Chris Simms
@chrisnsimms.bsky.social
Science journalist covering all fields. Formerly an editor at New Scientist and Nature. Particular fan of health, mushrooms, amphibians, marine life and nature 🧪🐸 🍄
Selection of articles here: https://www.newscientist.com/author/chris-simms/
Selection of articles here: https://www.newscientist.com/author/chris-simms/
So at what point will the rest of the world feel they need to organise a military strike to capture Donald Trump (and Netanyahu and Putin?) and try them in an international court for various crimes? www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
January 3, 2026 at 1:23 PM
So at what point will the rest of the world feel they need to organise a military strike to capture Donald Trump (and Netanyahu and Putin?) and try them in an international court for various crimes? www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
Merry Christmas everyone. Here's my favourite festive sight #christmas
December 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Merry Christmas everyone. Here's my favourite festive sight #christmas
December 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Chicken ovaries. Not a food I expected to come across even in the wonderland of a Chinese supermarket
December 21, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Chicken ovaries. Not a food I expected to come across even in the wonderland of a Chinese supermarket
Reposted by Chris Simms
I love when a paper makes me feel stupid by finding an obvious, overlooked solution: “perhaps most great whales have an unrecognized potential for great longevity that has been masked by the demographic disruptions of industrial whaling”; we killed all the old ones, only the babies are left. Duh. 🧪
December 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I love when a paper makes me feel stupid by finding an obvious, overlooked solution: “perhaps most great whales have an unrecognized potential for great longevity that has been masked by the demographic disruptions of industrial whaling”; we killed all the old ones, only the babies are left. Duh. 🧪
Reposted by Chris Simms
This handsome beast is the larva of the spurge hawkmoth (Hyles euphorbiae) of Europe, Asia & N. America. It feeds on Ephorbia spp., sequestering toxic diterpenes from its host. 📷: Wolfgang Ahlmer CCBY4. #Euphorbiaceae #Aposematism #TeamMoth #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
December 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM
This handsome beast is the larva of the spurge hawkmoth (Hyles euphorbiae) of Europe, Asia & N. America. It feeds on Ephorbia spp., sequestering toxic diterpenes from its host. 📷: Wolfgang Ahlmer CCBY4. #Euphorbiaceae #Aposematism #TeamMoth #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
I loved digging into this one for @livescience.com. There is video evidence of #dolphins and killer whales hanging out together on hunts. Are they really cooperating, or is something else going on? #science #orcas #killerwhales #behavior #marinelife
🧪🐬🦑
www.livescience.com/animals/mari...
🧪🐬🦑
www.livescience.com/animals/mari...
Killer whales are teaming up with dolphins on salmon hunts, study finds — but not everyone agrees
There are eye-opening claims that orcas and dolphins are working together on salmon hunts and sharing food — but not everyone is convinced.
www.livescience.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:26 AM
I loved digging into this one for @livescience.com. There is video evidence of #dolphins and killer whales hanging out together on hunts. Are they really cooperating, or is something else going on? #science #orcas #killerwhales #behavior #marinelife
🧪🐬🦑
www.livescience.com/animals/mari...
🧪🐬🦑
www.livescience.com/animals/mari...
This was a particularly fascinating piece of work to dig into for @newscientist.com
We often hear of things being good for our #microbiome, and thus for our #health. But it wasn’t clear what a healthy gut microbiome consisted of. Now we have a better picture 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
We often hear of things being good for our #microbiome, and thus for our #health. But it wasn’t clear what a healthy gut microbiome consisted of. Now we have a better picture 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
We may finally know what a healthy gut microbiome looks like
Our gut microbiome has a huge influence on our overall health, but we haven't been clear on the specific bacteria with good versus bad effects. Now, a study of more than 34,000 people is shedding ligh...
www.newscientist.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:21 PM
This was a particularly fascinating piece of work to dig into for @newscientist.com
We often hear of things being good for our #microbiome, and thus for our #health. But it wasn’t clear what a healthy gut microbiome consisted of. Now we have a better picture 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
We often hear of things being good for our #microbiome, and thus for our #health. But it wasn’t clear what a healthy gut microbiome consisted of. Now we have a better picture 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
“Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the freshwater system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” #montypython
Apparently, they brought illness, particularly in urban areas. #history 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
Apparently, they brought illness, particularly in urban areas. #history 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
Roman occupation of Britain damaged the population’s health
Urban populations in southern Britain experienced a decline in health that lasted for generations after the Romans arrived
www.newscientist.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
“Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the freshwater system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?” #montypython
Apparently, they brought illness, particularly in urban areas. #history 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
Apparently, they brought illness, particularly in urban areas. #history 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2508...
