Emma Scales
@emmascales.bsky.social
PhD student at 🌽LL studying molecular bases of fungal symbiosis with bacteria 🍄🦠🧫🤓
Science communication & science advocacy 💚🌱
Co-founder #McClintockLetters initiative
Co-Pres @cornellasap.bsky.social
Founding member @snapcoalition.bsky.social
Science communication & science advocacy 💚🌱
Co-founder #McClintockLetters initiative
Co-Pres @cornellasap.bsky.social
Founding member @snapcoalition.bsky.social
Reposted by Emma Scales
As someone who purchased three copies of this book for friends, I will say this: it’s a wonderful book and you should buy one for yourself and one for someone else. Mindy is a super talented storyteller! Supporting hardworking writers & artists is not only important but it also makes you feel good!
Do you like zombies + science? I wrote a book about that! It's perfect for anyone who's ever wondered what it takes to mind-control a cockroach, reprogram a spider's web-spinning, or make a cricket jump into water to drown 🧪
And it's 40% off at @hopkinspress.bsky.social, now through 12/7 (HHOL25)!
And it's 40% off at @hopkinspress.bsky.social, now through 12/7 (HHOL25)!
November 26, 2025 at 11:16 PM
As someone who purchased three copies of this book for friends, I will say this: it’s a wonderful book and you should buy one for yourself and one for someone else. Mindy is a super talented storyteller! Supporting hardworking writers & artists is not only important but it also makes you feel good!
Reposted by Emma Scales
Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
“Why Are We Funding This?”
Long-standing myths about “silly science” have contributed to the reckless slashing of government-supported research.
www.americanscientist.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Every year around Thanksgiving, I see tons of grad students post heartbreaking messages on social media about how their loved ones don’t understand or support their decision to study what seems like something pointless or silly.
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
Perhaps my American Scientist essay can help!
🧪🌎🦑 #SciComm
Reposted by Emma Scales
gosh imagine if there was one extremely simple choice that Google could make that would make their own search tool more accurate AND return revenue to writers of all kinds
Like just one tiny tweak to make everyone's life better
Like just one tiny tweak to make everyone's life better
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:06 PM
gosh imagine if there was one extremely simple choice that Google could make that would make their own search tool more accurate AND return revenue to writers of all kinds
Like just one tiny tweak to make everyone's life better
Like just one tiny tweak to make everyone's life better
Reposted by Emma Scales
Cognitive automation for teachers poses the very same problems that cognitive automation poses for students. Astute observations here on how the cult of efficiency runs counter to just about everything we know about learning.
Why ChatGPT for Teachers Might Make Things Worse
I've spent the morning with the this new product and I have concerns...
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-chatgp...
I've spent the morning with the this new product and I have concerns...
carlhendrick.substack.com/p/why-chatgp...
Why ChatGPT for Teachers Might Make Things Worse
OpenAI have just released ChatGPT for Teachers which I have just spent the morning looking at it and I have concerns.
carlhendrick.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Cognitive automation for teachers poses the very same problems that cognitive automation poses for students. Astute observations here on how the cult of efficiency runs counter to just about everything we know about learning.
Reposted by Emma Scales
"In the end, I have come to realize that being authentic at work is not a weakness, but rather a strength." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/49B7hRv
November 21, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"In the end, I have come to realize that being authentic at work is not a weakness, but rather a strength." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/49B7hRv
Reposted by Emma Scales
Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake
Ancient tracks may record stampede of turtles disturbed by earthquake
Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake
www.newscientist.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Around 1000 markings on a slab of rock that was once a seafloor during the Cretaceous period may have been made by sea turtle flippers and swiftly buried by an earthquake
Reposted by Emma Scales
November 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Emma Scales
No single person, especially someone with zero expertise, should be able to just change the CDC website on a whim. The fact that federal health and science pages are no longer trustable is a catastrophe for public health and democracy.
Kennedy Says He Told C.D.C. to Change Website’s Language on Autism and Vaccines
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:05 PM
No single person, especially someone with zero expertise, should be able to just change the CDC website on a whim. The fact that federal health and science pages are no longer trustable is a catastrophe for public health and democracy.
