Christian Elliott
@christianelliott.me
Science journalist & audio producer / Making podcasts at NASA / Other words in Nat Geo, The Atlantic, Science, Sci Am, Hakai, bioGraphic, Undark, etc. / Iowan 🌽
Views expressed here are my own.
Portfolio: christianelliott.me
Views expressed here are my own.
Portfolio: christianelliott.me
Pinned
Christian Elliott
@christianelliott.me
· Jun 30
You hear this a lot on the left but it isn't true. USAID did not "fail to tell its story to Americans," the right targeted the agency with lies and misinformation.
Ultimately this narrative turns conservative attacks into even more calls for the left to reform.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/o...
Ultimately this narrative turns conservative attacks into even more calls for the left to reform.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/29/o...
NASA just won an Emmy for our live broadcast of the total solar eclipse last year. We produced a documentary film about the James Webb Space Telescope that's out in theaters and on Netflix. We have podcasts, we write feature stories. People wear the agency logo on t-shirts. We're still getting cut.
Air fryer?? I was told there's no air in space.
Watch Chinese astronauts enjoy '1st ever space BBQ' from Tiangong's brand-new oven (video)
Now serving microgravity gourmet.
www.space.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Air fryer?? I was told there's no air in space.
Why would I want 37g of protein in my Starbucks latte 😭
October 24, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Why would I want 37g of protein in my Starbucks latte 😭
Oh and even better, here are JFK's post-speech action items, if someone knows how to get these to him?
October 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Oh and even better, here are JFK's post-speech action items, if someone knows how to get these to him?
We've been putting old speeches and mission recordings into Otter for an upcoming podcast series and its so funny to see the AI try to do a meeting summary of like, JFK's Moon speech
October 23, 2025 at 6:21 PM
We've been putting old speeches and mission recordings into Otter for an upcoming podcast series and its so funny to see the AI try to do a meeting summary of like, JFK's Moon speech
Unironically I LOVE getting my features fact checked. You are so right, mallard ducks and quails do sometimes eat insects. Saved me from looking like a fool in front of the birders 🦆
October 23, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Unironically I LOVE getting my features fact checked. You are so right, mallard ducks and quails do sometimes eat insects. Saved me from looking like a fool in front of the birders 🦆
I adore a good editor's note. This one is hall of fame worthy (from the @wired.com story on cybertruck owners)
October 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I adore a good editor's note. This one is hall of fame worthy (from the @wired.com story on cybertruck owners)
Reposted by Christian Elliott
Do we really want 250,000 mirrored satellites in Low Earth Orbit? Hasn't the Starlink megaconstellation already done enough damage?
🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social
🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social
A US startup plans to deliver ‘sunlight on demand’ after dark. Can it work – and would we want it to?
Satellites beaming sunlight down to Earth sound like science fiction – and they have astronomers very worried.
theconversation.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Do we really want 250,000 mirrored satellites in Low Earth Orbit? Hasn't the Starlink megaconstellation already done enough damage?
🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social
🧪 @mjibrown.bsky.social
I need someone to explain to me who on earth wants this. And how its creators can convince me that it could possibly do anything other than harm.
Kiss reality goodbye: AI-generated social media has arrived
With the launch of Sora 2, OpenAI has opened a new chapter in addictive, and some worry dangerous, AI video content.
www.npr.org
October 4, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I need someone to explain to me who on earth wants this. And how its creators can convince me that it could possibly do anything other than harm.
This is a really lovely museum. Now I want to go back and see the ship in its new digs 🛶
A more than 1,000-year-old Viking ship goes on a very short, final voyage
It took 10 years of work to prepare a Viking longship for a trip no longer than a football field. How it got to that spot goes back even further — over a millennium.
www.npr.org
October 3, 2025 at 12:48 AM
This is a really lovely museum. Now I want to go back and see the ship in its new digs 🛶
Reposted by Christian Elliott
Scientists in the Bay Area have gotten corals to spawn in a lab at the same time they do in the wild in Australia. One of their tools: LED lights that simulate sunrises, sunsets, and even moonlight.
The High-Tech Lab Unlocking Secrets Of Coral Reproduction
At a lab in the heart of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, scientists are breeding corals to be more resilient to rising ocean temperatures.
buff.ly
October 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Scientists in the Bay Area have gotten corals to spawn in a lab at the same time they do in the wild in Australia. One of their tools: LED lights that simulate sunrises, sunsets, and even moonlight.
Reposted by Christian Elliott
ScienceWriters2025 will take place in Chicago, November 7-9
sciencewriters2025.org
North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science.
Early bird registration ending Oct. 1
sciencewriters2025.org
North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science.
Early bird registration ending Oct. 1
September 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
ScienceWriters2025 will take place in Chicago, November 7-9
sciencewriters2025.org
North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science.
Early bird registration ending Oct. 1
sciencewriters2025.org
North America's largest gathering of science writers. An important coming together in a pivotal year for science.
Early bird registration ending Oct. 1
I'm heading to Acadia in a week to visit my sister who works there. It's peak leaf season and the fee collection staff will be furloughed, but the park will stay open with (unpaid) essential staff cleaning bathrooms, etc. Seems crazy the park could lose out on $1.5 million in revenue to this...