Reposted by Chris Simms
Dangerous retrograde step as #US #CDC pulls back on recommendations for #HBV #vaccine at #birth & dilutes advice for a proper three dose #immunisation schedule.
This is a safe, cheap, robust & well-evidenced vaccine.
There is no evidence of harm. 🧪
@who.int @gavi.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is a safe, cheap, robust & well-evidenced vaccine.
There is no evidence of harm. 🧪
@who.int @gavi.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
US vaccine panel votes to end universal hepatitis B vaccination for newborns
Trump, who called the decision
www.bbc.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Dangerous retrograde step as #US #CDC pulls back on recommendations for #HBV #vaccine at #birth & dilutes advice for a proper three dose #immunisation schedule.
This is a safe, cheap, robust & well-evidenced vaccine.
There is no evidence of harm. 🧪
@who.int @gavi.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
This is a safe, cheap, robust & well-evidenced vaccine.
There is no evidence of harm. 🧪
@who.int @gavi.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Chris Simms
Have a look through this gallery to see one of the coolest examples of role specialisation in the insect world 🐜
They live inside twigs with small circular entrances & these workers have evolved heads the perfect shape to block those entrances - effectively, they are living doors!
They live inside twigs with small circular entrances & these workers have evolved heads the perfect shape to block those entrances - effectively, they are living doors!
A gallery of Cephalotes turtle ants, denizens of the treetops in tropical American forests.
Cephalotes - Alex Wild
is a diverse genus of heavily-armored, tree-dwelling myrmicine ants found in forested regions of the new world tropics and subtropics. A number of canopy species show the unusual habit of controlled ...
www.alexanderwild.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Have a look through this gallery to see one of the coolest examples of role specialisation in the insect world 🐜
They live inside twigs with small circular entrances & these workers have evolved heads the perfect shape to block those entrances - effectively, they are living doors!
They live inside twigs with small circular entrances & these workers have evolved heads the perfect shape to block those entrances - effectively, they are living doors!
Nice to see these very forthright words from European Council President António Costa @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu
Finally an EU leader hits back vs US NSS - Costa:
"US no longer believes in multilateralism, rules-based order, climate change. We have differences in our worldviews. The strategy continues to speak of Europe as an ally. That’s good. But if we are allies, we must act as allies..
"US no longer believes in multilateralism, rules-based order, climate change. We have differences in our worldviews. The strategy continues to speak of Europe as an ally. That’s good. But if we are allies, we must act as allies..
December 8, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Nice to see these very forthright words from European Council President António Costa @eucopresident.consilium.europa.eu
Well this is an exciting message from Evri:
"We need you to take action
We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender."
It was four boxes of self-adhesive floor tiles. What on earth can they have done to damage them so badly?
"We need you to take action
We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender."
It was four boxes of self-adhesive floor tiles. What on earth can they have done to damage them so badly?
December 4, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Well this is an exciting message from Evri:
"We need you to take action
We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender."
It was four boxes of self-adhesive floor tiles. What on earth can they have done to damage them so badly?
"We need you to take action
We're sorry your parcel has been damaged beyond repair in transit. Please contact your sender."
It was four boxes of self-adhesive floor tiles. What on earth can they have done to damage them so badly?
If you've got a food allergy and constantly watch ingredients, or sometimes have to avoid hugging or kissing someone because of what they've eaten, this news could be for you: An experimental vaccine can prevent life-threatening allergic reaction in mice 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
Experimental vaccine prevents dangerous allergic attack for a year
By blocking a molecule that pushes the immune system into overdrive, a vaccine protects mice from life-threatening anaphylaxis
www.newscientist.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:31 AM
If you've got a food allergy and constantly watch ingredients, or sometimes have to avoid hugging or kissing someone because of what they've eaten, this news could be for you: An experimental vaccine can prevent life-threatening allergic reaction in mice 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
www.newscientist.com/article/2507...
It is well known that #exercise is linked to better #cancer survival, but the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood.
