Scott K. Johnson
@sjonearth.bsky.social
sci comm person, controversially anti-nazi
Pinned
the great thing about black box systems is that they do exactly whatever you think they do
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
OpenAI’s Sora 2 Floods Social Media With Videos of Women Being Strangled
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
www.404media.co
November 7, 2025 at 3:58 PM
X and TikTok accounts are dedicated to posting AI-generated videos of women being strangled.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions rise again in 2024, up 2.3%.
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions rise again in 2024, up 2.3%.
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
This is our collective progress, 10 years after the Paris Agreement.
www.unep.org/resources/em...
1/
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
This is quite a story: the US employed every strongarm tactic available, including personal threats against delegates and their families, to derail an agreement on reducing shipping emissions that was almost finalized. on.ft.com/47lq3dZ
November 3, 2025 at 2:11 PM
This is quite a story: the US employed every strongarm tactic available, including personal threats against delegates and their families, to derail an agreement on reducing shipping emissions that was almost finalized. on.ft.com/47lq3dZ
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
NOAA’s National Weather Service holds the federal responsibility for tsunami warnings, and has historically been a primary supporter of seismic data collection in Alaska
NOAA cancels longstanding funding for seismic data collection crucial to tsunami warning systems
The Alaska Earthquake Center has long provided NOAA with seismic data for tsunami monitoring and warning purposes. That work will wind down in November, after the federal agency said it can no longer fund the contract.
akpub.io
November 1, 2025 at 2:50 AM
NOAA’s National Weather Service holds the federal responsibility for tsunami warnings, and has historically been a primary supporter of seismic data collection in Alaska
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Interested in science writing degree programs? Here’s a list of more than 50 in the U.S. that offer specialized undergraduate or graduate degree programs or individual courses in science, health, or environmental writing. 🧪
Science Writing Resources (Elsewhere) That We Like - The Open Notebook
We aren't the only show in town when it comes to supporting high-quality science journalism! On this page, you’ll find lots of other resources (elsewhere) that center on science journalism craft, incl...
www.theopennotebook.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Interested in science writing degree programs? Here’s a list of more than 50 in the U.S. that offer specialized undergraduate or graduate degree programs or individual courses in science, health, or environmental writing. 🧪
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
I don’t think I have ever been this burnt out and demoralized and part of this is because institutions are not taking our concerns about the pedagogical harms of widespread and uncritical adoption of LLMs in higher education seriously.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
October 27, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I don’t think I have ever been this burnt out and demoralized and part of this is because institutions are not taking our concerns about the pedagogical harms of widespread and uncritical adoption of LLMs in higher education seriously.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
It’s exhausting to do this without any support.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
This document is … insane? Incredible?
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
Here is the proposed agreement the Trump admin sent to UCLA, which administrators fought tooth and claw to keep secret ucop.edu/communicatio...
ucop.edu
October 25, 2025 at 10:19 AM
This document is … insane? Incredible?
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
In it the USG shakes down a university for $1.17 BILLION “to avoid legal action” and dictates how hiring, promotion, admissions, scholarships, and CURRICULA REVIEW will be conducted. It stipulates how and when students can protest on campus.
It is un-American
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
New Nature paper from recent Rutgers postdoc Yucheng Lin (now at CSIRO in Australia) updates the global sea level curve for the last several millennia and places modern Chinese relative sea level rise in historic context
Modern sea-level rise breaks 4,000-year stability in southeastern China - Nature
Spatiotemporal hierarchical modelling of geological sea-level proxies and tide gauge data suggest that the modern global mean sea-level rise rate since 1900 has exceeded any century over at least...
www.nature.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:55 AM
New Nature paper from recent Rutgers postdoc Yucheng Lin (now at CSIRO in Australia) updates the global sea level curve for the last several millennia and places modern Chinese relative sea level rise in historic context
No king.
Trump: "The funding for New York, and for every place, comes through the White House. And I'm very generous, and I was always very generous with New York. But I wouldn't be generous to a communist that's gonna take the money and throw it out the window."
October 14, 2025 at 7:53 PM
No king.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
NEW: 53 participants involved in the Vyvgart trial for Long COVID are calling on the government to fund research for the drug after they saw significant improvements that the study didn’t capture.
thesicktimes.org/2025/10/10/v...
thesicktimes.org/2025/10/10/v...
Vyvgart brought us back to life, but the Long COVID trial was canceled. We are calling on the NIH and HHS to study the drug. - The Sick Times
We are a group of 53 individuals with Long COVID from across the U.S. In 2023, we joined a Long COVID clinical trial for Vyvgart (efgartigimod), a drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FD...
thesicktimes.org
October 10, 2025 at 5:05 PM
NEW: 53 participants involved in the Vyvgart trial for Long COVID are calling on the government to fund research for the drug after they saw significant improvements that the study didn’t capture.
thesicktimes.org/2025/10/10/v...
thesicktimes.org/2025/10/10/v...
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
NEW: In May, a Texas police department said they used the powerful Flock surveillance network against a woman who had an abortion "for her safety"
Newly obtained court records show it was a 'death investigation,' and they considered charging her with a crime
www.404media.co/police-said-...
Newly obtained court records show it was a 'death investigation,' and they considered charging her with a crime
www.404media.co/police-said-...
Police Said They Surveilled Woman Who Had an Abortion for Her 'Safety.' Court Records Show They Considered Charging Her With a Crime
Court records show that the narrative Flock and a Texas Sheriff's Office has told the public isn't the whole story, and that police were conducting a 'death investigation' into the abortion.
www.404media.co
October 7, 2025 at 1:04 PM
NEW: In May, a Texas police department said they used the powerful Flock surveillance network against a woman who had an abortion "for her safety"
Newly obtained court records show it was a 'death investigation,' and they considered charging her with a crime
www.404media.co/police-said-...
