Dr. Jenny Morber
@jrmorber.bsky.social
PNW freelance sci journo, PhD nanosci and materials engineering. World traveler, field reporter. Newly focused on probing solutions to our biggest problems, but still interested in whale anuses and poo. I love the weird things. she/her
Pinned
Dr. Jenny Morber
@jrmorber.bsky.social
· Mar 31
Hello to all my new followers!
I am a former nanomaterials researcher turned science and solutions journalist living and working in the US.
I care about: free press, evidence-based science, accurate info, climate and environment, human rights, democracy, healthcare, poop, death, weird science
I am a former nanomaterials researcher turned science and solutions journalist living and working in the US.
I care about: free press, evidence-based science, accurate info, climate and environment, human rights, democracy, healthcare, poop, death, weird science
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
They also dramatically increased safety and regulations of ships on the Great Lakes, but yes a large part is NOAA. There are 50 weather buoys on the Great Lakes now, 30 on Lake Superior alone.
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
November 11, 2025 at 3:11 AM
They also dramatically increased safety and regulations of ships on the Great Lakes, but yes a large part is NOAA. There are 50 weather buoys on the Great Lakes now, 30 on Lake Superior alone.
I stumbled upon this fascinating Q&A on sentience-centered ethics, and will likely be thinking about it for a long time.
"The criterion of sentience holds that we should give moral consideration to all beings capable of having experiences."
www.animal-ethics.org/dispelling-c...
"The criterion of sentience holds that we should give moral consideration to all beings capable of having experiences."
www.animal-ethics.org/dispelling-c...
Dispelling common misconceptions about sentience-centered ethics
www.animal-ethics.org
November 11, 2025 at 3:14 AM
I stumbled upon this fascinating Q&A on sentience-centered ethics, and will likely be thinking about it for a long time.
"The criterion of sentience holds that we should give moral consideration to all beings capable of having experiences."
www.animal-ethics.org/dispelling-c...
"The criterion of sentience holds that we should give moral consideration to all beings capable of having experiences."
www.animal-ethics.org/dispelling-c...
A few weeks ago I attended the Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival. I went as someone who is interested in most everything in the world, lives in a wet, fungi filled temperate rainforest, and is mostly ignorant about fungi. Here are some things I learned:
November 11, 2025 at 2:58 AM
A few weeks ago I attended the Olympic Peninsula Fungi Festival. I went as someone who is interested in most everything in the world, lives in a wet, fungi filled temperate rainforest, and is mostly ignorant about fungi. Here are some things I learned:
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
It is readily apparent that most lawmakers in the United States have never been poor; do not know any poor people; have never actually had a conversation with a poor person; and have no clear understanding of how poverty actually affects people’s health and opportunities.
November 11, 2025 at 1:03 AM
It is readily apparent that most lawmakers in the United States have never been poor; do not know any poor people; have never actually had a conversation with a poor person; and have no clear understanding of how poverty actually affects people’s health and opportunities.
My kid's 8th English teacher has created an optional track for students who want to stretch. She is now starting a student-run podcast. Kid is currently writing her a letter of interest for the position of Executive Editor. (!) I hope he gets it, but even if he doesn't the kid is learning SO MUCH.
November 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
My kid's 8th English teacher has created an optional track for students who want to stretch. She is now starting a student-run podcast. Kid is currently writing her a letter of interest for the position of Executive Editor. (!) I hope he gets it, but even if he doesn't the kid is learning SO MUCH.
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
Jim Watson was a peevish bigot. He sold off his Nobel Prize medallion in 2014 (but got it back) because he was so mad that people objected to his bigotry. Please do speak ill of the dead. slate.com/technology/2...
James Watson Is Auctioning Off His Nobel Prize. Please Do Not Bid on It.
Jim Watson is one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. He is also a peevish bigot. History will remember him for his co-discovery of...
slate.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Jim Watson was a peevish bigot. He sold off his Nobel Prize medallion in 2014 (but got it back) because he was so mad that people objected to his bigotry. Please do speak ill of the dead. slate.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
Masked and heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in LA. Then they entered his car and drove away with his baby, who is also a US citizen.
Armed US immigration agents drive off with toddler after arrest of father
‘Devastated’ family demands answers after one-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lot
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Masked and heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in LA. Then they entered his car and drove away with his baby, who is also a US citizen.
November 7, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Morning walk (was supposed to be a morning run, but too many mushrooms)
November 7, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Morning walk (was supposed to be a morning run, but too many mushrooms)
I am seeing calls for help from animals shelterss all over my area. The shutdown and SNAP restriction is making it more difficult for people to feed their pets. One local shelter says that they have had twice as many visitors to their pet food pantry as last month.
They are starving the dogs
They are starving the dogs
November 7, 2025 at 3:30 AM
I am seeing calls for help from animals shelterss all over my area. The shutdown and SNAP restriction is making it more difficult for people to feed their pets. One local shelter says that they have had twice as many visitors to their pet food pantry as last month.
They are starving the dogs
They are starving the dogs
Gold is an excellent heat conductor. I imagine it feels cold as it conducts heat away from an ass quite efficiently. It's also very soft, so every time you clean it, you are probably wearing it away, literally flushing money down the toilet.
I peed in this toilet on Facebook Live circa 2016 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/a...
Who’s Selling the $10 Million Gold Toilet? Signs Point to the Mets’ Owner.
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Gold is an excellent heat conductor. I imagine it feels cold as it conducts heat away from an ass quite efficiently. It's also very soft, so every time you clean it, you are probably wearing it away, literally flushing money down the toilet.
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
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November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
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Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
Kindness is activism
"Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective."
www.fastcompany.com/91237735/cha...
"Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective."
www.fastcompany.com/91237735/cha...
Why collective micro-activism is a powerful force for change
Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective.
www.fastcompany.com
May 19, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Kindness is activism
"Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective."
www.fastcompany.com/91237735/cha...
"Research shows that individual acts of kindness and connection can have a real impact on global change when these acts are collective."
www.fastcompany.com/91237735/cha...
Love of oil does not correlate with dick size
The truly maddening thing is that, unlike when I was a young man in science and the materials and engineering just weren’t there yet, the future is *right there.* The problem is *solved*. What’s holding us back is not just greed, but this bizarre nostalgia, an obsession with petro- masculinity.
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
November 6, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Love of oil does not correlate with dick size
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
Misinformation travels faster than vaccine facts on social media, and this is linked to higher vaccine hesitancy globally.
Source: Columbia Public Health study – vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
Source: Columbia Public Health study – vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
November 6, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Misinformation travels faster than vaccine facts on social media, and this is linked to higher vaccine hesitancy globally.
Source: Columbia Public Health study – vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
Source: Columbia Public Health study – vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
Ummm I do both those things in my writing. Do I need to adjust my writing to distance myself from what people may think is AI? I wish there was a way to create a "not AI" authenticity badge or sticker.
Current pet peeve: People who are convinced they are able to flawlessly spot AI-generated writing and are constantly lobbing accusations that something "must be AI," when the "AI hallmarks" they're honing in on are things like using em dashes, lists of three items, and varied sentence structure. 🙃
November 6, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Ummm I do both those things in my writing. Do I need to adjust my writing to distance myself from what people may think is AI? I wish there was a way to create a "not AI" authenticity badge or sticker.
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
I'm so proud of my @sn-media-guild.bsky.social colleagues, who have been picketing in front of the schmancy new @society4science.bsky.social building ALL DAY LONG. They are so cool and smart and funny and have so much freaking stamina 🥹
🚨 STRIKE ALERT: Journalists at Science News are on strike and holding a 12-hour picket outside of the office!
After 560 days of bargaining, the Science News Media Guild (@sn-media-guild.bsky.social) is demanding and fair contract NOW!
After 560 days of bargaining, the Science News Media Guild (@sn-media-guild.bsky.social) is demanding and fair contract NOW!
November 5, 2025 at 10:39 PM
I'm so proud of my @sn-media-guild.bsky.social colleagues, who have been picketing in front of the schmancy new @society4science.bsky.social building ALL DAY LONG. They are so cool and smart and funny and have so much freaking stamina 🥹
New favorite account
November 5, 2025 at 6:38 PM
New favorite account
Reposted by Dr. Jenny Morber
Call to action here from @samgregory.bsky.social that it would be nice if OpenAI and others paid attention to.
"How we choose to act now will determine whether our shared basis for reality — what we see and hear — remains trustworthy." Witness's @samgregory.bsky.social on Sora's threat to visual truth:
Sora Is Here. The window to save visual truth is closing
Opinion: Sam Gregory argues that generative video is undermining the notion of a shared reality, and that we need to act before it’s lost forever
www.transformernews.ai
November 5, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Call to action here from @samgregory.bsky.social that it would be nice if OpenAI and others paid attention to.
In Britain, if the government cannot pass a new budget, it resigns, or calls for a new election.
November 4, 2025 at 7:20 PM
In Britain, if the government cannot pass a new budget, it resigns, or calls for a new election.
Do you ever walk into a logged forest and imagine what it would have looked like with towering old growth trees? Or read about how passenger pigeons were so numerous that they could blacken the sky and wish it could still be true?
November 4, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Do you ever walk into a logged forest and imagine what it would have looked like with towering old growth trees? Or read about how passenger pigeons were so numerous that they could blacken the sky and wish it could still be true?
I am unsure if I will ever stop grieving the unecessary suffering of this country's people, and the unrealized vision of what we could have been.
November 4, 2025 at 4:36 AM
I am unsure if I will ever stop grieving the unecessary suffering of this country's people, and the unrealized vision of what we could have been.