Ramin Skibba
@raminskibba.bsky.social
Science/Health/Climate/Tech/Policy Reporter, Editor, and Communicator. Previously: Space Writer at WIRED; freelance writer; former scientist. Muppets & Star Trek fan. My newsletter: http://raminskibba.substack.com
People keep using ChatGPT and other AI bots for mental health questions. Is it actually helping them? Here’s my take in Undark magazine, assessing new research by psychologists and computer scientists. undark.org/2025/11/04/c...
Researchers Weigh the Use of AI for Mental Health
Chatbots weren't designed for mental health, but they are increasingly used for therapy. What are the risks an benefits?
undark.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:27 PM
People keep using ChatGPT and other AI bots for mental health questions. Is it actually helping them? Here’s my take in Undark magazine, assessing new research by psychologists and computer scientists. undark.org/2025/11/04/c...
ChatGPT and other AI chatbots cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact, according to this new study. Seems important! www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Language models cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact - Nature Machine Intelligence
Suzgun et al. find that current large language models cannot reliably distinguish between belief, knowledge and fact, raising concerns for their use in healthcare, law and journalism, where such disti...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:18 PM
ChatGPT and other AI chatbots cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact, according to this new study. Seems important! www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Reposted by Ramin Skibba
Plus, join us for a panel on reporting strategies and storytelling techniques to reinforce public trust in science with @siricarpenter.bsky.social, @scchak.bsky.social, Emily Laber-Warren, and @raminskibba.bsky.social.
You can snag tickets for 50% off with code TON50.
You can snag tickets for 50% off with code TON50.
How Journalists Reveal Science as a Human Process through Storytelling - Science Journalism Forum
This panel will explore how journalists can portray science as a human process, with all its uncertainties, challenges, and discoveries. Featuring contributors to The Open Notebook’s forthcoming book,...
sciencejf.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Plus, join us for a panel on reporting strategies and storytelling techniques to reinforce public trust in science with @siricarpenter.bsky.social, @scchak.bsky.social, Emily Laber-Warren, and @raminskibba.bsky.social.
You can snag tickets for 50% off with code TON50.
You can snag tickets for 50% off with code TON50.
Does using generative AI, like ChatGPT, affect our critical thinking? Check out my new piece, where I sift through initial research and figure out what we know and don’t know. undark.org/2025/09/12/c...
Are We Offloading Critical Thinking to Chatbots?
Research, much if it by companies with deep investment in AI, suggests that chatbot interactions alter how users think.
undark.org
September 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Does using generative AI, like ChatGPT, affect our critical thinking? Check out my new piece, where I sift through initial research and figure out what we know and don’t know. undark.org/2025/09/12/c...
Reposted by Ramin Skibba
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Is Golden Dome, Trump’s missile shield plan, destined to be a pillar of U.S. defense or a trillion-dollar boondoggle? Even the experts don’t know—which probably isn’t a good thing. Important story by @raminskibba.bsky.social.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...
September 9, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Is Golden Dome, Trump’s missile shield plan, destined to be a pillar of U.S. defense or a trillion-dollar boondoggle? Even the experts don’t know—which probably isn’t a good thing. Important story by @raminskibba.bsky.social.
www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-...
Finally looks like the AI bubble is reaching its limit. Most AI companies are not profitable, and according to a new MIT report, 95% of companies investing in generative AI are getting zero returns on all that money. www.ft.com/content/3391...
US tech stocks hit by concerns over future of AI boom
Warning from OpenAI’s Sam Altman and MIT paper puncture Wall Street’s enthusiasm
www.ft.com
August 20, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Finally looks like the AI bubble is reaching its limit. Most AI companies are not profitable, and according to a new MIT report, 95% of companies investing in generative AI are getting zero returns on all that money. www.ft.com/content/3391...
