Sophie Bushwick
Science & technology journalist, editor, podcast & video host, book reader
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickIn case you've seen the story about “grok now only generates images for paid users”, it's untrue. Apparently everyone just reported it because… it was what grok told them 🤦🏼 www.theverge.com/news/859309/...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickElon Musk’s chatbot has been used to generate thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors. Apple and Google have removed other “nudify” apps—but continue to host X and Grok. www.wired.com/story/x-grok...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickHere's a moment of wonder for you: spiders that craft spider decoys! Two species of orb-weavers in Peru and the Philippines cobble together web structures out of plant bits and prey corpses that look like bigger spiders, possibly to distract spider-eating predators 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickFor the last few days on X, people (mainly women, and sometimes children) have had nonconsensual images of them in swimsuits (or much worse) requested by users and created by Grok. Musk's only apparent response thus far has been to crack jokes about it.
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick“According to a recent Harvard Business School meta-analysis of 18 studies, women have 22% lower odds of using generative AI websites and apps than men, both at work & in everyday life. And this pattern holds across countries, sectors, occupations, & tools.”
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickYou can also use the map in the story to look up vaccination rates in your local schools! This was a HUGE data lift: we reviewed and mapped tens of thousands of individual schools’ data, assembling the most comprehensive public database. And we published this data here: github.com/washingtonpo...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickAdvances in renewable energy and GLP-1 drugs. Geoengineering conspiracy theories. Journalists @sophiebushwick.bsky.social and @maggiek.bsky.social share this year’s biggest—and most surprising—science stories.
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickThe best space pictures of 2025, from supernovae to moon landings www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
- Fascinating study; fantastic headline 🧪
- Really enjoyed this roundup of fun animal stories from 2025 🧪 And the bone-collector caterpillar is still my favorite!
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickNew York’s landmark AI safety bill was defanged — and universities were part of the push against it
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickThe Trump administration announced plans to close NCAR, citing its role in climate change research. But three officials told CNN they believe this is really part of the White House's plan to punish CO governor and free Tina Peters. WH did not deny the connection. www.cnn.com/2025/12/17/c...
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick“The science is endangered now, just like the whales.”
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick"The newspaper industry served as a feeder for our entire news media ecosystem. So when we lose those newspapers, we've lost that journalism. In the early 2000s, we had 40 journalists per 100,000 people. We're now down to 8 journalists per 100,000 people," says @victorpickard.bsky.social.
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickI have a real soft spot for MAVEN--I hope its humans are able to get it up and running again soon! 🧪 🛰️ www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
- This is a fantastic explanation of the harrowing journey sperm take to fertilize an egg 🧪 With adorable illustrations that render the reproductive cells as tiny adventurers on a D&D-like quest
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickThis is an excellent read. The more you know. #Science 🧪 “… we were advancing toward elimination of hepatitis B in the United States,” says Ward “I am deeply concerned that if the ACIP rescinds this policy, they’re going to contribute to the spread of hepatitis B rather than its elimination.”
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickMy latest @thebulletin.org piece tries to reckon with the economic costs that would accompany the bursting of the AI bubble - and also highlights some of the societal costs we are already paying.
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickWhy IBM CEO Arvind Krishna is still hiring humans in the AI era
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickBy me: ‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickWhy do we call it a 'turkey'?
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickFor tomorrow! thepracticalkitchen.com/leftover-tur...
- A researcher identified gamma ray emissions that appear to have originated from dark matter...but other physicists still aren’t convinced 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick“With the U.S. absent, the European Union had a chance to lead; instead, they stepped into the vacuum as the primary obstructionist." 👀
- We've detected lightning on Mars for the first time! 🧪 And you can listen in on the audio, recorded by NASA's Perseverance rover:
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickI’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickNEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickI wrote this piece because I only learned about pelvic floors a few years ago, despite having had one all my life. And then it turned out to be where I store all my issues. And then that turned out to be true for a lot of people www.wired.com/story/the-pe...
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick🚨The CDC quietly revised its vaccine website to echoe vaccine–autism claims promoted by RFK Jr. “It’s a tragedy,” a source told me. “The change signals that truth carries no weight in current or future discussions about vaccines.” My latest with comment from @ameracadpeds.bsky.social 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickA very good article about one fake freelancer and the grim state of journalism/the world: thelocal.to/investigatin...
