Nicholas A. Christakis
@nachristakis.bsky.social
Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. Sociologist. Network Scientist. Physician. Author of Apollo's Arrow; Blueprint; Connected; and Death Foretold. Director of the Human Nature Lab: https://humannaturelab.net
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
West Point plaque: "Our code of military obedience requires that, should orders and the law ever conflict, our officers must obey the law."
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM
West Point plaque: "Our code of military obedience requires that, should orders and the law ever conflict, our officers must obey the law."
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
uhero.hawaii.edu
November 28, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Interesting new working paper that studies chains of movers after the construction of a new apartment building in Honolulu.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Paper finds that the project resulted in the opening up other, lower cost, housing on the island, benefiting the housing market overall.
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
The debate on when people first arrived in Australia continues! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Genomic evidence supports the “long chronology” for the peopling of Sahul
Genome data provide support for the first settlement of Australia and New Guinea via at least two routes by 60,000 years ago.
www.science.org
November 29, 2025 at 8:49 AM
The debate on when people first arrived in Australia continues! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
Honestly, no officer should need advice to decide if "kill these guys flailing around in the water" is a legal order
My understanding is that, at the height of the "drone war on terror" that when the military officer thought the legality of a particular strike was legally dubious, they'd have a CIA guy actually "pull the trigger". I wonder if that is happening in our current "War on Fishing Boats"?
November 29, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Honestly, no officer should need advice to decide if "kill these guys flailing around in the water" is a legal order
Must a great nation, let alone the civilization we aspire to be, act this way, or accept it?
If the U.S. was at war, Pete Hegseth's order would be a war crime, a military lawyer said. Instead, it might just be murder. wapo.st/49KbUJ1
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Must a great nation, let alone the civilization we aspire to be, act this way, or accept it?
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
Anticipating seasons may have emerged early in life’s evolution. It may have even predated the internal clocks that give an organism a sense of day and night.
Even a Single Bacterial Cell Can Sense the Seasons Changing | Quanta Magazine
Though they live only a few hours before dividing, bacteria can anticipate the approach of cold weather and prepare for it. The discovery suggests that seasonal tracking is fundamental to life.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 28, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Anticipating seasons may have emerged early in life’s evolution. It may have even predated the internal clocks that give an organism a sense of day and night.
A 2500 year old letter from a soldier named Hananyahu, deciphered through super-modern multispectral imaging, begins with “If there is any wine, send” journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... #grunts #invinoveritas #dogsofwar #pluscachange
November 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM
A 2500 year old letter from a soldier named Hananyahu, deciphered through super-modern multispectral imaging, begins with “If there is any wine, send” journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... #grunts #invinoveritas #dogsofwar #pluscachange
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
This is murder. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
November 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
This is murder. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong."
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
November 28, 2025 at 5:38 PM
"I had always hoped that this land might become a safe and agreeable Asylum to the virtuous and persecuted part of mankind, to whatever nation they might belong."
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
~George Washington to Francis Adrian van der Kemp, May 28, 1788.
Image: Gilbert Stuart portrait of Washington, 1804. Public domain.
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
China’s fertility rate has fallen to one, continuing a long decline that began before and continued after the one-child policy—
The 1970s were a decade shaped by fears about overpopulation. As the world’s most populous country, China was never far from the debate.
The 1970s were a decade shaped by fears about overpopulation. As the world’s most populous country, China was never far from the debate.
November 27, 2025 at 12:54 PM
China’s fertility rate has fallen to one, continuing a long decline that began before and continued after the one-child policy—
The 1970s were a decade shaped by fears about overpopulation. As the world’s most populous country, China was never far from the debate.
The 1970s were a decade shaped by fears about overpopulation. As the world’s most populous country, China was never far from the debate.