Come join me, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social, @sabs.bsky.social, and @maddiebender.bsky.social on October 24, for a virtual session discussing “How Worker-Owned Media Outlets Can Work.” It’s one of a bunch of events kicking off the national Science Writers meeting! #SciWri25
sciencewriters2025.org
sciencewriters2025.org
Schedule - ScienceWriters2025
sciencewriters2025.org
August 14, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Come join me, @jasonkoebler.bsky.social, @sabs.bsky.social, and @maddiebender.bsky.social on October 24, for a virtual session discussing “How Worker-Owned Media Outlets Can Work.” It’s one of a bunch of events kicking off the national Science Writers meeting! #SciWri25
sciencewriters2025.org
sciencewriters2025.org
This is described as a "major shift" that's happening now, but Silicon Valley companies have been working with the military-industrial complex for a decade. It's not new!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t....
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t....
The Militarization of Silicon Valley
www.nytimes.com
August 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM
This is described as a "major shift" that's happening now, but Silicon Valley companies have been working with the military-industrial complex for a decade. It's not new!
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t....
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/t....
Well this is troubling. Eighty years after the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a horrific civilian toll, it seems like we've learned nothing. www.wired.com/story/nuclea...
Nuclear Experts Say Mixing AI and Nuclear Weapons Is Inevitable
Human judgement remains central to the launch of nuclear weapons. But experts say it’s a matter of when, not if, artificial intelligence will get baked into the world’s most dangerous systems.
www.wired.com
August 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Well this is troubling. Eighty years after the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a horrific civilian toll, it seems like we've learned nothing. www.wired.com/story/nuclea...
NASA's been talking about nuclear vs solar on the moon for years, and I guess they're now committed to launching and building a nuclear reactor. I don't know, maybe it'll work? Seems much more expensive than solar, though yes, it won't come with location limitations. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon
This is the first major agency effort by the interim NASA administrator, who is also the Transportation secretary and a former Fox News host.
www.politico.com
August 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
NASA's been talking about nuclear vs solar on the moon for years, and I guess they're now committed to launching and building a nuclear reactor. I don't know, maybe it'll work? Seems much more expensive than solar, though yes, it won't come with location limitations. www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
I liked this Harper's essay by Pankaj Mishra, excoriating American intellectuals, writers, and institutions, for failing to resist imperialism and authoritarianism at home — a failure that began before the Trump era.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Speaking Reassurance to Power, by Pankaj Mishra
harpers.org
July 31, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I liked this Harper's essay by Pankaj Mishra, excoriating American intellectuals, writers, and institutions, for failing to resist imperialism and authoritarianism at home — a failure that began before the Trump era.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
harpers.org/archive/2025...
I always loved “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”! We need more musical satire today! www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
Tom Lehrer, acclaimed musical satirist of cold war era, dies aged 97
A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60s
www.theguardian.com
July 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I always loved “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”! We need more musical satire today! www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...
I wrote eight years ago about how Trump allies at the Heartland Institute would love to overturn the endangerment finding and undermine environmental protections at the EPA. It seemed unthinkable. But now they’re trying to make it happen. www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-...
These people think Trump is too liberal on climate
Climate change skeptics are pushing the administration to reopen a major scientific finding.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 24, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I wrote eight years ago about how Trump allies at the Heartland Institute would love to overturn the endangerment finding and undermine environmental protections at the EPA. It seemed unthinkable. But now they’re trying to make it happen. www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-...
"There’s no indication in Pew’s research that people understand how faulty the technology that powers Google’s AI Overview is, or how it is quietly devastating the entire human online information economy that they want and need." www.404media.co/googles-ai-i...
Google’s AI Is Destroying Search, the Internet, and Your Brain
Google’s AI Overview, which is easy to fool into stating nonsense as fact, is stopping people from finding and supporting small businesses and credible sources.
www.404media.co
July 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
"There’s no indication in Pew’s research that people understand how faulty the technology that powers Google’s AI Overview is, or how it is quietly devastating the entire human online information economy that they want and need." www.404media.co/googles-ai-i...
Reposted by Ramin Skibba
Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds
www.smithsonianmag.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
This is so upsetting. My family and I have always loved PBS programs and NPR stations in the states we’ve lived in. Many local news stations will be hit hard by this, and some in rural areas may close. Support your local news! They need it. www.npr.org/2025/07/18/n...
Congress rolls back $9 billion in public media funding and foreign aid
The House approved a Trump administration plan to rescind $9 billion in previously allocated funds, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
www.npr.org
July 18, 2025 at 3:58 PM
This is so upsetting. My family and I have always loved PBS programs and NPR stations in the states we’ve lived in. Many local news stations will be hit hard by this, and some in rural areas may close. Support your local news! They need it. www.npr.org/2025/07/18/n...
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
pitchfork.com/news/kronos-...
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
pitchfork.com/news/kronos-...
Kronos Quartet Enlist Ringo Starr, Iggy Pop, Willie Nelson, and Many More for Star-Studded Bob Dylan Covers
Two new renditions of Dylan’s “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” memorialize the 80th anniversary of the Trinity test
pitchfork.com
July 17, 2025 at 12:27 AM
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
pitchfork.com/news/kronos-...
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
pitchfork.com/news/kronos-...
Reposted by Ramin Skibba
Media outlets can't pivot to AI to save themselves. It's not a business strategy and it's not going to work. The only path forward is for journalists to lean into their humanity, to do things AI can't, and to make clear they are writing for people, not algorithms:
www.404media.co/the-medias-p...
www.404media.co/the-medias-p...
The Media's Pivot to AI Is Not Real and Not Going to Work
AI is not going to save media companies, and forcing journalists to use AI is not a business model.
www.404media.co
July 14, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Media outlets can't pivot to AI to save themselves. It's not a business strategy and it's not going to work. The only path forward is for journalists to lean into their humanity, to do things AI can't, and to make clear they are writing for people, not algorithms:
www.404media.co/the-medias-p...
www.404media.co/the-medias-p...
I’m a cat person, but I must reluctantly admit that invasive cats can be harmful—in this case to piping plover shorebirds on Fire Island. Check out my story for @biographic.bsky.social magazine! www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
Fire Island Has Gone to the Cats - bioGraphic
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
www.biographic.com
July 14, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I’m a cat person, but I must reluctantly admit that invasive cats can be harmful—in this case to piping plover shorebirds on Fire Island. Check out my story for @biographic.bsky.social magazine! www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
Reposted by Ramin Skibba
Fire Island Has Gone to the Cats
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
by @raminskibba.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
by @raminskibba.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
Fire Island Has Gone to the Cats - bioGraphic
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
www.biographic.com
July 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Fire Island Has Gone to the Cats
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
by @raminskibba.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds.
by @raminskibba.bsky.social
www.biographic.com/fire-island-...
This seems like a bad idea to me. Yes, it's a huge problem that refugees have often been dehumanized for political gain, but AI avatars cannot rehumanize them.
July 10, 2025 at 4:42 PM
This seems like a bad idea to me. Yes, it's a huge problem that refugees have often been dehumanized for political gain, but AI avatars cannot rehumanize them.
What's happening to global health now that Trump's withdrawing the US from...everything? The Gates Foundation—already a major player—is now filling that power vacuum, for better or worse. Check out my new piece for @undark.org! undark.org/2025/07/02/g...
The Gates Foundation’s Global Reach Expands, to Mixed Reviews
As the U.S. and other countries cut funding for global health initiatives, what role will philanthropy take?
undark.org
July 7, 2025 at 4:43 PM
What's happening to global health now that Trump's withdrawing the US from...everything? The Gates Foundation—already a major player—is now filling that power vacuum, for better or worse. Check out my new piece for @undark.org! undark.org/2025/07/02/g...
Trump has now unilaterally bombed Iran, despite the entire US intelligence community’s longtime consensus that Iran has no military nuclear program.
June 22, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Trump has now unilaterally bombed Iran, despite the entire US intelligence community’s longtime consensus that Iran has no military nuclear program.
As an Iranian-American, my heart breaks as jingoistic Republicans and Israeli leaders call for war against Iran. www.npr.org/2025/06/17/n...
Trump threatens Iran's supreme leader, escalating his rhetoric about the conflict
President Trump called Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei an "easy target" but said, "We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now."
www.npr.org
June 18, 2025 at 3:42 PM
As an Iranian-American, my heart breaks as jingoistic Republicans and Israeli leaders call for war against Iran. www.npr.org/2025/06/17/n...