Government Shutdown: Impacts for Acadia National Park - Friends of Acadia
"National parks remain as accessible as possible during the federal government shutdown. However, some services may be limited or unavailable."
friendsofacadia.org
October 2, 2025 at 1:12 PM
I'm heading to Acadia in a week to visit my sister who works there. It's peak leaf season and the fee collection staff will be furloughed, but the park will stay open with (unpaid) essential staff cleaning bathrooms, etc. Seems crazy the park could lose out on $1.5 million in revenue to this...
Reposted by Christian Elliott
And finally, this story from @christianelliott.me taught me everything I didn't know that I didn't know about the reproductive habits of cold-water corals. For months during the reporting and editing process, I talked about coral sex at parties.
The Secret Sex Lives of Deep, Dark Corals | Hakai Magazine
A unique fjord in Chilean Patagonia gives scientists a chance to unlock the reproductive secrets of cold-water corals that typically live thousands of meters below the ocean’s surface.
hakaimagazine.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:35 PM
And finally, this story from @christianelliott.me taught me everything I didn't know that I didn't know about the reproductive habits of cold-water corals. For months during the reporting and editing process, I talked about coral sex at parties.
Honored to have made it into this always fantastic anthology as a "Notable" for my piece in Hakai Magazine (one of the last features the magazine published) about cold-water coral research in Chile. @pulitzercenter.org @biographic.bsky.social
Wrote a bit about this year's edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing - and posted the Notables jaimealyse.beehiiv.com/p/basnw25
October 1, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Honored to have made it into this always fantastic anthology as a "Notable" for my piece in Hakai Magazine (one of the last features the magazine published) about cold-water coral research in Chile. @pulitzercenter.org @biographic.bsky.social
I made the "notables" list! The Best Science and Nature Writing of 2025 is available starting October 21. What a huge honor to be in the company of so many amazing journalists. 😊
October 1, 2025 at 12:29 AM
I made the "notables" list! The Best Science and Nature Writing of 2025 is available starting October 21. What a huge honor to be in the company of so many amazing journalists. 😊
Egregious to leave out the worm
September 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Egregious to leave out the worm
You interact with technology created by NASA every day. You can check out how on this fun interactive site
September 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
You interact with technology created by NASA every day. You can check out how on this fun interactive site
Speaking of, cool to see NASA listed as one of the Webby Awards most iconic companies in internet history today!
September 16, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Speaking of, cool to see NASA listed as one of the Webby Awards most iconic companies in internet history today!
A little blast from the past... NASA's website has come a loooong way 🖱️
NASA's Home Page Through the Years - NASA
www.nasa.gov
September 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
A little blast from the past... NASA's website has come a loooong way 🖱️
Reposted by Christian Elliott
NASA’s Perseverance rover found potential biosignatures in a rock sample named Sapphire Canyon from Mars’ Jezero Crater. The rock shows minerals and organic molecules possibly linked to ancient microbial life collected in July 2024 from an ancient river valley. Further analysis is needed to confirm.
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year - NASA
A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken
www.nasa.gov
September 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
NASA’s Perseverance rover found potential biosignatures in a rock sample named Sapphire Canyon from Mars’ Jezero Crater. The rock shows minerals and organic molecules possibly linked to ancient microbial life collected in July 2024 from an ancient river valley. Further analysis is needed to confirm.
Impossible instruction. If the force I apply is correct it by definition cannot be excessive, right??
September 9, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Impossible instruction. If the force I apply is correct it by definition cannot be excessive, right??
I want to believe
September 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I want to believe
Reposted by Christian Elliott
My Friday newsletter for @niemanstoryboard.org:
Featuring @jasonkpargin.bsky.social, @tromano.bsky.social, @christianelliott.me, @timherrera.bsky.social @rusty.todayintabs.com, @jiatolentino.bsky.social, @indiejournalists.bsky.social, @transjournalists.org
niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/05/l...
Featuring @jasonkpargin.bsky.social, @tromano.bsky.social, @christianelliott.me, @timherrera.bsky.social @rusty.todayintabs.com, @jiatolentino.bsky.social, @indiejournalists.bsky.social, @transjournalists.org
niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/05/l...
The life of an author, on camera - Nieman Storyboard
Jason Pargin's second career pivoting to video. Plus: tools for organizing your reporting, and a database for freelance rates
niemanstoryboard.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Christian Elliott
Amusing how 99% of people using LLMs forget how these things work:
They are advanced probability machines. They generate the next most likely token (word) based in the input and their training.
Under the hood, it’s a giant matrix multiplication that has eerily good output.
They are advanced probability machines. They generate the next most likely token (word) based in the input and their training.
Under the hood, it’s a giant matrix multiplication that has eerily good output.
September 4, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Amusing how 99% of people using LLMs forget how these things work:
They are advanced probability machines. They generate the next most likely token (word) based in the input and their training.
Under the hood, it’s a giant matrix multiplication that has eerily good output.
They are advanced probability machines. They generate the next most likely token (word) based in the input and their training.
Under the hood, it’s a giant matrix multiplication that has eerily good output.
Reposted by Christian Elliott
wrote about really interesting new research about how technology that removes PFAS from drinking water also can remove other carcinogenic chemicals:
It’s Possible to Remove the Forever Chemicals in Drinking Water. Will It Happen?
New research shows that filtration systems that remove PFAS can also get rid of other harmful substances. Whether they’ll actually be introduced is a different matter entirely.
www.wired.com
September 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
wrote about really interesting new research about how technology that removes PFAS from drinking water also can remove other carcinogenic chemicals: