7O

Leaked memo reveals details about Trump's war on science at the NIH On the chopping block for grants: Vaccine hesitancy, the health effects of climate change, gender-affirming care, DEI, research in China, and more.

NIH is ending funding for research on vaccine hesitancy, the Covid pandemic, gender-affirming care, climate change, DEI, and more.

Here’s the language the agency will require staff to use to describe the cuts, according to a leaked draft guidance memo: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Legend has it this salamander came from hell. We’re about to send it back. Climate disasters, human sprawl, and now Trump: This is how extinctions happen.

Appreciated @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social's ode to the majestic hellbender — bellwether of aquatic ecosystems, victim of extreme weather and political bullshit.

www.motherjones.com/environment/...