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
An online game shows that when extreme wealth is visible in social networks, lower-income players support higher taxes—and feel less satisfied with their own situation. Making wealth more visible could boost support for redistribution. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/1ItG50Xyijf
November 26, 2025 at 8:01 PM
An online game shows that when extreme wealth is visible in social networks, lower-income players support higher taxes—and feel less satisfied with their own situation. Making wealth more visible could boost support for redistribution. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/1ItG50Xyijf
Larry Bushart, a retired police officer, went to jail for 36 days for posting a meme after the murder of Charlie Kirk! It was a picture of Donald Trump along with his comment in response to a school shooting in 2024: “We have to get over it.” The meme had the caption, “This seems relevant today.”
Opinion | Nobody Should Go to Jail for a Harmless Meme
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Larry Bushart, a retired police officer, went to jail for 36 days for posting a meme after the murder of Charlie Kirk! It was a picture of Donald Trump along with his comment in response to a school shooting in 2024: “We have to get over it.” The meme had the caption, “This seems relevant today.”
Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination (in mice). www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
November 25, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination (in mice). www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
In the end, when I walked from my X account, the waves of racists and bots that were always invoking the same phrases and talking points made it clear that the thing was just a hall of mirrors, that it had been crudely rigged for political fraud. Never thought Musk would admit it all in a self-own.
November 25, 2025 at 12:50 AM
In the end, when I walked from my X account, the waves of racists and bots that were always invoking the same phrases and talking points made it clear that the thing was just a hall of mirrors, that it had been crudely rigged for political fraud. Never thought Musk would admit it all in a self-own.
“The greatest political goods—peace, liberty, and justice—are in their essence negative, a protection against injury rather than positive gifts.”
— Friedrich Hayek
— Friedrich Hayek
November 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“The greatest political goods—peace, liberty, and justice—are in their essence negative, a protection against injury rather than positive gifts.”
— Friedrich Hayek
— Friedrich Hayek
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
The “malleability of students to what they study” seems exactly right to me but it’s so good to have empirical confirmation.
The riskiness of STEM focus feels like it doesn’t *need* to be true yet probably *is* true in most settings, whereas the political consequences probably vary across settings?
The riskiness of STEM focus feels like it doesn’t *need* to be true yet probably *is* true in most settings, whereas the political consequences probably vary across settings?
November 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
The “malleability of students to what they study” seems exactly right to me but it’s so good to have empirical confirmation.
The riskiness of STEM focus feels like it doesn’t *need* to be true yet probably *is* true in most settings, whereas the political consequences probably vary across settings?
The riskiness of STEM focus feels like it doesn’t *need* to be true yet probably *is* true in most settings, whereas the political consequences probably vary across settings?
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
A mosaic patolli board embedded in a Classic Maya floor at Naachtun reveals deliberate design, elite gaming, and a rare architectural innovation. This fifth-century board reshapes how archaeologists understand Mesoamerican play. #Maya #Archaeology #Games #Anthropology
The Game Set Into Stone
A mosaic patolli board buried in a Classic Maya household floor forces archaeologists to rethink how games were built, used, and valued.
www.anthropology.net
November 23, 2025 at 3:07 AM
A mosaic patolli board embedded in a Classic Maya floor at Naachtun reveals deliberate design, elite gaming, and a rare architectural innovation. This fifth-century board reshapes how archaeologists understand Mesoamerican play. #Maya #Archaeology #Games #Anthropology
Fabulous conversation about whether we have free will or not, by Robert Sapolsky and Peter Tse. I think that the constraint that time unfolds forward not backward is a crucial component of this debate, nicely illustrated by Tse.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxe...
Free Will Debate: Sapolsky vs Tse مناظره اراده آزاد: پروفسور ساپولسکی و پروفسور تسه
YouTube video by پادکست هشیوار
www.youtube.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Fabulous conversation about whether we have free will or not, by Robert Sapolsky and Peter Tse. I think that the constraint that time unfolds forward not backward is a crucial component of this debate, nicely illustrated by Tse.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxe...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
November 21, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
How early do children grasp mathematical patterns? In a new Cognition paper, Ciccione et al. show that 5–6-year-olds can intuitively extend lines, curves and oscillating patterns, revealing rich proto-mathematical intuitions before schooling.
November 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
How early do children grasp mathematical patterns? In a new Cognition paper, Ciccione et al. show that 5–6-year-olds can intuitively extend lines, curves and oscillating patterns, revealing rich proto-mathematical intuitions before schooling.
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
We've updated a paper on the 3-year, $1000/month U.S. guaranteed income study.
New results, in 3 figures: 🧵
1) Subjective well-being significantly improved in the treatment group in year 1, but there were no significant differences between the treatment & control group after that. 1/
New results, in 3 figures: 🧵
1) Subjective well-being significantly improved in the treatment group in year 1, but there were no significant differences between the treatment & control group after that. 1/
September 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
We've updated a paper on the 3-year, $1000/month U.S. guaranteed income study.
New results, in 3 figures: 🧵
1) Subjective well-being significantly improved in the treatment group in year 1, but there were no significant differences between the treatment & control group after that. 1/
New results, in 3 figures: 🧵
1) Subjective well-being significantly improved in the treatment group in year 1, but there were no significant differences between the treatment & control group after that. 1/
Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1)
Music by Philip Glass
x.com/donga16/stat...
Music by Philip Glass
x.com/donga16/stat...
Gaetano La Rosa on X: "Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1) Music by Philip Glass Pianos: Katia and Marielle Labèque Arrangements: Michael Riesman Video by Ronan Day-Lewis Starring Lena Christakis and Rocco Rinaldi-Rose https://t.co/Zs7uWbkfXm https://t.co/LJONd5giZA" / X
Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1) Music by Philip Glass Pianos: Katia and Marielle Labèque Arrangements: Michael Riesman Video by Ronan Day-Lewis Starring Lena Christakis and Rocco Rinaldi-Rose https://t.co/Zs7uWbkfXm https://t.co/LJONd5giZA
x.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 AM
Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1)
Music by Philip Glass
x.com/donga16/stat...
Music by Philip Glass
x.com/donga16/stat...
“There are universities now that are creating centers for open inquiry. What is a university if not a center for open inquiry? Why would we need such a center? That anyone suggests such a center should raise a lot of eyebrows.” www.chronicle.com/article/why-...
Why Jill Lepore Nearly Quit Harvard
The prosecutorial culture was “miserable.” She stayed, but has come to regret her silence at the time.
www.chronicle.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:21 PM
“There are universities now that are creating centers for open inquiry. What is a university if not a center for open inquiry? Why would we need such a center? That anyone suggests such a center should raise a lot of eyebrows.” www.chronicle.com/article/why-...
Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis
In 2008, after killing many of their neighbors, Ngogo chimpanzees expanded their territory. Female fertility then doubled, and infant mortality plummeted. Adaptive violence in our ape cousins, documented in this new paper. www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Female fertility and infant survivorship increase following lethal intergroup aggression and territorial expansion in wild chimpanzees | PNAS
Lethal coalitionary intergroup aggression is a conspicuous aspect of wild chimpanzee
behavior. Evidence indicates that such violence can lead to te...
www.pnas.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:20 AM
In 2008, after killing many of their neighbors, Ngogo chimpanzees expanded their territory. Female fertility then doubled, and infant mortality plummeted. Adaptive violence in our ape cousins, documented in this new paper. www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) @yaledatascience.bsky.social is seeking applications for postdoctoral positions. These are cool, generously supported, competitive positions, expected to last 2-3 years, for independent scholars working on the foundations of data science.
Yale University, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science
Job #AJO31114, Postdoc in Foundations of Data Science, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US
academicjobsonline.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) @yaledatascience.bsky.social is seeking applications for postdoctoral positions. These are cool, generously supported, competitive positions, expected to last 2-3 years, for independent scholars working on the foundations of data science.