Science journalist writing for Nature, Scientific American, National Geographic, Guardian Books, BBC Future, Washington Post Opinions, Prospect Magazine. Passionate reader. #PoetryIsMedicine #ClimateCrisis She/Her
More space debris is raining down on Earth than ever before — one effect of the frenetic race among governments and companies like SpaceX to reign over the skies. Last year, the U.S. Space Force issued alerts for nearly 820 objects entering the Earth’s atmosphere. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/w...
A Ton of Space Junk Tumbles Unpredictably to Earth Every WeekFlaming chunks of metal crash into homes, farms and parking lots. Who’s to blame? And who pays for the damage?www.nytimes.comLiechtenstein’s archaic abortion laws need to be modernised. Women have to travel outside the Alpine micro-state for abortion and pay steep fees. 58-year-old hereditary Prince Alois says he will veto any changes. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Liechtenstein’s archaic abortion laws need to be modernised. But a prince is standing in the way | Gabriella Alvarez-HummelSubstantial hurdles are faced by women who have to travel abroad to access abortion, but Hereditary Prince Alois says he will veto any changes, says writer and campaigner from Liechtenstein Gabriella ...www.theguardian.com“If you ask women about ‘period poops’ they’ll tell you they’re having menstrual cramps and those GI cramps at the same time,” said Taylor Judkins, a nutrition researcher at the University of Florida who has spent more than a decade studying the phenomenon. www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...
The monthly scourge of ‘period poop’ is real. Here’s why your gut acts upMenstrual and digestive discomfort often coincide, and a researcher who has been looking in to it for a decade tells us what she learnedwww.theguardian.comUnder new proposals, British couples could legally marry almost anywhere - from a castle, to a hot-air balloon or a beach - but not on a rollercoaster because it's not "serious" or "dignified". www.bbc.com/news/article...
From gardens to riversides: experts back wedding reformsWedding planners and celebrants say marriage law reforms could offer couples more choice.www.bbc.com“The city [London] is not built for heat,” said Josie Ashdown, a lead manager at the homelessness charity Thames Reach. “You can feel that the concrete makes it hotter here than probably anywhere else in the country at points, and there’s hardly any tree cover.” www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
‘The city isn’t built for heat’: how extreme weather puts London’s rough sleepers at riskAs heatwaves make the capital increasingly dangerous, outreach workers warn that vulnerable people face barriers to finding water and cool spaceswww.theguardian.comSalman Rushdie also said he was tired of being everyone’s “free speech Barbie”, adding: “It’s a subject I’m anxious to change.” “I don’t feel symbolic … I feel actual. I feel like I’m a working writer trying to make his work,” he said. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...
Man who stabbed Salman Rushdie in 2022 convicted of federal terrorism chargesJury finds Hadi Matar, who is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence, guilty of all charges against himwww.theguardian.comBill Johns, 70, now has 445 books for sale on Amazon. The books are roughly organized by topic: sports, eccentric geniuses, famous bridges, alcohol, the Chesapeake Bay. They're all written by AI. "I Got Slopped," by @kashhill.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/t...
I Got SloppedSomeone used A.I. to write my biography. Thousands more of those books are polluting Amazon. Who is behind all this drivel?www.nytimes.comErnst Haeckel was a biologist, evolutionist, artist, philosopher and physician. He was also a racist who ranked “the diverse types of mankind” according to their relative “value”. My review @natureportfolio.nature.com of The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A fever dream of jellies and slugsA celebration of Ernst Haeckel’s sketches of life forms, from microscopic to majestic.www.nature.comThe New York Times found hundreds of A.I.-generated doctors, healers and wellness influencers on social media touting the health benefits of supplements to American consumers. Many of these hyperrealistic looking ads promise medical miracle. www.nytimes.com/video/techno...
Video: The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your FeedThe New York Times found hundreds of A.I.-generated doctors, healers and wellness influencers on social media touting the health benefits of supplements to American consumers. Many of these hyperreali...www.nytimes.comAmfar surveyed 166 organisations across 46 countries that had been due to receive Pepfar funding in 2025. More than half of the respondents had at least one terminated award, resulting in more than 1,700 closed clinics, drop-in centres or other sites. www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Trump’s HIV funding cuts having ‘severe and devastating’ impact around the worldThe President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief has saved 26m lives globally, but slashing of funds and dismantling of USAID have forced clinics to shut in dozens of countrieswww.theguardian.comYou say, “put your jumper on”. They say, “I’m not cold”. Do kids really not feel the cold like adults do? Or are they just expressing their independence? And when should you insist? Great article by Joshua Pate, on why kids refuse to wear jumpers theconversation.com/kids-do-feel...
Kids do feel the cold. So why won’t they wear a jumper?When you say ‘but aren’t you cold?’ what are you really asking? Kids will answer how they feel now; parents are planning ahead.theconversation.comThe Trump plan for Gaza, if its vision is ever realized, would mean that the U.S. government or American businesspeople working on its behalf would be selling rights for leasing and construction on land expropriated from its residents, writes @omerbartov.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/o...
Opinion | The Grim Lessons of Israel’s War in GazaIsrael has not been held accountable for its actions in Gaza. The nation and the individuals and countries enabling it to escape punishment may only benefit.www.nytimes.com"It's hard to imagine that Western Allies could have freed Europe from Hitler [...] without the Red Army’s relentless drive to Berlin, which came at great cost: the Soviet military lost as many as 11 million men & women," writes @omerbartov.bsky.social @nybooks.com www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
The Judeo-Bolshevist Target | Omer BartovPopular memory in the West tends to separate the Holocaust from the German war against the Soviet Union, but for the Nazi regime they were two faces of the same undertaking.www.nybooks.com8-year-old Arwa Nesman was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home in Gaza, an attack that killed her and four other family members. Her brother, Iham, 13, is the family's sole survivor. The IDF Must Stop Killing Children @haaretzcom.bsky.social editorial www.haaretz.com/opinion/edit...
Editorial | The IDF must stop killing children and investigate those responsibleOn Saturday, the entire world was once again exposed – except for the Israeli public, as usual – to horrific scenes from the Gaza Strip.www.haaretz.comMohammed Al-Wahidi was a Palestinian aid worker who organized public screenings of the FIFA World Cup in Gaza. An Israeli airstrike killed him last week, while he was on his way to watch a screening of the knockout stage match between Argentina and Egypt. forward.com/opinion/8389...
He organized World Cup viewings in Gaza. Then an Israeli airstrike killed himThe world's game is a source of joy to billions — and a reminder of how easy it is for the West to overlook sufferingforward.comAir quality plummets in 20 US states as smoke from Canadian wildfires spreads Millions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoors #ClimateCrisis www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Air quality plummets in 20 US states as smoke from Canadian wildfires spreadsMillions of Americans face air quality alerts from Minnesota to New York as authorities urge people to stay indoorswww.theguardian.comExcellent, wide-ranging, in-depth reporting by @aloner.bsky.social on upcoming Israeli elections.
Alona FerberI’ve recently been immersed in/obsessed with a writing project, and the article came out yesterday in the summer issue of @prospectmagazine.co.uk . It’s a longread about the Israeli elections, which are taking place on 27th October /1
Three rare and once-popular medieval fruit trees have been discovered in an overgrown nature reserve. Medlar trees were traditionally grown in orchards and peaked in popularity in the 1600s, until vanishing from the public consciousness in the 1950s. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Middlesbrough horticulturalists discover rare fruit treesThe Middlesbrough Environment City team found three medlar trees in a former nature reserve.www.bbc.co.ukThe heat broiling Europe in recent weeks is thought to have led to thousands of excess deaths, officials say, and is posing an extreme risk of wildfires, which have already burned through parts of Spain, Portugal and France. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/w...
Heat Waves in Europe Linked to Thousands of Excess DeathsWhile the full toll will take months to calculate, death statistics already look substantial compared with historical averages.www.nytimes.com