Hannah Waters

A lovely article about our research on Gannets featuring interviews with #seabirders @heyjooode.bsky.social and @sue-lewis.bsky.social

#ornithology

Trump and Mamdani find unlikely common ground on New York City zoning The president’s long history in New York City real estate looms large over the ongoing conversation with Mamdani.

just a couple of abundance bros www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

Pretty good summary of the forces arrayed against the CO2 endangerment finding. I think they are counting their chickens prematurely.

🎁 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...

Fed on Reams of Cell Data, AI Maps New Neighborhoods in the Brain | Quanta Magazine Machine learning is helping neuroscientists organize vast quantities of cells’ genetic data in the latest neurobiological cartography effort.

Biologists have fed genetic data from millions of mouse brain cells into a custom machine learning algorithm. The program delivered maps of the brain with unprecedented detail, revealing a thousand-plus novel regions.
www.quantamagazine.org/fed-on-reams...

Epstein files show a complicated relationship with science and journalism Jeffrey Epstein aggressively sought access to publishers, mentions of Scientific American and other media in Department of Justice files show

Another excellent Epstein story this week comes from @danvergano.bsky.social, on the murky intersections with science journalism as well as scientists:

www.scientificamerican.com/article/epst... 🧪

Epstein files reveal deeper ties to scientists than previously known Latest batch of documents show researchers consulting the financier and sex offender on publications, visas and more.

Sorry for the preview pic in your feed, but we've posted a thoughtful story by @dangaristo.bsky.social that delves into the tangled web of relationships between Jeffrey Epstein and various scientists: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Once Thought To Support Neurons, Astrocytes Turn Out To Be in Charge | Quanta Magazine New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial…

For a long time, astrocytes were considered mere support and scaffolding for all-important neurons. The new experiments reveal in great detail the cells’ influence over neuronal signaling in the brain.

Expansion Microscopy Has Transformed How We See the Cellular World | Quanta Magazine How physically magnifying objects using a key ingredient in diapers has opened an unprecedented view of the microbial world.

Even with the largest zoom on a classic compound optical system, scientists struggle to make sense of finer details. Microbiologists are turning to an unexpected source to clear things up: a moisture-absorbing material found in diapers. www.quantamagazine.org/expansion-mi...

This is tremendous. Take the time to watch it.

I Infiltrated Moltbook, the AI-Only Social Network Where Humans Aren’t Allowed I went undercover on Moltbook and loved role-playing as a conscious bot. But rather than a novel breakthrough, the AI-only site is a crude rehashing of sci-fi fantasies.

"The hottest club is always the one you can't get into."

Journalism coops seem utopian. What’s it like working in one? "If I was less self-directed, I'd probably be freaking out."

Journalism coops give me — and most of the journalists I know — a lot of hope for the industry. But I've been curious: What's it like to actually work at one? I spent the last few months talking to a bunch of brilliant worker-owners to find out.

www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/jour...

Once Thought To Support Neurons, Astrocytes Turn Out To Be in Charge | Quanta Magazine New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial la...

Astrocytes have complex and varied shapes, and sometimes tendrils, that can reach millions of synapses, the junctions where neurons exchange molecular signals. This anatomical arrangement perfectly positions astrocytes to affect information flow.

www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...

I've had this experience too... I see piezo everywhere I look

(they'd like to take us to the bank)

Once Thought To Support Neurons, Astrocytes Turn Out To Be in Charge | Quanta Magazine New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial la...

'"For the astrocyte field, at least conceptually, we are not very far ahead of where people were for neurons" at the onset of modern neuroscience in the 1950s' www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...

In many of the first generation of modern concentration camp systems (near the turn of the twentieth century), the vast majority of deaths were caused by disease and malnutrition. Most of the victims were women and children.

ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.

BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Once considered merely packing peanuts for the brain, new studies suggest that large brain cells called astrocytes supervise the circuits that control brain states like hopelessness, sleep, and hunger. Ingrid Wickelgren reports: www.quantamagazine.org/once-thought...

How Animals Build a Sense of Direction | Quanta Magazine Researchers documented the activity of neurons that shape directional navigation as bats explored a remote island off the coast of Tanzania.

Amid the hype around prattling "AI" models, astonishing research into living minds gets overlooked. Wonderful piece by @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social in @quantamagazine.bsky.social about bats navigating in a natural environment, decoding the sense of direction. www.quantamagazine.org/how-animals-...

Is Particle Physics Dead, Dying, or Just Hard? | Quanta Magazine Columnist Natalie Wolchover checks in with particle physicists more than a decade after the field entered a profound crisis.

Welcome to Qualia: Essays that go where curiosity leads.

Screenshot of an X.com post by The Associated Press (@AP) stating that dozens of immigrant families protested for better treatment behind fences at a Texas detention facility, where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father were sent after being detained in Minnesota. Below is a video thumbnail showing a crowd gathered outdoors along a fenced walkway; many people wear bright blue or red outerwear, and some hold signs.

After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.

service journalism ✨

How Animals Build a Sense of Direction | Quanta Magazine Researchers documented the activity of neurons that shape directional navigation as bats explored a remote island off the coast of Tanzania.

Ever wonder how your brain builds a sense of direction? New research in bats exploring an island off the coast of Tanzania resolves debate over the mammalian internal compass. Words by @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social + graphic by @markabelan.bsky.social 🦇🌐 www.quantamagazine.org/how-animals-...

Videos Contradict U.S. Account of Minneapolis Shooting by Federal Agents See how immigration officers escalated a fatal confrontation on Saturday.

just amazing work by my colleagues at @wsj.com - a frame by frame analysis of the shooting

incredible that some continue to rationalize this

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

This is a great looking staff editor job at @quantamagazine.bsky.social

www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...

The entire fed system is being weaponized against Minnesota.

How Animals Build a Sense of Direction | Quanta Magazine Researchers documented the activity of neurons that shape directional navigation as bats explored a remote island off the coast of Tanzania.

How does your brain build a sense of direction? New studies into animals’ internal compass could help explain the feeling of getting “turned around”, or even why some of us are so bad at finding our way. @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/how-animals-...

NSF building on Eisenhower Av. HUD now owns.

Destroying the NSF mural in the foyer. Of the Eisenhower building.

The National Science Foundation sign on our Eisenhower Av building is now gone.

The NSF mural in the foyer is removed and torn off in sheets.

We were supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the agency in May 2025. That never happened.

2026 Audubon Photography Awards Open for Entries Grand Prize winners will receive $5,000 and a voyage to Antarctica with HX Expeditions.

The 2026 Audubon Photography Awards contest is now accepting entries! www.audubon.org/press-room/2...