@mattyfield.bsky.social
Biosecurity Editor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Tips? Pitches? Email: [email protected] / Signal: mattfield.34
Reposted
Why we shouldn't be bringing samples from Mars back to Earth. Authoritative story, cool presentation. thebulletin.org/2025/11/mirr...
Black swans from the red planet—Could NASA bring back “mirror life” from Mars?
NASA and the European Space Agency plan to bring samples back from Mars. Could they harbor a type of life that scientists warn could trigger mass extinctions on Earth?
thebulletin.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Why we shouldn't be bringing samples from Mars back to Earth. Authoritative story, cool presentation. thebulletin.org/2025/11/mirr...
"Cars are not safe for human beings. The average vehicle on the road now is about equivalent to the size and weight of a German Panzer tank during World War II." @jessimckenzi.bsky.social interviews David Obst about what he believes is the existential threat of "Big Car." @thebulletin.org
How 'Big Car' poses an existential threat to humanity
While Big Car kills many of us quickly, in deadly collisions, it is killing many more of us slowly, by polluting the environment, warming the Earth, sowing misinformation and doubt about climate scien...
thebulletin.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
"Cars are not safe for human beings. The average vehicle on the road now is about equivalent to the size and weight of a German Panzer tank during World War II." @jessimckenzi.bsky.social interviews David Obst about what he believes is the existential threat of "Big Car." @thebulletin.org
Many scientists don't want people to synthesize "mirror life," organisms built from DNA and other molecules that are structured as the mirror images of Earth's biomolecules, but could NASA bring mirror lifeforms back from space? The results could be catastrophic, Bill Taber writes @thebulletin.org
Black swans from the red planet—Could NASA bring back “mirror life” from Mars?
NASA and the European Space Agency plan to bring samples back from Mars. Could they harbor a type of life that scientists warn could trigger mass extinctions on Earth?
thebulletin.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Many scientists don't want people to synthesize "mirror life," organisms built from DNA and other molecules that are structured as the mirror images of Earth's biomolecules, but could NASA bring mirror lifeforms back from space? The results could be catastrophic, Bill Taber writes @thebulletin.org
"A House of Dynamite" depicted a nuclear weapon hurtling toward Chicago. In this video, expert Jeffrey Lewis talks about what would really happen if a bomb were dropped on the city. @erik-english.bsky.social @thebulletin.org
www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyk...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyk...
What you should know about nuclear weapons
YouTube video by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 PM
"A House of Dynamite" depicted a nuclear weapon hurtling toward Chicago. In this video, expert Jeffrey Lewis talks about what would really happen if a bomb were dropped on the city. @erik-english.bsky.social @thebulletin.org
www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyk...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=czyk...
Reposted
Get a direct line to the topics that inform the Doomsday Clock
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Get our newsletter! — Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Sign up for emails and receive a direct line to the best thinking on nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies.
thebulletin.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Get a direct line to the topics that inform the Doomsday Clock
Sign up for our newsletter today.
Sign up for our newsletter today.
Allison Stanger talks about the similarities the US-tech company alliance has with the old, dark days of British colonialism. @erik-english.bsky.social @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/10/how-...
thebulletin.org/2025/10/how-...
Video: How Big Tech is reviving colonialism
Allison Stanger explains how Big Tech CEOs became more powerful than some elected heads of state, and why citizens should be concerned about Big Tech’s ability to influence government policy.
thebulletin.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Allison Stanger talks about the similarities the US-tech company alliance has with the old, dark days of British colonialism. @erik-english.bsky.social @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/10/how-...
thebulletin.org/2025/10/how-...
There are many movies about the end of the world, but few are as accurate as House of Dynamite. Turns out ending the world is a roughly 20 minute proposition. @meckdevil.bsky.social talked to Kathryn Bigelow and Noah Oppenheim about their new film. @thebulletin.org
A conversation with Kathryn Bigelow, director of 'A House of Dynamite,' and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim
A conversation among Kathryn Bigelow, director of the film "A House of Dynamite," Noah Oppenheim, who wrote the script for the movie, and Bulletin editor in chief John Mecklin. The film, which deals w...
thebulletin.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:25 PM
There are many movies about the end of the world, but few are as accurate as House of Dynamite. Turns out ending the world is a roughly 20 minute proposition. @meckdevil.bsky.social talked to Kathryn Bigelow and Noah Oppenheim about their new film. @thebulletin.org
Reposted
A vaccine that helps to fight cancer might already exist: People being treated for deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
People with some cancers live longer after a COVID vaccine
mRNA vaccines seem to boost the effectiveness of an immune therapy for skin and lung cancer ― in an unexpected way.
www.nature.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A vaccine that helps to fight cancer might already exist: People being treated for deadly cancers lived longer if they had received an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
The vaccines have this apparent life-extending effect not because they protect against COVID-19 but because they rev up the immune system.
