Erik Stokstad
@erikstokstad.bsky.social
Staff writer at Science Magazine covering environmental and natural resource research & issues. Plant biology. Social insects. Biodiversity.
https://www.science.org/content/author/erik-stokstad
https://www.science.org/content/author/erik-stokstad
On the anniversary of a dark day for U.S. science, please raise a glass for everyone who has come out stronger and encourage those who are still recovering. Here are five stories. 🧪 🔬 💪 www.science.org/content/arti...
These scientists saw a future in public service—until Trump’s ‘massacre’ hit
Last year’s mass firings of “probationary” federal workers sent researchers’ lives into turmoil
www.science.org
February 13, 2026 at 10:23 PM
On the anniversary of a dark day for U.S. science, please raise a glass for everyone who has come out stronger and encourage those who are still recovering. Here are five stories. 🧪 🔬 💪 www.science.org/content/arti...
Before you move in permanently with the ants, just be sure about it. #never-look-back #symbiosis 🐜🪲🔬https://www.science.org/content/article/these-beetles-wear-chemical-invisibility-cloaks-and-will-die-if-they-re-removed
These beetles wear chemical ‘invisibility cloaks’—and will die if they’re removed
Coatings used by symbiotic residents of ant colonies may represent an evolutionary dead end
www.science.org
February 5, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Before you move in permanently with the ants, just be sure about it. #never-look-back #symbiosis 🐜🪲🔬https://www.science.org/content/article/these-beetles-wear-chemical-invisibility-cloaks-and-will-die-if-they-re-removed
Ever wonder what it’s like to wake up after midnight and rescue a cobra from a train full of panicked passengers?
www.science.org/content/arti...
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January 29, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Ever wonder what it’s like to wake up after midnight and rescue a cobra from a train full of panicked passengers?
www.science.org/content/arti...
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www.science.org/content/arti...
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Talk about a brain drain. The PhDs who left U.S. federal STEM or health jobs last year had >106,636 years of experience. More grim statistics compiled here: www.science.org/content/arti...
January 26, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Talk about a brain drain. The PhDs who left U.S. federal STEM or health jobs last year had >106,636 years of experience. More grim statistics compiled here: www.science.org/content/arti...
“Totally unexpected.” Blister beetles imitate the smell of flowers to lure bees. www.science.org/content/arti... 🪲🌸 🐝
Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers
Study of parasitic blister beetles reveals a new form of chemical deception
www.science.org
January 23, 2026 at 7:03 PM
“Totally unexpected.” Blister beetles imitate the smell of flowers to lure bees. www.science.org/content/arti... 🪲🌸 🐝
Whatever Prototaxites was, it wasn't the Godzilla of Fungus. (Or any kind of fungus.) www.science.org/content/arti...
Bizarre 400-million-year-old fossil was an unknown life form
Enigmatic organism known as Prototaxites cannot be fungus, new analysis finds
www.science.org
January 22, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Whatever Prototaxites was, it wasn't the Godzilla of Fungus. (Or any kind of fungus.) www.science.org/content/arti...
Don't mess with Karenia cristata. She's bad news, like her sister in Florida. #HAB 🐟 🌊 🔬 🦠 www.science.org/content/arti...
Australia’s unprecedented toxic algal bloom has a surprise culprit
A relatively unknown species is producing a notorious neurotoxin, devastating sea life
www.science.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Don't mess with Karenia cristata. She's bad news, like her sister in Florida. #HAB 🐟 🌊 🔬 🦠 www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Erik Stokstad
A reminder that @science.org is a learned society journal, owned & published by the non-profit @aaas.org. It's green open access, with no article processing fees for authors - compatible with all major funder mandates. All subscription revenue is reinvested in science, not paid to shareholders.
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October 17, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A reminder that @science.org is a learned society journal, owned & published by the non-profit @aaas.org. It's green open access, with no article processing fees for authors - compatible with all major funder mandates. All subscription revenue is reinvested in science, not paid to shareholders.
🔭⚛️🧪
🔭⚛️🧪
How to protect your children by covering them in fungus (if you’re a stinkbug) www.science.org/content/arti...
These stinkbugs coat their eggs in fungi to protect them from parasitic wasps
An unusual relationship could shed light on how insects choose their partners
www.science.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:25 PM
How to protect your children by covering them in fungus (if you’re a stinkbug) www.science.org/content/arti...
A tragic extinction, a mystery solved. www.science.org/content/arti...
Fate of the last female great auk is finally solved
DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio
www.science.org
October 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
A tragic extinction, a mystery solved. www.science.org/content/arti...