- RNA sequencing revealed which of the woolly mammoth Yuka's genes were active when it died: "In the creature’s final panicked moments, its muscles were tensing and its cells were signaling distress—perhaps unsurprising since Yuka is thought to have died as a result of a cave lion attack." 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickAn interesting thing many people don't know is that, for a couple years now, most high-profile #AI models have been vulnerable to a very specific type of attack that allows bad guys to essentially "steal" the model. Wild, right? There's some new research on this, so let's talk about it. 🧪🧵
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickCoreWeave is more than a data center company – it’s a tool to hedge other companies’ risks and juice their profits as the AI bubble grows ever larger. It gets worse from there. Read more from @lopatto.bsky.social: www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickI'm here to tell you that my primary profession of being a shit poster is no more. I recently started (temporarily) hosting the Science Quickly podcast for @feltman.bsky.social while she's out on leave. Here is Rachel and I discussing the most important scientific subject on earth: Mayo
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickTo understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick“We are witnessing nothing less than a clown show at #FDA right now.” People who worked at or rely on the US drug regulator see dysfunctional leadership & soap opera-ish behavior at a key federal agency, @matthewherper.bsky.social & @lizzylawrence.bsky.social report. www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/f...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickThanks to @bmcnoldy.bsky.social & @drkimwood.bsky.social for help with this story. We were all struggling to find sufficient words. “It’s this frustrating combination of, scientifically speaking, we know this is possible, but as humans we are flabbergasted at seeing manifest in this way.” -Kim 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickThis Is What a Venomous Snake Bite Looks Like at 1,000 Frames per Second gizmodo.com/this-is-what...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickHappy 15th anniversary to The Open Notebook! If this ridiculously generous project has helped you over the years, this is a great time to donate. Thread from @siricarpenter.bsky.social at @theopennotebook.bsky.social
- It’s an opportunity for all those in our community who value the work we do to give back and help ensure that we can keep moving forward, even during these most challenging times. We’d be very grateful for your support today ➡️ www.theopennotebook.com/15thannivers.... #TON15
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickNew: a $60 mod to Meta's Ray-Ban glasses disables the privacy LED light. This is supposed to light when people are filming with the glasses. We bought the mod, verified it works. Now you can never be sure whether someone wearing Meta Ray-Bans is filming you or not www.404media.co/how-to-disab...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickCan fuel made from aluminum scraps supply the clean heat industry needs? For @technologyreview.com, I got a sneak peak of Found Energy's largest aluminum-water reactor to date.
- Kudos to Ari Daniel for the most puntastic kicker I've ever read: "So perhaps one day, humans will benefit from this notion of architectural immunity, inspired not by antibodies — but by ant bodies." 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickIt looks like OpenAI is about to announce its AI web browser. OpenAI has a new product announcement livestream set for 1PM ET today 👀 www.theverge.com/news/803481/...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickYouTuber Doctor Mike thinks medicine needs a better social media strategy www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/d... via @statnews.com
- This is fascinating! The details someone includes in a story can affect the parts of your brain that will activate to memorize that information 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickAn amateur satellite tracker stumbled across the signal, which is coming from Starshield satellites in a "hidden" part of the radio spectrum.
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickRemember this one? “Humans aren’t very efficient movers—until you put us on a bicycle, when we become some of the most energy-efficient land travelers in the animal kingdom.” Via Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social #CityMakingMath
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick"Technologies purchased by ICE in recent weeks include spyware that can hack into smartphones remotely and cellphone location software that can enable the tracking of a phone’s movements without a court warrant..." www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickA decade ago I wanted to find a way to recognize the wonderful images that researchers created -- in the lab and in the field. With some likeminded folks, we got it off the ground. It's worked out beautifully, and I'm proud of it. #SciArt news.ncsu.edu/2025/10/a-de...
- "Historically, funding issues have particularly hurt beats like science and health journalism and these new pressures only intensify the crisis..." 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickArchaeologists discovered a bunch of Neolithic period worked human bones in canals and moats in southern China. 🏺🧪
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickViolence, scientific DRAMA, and misunderstanding! Who first asked if woodpeckers get headaches, or if rams are immune to brain damage? New Paper! I trace the history of human thought on brain injury in head-hitting animals, and it's a wild ride. 🧪 🏺 A thread - 1/🧵 doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...
- These "extreme closeup" images of the natural world are stunning!! 🧪 My favorite is the otherworldly photo of algae suspended in a droplet of water
- This is it! Second place in the 2025 Nikon Small World microphotography contest went to a photo showing green sphere-shaped colonies of Volvox algae floating in a drop of water (credit: Dr. Jan Rosenboom / Nikon Small World). Looks like a gorgeous blob-shaped alien to me
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickAncient chewing gum could reveal how early men and women split up their chores | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick🧪 Using nearly a decade of high-speed footage, an unsupervised machine learning approach distinguished 9 distinct precipitation types, including varieties of rain, snow, and mixed-phases. Results could improve weather forecasting and winter driving safety. news.engin.umich.edu/2025/10/betw...
- Six years ago, radio telescopes detected ghostly ring-shaped structures in space, dubbed "odd radio circles" or ORCs. Now citizen scientists have found three new ORCs, including twin rings nearly a million light years across
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwickmy latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵) www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...
- Reposted by Sophie BushwickResearchers pointed a satellite dish at the sky for 3 years and monitored what unencrypted data it picked up. The results were shocking: They obtained thousands of T-Mobile users' phone calls and texts, military and law enforcement secrets, much more: www.wired.com/story/satell... 🧵👇
- Last week, my time at New Scientist came to an end. It's been a pleasure working with such a talented and dedicated team and taking on brand-new challenges over the past couple years
- In addition to editing a range of science, health, and tech news, I had the opportunity to manage reporters, shape a physics and math newsletter, review both sci-fi and non-fiction books (including interviewing one of my favorite authors!), and learn so much about newsroom best practices
- Now I’m looking for my next opportunity. If you know of any full-time roles in the world of science journalism, or you just want to catch up, please reach out! I'm available here, on LinkedIn, or via my website, sophiebushwick.com/
- Reposted by Sophie Bushwick🔥🧵 Resignation letters from top CDC experts: "Their desire to please a political base will result in death & disability of vulnerable children & adults. Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc." - @drdemetre.bsky.social Thanks for your service.
