Massimo Sandal
@massimosandal.bsky.social
Science writer. What science does, how it does it, its dreams, its myths.
https://massimosandal.com
https://massimosandal.com
Pinned
Perché la de-estinzione del metalupo è un falso
L’azienda Colossal Biosciences ha annunciato la nascita di tre cuccioli di enoncione, un canide vissuto nelle Americhe tra 125.000 e 10.000 anni fa, ricostruito sulla base del suo antico genoma. Si tr...
www.lescienze.it
Colossal Biosciences ha dichiarato di aver fatto nascere tre metalupi, animali estinti da 10.000 anni, ma la realtà è molto diversa.
E l'effetto mediatico dell'annuncio ha messo in secondo piano risultati importanti per la conservazione di specie a rischio.
www.lescienze.it/news/2025/04...
E l'effetto mediatico dell'annuncio ha messo in secondo piano risultati importanti per la conservazione di specie a rischio.
www.lescienze.it/news/2025/04...
What is actually mindboggling is that in USA 17% of people order take out more than once a week and 12% go to restaurants more than once a week. I guess that's the top income segment?
Eating home-cooked meals is far more common than ordering takeout or delivery or eating at restaurants. Nearly nine-in-ten eat home-cooked meals at least a few times a week, compared with 17% ordering takeout or delivery and 12% eating at restaurants that frequently. www.pewresearch.org/...
May 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
What is actually mindboggling is that in USA 17% of people order take out more than once a week and 12% go to restaurants more than once a week. I guess that's the top income segment?
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Happy #mothersday! The original specimen of the four-legged whale Maiacetus is a rare example of a 'pregnant' fossil. Discovered in middle Eocene rocks of Pakistan and named in 2009 with the skeleton of a near term fetus, it seemed to be presented for a head-first birth. Artwork by James Gurney.
May 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Happy #mothersday! The original specimen of the four-legged whale Maiacetus is a rare example of a 'pregnant' fossil. Discovered in middle Eocene rocks of Pakistan and named in 2009 with the skeleton of a near term fetus, it seemed to be presented for a head-first birth. Artwork by James Gurney.
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀
Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯
A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛
Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x
Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯
A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛
Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x
April 9, 2025 at 10:07 AM
NEW PAPER, JUST OUT! 👀
Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯
A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛
Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x
Insects from the '70s and '80s were already collecting microplastic, decades before the term microplastic even existed. 🤯
A thread on the surprising history of this pollutant and the incredible insect larvae that helped us uncover it. 🐛
Let's dive in! 🧵👇 1/x
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
March 20, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Very nice animation of scientifically quite accurate Silurian oncocerid nautiloids
More Oncocerida from Gotland
YouTube video by Kiabugboy
www.youtube.com
May 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Very nice animation of scientifically quite accurate Silurian oncocerid nautiloids
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
S.J. Hand et al. (2025)
Bone microstructure supports a Mesozoic origin for a semiaquatic burrowing lifestyle in monotremes (Mammalia)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(19): e2413569122
doi: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Bone microstructure supports a Mesozoic origin for a semiaquatic burrowing lifestyle in monotremes (Mammalia)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(19): e2413569122
doi: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
doi.org
April 28, 2025 at 8:04 PM
S.J. Hand et al. (2025)
Bone microstructure supports a Mesozoic origin for a semiaquatic burrowing lifestyle in monotremes (Mammalia)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(19): e2413569122
doi: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Bone microstructure supports a Mesozoic origin for a semiaquatic burrowing lifestyle in monotremes (Mammalia)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(19): e2413569122
doi: doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
My postdoc advisor, Wally Broecker, said: "Climate is an angry beast, and we are poking it with sticks." Well, we are getting to the FOFO stage. 🧪 www.esa.int/Applications...
Sea surface warming faster than expected
Satellite observations show that sea-surface temperatures over the past four decades have been getting warmer at an accelerated pace.
www.esa.int
April 28, 2025 at 12:55 AM
My postdoc advisor, Wally Broecker, said: "Climate is an angry beast, and we are poking it with sticks." Well, we are getting to the FOFO stage. 🧪 www.esa.int/Applications...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Good news in global health! In case you missed it over the weekend…
Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.
Read more 👉🏽
www.afro.who.int/countries/ug...
Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.
Read more 👉🏽
www.afro.who.int/countries/ug...