Buckle up for a crazy deep-dive into the sex life of Iberian harvester ant queens. They clone and mate with males of another species. www.science.org/content/arti... 🐜🔬🧬
Ant queen lays eggs that hatch into two species
Bizarre discovery of interspecies cloning “almost impossible to believe,” biologists say
www.science.org
September 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Buckle up for a crazy deep-dive into the sex life of Iberian harvester ant queens. They clone and mate with males of another species. www.science.org/content/arti... 🐜🔬🧬
Good news about a ghastly disease in sea stars, those charismatic and ecologically vital marine creatures. www.science.org/content/arti...
Mysterious killer of sea stars finally identified
Discovery of a bacterium could reveal more about massive die-off, perhaps aid recovery
www.science.org
August 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Good news about a ghastly disease in sea stars, those charismatic and ecologically vital marine creatures. www.science.org/content/arti...
A cultivated mushroom has gone feral. It seems to outcompete native fungi and might end up harming wildlife habitat. www.science.org/content/arti...
A mushroom that escaped from kitchens could be harming North American wildlife
The golden oyster mushroom has gone rogue, displacing native fungi that live in dead trees
www.science.org
July 16, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A cultivated mushroom has gone feral. It seems to outcompete native fungi and might end up harming wildlife habitat. www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Erik Stokstad
I'm delighted to present this Science special issue on Plants and Heat! Through a series of Reviews and Perspective articles, covering topics from cell signalling to ecology there is something for everyone here. (1/8)
As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.
In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z
In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z
June 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I'm delighted to present this Science special issue on Plants and Heat! Through a series of Reviews and Perspective articles, covering topics from cell signalling to ecology there is something for everyone here. (1/8)
Happy 150th anniversary to the metric system. ⚖️ 📏 www.bipm.org/en/bipm-anni...
150th anniversary - BIPM
www.bipm.org
May 23, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Happy 150th anniversary to the metric system. ⚖️ 📏 www.bipm.org/en/bipm-anni...
Herring live up to 20 years. Unpredictable things happen when the older generations are overharvested. 🐟 🌊 www.science.org/content/arti...
Herring had a spawning ‘culture.’ Overfishing obliterated it
Younger generations lost their way after older fish were killed
www.science.org
May 9, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Herring live up to 20 years. Unpredictable things happen when the older generations are overharvested. 🐟 🌊 www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Erik Stokstad
This week in Science, researchers delve into the #mathematics that shapes growing rose petals. 🌹
Explore our latest issue—featuring a new print design: scim.ag/42DasUT
Explore our latest issue—featuring a new print design: scim.ag/42DasUT
May 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
This week in Science, researchers delve into the #mathematics that shapes growing rose petals. 🌹
Explore our latest issue—featuring a new print design: scim.ag/42DasUT
Explore our latest issue—featuring a new print design: scim.ag/42DasUT
Heat waves hurt rice yields, but they also damage grain quality--making it chalky. This gene could help. 🌾 #PlantBiology #agriculture www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Major breakthrough’: A natural gene variant protects rice from heat waves
Discovery could help crop breeders preserve grain quality and harvest size as climate changes
www.science.org
May 1, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Heat waves hurt rice yields, but they also damage grain quality--making it chalky. This gene could help. 🌾 #PlantBiology #agriculture www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF director tosses in the towel. www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy
“I have done all I can,” says Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led agency since 2020
www.science.org
April 24, 2025 at 6:29 PM
NSF director tosses in the towel. www.science.org/content/arti...
A rare and courageous experiment in conservation. “I was gutted that it didn’t work.” 🌎 🦈 🌊 www.science.org/content/arti...
Paying fishers to release sharks could backfire
Proposed conservation strategy led to more hammerhead shark deaths than usual, study finds
www.science.org
April 23, 2025 at 9:36 PM
A rare and courageous experiment in conservation. “I was gutted that it didn’t work.” 🌎 🦈 🌊 www.science.org/content/arti...
Remember Mendel? 🌱🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Massive pea study solves last genetic riddles of famed friar
DNA sequencing reveals basis of traits studied by Gregor Mendel—and gives breeders new ways to improve the crop
www.science.org
April 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Remember Mendel? 🌱🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
"the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders 🌎🦋🌱♻️🧪
April 22, 2025 at 12:05 PM
"the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders 🌎🦋🌱♻️🧪
EPA had not targeted research grants for termination—until now.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
EPA orders staff to begin canceling research grants
Agency targets programs that award up to $40 million annually
www.science.org
April 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
EPA had not targeted research grants for termination—until now.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...