Newly obtained court records show it was a 'death investigation,' and they considered charging her with a crime
www.404media.co/police-said-...
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.
trib.al
October 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
Actually, my peers all seem to be overlooking the fact that the smart move would be to do something incredibly stupid--my column:
October 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Actually, my peers all seem to be overlooking the fact that the smart move would be to do something incredibly stupid--my column:
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
My sense is that the press has so deeply absorbed the idea of "just present the facts, lest you be accused of bias" that it's getting in the way of the whole purpose of journalism, which is to help your readership understand the world.
(See also @jayrosen.bsky.social's view from nowhere argument)
(See also @jayrosen.bsky.social's view from nowhere argument)
October 3, 2025 at 2:44 PM
My sense is that the press has so deeply absorbed the idea of "just present the facts, lest you be accused of bias" that it's getting in the way of the whole purpose of journalism, which is to help your readership understand the world.
(See also @jayrosen.bsky.social's view from nowhere argument)
(See also @jayrosen.bsky.social's view from nowhere argument)
This might have been the biggest disillusionment of my grad school to career transition. I came out all "tag me in, hoss, I've been training."
In a couple years you realize your opponent is a cardboard cutout with a walkman taped to it. Some dickhead just has a warehouse full of them.
In a couple years you realize your opponent is a cardboard cutout with a walkman taped to it. Some dickhead just has a warehouse full of them.
There really is something darkly funny about the fact that, after 3 decades of efforts by scientists & journalists, thousands of work hours, millions of words, explainers, videos, models, charts, after all of it ...
Republican climate denialism is exactly as crude & stupid as it was in the '90s.
Republican climate denialism is exactly as crude & stupid as it was in the '90s.
October 2, 2025 at 8:53 PM
This might have been the biggest disillusionment of my grad school to career transition. I came out all "tag me in, hoss, I've been training."
In a couple years you realize your opponent is a cardboard cutout with a walkman taped to it. Some dickhead just has a warehouse full of them.
In a couple years you realize your opponent is a cardboard cutout with a walkman taped to it. Some dickhead just has a warehouse full of them.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.
September 29, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Ohio State just advised all staff and students not to attend the SACNAS (Society for the advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science) annual meeting of 6000+ scientists -- which is in Columbus, OH this year! -- saying it may be exclusionary, even though it is open to all.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social and I are out with a different look at the misleading Trump administration climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome.
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change.
How a major DOE report hides the whole truth on climate change
www.politico.com
September 27, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Ben Storrow, @chelseaeharvey.bsky.social and I are out with a different look at the misleading Trump administration climate science report. It's more than a fact check. We show the sleights of hand they employ - fake debates, manipulated data, fossil fuel-funded experts - to reach a desired outcome.
Anyone in a fed job has a bottomless supply of stuff that will blow your mind.
NEW
WIRED led the way in reporting on Elon Musk's efforts to dismantle the US government. My colleagues and I spoke to 100s of employees at dozens of agencies to understand what happened.
This is the definitive story of DOGE as told by those who experienced it
www.wired.com/story/oral-h...
WIRED led the way in reporting on Elon Musk's efforts to dismantle the US government. My colleagues and I spoke to 100s of employees at dozens of agencies to understand what happened.
This is the definitive story of DOGE as told by those who experienced it
www.wired.com/story/oral-h...
The Story of DOGE, as Told by Federal Workers
WIRED spoke with more than 200 federal workers in dozens of agencies to learn what happened as the Department of Government Efficiency tore through their offices.
www.wired.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Anyone in a fed job has a bottomless supply of stuff that will blow your mind.
We deserve villains who can repeat their memes without a five decade error.
Trump: "It used to be global cooling. If you look back years ago in the 1920s and 1930s they said, 'global cooling with kill the world.' Then they said 'global warming will kill the world.' But then it started getting cooler ... it's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world."
September 23, 2025 at 4:03 PM
We deserve villains who can repeat their memes without a five decade error.
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
Trump on sending the troops into American cities: "It's sort of like war. I hate to tell you."
September 19, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Trump on sending the troops into American cities: "It's sort of like war. I hate to tell you."
Reposted by Scott K. Johnson
📣: Today the government committed to prioritizing #LongCOVID, but didn't announce any new funding - a major ask of advocates and researchers.
@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social & I reported on today's Long COVID roundtable for @thesicktimes.org ⬇️
thesicktimes.org/2025/09/18/k...
@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social & I reported on today's Long COVID roundtable for @thesicktimes.org ⬇️
thesicktimes.org/2025/09/18/k...
Kennedy’s HHS commits to Long COVID, but without clear funding - The Sick Times
Following two roundtable discussions with leading researchers and government officials — but limited patient engagement — HHS announced a public awareness campaign and medical resource platform
thesicktimes.org
September 19, 2025 at 1:09 AM
📣: Today the government committed to prioritizing #LongCOVID, but didn't announce any new funding - a major ask of advocates and researchers.
@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social & I reported on today's Long COVID roundtable for @thesicktimes.org ⬇️
thesicktimes.org/2025/09/18/k...
@betsyladyzhets.bsky.social & I reported on today's Long COVID roundtable for @thesicktimes.org ⬇️
thesicktimes.org/2025/09/18/k...
Really gross to see a university comms position listing AI use as a job requirement. uiowa.referrals.selectminds.com/jobs/communi...
Communications Specialist - College of Liberal Arts & Sciences in Iowa City, Iowa, United States
Are you a strategic storyteller with a knack for digital content and a passion for higher education? The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS).....
uiowa.referrals.selectminds.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Really gross to see a university comms position listing AI use as a job requirement. uiowa.referrals.selectminds.com/jobs/communi...