Uganda declares end of Ebola outbreak
Uganda today declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.
www.afro.who.int
April 28, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Good news in global health! In case you missed it over the weekend…
Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.
Read more 👉🏽
www.afro.who.int/countries/ug...
Uganda declared the end of the Ebola disease outbreak, less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.
Read more 👉🏽
www.afro.who.int/countries/ug...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
here's a sharper photo of the Pedilus-Meloe interaction on bugguide: bugguide.net/node/view/10..., you can see the Pedilus really going to down on those intersegmental membranes
Pedilus lugubris
An online resource devoted to North American insects, spiders and their kin, offering identification, images, and information.
bugguide.net
April 22, 2025 at 7:43 PM
here's a sharper photo of the Pedilus-Meloe interaction on bugguide: bugguide.net/node/view/10..., you can see the Pedilus really going to down on those intersegmental membranes
La siccità in Germania, di marzo.
Die Daten des Deutschen Wetterdienstes sind da – und sie sind alarmierend.
Deutschlandweit war es von Anfang Februar bis Mitte April noch nie seit Beginn der Auswertung 1931 so trocken wie in diesem Jahr.
Und trotzdem bleibt die politische Reaktion erschreckend leise. Ein Thread 🧵
Deutschlandweit war es von Anfang Februar bis Mitte April noch nie seit Beginn der Auswertung 1931 so trocken wie in diesem Jahr.
Und trotzdem bleibt die politische Reaktion erschreckend leise. Ein Thread 🧵
April 22, 2025 at 9:10 AM
La siccità in Germania, di marzo.
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
April 19, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Today's random piece of nostalgic palaeoart: Heinrich Harder's Pteranodon!
Painted for the 1916 "Tiere der Urwelt" collector card series, Harder's Pteranodon is an early and iconic depiction of this most famous of pterosaurs. The spotted wings are a bizarre choice, almost like a butterfly! (1/4)
Painted for the 1916 "Tiere der Urwelt" collector card series, Harder's Pteranodon is an early and iconic depiction of this most famous of pterosaurs. The spotted wings are a bizarre choice, almost like a butterfly! (1/4)
April 19, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Today's random piece of nostalgic palaeoart: Heinrich Harder's Pteranodon!
Painted for the 1916 "Tiere der Urwelt" collector card series, Harder's Pteranodon is an early and iconic depiction of this most famous of pterosaurs. The spotted wings are a bizarre choice, almost like a butterfly! (1/4)
Painted for the 1916 "Tiere der Urwelt" collector card series, Harder's Pteranodon is an early and iconic depiction of this most famous of pterosaurs. The spotted wings are a bizarre choice, almost like a butterfly! (1/4)
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
I support trans rights; I recognise and respect trans people and their right to exist the same as others; I resent and object to the tired lies that bigots promote. Trans rights are human rights.
April 17, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I support trans rights; I recognise and respect trans people and their right to exist the same as others; I resent and object to the tired lies that bigots promote. Trans rights are human rights.
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
"Con i falsi #metalupi di #Colossal, potremmo aver visto i primissimi passi di questo scenario. Un giorno un bambino ricco potrebbe davvero ricevere un #Pikachu come animaletto da compagnia."
@massimosandal.bsky.social fa riflettere
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
@massimosandal.bsky.social fa riflettere
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
Pikachu nella foresta dei metalupi
"Preparatevi ai guai: grossi guai!": i danni delle soluzioni semplici a problemi complessi e un futuro di pelouche viventi.
demonsdancealone.substack.com
April 17, 2025 at 6:31 PM
"Con i falsi #metalupi di #Colossal, potremmo aver visto i primissimi passi di questo scenario. Un giorno un bambino ricco potrebbe davvero ricevere un #Pikachu come animaletto da compagnia."
@massimosandal.bsky.social fa riflettere
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
@massimosandal.bsky.social fa riflettere
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
if you are a cis person it costs you nothing to just say today that you see & hear your trans sisters & brothers & others over in the UK today -- and around the world, too, knowing that rulings like today's ripple out in ugly ways.
April 16, 2025 at 12:18 PM
if you are a cis person it costs you nothing to just say today that you see & hear your trans sisters & brothers & others over in the UK today -- and around the world, too, knowing that rulings like today's ripple out in ugly ways.
Due riflession in seguito alla storia dei metalupi di Colossal. Da un lato, i danni del tecnosoluzionismo, fomentati dal marketing che si sostituisce alla scienza. Dall'altro, un futuro forse non così improbabile di esseri artificiali.
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
April 16, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Due riflession in seguito alla storia dei metalupi di Colossal. Da un lato, i danni del tecnosoluzionismo, fomentati dal marketing che si sostituisce alla scienza. Dall'altro, un futuro forse non così improbabile di esseri artificiali.
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
demonsdancealone.substack.com/p/pikachu-ne...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
You know why European countries are so quiet about the El Salvador situation? Because they started the normalisation of extraterritorial detention of migrants and asylum seekers, often without any due process. The UK’s Rwanda plan. Italy’s attempted plan with Albania. And some still want to do it.
April 15, 2025 at 7:40 AM
You know why European countries are so quiet about the El Salvador situation? Because they started the normalisation of extraterritorial detention of migrants and asylum seekers, often without any due process. The UK’s Rwanda plan. Italy’s attempted plan with Albania. And some still want to do it.
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Every time I write something I need to relearn that 80% of my process is "muddling through."
April 14, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Every time I write something I need to relearn that 80% of my process is "muddling through."
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
DOGE is like Lord of the Flies—children gone amok ruining everything, understanding nothing.
“For a bunch of people who are screaming about efficiency,” he said, referring to the administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government, “they’ve done the most inefficient things possible.”
“For a bunch of people who are screaming about efficiency,” he said, referring to the administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government, “they’ve done the most inefficient things possible.”
NOAA Scientists Are Cleaning Bathrooms and Reconsidering Lab Experiments After Contracts for Basic Services Expire
A Seattle lab has lost janitorial services, hazardous waste support, IT and building maintenance as it waits for the Commerce Department secretary to personally approve all contracts over $100,000.
www.propublica.org
April 12, 2025 at 3:14 AM
DOGE is like Lord of the Flies—children gone amok ruining everything, understanding nothing.
“For a bunch of people who are screaming about efficiency,” he said, referring to the administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government, “they’ve done the most inefficient things possible.”
“For a bunch of people who are screaming about efficiency,” he said, referring to the administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government, “they’ve done the most inefficient things possible.”
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
This really is an extinction level event for NASA's science programs.
arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
Trump White House budget proposal eviscerates science funding at NASA
“This would decimate American leadership in space.”…
arstechnica.com
April 11, 2025 at 1:27 PM
This really is an extinction level event for NASA's science programs.
arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
I Denisoviani rappresentano la terza umanità, oltre Sapiens e Neanderthal. Ci hanno lasciato molte tracce genetiche e pochissimi frammenti fossili, perciò ogni nuovo fossile che entra nel club è una fonte preziosa di informazioni sull'aspetto fisico, la distribuzione geografica, gli stili di vita
April 11, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I Denisoviani rappresentano la terza umanità, oltre Sapiens e Neanderthal. Ci hanno lasciato molte tracce genetiche e pochissimi frammenti fossili, perciò ogni nuovo fossile che entra nel club è una fonte preziosa di informazioni sull'aspetto fisico, la distribuzione geografica, gli stili di vita
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
1. Whenever you see really vicious and widespread "spontaneous" attacks on scientific findings that challenge powerful economic interests, you can be assured that corporate lobbyists have been busy behind the scenes.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
PR campaign may have fuelled food study backlash, leaked document shows
Eat-Lancet report recommended shift to more plant-based, climate-friendly diet but was extensively attacked online
www.theguardian.com
April 11, 2025 at 5:46 AM
1. Whenever you see really vicious and widespread "spontaneous" attacks on scientific findings that challenge powerful economic interests, you can be assured that corporate lobbyists have been busy behind the scenes.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Massimo Sandal
Now: NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN RELEASED FROM CECOT.
As far as I'm concerned this raises the ante from concentration camp to extermination camp.
That's us. Here in Trump's USA, we are sending people to extermination camps. Period.
Own it.
As far as I'm concerned this raises the ante from concentration camp to extermination camp.
That's us. Here in Trump's USA, we are sending people to extermination camps. Period.
Own it.
April 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Now: NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN RELEASED FROM CECOT.
As far as I'm concerned this raises the ante from concentration camp to extermination camp.
That's us. Here in Trump's USA, we are sending people to extermination camps. Period.
Own it.
As far as I'm concerned this raises the ante from concentration camp to extermination camp.
That's us. Here in Trump's USA, we are sending people to extermination camps. Period.
Own it.