Reposted by Emma Scales
Great read from Dan Rather:
"The very existence of a free press is a threat to this president’s modus operandi, which is to govern by lying. Why would he want people around him who ask for facts and truthful answers?"
"The very existence of a free press is a threat to this president’s modus operandi, which is to govern by lying. Why would he want people around him who ask for facts and truthful answers?"
Despicable
The bully-in-chief is targeting women in the White House press corps
steady.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Great read from Dan Rather:
"The very existence of a free press is a threat to this president’s modus operandi, which is to govern by lying. Why would he want people around him who ask for facts and truthful answers?"
"The very existence of a free press is a threat to this president’s modus operandi, which is to govern by lying. Why would he want people around him who ask for facts and truthful answers?"
Reposted by Emma Scales
OMG--read this thread. Remarkable clever use of a trick to visualize plasmid competition that reveals key insights into evolution!!!! 🧪
Hot off the press! Our latest paper led by @fernpizza.bsky.social, understanding how plasmids evolve inside cells. These small, self-replicating DNA circles live inside bacteria and carry antibiotic resistance genes, but also compete with one another to replicate. 1/
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Intracellular competition shapes plasmid population dynamics
From populations of multicellular organisms to selfish genetic elements, conflicts between levels of biological organization are central to evolution. Plasmids are extrachromosomal, self-replicating g...
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:29 AM
OMG--read this thread. Remarkable clever use of a trick to visualize plasmid competition that reveals key insights into evolution!!!! 🧪
Reposted by Emma Scales
Print version of my new commentary ("Bill Gates’s climate comments are a dangerous distraction") on #COP30, Bill Gates and more, in the latest issue of @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Print version of my new commentary ("Bill Gates’s climate comments are a dangerous distraction") on #COP30, Bill Gates and more, in the latest issue of @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Emma Scales
I think these blinded tests have lost the plot. I don't normally say something is "academic" as a criticism, but this sort of thing is academic.
Fine-tuning and other sorts of stage-setting to boost the appearance of humanlike outputs in restricted domains is interesting yet not especially useful.
Fine-tuning and other sorts of stage-setting to boost the appearance of humanlike outputs in restricted domains is interesting yet not especially useful.
November 19, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I think these blinded tests have lost the plot. I don't normally say something is "academic" as a criticism, but this sort of thing is academic.
Fine-tuning and other sorts of stage-setting to boost the appearance of humanlike outputs in restricted domains is interesting yet not especially useful.
Fine-tuning and other sorts of stage-setting to boost the appearance of humanlike outputs in restricted domains is interesting yet not especially useful.
Reposted by Emma Scales
Thoughtful piece on the importance of "DEI" in health research, published in Time Magazine.
time.com/7333975/dei-...
This presents the case in the context of lupus.
time.com/7333975/dei-...
This presents the case in the context of lupus.
DEI Isn’t Wasteful. It’s Necessary for Good Medicine
Lupus patients pay the price when we erase inclusion from medical research.
time.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Thoughtful piece on the importance of "DEI" in health research, published in Time Magazine.
time.com/7333975/dei-...
This presents the case in the context of lupus.
time.com/7333975/dei-...
This presents the case in the context of lupus.
Reposted by Emma Scales
Here's a big thank you to everyone at NIH who is trying to get everything regarding grants and reviews re-started!!!
November 13, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Here's a big thank you to everyone at NIH who is trying to get everything regarding grants and reviews re-started!!!
Reposted by Emma Scales
Nature research paper: Two residues reprogram immunity receptors for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis
go.nature.com/43c5b6C
go.nature.com/43c5b6C
Two residues reprogram immunity receptors for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis - Nature
An investigation of plant receptor-like kinases identifies regions of these proteins that control whether immune or symbiotic signalling pathways are activated, with minimal changes to specific residues in one of these regions being sufficient to alter signalling specificity.
go.nature.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Nature research paper: Two residues reprogram immunity receptors for nitrogen-fixing symbiosis
go.nature.com/43c5b6C
go.nature.com/43c5b6C
Northern Lights through the clouds!!! Could actually see the glowing colors - hopefully more tonight!!
November 12, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Northern Lights through the clouds!!! Could actually see the glowing colors - hopefully more tonight!!