Reposted
As we warned in our 2024 op-ed, the dangerous clade I mpox strain spreading in DRC wouldn’t stay contained.
Now, California confirms local clade I cases—with no travel links.
Global inaction has local consequences.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Now, California confirms local clade I cases—with no travel links.
Global inaction has local consequences.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
October 19, 2025 at 3:06 AM
As we warned in our 2024 op-ed, the dangerous clade I mpox strain spreading in DRC wouldn’t stay contained.
Now, California confirms local clade I cases—with no travel links.
Global inaction has local consequences.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Now, California confirms local clade I cases—with no travel links.
Global inaction has local consequences.
www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Reposted
In @bmj.com , @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social warns decision to end $500m in #mRNA vaccine research in the US “turns its back on one of its greatest pandemic achievements.”
mRNA tech could be key in the fight against future pandemics, cancer & HIV. If the US walks away, others must step up.
More here ⤵️
mRNA tech could be key in the fight against future pandemics, cancer & HIV. If the US walks away, others must step up.
More here ⤵️
Defunding mRNA vaccine research leaves us all more vulnerable to future health emergencies
Multilateral initiatives are needed to signal confidence and fill funding gaps in mRNA research, writes Jennifer B Nuzzo
Recently the US secretary of health and human services Robert F Kennedy Jr dec...
www.bmj.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
In @bmj.com , @jennifernuzzo.bsky.social warns decision to end $500m in #mRNA vaccine research in the US “turns its back on one of its greatest pandemic achievements.”
mRNA tech could be key in the fight against future pandemics, cancer & HIV. If the US walks away, others must step up.
More here ⤵️
mRNA tech could be key in the fight against future pandemics, cancer & HIV. If the US walks away, others must step up.
More here ⤵️
Reposted
Bulletin nuclear affairs editor François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social spoke to Sébastien Philippe @sebphilippe.bsky.social on winning the MacArthur 'genius' grant, nuclear war, and academic freedom. ⬇️
Sébastien Philippe on winning the MacArthur 'genius' grant, nuclear war and academic freedom
Nuclear security specialist Sébastien Philippe, one of the 22 recipients of this year's MacArthur fellowship, explains the importance of bridging science, engineering, policy analysis,…
thebulletin.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Bulletin nuclear affairs editor François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social spoke to Sébastien Philippe @sebphilippe.bsky.social on winning the MacArthur 'genius' grant, nuclear war, and academic freedom. ⬇️
Reposted
The US is now more vulnerable to a biological attack of other serious disease emergency than it has been in a very long time.
www.wired.com/story/cdc-te...
www.wired.com/story/cdc-te...
A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone
Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.
www.wired.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The US is now more vulnerable to a biological attack of other serious disease emergency than it has been in a very long time.
www.wired.com/story/cdc-te...
www.wired.com/story/cdc-te...
Trump wants nuclear regulators to consider abandoning the idea that radiation exposure risks increase linearly--even slight exposures have risks.
A new standard might allow exposure equivalent to 5K x-rays/year! Over 70 yrs, 4/5 people could get a cancer they wouldn't otherwise. @thebulletin.org
A new standard might allow exposure equivalent to 5K x-rays/year! Over 70 yrs, 4/5 people could get a cancer they wouldn't otherwise. @thebulletin.org
President Trump's radical attack on radiation safety
If President Trump's executive order results in a new public radiation exposure limit of around 10 rem—that opponents to the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for radiation exposure often advocate for—t...
thebulletin.org
October 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Trump wants nuclear regulators to consider abandoning the idea that radiation exposure risks increase linearly--even slight exposures have risks.
A new standard might allow exposure equivalent to 5K x-rays/year! Over 70 yrs, 4/5 people could get a cancer they wouldn't otherwise. @thebulletin.org
A new standard might allow exposure equivalent to 5K x-rays/year! Over 70 yrs, 4/5 people could get a cancer they wouldn't otherwise. @thebulletin.org
Reposted
"All of the events portrayed in A House of Dynamite could happen at any moment—today, even. And that's the point," writes @erik-english.bsky.social in his new review of "A House of Dynamite." ⬇️
A House of Dynamite: Bigelow’s latest thriller shows why nuclear bombs are only part of the danger
Kathryn Bigelow's latest film, A House of Dynamite, examines how the US government would respond to a nuclear attack in real-time.
thebulletin.org
October 9, 2025 at 4:21 PM
"All of the events portrayed in A House of Dynamite could happen at any moment—today, even. And that's the point," writes @erik-english.bsky.social in his new review of "A House of Dynamite." ⬇️
Reposted
Greetings from U.S. District Court Judge April Perry’s courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is present, waiting for the high stakes hearing to begin. @wttw.bsky.social
FULL STORY: As lawyers for the Trump administration defended the president’s unprecedented decision to send National Guard troops to Chicago despite the objections of Gov. Pritzker and Mayor Johnson, officials acknowledged that California troops had also been sent to Illinois. @wttw.bsky.social
Judge to Decide Whether to Block National Guard Deployment as Trump Sends California Troops to Illinois
Lawyers for the Department of Justice told U.S. District Court Judge April Perry the president deployed the National Guard because “levels of violence against federal law enforcement executing their l...
news.wttw.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Greetings from U.S. District Court Judge April Perry’s courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is present, waiting for the high stakes hearing to begin. @wttw.bsky.social
Honestly this is great policy. I can't wait for Walgreens to give ME money at the pharmacy.
Trump: "We're gonna be reducing the cost of medicines by 100%, 200%, 300%, 500% and even more than that."
October 9, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Honestly this is great policy. I can't wait for Walgreens to give ME money at the pharmacy.
Reposted
This interview by @mattyfield.bsky.social, part of the Bulletin's September magazine, is available to all readers for a limited time.
October 7, 2025 at 9:17 PM
This interview by @mattyfield.bsky.social, part of the Bulletin's September magazine, is available to all readers for a limited time.
Ok, wtf is this? "U.S. Border Patrol agents rappelled from Blackhawk military helicopters onto the roof of a South Shore apartment building"
In the annals of militarizing a supposed "law enforcement" operation, this is above and beyond.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
In the annals of militarizing a supposed "law enforcement" operation, this is above and beyond.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
FAA restricts private drones over Chicago as feds step up immigration arrests
The Federal Aviation Administration set the sweeping restrictions Wednesday at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Ok, wtf is this? "U.S. Border Patrol agents rappelled from Blackhawk military helicopters onto the roof of a South Shore apartment building"
In the annals of militarizing a supposed "law enforcement" operation, this is above and beyond.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
In the annals of militarizing a supposed "law enforcement" operation, this is above and beyond.
chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...
NASA plans to decommission perfectly functioning satellites with climate monitoring missions, ostensibly to save money, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social reports. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa...
thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa...
NASA missions at risk under the Trump administration
The Trump administration has proposed cancelling more than 40 NASA missions, including at least 14 Earth science missions.
thebulletin.org
September 30, 2025 at 8:19 PM
NASA plans to decommission perfectly functioning satellites with climate monitoring missions, ostensibly to save money, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social reports. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa...
thebulletin.org/2025/09/nasa...
Reposted
Call for Earth or climate scientists at US federal agencies from the Bulletin's climate editor, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social. Contact info in her profile. ⬇️
feel like this is a long shot (everybody keeps telling me nobody wants to talk) but if you work at a federal agency that does Earth or climate science—bonus points if you're a scientist yourself—and you want to tell me about your anxieties as the budget deadline approaches, i would love to talk!
September 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Call for Earth or climate scientists at US federal agencies from the Bulletin's climate editor, @jessimckenzi.bsky.social. Contact info in her profile. ⬇️
Must have been a couple busy weeks for the mainstream US media. Missed this one. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites
BBC identifies members of Infidels MC gang hired as armed security at US and Israel-backed aid sites.
www.bbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Must have been a couple busy weeks for the mainstream US media. Missed this one. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Some people are saying the US should counter nuclear threats by building thousands of weapons. But Putin offered this week to continue to adhere to limits of the New START treaty. Trump should take him up on that offer. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/puti...
thebulletin.org/2025/09/puti...
Putin just gave Trump the opportunity to maintain nuclear restraint. Will he seize it?
Extending New START will also give time for Trump to work with Russia and China on future arms control accords.
thebulletin.org
September 25, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Some people are saying the US should counter nuclear threats by building thousands of weapons. But Putin offered this week to continue to adhere to limits of the New START treaty. Trump should take him up on that offer. @thebulletin.org
thebulletin.org/2025/09/puti...
thebulletin.org/2025/09/puti...
Reposted
Harry Enten: "The more RFK Jr is trying to implement his policies, the further down his net approval rating goes. And at this particular point, 21 points underwater is not a place you want to be."
September 25, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Harry Enten: "The more RFK Jr is trying to implement his policies, the further down his net approval rating goes. And at this particular point, 21 points underwater is not a place you want to be."
Reposted
Telling assembled world leaders at the United Nations that their countries "are going to hell" and asking "what is the purpose of the UN" is probably not the best way for President Trump to start the process of earning buy-in for a bioweapons prevention plan, writes @mattyfield.bsky.social.
Trump dissed world leaders at the UN while asking for their help on a bioweapons prevention plan
President Donald Trump pledged to spearhead an international effort to use AI to verify compliance with the global biological weapons treaty Tuesday. That will require buy-in from the world leaders…
thebulletin.org
September 24, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Telling assembled world leaders at the United Nations that their countries "are going to hell" and asking "what is the purpose of the UN" is probably not the best way for President Trump to start the process of earning buy-in for a bioweapons prevention plan, writes @mattyfield.bsky.social.