Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
Historian of science & medicine and writer @ Johns Hopkins & Berkeley. Biography of James Watson coming soonish from Basic Books. Also rock climbing, roots music, tattoos, dogs, humor. My opinions are his –>
Pinned
Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Hello world! I’m a historian of genetics who writes for both academic and gen’l audiences. Author of books on Barbara McClintock and medical genetics & eugenics + many articles. Currently writing a biog. of James Watson. Other loves= dogs, music around the world, inappropriate humor.
“Flimflam, philosophical” is the best thing I’ve read this week. I’ve known a few in my day.
(@matthewcobb.bsky.social is not one of them.)
(@matthewcobb.bsky.social is not one of them.)
Interesting review of CRICK on Goodreads, consisting entirely of extracts from the index... Must say I was quite pleased about adding "flimflam, philosophical".
January 6, 2026 at 2:01 PM
“Flimflam, philosophical” is the best thing I’ve read this week. I’ve known a few in my day.
(@matthewcobb.bsky.social is not one of them.)
(@matthewcobb.bsky.social is not one of them.)
@jowiph.bsky.social any chance of AIP helping preserve materials from NASA Goddard?
January 6, 2026 at 2:31 AM
@jowiph.bsky.social any chance of AIP helping preserve materials from NASA Goddard?
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Sorry to learn that Stephen Boyden, immunologist and ecologist, died on Dec 26 in Canberra, just a few months short of his 101st birthday. He worked with René Dubos and Frank Fenner (ANU), later developing the field of urban ecology and instigating what came to be called planetary health...
January 5, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Sorry to learn that Stephen Boyden, immunologist and ecologist, died on Dec 26 in Canberra, just a few months short of his 101st birthday. He worked with René Dubos and Frank Fenner (ANU), later developing the field of urban ecology and instigating what came to be called planetary health...
Looking forward to seeing this. @wellerstein.bsky.social is tops and so is the American Experience series on PBS. I was interviewed for their program on eugenics a few years ago and was very pleased with the result.
January 5, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Looking forward to seeing this. @wellerstein.bsky.social is tops and so is the American Experience series on PBS. I was interviewed for their program on eugenics a few years ago and was very pleased with the result.
<cough> Black-hack-hackwater<cough>
On the "boots on the ground" question and Trump saying that it will mainly be about protecting oil operations.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
January 4, 2026 at 2:16 PM
<cough> Black-hack-hackwater<cough>
At my new local hangout. As a set of New Year’s resolutions it’s not perfect, but it’ll do.
January 4, 2026 at 12:38 AM
At my new local hangout. As a set of New Year’s resolutions it’s not perfect, but it’ll do.
Arrived, Woodstock, MD— 7 hr push from Johnson City, TN. Why Johnson City? Mike Dowling’s “Johnson City Rag.” Most of my bivies this trip have been music-related.
youtu.be/xodWQqCz3eQ
And I wind up in Woodstock!
youtu.be/xodWQqCz3eQ
And I wind up in Woodstock!
Johnson City Rag
YouTube video by Mike Dowling - Topic
youtu.be
January 3, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Arrived, Woodstock, MD— 7 hr push from Johnson City, TN. Why Johnson City? Mike Dowling’s “Johnson City Rag.” Most of my bivies this trip have been music-related.
youtu.be/xodWQqCz3eQ
And I wind up in Woodstock!
youtu.be/xodWQqCz3eQ
And I wind up in Woodstock!
Great Smokies National Park. Seeker and I could spend a lot of time here.
Also I found the world’s most unusual hillbilly golf.
Also I found the world’s most unusual hillbilly golf.
January 2, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Great Smokies National Park. Seeker and I could spend a lot of time here.
Also I found the world’s most unusual hillbilly golf.
Also I found the world’s most unusual hillbilly golf.
Lying on a big wooden bed in the Carnegie Hotel in Johnson City, TN, sipping bourbon as a freight train rumbles through town.
For god’s sake, is there a scriptwriter in the house?!?
For god’s sake, is there a scriptwriter in the house?!?
January 2, 2026 at 4:02 AM
Lying on a big wooden bed in the Carnegie Hotel in Johnson City, TN, sipping bourbon as a freight train rumbles through town.
For god’s sake, is there a scriptwriter in the house?!?
For god’s sake, is there a scriptwriter in the house?!?
Gatlinburg. My kind of town.
January 1, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Gatlinburg. My kind of town.
This afternoon's dog-walk--and parting shot to 2025-- was about 4.5 miles in the Talladega National Forest, near Tuscaloosa, AL. The southern foothills of the Appalachians.
Peace, everyone, peace
Peace, everyone, peace
January 1, 2026 at 4:46 AM
This afternoon's dog-walk--and parting shot to 2025-- was about 4.5 miles in the Talladega National Forest, near Tuscaloosa, AL. The southern foothills of the Appalachians.
Peace, everyone, peace
Peace, everyone, peace
January 1, 2026 at 4:28 AM
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
So heinous! This would be a good time to donate to Planned Parenthood
BREAKING: Court allows Trump-backed cuts to Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funding in 22 states reut.rs/4soSv7m
December 30, 2025 at 10:42 PM
So heinous! This would be a good time to donate to Planned Parenthood
Red Riverboat on a perfect afternoon, Shreveport
December 30, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Red Riverboat on a perfect afternoon, Shreveport
rollin’ down I-20 across Louisiana grooving to Louisiana Soul
December 30, 2025 at 11:31 PM
rollin’ down I-20 across Louisiana grooving to Louisiana Soul
(no offense to the good anti-fascist Texans out there. You know who you aren’t.)
December 30, 2025 at 7:58 PM
(no offense to the good anti-fascist Texans out there. You know who you aren’t.)
otoh I did see a billboard that said, “Trump: born in New York but Texan in spirit”
.
which at first I thought was funny Coffey but then I realized it’s actually
kind of right
.
which at first I thought was funny Coffey but then I realized it’s actually
kind of right
December 30, 2025 at 7:56 PM
otoh I did see a billboard that said, “Trump: born in New York but Texan in spirit”
.
which at first I thought was funny Coffey but then I realized it’s actually
kind of right
.
which at first I thought was funny Coffey but then I realized it’s actually
kind of right
Just met the nicest two women at a random truck stop yeah East Texas.. Trump voters for all I know, but they were real dog people. Seeker loved them and they him. We made each others’ day.
The dog seal approval is not worth nothing
The dog seal approval is not worth nothing
December 30, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Just met the nicest two women at a random truck stop yeah East Texas.. Trump voters for all I know, but they were real dog people. Seeker loved them and they him. We made each others’ day.
The dog seal approval is not worth nothing
The dog seal approval is not worth nothing
Billboard on I 20, 50 miles west of Dallas:
“Billboard: Trump born in New York but Texan in spirit”
Well.
“Billboard: Trump born in New York but Texan in spirit”
Well.
December 30, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Billboard on I 20, 50 miles west of Dallas:
“Billboard: Trump born in New York but Texan in spirit”
Well.
“Billboard: Trump born in New York but Texan in spirit”
Well.
If I had a gun for every ace I’ve drawn/
I could arm a town the size of where I am.
Just a touch of hard liquor, never mind the cold coffee/
Gonna get up in the morning and go.
I could arm a town the size of where I am.
Just a touch of hard liquor, never mind the cold coffee/
Gonna get up in the morning and go.
December 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
If I had a gun for every ace I’ve drawn/
I could arm a town the size of where I am.
Just a touch of hard liquor, never mind the cold coffee/
Gonna get up in the morning and go.
I could arm a town the size of where I am.
Just a touch of hard liquor, never mind the cold coffee/
Gonna get up in the morning and go.
Although I am ambivalent about humanity, I am *interested.” Planned my route to stop in Clovis, NM, to learn about (vicariously experience) very early American culture. But both of the main sites are closed Nov-March.
That tracks.
That tracks.
December 30, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Although I am ambivalent about humanity, I am *interested.” Planned my route to stop in Clovis, NM, to learn about (vicariously experience) very early American culture. But both of the main sites are closed Nov-March.
That tracks.
That tracks.
In other news, I got my Lifetime Senior Pass for our national parks!
December 30, 2025 at 1:39 AM
In other news, I got my Lifetime Senior Pass for our national parks!
i can tell you i wasn’t one of those referees. I’d’ve said, “brilliant!”
That inspired the first sentence in an article I wrote on the visualisation of epigenetics but the referees didn't like it (and the rest of the article).
December 30, 2025 at 1:34 AM
i can tell you i wasn’t one of those referees. I’d’ve said, “brilliant!”
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
- "In the beginning there were Hieroglyphs" And after that : Ideogrammes, Psychogrammes, Phonemes... and Letters. That is: "Evolution by Natural Selection ".
December 29, 2025 at 8:24 AM
- "In the beginning there were Hieroglyphs" And after that : Ideogrammes, Psychogrammes, Phonemes... and Letters. That is: "Evolution by Natural Selection ".