Alan Burdick
@alanburdick.bsky.social
Editor and occasional reporter with the NYT science desk. Author of "Why Time Flies" and "Out of Eden." Lapsed futurist. Minor planet #9291. More at www.aburdick.com.
Toby Kiers, who just won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, talked with The Times about “punk science,” microbial economics and thinking like a mycorrhizal fungus. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/s...
Toby Kiers, World Champion of Fungus
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Toby Kiers, who just won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, talked with The Times about “punk science,” microbial economics and thinking like a mycorrhizal fungus. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/s...
The slaty-masked tinamou, recently discovered in Brazil, is utterly unafraid of people. That could be its undoing, ornithologists worry. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
Is This Bird the Next Dodo?
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The slaty-masked tinamou, recently discovered in Brazil, is utterly unafraid of people. That could be its undoing, ornithologists worry. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/s...
Terrific, moving story about the Cybathlon, a competition held every four years to test the latest brain-computer interface technologies: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/s...
Let the Mind-Control Games Begin!
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Terrific, moving story about the Cybathlon, a competition held every four years to test the latest brain-computer interface technologies: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/s...
@carlzimmer.com on what engineers have learned from the natural world: nyti.ms/4otNQyl
How Inventors Find Inspiration in Evolution (Gift Article)
Soft batteries and water-walking robots are among the many creations made possible by studying animals and plants.
nyti.ms
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
@carlzimmer.com on what engineers have learned from the natural world: nyti.ms/4otNQyl
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary." #lost-science
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/s...
He Studied Why Some Female Birds Look Like Males
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
"I don’t know why my fellowship was terminated. I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary." #lost-science
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/s...
Armed With Anemones: How Some Young Fishes Survive in the Sea
www.nytimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Joshua Plotnik, who studies elephant cognition, is the latest focus of our Lost Science series, which documents the work of researchers who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. Share your story with us! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
He Studied Elephant Behavior to Save Lives
www.nytimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Joshua Plotnik, who studies elephant cognition, is the latest focus of our Lost Science series, which documents the work of researchers who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. Share your story with us! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
A new NYT as-told-to series, "Lost Science," documents the work of researchers who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. Share your story with us!
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.
www.nytimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:32 PM
A new NYT as-told-to series, "Lost Science," documents the work of researchers who have lost their jobs or funding after cuts by the Trump administration. Share your story with us!
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
Beware the fallvinder, o Viking archaeologist! nyti.ms/47m8YRp
To Study Viking Seafarers, He Took 26 Voyages in a Traditional Boat
An archaeologist in Sweden spent three years traveling in vessels built like those from 1,000 years ago. He discovered lost sea routes, hidden trade harbors and new respect for Viking seamanship.
nyti.ms
August 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Beware the fallvinder, o Viking archaeologist! nyti.ms/47m8YRp
I learned a lot about Fresnel lenses for this amazing series of lighthouse photographs by Michal Siarek: nyti.ms/41qkFCN
A Voyage to Bring Norway’s Lighthouses Into the 21st Century
More than 2,000 navigational beacons, big and small, oversee the nation’s 60,000-mile-long coast. Now they need an upgrade.
nyti.ms
August 5, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I learned a lot about Fresnel lenses for this amazing series of lighthouse photographs by Michal Siarek: nyti.ms/41qkFCN
They do things a little differently in Denmark. But hardly shocking when you stop to think about where pet food comes from. nyti.ms/4mtD2Ps @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social @emilyanthes.bsky.social
A Zoo in Denmark Wants to Feed Your Pets to Its Predators
A Danish zoo is asking owners of companion animals nearing life’s end to instead donate them as food for captive lynxes, lions and other carnivores.
nyti.ms
August 5, 2025 at 4:17 PM
They do things a little differently in Denmark. But hardly shocking when you stop to think about where pet food comes from. nyti.ms/4mtD2Ps @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social @emilyanthes.bsky.social
Kid at lemonade stand today: “Want some lemonade? We take Apple Pay.”
August 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Kid at lemonade stand today: “Want some lemonade? We take Apple Pay.”
Not just one but four radioactive wasp nests were found at the Savannah River nuclear facility in S.C., @emilyanthes.bsky.social reports: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
‘Hot Wasps’ Found at Nuclear Facility in South Carolina
www.nytimes.com
August 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Not just one but four radioactive wasp nests were found at the Savannah River nuclear facility in S.C., @emilyanthes.bsky.social reports: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/01/s...
You say potato, @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social says tomato: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
What’s a Potato? A Nine-Million-Year-Old Tomato.
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:29 PM
You say potato, @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social says tomato: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...
Don'r miss the fourth and final installment of "Math Revealed," the extravaganzaesque NYT series by @stevenstrogatz.com !
My latest for @nytimes.com -- please repost so your followers can see this for free. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How a Puzzle About Fractions Got Brain Scans Rolling (Gift Article)
A story of bowling pins, patterns and medical miracles.
www.nytimes.com
June 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Don'r miss the fourth and final installment of "Math Revealed," the extravaganzaesque NYT series by @stevenstrogatz.com !
Part 2 of the terrific "Math, Revealed" series by @stevenstrogatz.com and the superb visual team at @nytimes.com features Leonardo da Vinci and bellybuttons.
This week's installment in my "Math, Revealed" series for
@nytimes.com: Navel Gazing and the Golden Ratio. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
@nytimes.com: Navel Gazing and the Golden Ratio. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
What the Golden Ratio Says About Your Bellybutton (Gift Article)
The secret beauty in apples, stars and the center of you.
www.nytimes.com
June 16, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Part 2 of the terrific "Math, Revealed" series by @stevenstrogatz.com and the superb visual team at @nytimes.com features Leonardo da Vinci and bellybuttons.
Astonishing and moving story by @susandominus.bsky.social nyti.ms/406oDzM about a family looking to sidestep mortality with the help of A.I.
A.I. Avatars and the Brave New Frontier of Life After Death (Gift Article)
After Peter Listro was diagnosed with blood cancer, his family decided to make a virtual avatar they can talk to after his death.
nyti.ms
June 15, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Astonishing and moving story by @susandominus.bsky.social nyti.ms/406oDzM about a family looking to sidestep mortality with the help of A.I.
Thrilled to reveal "Math Revealed," a weekly four-part math-appreciation series by the incomparable @stevenstrogatz.com in collaboration with The Times's ace visual team!
My new #math series in the New York Times, "Math Revealed," is aimed at everyone, whether you love math or not. Have a look! You can read it here for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
In Taxicab Geometry, Pi Equals 4 and Circles Aren’t Round (Gift Article)
In the world of taxicab geometry, even the Pythagorean theorem takes a back seat.
www.nytimes.com
June 9, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Thrilled to reveal "Math Revealed," a weekly four-part math-appreciation series by the incomparable @stevenstrogatz.com in collaboration with The Times's ace visual team!
Visually stunning archaeological work being done by NOAA on Lake Ontario
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/s...
Historic Shipwrecks Come to Light in the Great Lakes
www.nytimes.com
May 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Visually stunning archaeological work being done by NOAA on Lake Ontario
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/s...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/s...
A little something that @emilyanthes.bsky.social and I whipped up: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
9 Federally Funded Scientific Breakthroughs That Changed Everything
www.nytimes.com
May 16, 2025 at 7:11 PM
A little something that @emilyanthes.bsky.social and I whipped up: www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/s...
Friends, Brooklynites, book-lovers: Join us tonight at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social in Brooklyn, where fab @susandominus.bsky.social will talk about her new book, "The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success," with equally fab @emilynussbaum.bsky.social. Curly hair alert!
May 8, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Friends, Brooklynites, book-lovers: Join us tonight at @greenlightbklyn.bsky.social in Brooklyn, where fab @susandominus.bsky.social will talk about her new book, "The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success," with equally fab @emilynussbaum.bsky.social. Curly hair alert!
Delighted beyond delighted at the publication at last of "The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success," by the phenomenal @susandominus.bsky.social !! It's an intimate, thoughtful and delightful exploration of the inner mechanics of families and the science of achievement.
May 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Delighted beyond delighted at the publication at last of "The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success," by the phenomenal @susandominus.bsky.social !! It's an intimate, thoughtful and delightful exploration of the inner mechanics of families and the science of achievement.
My two cents: "The Trump administration is trying to change what counts as science."
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/b...
Trump vs. Science
www.nytimes.com
April 25, 2025 at 6:46 PM
My two cents: "The Trump administration is trying to change what counts as science."
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/b...
“I’m not screaming, ‘aliens!’” said Nikole Lewis, an exoplanetary scientist at Cornell University. “But I always reserve my right to scream ‘aliens!’”
120 light years from Earth, there's a planet that may be covered in a living ocean. Here's my story on a tantalizing hint of life beyond the Solar System. Gift link: nyti.ms/3GbrEaZ 🧪
Astronomers Detect a Signature of Life on a Distant Planet (Gift Article)
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
nyti.ms
April 17, 2025 at 1:59 PM
“I’m not screaming, ‘aliens!’” said Nikole Lewis, an exoplanetary scientist at Cornell University. “But I always reserve my right to scream ‘aliens!’”