Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
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Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
@uchadaya.bsky.social
Astronomy & Astrophysics Editor at Nature, very invested in better life on Earth. Views my own.
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If you, like countless others, wonder why GDP numbers look great while your economic experience goes to sh*t, there's a wealth of research explaining why. GDP is simply not a good/complete measure of economic health.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
End GDP mania: how the world should really measure prosperity
The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner. Researchers can now help to devise better indicators.
www.nature.com
Got to review a book about the history and legacy of Leon Foucault’s pendulum experiment. Here it is, free to read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 12, 2025 at 7:41 AM
If you, like countless others, wonder why GDP numbers look great while your economic experience goes to sh*t, there's a wealth of research explaining why. GDP is simply not a good/complete measure of economic health.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
End GDP mania: how the world should really measure prosperity
The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner. Researchers can now help to devise better indicators.
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Wrote my very first book review! Free for you to read: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A portrait of Einstein as an engaged citizen
Nature Astronomy - A portrait of Einstein as an engaged citizen
www.nature.com
July 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“This isn’t just one of those moments where you say, ‘If it gets bad, I’ll leave'[.] It already has.”
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
US brain drain: the scientists seeking jobs abroad amid Trump’s assault on research
Five US-based researchers tell Nature why they are exploring career opportunities overseas.
www.nature.com
May 14, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
If you want to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet, less meat is nearly always better than sustainable meat.
May 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
The US administration is eroding the freedoms on which the nation’s success has been based

https://go.nature.com/4jRfcfs
US researchers must stand up to protect freedoms, not just funding
Curtailment of freedoms and disregard for the rule of law in the United States is destroying the ability of science to serve the nation’s, and the world’s, interests. Researchers can take action.
go.nature.com
May 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Science does not have to find aliens to be very cool. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Signs of life on a distant planet? Not so fast, say these astronomers
Bold claims of ‘biosignature’ molecules trigger an outpouring of scepticism.
www.nature.com
April 22, 2025 at 7:48 AM
There are lots of great papers out there on the limitations of claiming the existence of "life" from the detection of certain molecules; here is just one. The astrobiology community itself has plenty of nuanced discussions on the defining life beyond Earth.

liebertpub.com/doi/full/10....
Is There Such a Thing as a Biosignature? | Astrobiology
The concept of a biosignature is widely used in astrobiology to suggest a link between some observation and a biological cause, given some context. The term itself has been defined and used in several ways in different parts of the scientific community involved in the search for past or present life on Earth and beyond. With the ongoing acceleration in the search for life in distant time and/or deep space, there is a need for clarity and accuracy in the formulation and reporting of claims. Here, we critically review the biosignature concept(s) and the associated nomenclature in light of several problems and ambiguities emphasized by recent works. One worry is that these terms and concepts may imply greater certainty than is usually justified by a rational interpretation of the data. A related worry is that terms such as “biosignature” may be inherently misleading, for example, because the divide between life and non-life—and their observable effects—is fuzzy. Another worry is that different parts of the multidisciplinary community may use non-equivalent or conflicting definitions and conceptions, leading to avoidable confusion. This review leads us to identify a number of pitfalls and to suggest how they can be circumvented. In general, we conclude that astrobiologists should exercise particular caution in deciding whether and how to use the concept of biosignature when thinking and communicating about habitability or life. Concepts and terms should be selected carefully and defined explicitly where appropriate. This would improve clarity and accuracy in the formulation of claims and subsequent technical and public communication about some of the most profound and important questions in science and society. With this objective in mind, we provide a checklist of questions that scientists and other interested parties should ask when assessing any reported detection of a “biosignature” to better understand exactly what is being claimed.
liebertpub.com
April 17, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
It took an extension to the extension of the extension, but after more than 3 years of negotiations, governments around the globe—but notably, not the United States—have finally agreed on a treaty to improve how the world prevents, prepares for, and responds to future pandemics. scim.ag/4lDYcLe
Global pandemic treaty finalized, without U.S., in ‘a victory for multilateralism’
Three years in the making, the accord aims to increase equity and avoid errors of the COVID-19 pandemic
scim.ag
April 16, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Can't believe we have to be writing about this in 2025, but here you go.
Public-health specialists worry that misinformation and funding cuts could affect vaccination rates. To illustrate the impact of vaccines, Nature examines the millions of lives that they have saved through these five charts. #medsky 🧪
154 million lives and counting: 5 charts reveal the power of vaccines
But public-health specialists worry that misinformation and funding cuts could affect vaccination rates.
go.nature.com
April 9, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Most people still trust science, but most also believe it is increasingly politicised, which drives them to non-institutional sources and riskier behaviour. What we can do about it: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust
Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway.
www.nature.com
April 8, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Editorial: The skies are a shared resource. We spend public money and push the limits of technology to look into the depths of the Universe - but now often see private communication satellites instead. Solutions exist, but regulation and enforcement are lacking. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Cleaning up space: how satellites and telescopes can live together
Satellites connect people around the world but they also interfere with astronomers’ views of the cosmos. There are ways to reduce these tensions.
www.nature.com
March 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Space debris is not an abstract or distant problem - it crash-lands in or right next to human settlements around the world. And with tens of thousands of launches every year, this is not getting any better unless we fundamentally change both design and regulation. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Space debris is falling from the skies. We need to tackle this growing danger
Why failing to control defunct satellites leaves everyone at risk from their impacts.
www.nature.com
March 20, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
Do you like #science? Do you think #journalism is a Good Thing? If so, please join me as a donor to @theopennotebook.bsky.social — the free resource that provides tools for writers to cover climate change, global health, technology & other crucial issues.