Reposted by Emma Scales
America’s chickenshit elites problem continues to be the biggest obstacle to fighting Trump www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
November 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
America’s chickenshit elites problem continues to be the biggest obstacle to fighting Trump www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Emma Scales
Fungi coat the eggs of stinkbugs, creating a shield that protects the embryos from parasitic wasps, researchers report.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/43kl3np
Learn more: https://scim.ag/43kl3np
November 10, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Fungi coat the eggs of stinkbugs, creating a shield that protects the embryos from parasitic wasps, researchers report.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/43kl3np
Learn more: https://scim.ag/43kl3np
Reposted by Emma Scales
An excerpt from my remarks to the annual gathering of Cornell trustees & alumni from Oct. 23 as part of a plenary panel “Research at risk”. I stand by what I said. Cornell continues to fail its researchers. In light of this week’s news, I’m afraid the timing of this event was too convenient. (1/🧵)
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
An excerpt from my remarks to the annual gathering of Cornell trustees & alumni from Oct. 23 as part of a plenary panel “Research at risk”. I stand by what I said. Cornell continues to fail its researchers. In light of this week’s news, I’m afraid the timing of this event was too convenient. (1/🧵)
Reposted by Emma Scales
Add Cornell to the list
November 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Add Cornell to the list
Reposted by Emma Scales
Shame on Cornell.
Breaking News: Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would restore hundreds of millions in funding to the university. It's expected to pay a $30 million fine to the government and to invest $30 million in agriculture and farming programs.
Cornell Reaches Deal with Trump Administration to Restore Research Funds
The Ivy League university had warned of layoffs after the Trump administration stripped it of funds this year. The cuts were among the deepest in higher education.
nyti.ms
November 7, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Shame on Cornell.
An excerpt from my remarks to the annual gathering of Cornell trustees & alumni from Oct. 23 as part of a plenary panel “Research at risk”. I stand by what I said. Cornell continues to fail its researchers. In light of this week’s news, I’m afraid the timing of this event was too convenient. (1/🧵)
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
An excerpt from my remarks to the annual gathering of Cornell trustees & alumni from Oct. 23 as part of a plenary panel “Research at risk”. I stand by what I said. Cornell continues to fail its researchers. In light of this week’s news, I’m afraid the timing of this event was too convenient. (1/🧵)
Reposted by Emma Scales
Kudos to @nejm.org for their work to #DefendResearch against censorship by launching this effort. The undermining of MMWR is a tragedy. #Academictwitter #PublicHealthTwitter
#StandUpForScience Sign the declaration to defend research @defendresearch.bsky.social!
www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/c...
#StandUpForScience Sign the declaration to defend research @defendresearch.bsky.social!
www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/c...
NEJM and public health group are launching rival to CDC’s MMWR publication
Two institutions are coming together to create an alternative to the CDC’s vaunted Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
www.statnews.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Kudos to @nejm.org for their work to #DefendResearch against censorship by launching this effort. The undermining of MMWR is a tragedy. #Academictwitter #PublicHealthTwitter
#StandUpForScience Sign the declaration to defend research @defendresearch.bsky.social!
www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/c...
#StandUpForScience Sign the declaration to defend research @defendresearch.bsky.social!
www.statnews.com/2025/10/21/c...
Reposted by Emma Scales
The wooly bear, or #Isabella tiger #moth #caterpillar, Pyrrharctia isabella, still looking for overwintering spots on warm days. I'm still collecting them for research. Many years ago I became allergic to the hairs, a painful reminder of my love gone sour: agrawal.eeb.cornell.edu/2018/11/24/c...
November 4, 2025 at 10:51 AM
The wooly bear, or #Isabella tiger #moth #caterpillar, Pyrrharctia isabella, still looking for overwintering spots on warm days. I'm still collecting them for research. Many years ago I became allergic to the hairs, a painful reminder of my love gone sour: agrawal.eeb.cornell.edu/2018/11/24/c...
Reposted by Emma Scales
One small thing people can do is refuse to consume shitty art that isn’t made by people
Interact with art made by real artists
Interact with art made by real artists
November 4, 2025 at 3:07 AM
One small thing people can do is refuse to consume shitty art that isn’t made by people
Interact with art made by real artists
Interact with art made by real artists