It now seems tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to muscle cells outcompeting cancer cells for sugar. @newscientist.com #health 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
It now seems tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to muscle cells outcompeting cancer cells for sugar. @newscientist.com #health 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
We now have a greater understanding of how exercise slows cancer
Tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to a shift in the body’s metabolism that means muscle cells outcompete cancer cells in the race to get sugar to grow
www.newscientist.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:56 AM
It is well known that #exercise is linked to better #cancer survival, but the mechanisms behind this are poorly understood.
It now seems tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to muscle cells outcompeting cancer cells for sugar. @newscientist.com #health 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
It now seems tumour growth is reduced by exercise due to muscle cells outcompeting cancer cells for sugar. @newscientist.com #health 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
I've fallen a bit behind posting about articles I've written. This was a cool one published yesterday for @newscientist.com:
We knew asteroid Bennu carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life. Now we've found the missing ingredient. #space 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
We knew asteroid Bennu carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life. Now we've found the missing ingredient. #space 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it
We knew from prior analyses that a distant asteroid sampled in 2020 carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life, and researchers have just found the missing ingredient: sugar
www.newscientist.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:45 AM
I've fallen a bit behind posting about articles I've written. This was a cool one published yesterday for @newscientist.com:
We knew asteroid Bennu carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life. Now we've found the missing ingredient. #space 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
We knew asteroid Bennu carried all but one of the molecules needed to kick-start life. Now we've found the missing ingredient. #space 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Pregnancy is linked to greater risk of dental issues, but we aren’t entirely sure why.
Now, it seems that the oral microbiome changes when a woman is expecting, becoming less diverse and potentially more prone to causing inflammation. 🧪 #health #pregnancy
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Now, it seems that the oral microbiome changes when a woman is expecting, becoming less diverse and potentially more prone to causing inflammation. 🧪 #health #pregnancy
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Upheavals to the oral microbiome in pregnancy may be behind tooth loss
Dental problems often arise or get worse during pregnancy, and a new study hints that rapid changes to the oral microbiome at this time could be at least partly to blame
www.newscientist.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Pregnancy is linked to greater risk of dental issues, but we aren’t entirely sure why.
Now, it seems that the oral microbiome changes when a woman is expecting, becoming less diverse and potentially more prone to causing inflammation. 🧪 #health #pregnancy
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
Now, it seems that the oral microbiome changes when a woman is expecting, becoming less diverse and potentially more prone to causing inflammation. 🧪 #health #pregnancy
www.newscientist.com/article/2506...
My cats made me write this story and I'm very glad they did.
It also makes we want a leopard cat (a "chicken-killing tiger"), but apparently although they are adorably cute only for the first month, after that they go WILD
🧪 #nature #history #china
www.livescience.com/animals/cats...
It also makes we want a leopard cat (a "chicken-killing tiger"), but apparently although they are adorably cute only for the first month, after that they go WILD
🧪 #nature #history #china
www.livescience.com/animals/cats...
People in China lived alongside 'chicken-killing tigers' long before domestic cats arrived
Leopard cats were living alongside people in ancient China for more than 3,500 years before domestic cats arrived from Europe via the Silk Road.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
My cats made me write this story and I'm very glad they did.
It also makes we want a leopard cat (a "chicken-killing tiger"), but apparently although they are adorably cute only for the first month, after that they go WILD
🧪 #nature #history #china
www.livescience.com/animals/cats...
It also makes we want a leopard cat (a "chicken-killing tiger"), but apparently although they are adorably cute only for the first month, after that they go WILD
🧪 #nature #history #china
www.livescience.com/animals/cats...
What led to the emergence of the first states, thousands of years ago?
People often say agriculture, but the first large-scale societies didn't appear until 4000 years after the advent of agriculture. The answer may be growing grain, specifically. 🧪 #history
www.newscientist.com/article/2505...
People often say agriculture, but the first large-scale societies didn't appear until 4000 years after the advent of agriculture. The answer may be growing grain, specifically. 🧪 #history
www.newscientist.com/article/2505...
Easily taxed grains were crucial to the birth of the first states
The cultivation of wheat, barley and maize, which are easily stored and taxed, seems to have led to the emergence of large societies, rather than agriculture generally
www.newscientist.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:46 AM
What led to the emergence of the first states, thousands of years ago?