www.theopennotebook.com/the-page-tur....
The Page Turners Collective: Give Monthly to Support Our Work Every Day - The Open Notebook
By joining the Page Turners Collective, our community of monthly recurring donors, you become a cornerstone of our efforts to nurture and support science journalism around the world.
www.theopennotebook.com
March 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
Researchers have created three-dimensional maps of the interstellar dust extinction curve within the Milky Way galaxy. The results provide improved extinction corrections for astronomical observations.

Learn more in this week's issue of Science: scim.ag/41M1gLX
March 13, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
The last month has seen shock & sorrow in the US research community, with grant freezes & cuts, mass firings of government scientists, & much more.

Now many are fighting back. @heidiledford.bsky.social reports for @nature.com on the rise of scientist-activists:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

🧪
US science is under threat ― now scientists are fighting back
Researchers are organizing protests and making their voices heard as Trump officials slash funding and lay off federal scientists.
www.nature.com
March 3, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
“Publication-based evaluation has shaped and sometimes distorted academia. The community faces a choice: maintain the status quo, or experiment with new measures that better align with our values,” writes Kelly-Ann Allen in a Nature World View article. #Academicsky 🧪
Move beyond ‘publish or perish’ by measuring behaviours that benefit academia
A standardized system to measure contributions in mentorship, collaboration and more could bring about systemic change in science.
go.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 2:32 PM
“For much of our 155-year history, the United States has been the global leader in research […]. With the changes now under way, the new administration seems to be inclined to recklessly consign that to history. We at Nature denounce this assault on science.”
February 26, 2025 at 7:29 AM
I remember when my PhD salary as a Smithsonian fellow was on the line during a govt shutdown during Trump 1.0, my friends offering to lend me money. I left soon after because it was bad enough; I don't think I saw this coming. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Postdocs and PhD students hit hard by Trump’s crackdown on science
As US federal grants remain frozen and budget cuts loom, anxiety and fear grip early-career researchers.
www.nature.com
February 25, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
“Public communication must move beyond stories of doom and gloom, which — although realistic — have the unfortunate effect of making many people step away, instead of engaging in the conversation,” writes Harini Nagendra in Nature. 🧪
How scientists can drive climate action: celebrate nature and promote hope
After years of storytelling and running classes and festivals, I’ve seen first-hand how a love of nature makes people want to protect it.
go.nature.com
February 24, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Expert peer reviewers and editors do their/our best to catch falsified data, but ~0.1% of papers are eventually discovered as fraudulent and retracted. These are canaries in the goldmine of publish-or-perish academic environments.
nature.com Nature @nature.com · Feb 19
Exclusive: These universities have the most retracted scientific articles

A first-of-its-kind analysis reveals which institutions are retraction hotspots

Read the full story here: https://go.nature.com/3CUmFKI
February 19, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
Electric cars are coming by the millions. But what will happen to all the dead batteries?

Learn more on #NationalBatteryDay: https://scim.ag/4hG9FHv
February 18, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I first dipped my toes into research as field assistant to my cousin Devi Vijay during her PhD on community-organised palliative healthcare. Now she has co-launched a deeply thoughtful zine on this timeless question: how can we care for each other? Also available on Spotify: sabr.org.in
Sabr: A care collaborative
People's Care Collaborative
sabr.org.in
February 18, 2025 at 12:09 PM
On the nose - "By framing humanity’s challenges as simple engineering problems rather than complex systemic ones, technologists position themselves as decisive architects of our future, crafting grand visions that sidestep the messier, necessary work of social, political and collaborative change."
Here’s Why Elon Musk’s ‘Fork in the Road’ Is Really a Dead End
Elon Musk’s Fork in the Road isn’t just a sculpture—it’s a monument to the tech world’s obsession with civilizational survival, which has its roots in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
www.scientificamerican.com
February 17, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Urmila Chadayammuri
Use this form to tell us how the new US administration is affecting your research, or suggest future coverage

https://go.nature.com/42SyoUu
Are the Trump team’s actions affecting your research? How to contact Nature
Use this form to share information with Nature’s news team, or to make suggestions for future coverage.
go.nature.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM