Kat Long
@katlong.bsky.social
19th-century Arctic enthusiast, currently writing a biography of polar pioneer William Scoresby, Jr. Former science editor at Mental Floss, now science journalist for hire
As a Marylander I dunk on Virginia frequently but tonight, good job guys
November 5, 2025 at 2:16 AM
As a Marylander I dunk on Virginia frequently but tonight, good job guys
John Playfair taught my biography subject #WilliamScoresbyJr in his natural history course at the U of Edinburgh in 1806—the epicenter of the Neptunism vs. Vulcanism geological debate. Scoresby leaned Neptunist! His notebook from Playfair's lectures (yes he misspelled Edinburgh on the cover):
November 1, 2025 at 1:49 PM
John Playfair taught my biography subject #WilliamScoresbyJr in his natural history course at the U of Edinburgh in 1806—the epicenter of the Neptunism vs. Vulcanism geological debate. Scoresby leaned Neptunist! His notebook from Playfair's lectures (yes he misspelled Edinburgh on the cover):
Reposted by Kat Long
Do you love bogs and Halloween? If so, please follow and share this thread to explore the eerie, the dark and the supernatural side of bog ecosystems. BogBoo. 1/
You are terrifying
and strange and
beautiful,
something not
everyone knows how
to love.
-Warsan Shire
You are terrifying
and strange and
beautiful,
something not
everyone knows how
to love.
-Warsan Shire
October 31, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Do you love bogs and Halloween? If so, please follow and share this thread to explore the eerie, the dark and the supernatural side of bog ecosystems. BogBoo. 1/
You are terrifying
and strange and
beautiful,
something not
everyone knows how
to love.
-Warsan Shire
You are terrifying
and strange and
beautiful,
something not
everyone knows how
to love.
-Warsan Shire
Just incredible that a cargo ship made TWO crossings of the Northwest Passage in a single season. 120 years ago it took Roald Amundsen three years to get through the ice that no longer exists
Tuomas Romu from #AkerArctic continues to monitor international voyages along the #NorthwestPassage #NWP #Arctic. This year's transit season was shorter than in 2024, beginning slightly later and ending earlier.
akerarctic.fi/news/interna...
akerarctic.fi/news/interna...
International voyages on the Northwest Passage in 2025 | Aker Arctic
Tuomas Romu from Aker Arctic continues to monitor international voyages along the Northwest Passage. This year’s transit season was shorter than in 2024, beginning slightly later and ending earlier.
akerarctic.fi
October 31, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Just incredible that a cargo ship made TWO crossings of the Northwest Passage in a single season. 120 years ago it took Roald Amundsen three years to get through the ice that no longer exists
#WilliamScoresbyJr, my biography subject, predicted that bowheads were extremely long-lived due to the length of their baleen back in the 1820s! Now we another clue as to why they’re the longest-lived mammals on Earth
This whale lives for centuries: its secret could help extend human lifespan
A cold-activated protein that mends damaged DNA could play a part in keeping the bowhead whale in tip-top shape.
www.nature.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:58 PM
#WilliamScoresbyJr, my biography subject, predicted that bowheads were extremely long-lived due to the length of their baleen back in the 1820s! Now we another clue as to why they’re the longest-lived mammals on Earth
Stolen scrimshaw!
'A real violation.' More than 1,000 artifacts stolen from California museum in brazen heist
Items stolen from the Oakland Museum of California included Native American baskets, jewelry, laptops, historic photographs and intricately carved ivory tusks.
www.latimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Stolen scrimshaw!
What a metaphor
We can now watch the United States explode and sink beneath the ocean live!
Sinking of SS United States to be livestreamed using drones and underwater cameras
The historic ship will be sunk off the Florida panhandle by the end of the year, but no date has been set.
www.phillyvoice.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
What a metaphor
Senescence at Sugarloaf Mountain (near Comus, Md.)
October 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Senescence at Sugarloaf Mountain (near Comus, Md.)
Welp, after 9+ years, my time as Mental Floss’s science editor has come to an end. I could not have asked for a better bunch of weirdos to be my co-workers (and who also got laid off). You know what this means: a thread of greatest hits! 🧵1/n
October 24, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Welp, after 9+ years, my time as Mental Floss’s science editor has come to an end. I could not have asked for a better bunch of weirdos to be my co-workers (and who also got laid off). You know what this means: a thread of greatest hits! 🧵1/n
Really looking forward to this!
Excited that “New Research in Arctic Pasts,” the series I’m co-editing with @issygapp.bsky.social, has just launched on @nichecanada.bsky.social, showcasing the work of 10 Arctic researchers across disciplines over the next 6 weeks niche-canada.org/2025/10/23/i...
New Research in Arctic Pasts - Visual Cultures of the Circumpolar North Part V
Arctic visual studies have rapidly expanded through interdisciplinary collaboration, climate urgency, Indigenous engagement, and community-building among artists, historians, and scholars across disci...
niche-canada.org
October 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Really looking forward to this!
Reposted by Kat Long
A great lede can be less than 10 words:
"The East Wing of the White House is gone."
Via @ddiamond.bsky.social @jonathanreports.bsky.social
@oliviacgeorge.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
"The East Wing of the White House is gone."
Via @ddiamond.bsky.social @jonathanreports.bsky.social
@oliviacgeorge.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
The East Wing is gone, and Trump turns to damage control
Demolition crews appeared to finish taking down the bulk of the White House wing Thursday, while President Donald Trump defended the project.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:33 PM
A great lede can be less than 10 words:
"The East Wing of the White House is gone."
Via @ddiamond.bsky.social @jonathanreports.bsky.social
@oliviacgeorge.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
"The East Wing of the White House is gone."
Via @ddiamond.bsky.social @jonathanreports.bsky.social
@oliviacgeorge.bsky.social
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Good question. If this was in Manhattan the White House would be covered in sidewalk sheds
Has anyone seen construction experts weighing in on how to protect a structure like this during partial demolition? Is it standard to dig in without, idk, a tarp system?
Dramatic photos show construction equipment tearing into the East Wing façade and windows, though the federal agency that oversees such projects has not approved President Trump's 90,000-square-foot, $250 million ballroom. n.pr/48AUON2
October 21, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Good question. If this was in Manhattan the White House would be covered in sidewalk sheds
It was epic! Thanks @callanbentley.bsky.social !
Took a group of science journalists from @dcswa.bsky.social out for a 530-million-year stroll along the Billy Goat Trail today. ⚒️
October 5, 2025 at 8:40 PM
It was epic! Thanks @callanbentley.bsky.social !
Hey, were you lucky enough to spot a harlequin duck in Newport, Rhode Island, on February 10, 1991? And did you lose your bird book/life list in the Everglades recently? This person found it! 👇
I found this birding book along the side of the road on the Tamiami trail in the Everglades on 8/25/25. It is so well loved with sightings going back decades. If you're a birder (I am not) please spread the word and hep me find the owner so they can be reunited
September 21, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Hey, were you lucky enough to spot a harlequin duck in Newport, Rhode Island, on February 10, 1991? And did you lose your bird book/life list in the Everglades recently? This person found it! 👇
Reposted by Kat Long
There are so many people who, despite everything, still want to be journalists. If you call yourself a journalist and choose to use AI to write your stories, please quit so someone else can take your seat.
Scoop: Business Insider informed its staff this week that they are allowed to use ChatGPT to generate first drafts of their stories, while also indicating the newsroom will not disclose such A.I. use to readers.
Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...
Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/business-i...
Business Insider and the Bots
The Axel Springer-owned newsroom is buzzing over new ChatGPT writing guidelines—part of an aggressive A.I. strategy pushed by its German parentco and detailed in a memo obtained by Status.
www.status.news
September 17, 2025 at 2:00 AM
There are so many people who, despite everything, still want to be journalists. If you call yourself a journalist and choose to use AI to write your stories, please quit so someone else can take your seat.
Reposted by Kat Long
RIP GOAT
Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.
Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.
September 16, 2025 at 4:23 PM
RIP GOAT
Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.
Be like Robert. Support badass journalism.
💀
Overwhelmed Archaeologists Struggling To Keep Pace With Glut Of Early Humans Thawed Out By Climate Change https://theonion.com/overwhelmed-archaeologists-struggling-to-keep-pace-with-1841766142/
August 25, 2025 at 2:50 PM
💀
Great Falls of the Potomac never gets old
August 23, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Great Falls of the Potomac never gets old
Reposted by Kat Long
The loss of any specialist online media is always a sad thing, but the Polar Journal has been an excellent reporter of Artic & Antarctic affairs, so its closure will be very keenly felt - especially when these regions stand in the very frontline of the climate crisis.
August 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The loss of any specialist online media is always a sad thing, but the Polar Journal has been an excellent reporter of Artic & Antarctic affairs, so its closure will be very keenly felt - especially when these regions stand in the very frontline of the climate crisis.
I saw the “Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in 1991 and it had a profound impact on my young self. Is this campaign of purely ideological censorship👇 any different?
Breaking news: The White House has increased its pressure on the Smithsonian, calling out a list of exhibitions and materials mentioning race, slavery, transgender identity and immigration to bolster President Trump’s ongoing criticism of the institution.
White House targets ‘woke’ Smithsonian content in new list
The White House on Thursday released an article outlining Smithsonian exhibitions and materials it considers “woke” or anti-American.
wapo.st
August 22, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I saw the “Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany” exhibit at the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center in 1991 and it had a profound impact on my young self. Is this campaign of purely ideological censorship👇 any different?
Looks like we have the data to back up anecdotal evidence that Bluesky is better for science AND science journalists. I used to get tons of ideas for stories, info on new research, and connections on the old place. I hope we can make it even better over here!
Hey everybody! @drjuliawester.bsky.social and I have a new paper!
We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media.
Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
We surveyed over 800 scientists, science communicators, and science educators who use social media.
Conclusion: Scientists no longer find Twitter useful or pleasant, and many have switched to Bluesky! 🧪🌎🦑
doi.org/10.1093/icb/...
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky
Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
doi.org
August 20, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Looks like we have the data to back up anecdotal evidence that Bluesky is better for science AND science journalists. I used to get tons of ideas for stories, info on new research, and connections on the old place. I hope we can make it even better over here!
Sadly, yet more evidence that the #Svalbard ice of just 200 years ago is gone. William Scoresby Jr, subject of my biography project, described in 1820 glacier fronts 200 meters high where they meet the sea. When I saw the same #glaciers in 2023 they didn’t even reach the shoreline.
August 19, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Kat Long
2024 glacier loss in Svalbard was beyond imagination! 😱
- Anomaly of up to 4 SD!
- Amounts to ~61.7 Gt => 1% of the total ice volume
- Comparable to that of the Greenland ice sheet (55 Gt), which is 50 x larger!
... Otherworldly! 🪐
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Anomaly of up to 4 SD!
- Amounts to ~61.7 Gt => 1% of the total ice volume
- Comparable to that of the Greenland ice sheet (55 Gt), which is 50 x larger!
... Otherworldly! 🪐
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Svalbard’s 2024 record summer: An early view of Arctic glacier meltdown? | PNAS
A record-breaking melt season affected the Arctic glaciers of Svalbard in summer 2024
by a substantial margin. Across the entire archipelago, glaci...
www.pnas.org
August 19, 2025 at 9:57 AM
2024 glacier loss in Svalbard was beyond imagination! 😱
- Anomaly of up to 4 SD!
- Amounts to ~61.7 Gt => 1% of the total ice volume
- Comparable to that of the Greenland ice sheet (55 Gt), which is 50 x larger!
... Otherworldly! 🪐
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
- Anomaly of up to 4 SD!
- Amounts to ~61.7 Gt => 1% of the total ice volume
- Comparable to that of the Greenland ice sheet (55 Gt), which is 50 x larger!
... Otherworldly! 🪐
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Kat Long
This guy again. If he spent any time at all with current biographers, he'd know how thoroughly the theoretical topics he suggests are and have been under "serious consideration, or even discussion" not to mention the books and articles written...
There Are Too Many Overweight Biographies
Is biography necessary? Sigmund Freud didn’t think it was, or at least thought it wasn’t primary when it came to understanding a person’s true nature. Mark Twain felt that a
www.commentary.org
August 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
This guy again. If he spent any time at all with current biographers, he'd know how thoroughly the theoretical topics he suggests are and have been under "serious consideration, or even discussion" not to mention the books and articles written...