People often say agriculture, but the first large-scale societies didn't appear until 4000 years after the advent of agriculture. The answer may be growing grain, specifically. 🧪 #history
www.newscientist.com/article/2505...
People often say agriculture, but the first large-scale societies didn't appear until 4000 years after the advent of agriculture. The answer may be growing grain, specifically. 🧪 #history
www.newscientist.com/article/2505...
This is a great video from @tomvanderlinden.bsky.social on why films often don't feel as real any more and the (haptic) elements that trick your body into thinking you are actually there. It explains why I move in my seat so much during the test run scene in Top Gun: Maverick #films #science 🧪
Why don't movies feel "real" anymore? My deep dive into the first principles of cinematic immersion is out now on YouTube: youtu.be/tvwPKBXEOKE
November 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
This is a great video from @tomvanderlinden.bsky.social on why films often don't feel as real any more and the (haptic) elements that trick your body into thinking you are actually there. It explains why I move in my seat so much during the test run scene in Top Gun: Maverick #films #science 🧪
Reposted by Chris Simms
Rafflesia hasseltii: a plant seen more by tigers than people. Watching this flower open by night was the closest thing to magic:
November 19, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Rafflesia hasseltii: a plant seen more by tigers than people. Watching this flower open by night was the closest thing to magic:
So does the future hold massive swamps of mosquitoes, farmed to produce parts for 3D printing? @sparkes.bsky.social 🧪 #insects #technology
My only hope is that after my death my proboscis can be useful to science.
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Mosquito proboscis repurposed as a fine nozzle for 3D printing
When engineers struggled to make 3D printer nozzles narrow enough for their needs, they turned to nature and found the proboscis of a female mosquito had exactly the properties they needed
www.newscientist.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:20 AM
So does the future hold massive swamps of mosquitoes, farmed to produce parts for 3D printing? @sparkes.bsky.social 🧪 #insects #technology
Early humans like Neanderthals probably kissed, and our ape ancestors could have been doing it 21 million years ago 🧪 #evolution #kissing #sex
It was great talking to @matildabrindle.bsky.social and @zannaclay.bsky.social for this @newscientist.com story.
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
It was great talking to @matildabrindle.bsky.social and @zannaclay.bsky.social for this @newscientist.com story.
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Kissing may have evolved in an ape ancestor 21 million years ago
Rather than being a recent cultural development, kissing may have been practised by other early humans like Neanderthals and our ape ancestors
www.newscientist.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Early humans like Neanderthals probably kissed, and our ape ancestors could have been doing it 21 million years ago 🧪 #evolution #kissing #sex
It was great talking to @matildabrindle.bsky.social and @zannaclay.bsky.social for this @newscientist.com story.
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
It was great talking to @matildabrindle.bsky.social and @zannaclay.bsky.social for this @newscientist.com story.
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
This came as a big surprise to me: In the grasslands of Central Asia, long the domain of mobile peoples living in yurts, a giant settlement dating back 3600 years has been discovered. 🧪 #BronzeAge #science #archaeology
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Vast Bronze Age city discovered in the plains of Kazakhstan
A major settlement in Central Asia called Semiyarka dating back to 1600 BC had houses, a big central building and even an industrial zone for producing copper and bronze
www.newscientist.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:19 AM
This came as a big surprise to me: In the grasslands of Central Asia, long the domain of mobile peoples living in yurts, a giant settlement dating back 3600 years has been discovered. 🧪 #BronzeAge #science #archaeology
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
This was a fun story to work on partly because I've always loved the skeleton this research is based on: a Neanderthal specimen known as Altamura Man, still embedded in rock in Lamalunga cave in Italy, and peppered with "cave popcorn" or "popcorn concretions", making it look part of a coral reef 🧪
The hefty Neanderthal nose wasn’t adapted to cold climates in the way many people thought it was, the first analysis of a well-preserved nasal cavity in the human fossil record has revealed.
Neanderthals' hefty noses weren’t well adapted to cold climates
www.newscientist.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:15 AM
This was a fun story to work on partly because I've always loved the skeleton this research is based on: a Neanderthal specimen known as Altamura Man, still embedded in rock in Lamalunga cave in Italy, and peppered with "cave popcorn" or "popcorn concretions", making it look part of a coral reef 🧪