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Nicholas A. Christakis

@nachristakis.bsky.social

18K followers 560 following 810 posts

Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. Sociologist. Network Scientist. Physician. Author of Apollo's Arrow; Blueprint; Connected; and Death Foretold. Director of the Human Nature Lab: https://humannaturelab.net .. more

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Nicholas A. Christakis is a Greek American sociologist and physician known for his research on social networks and on the social, economic, biological, and evolutionary determinants of human welfare. He is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, where he directs the Human Nature Lab. He is also the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. .. more

Public Health 23%

Physics 18%

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 19h

Hope sure can write. :-)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Complexity Science Hub @csh.ac.at · 1d

Why do humans live in large-scale societies organized as states? Peter Turchin's "The Great Holocene Transformation" analyzes data from 800+ societies to reveal that #warfare between groups drove humanity's transformation from small bands to complex civilizations. 👉https://shorturl.at/D457n

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Reposted by Dean Eckles

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 1d

Super cool science: Parachutes are expensive and delicate to manufacture, which limits their use for humanitarian airdrops or drone delivery. Laser cutting a closed-loop kirigami pattern in a disc induces porosity and flexibility into an easily fabricated parachute. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Kirigami-inspired parachutes with programmable reconfiguration - Nature

A thin planar disc designed with appropriately patterned cuts transforms itself, due to air flow effects, into an effective parachute exhibiting good positional stability, regardless of its initial orientation.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Robb Willer @robbwiller.bsky.social · 2d

🚨New WP!🚨

Structured AI Dialogues Can Increase Happiness and Meaning in Life

In a preregistered RCT, four psychology-grounded #AI chatbots improved well-being across several outcomes.

Co-authors: Jonas Schoene, Johannes Eichstaedt, Aadesh Salecha, Sonja Lyubomirsky

🧵👇

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

NEJM.org @nejm.org · 2d

Plague is a high-consequence infectious disease with epidemic potential.

The latest video in our partnership with @glaucomflecken.bsky.social summarizes new research evaluating ciprofloxacin versus aminoglycoside–ciprofloxacin for bubonic plague in Madagascar. 👉 nej.md/DrG27

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Yale Data Science @yaledatascience.bsky.social · 3d

Join the Social Algorithms Workshop at Yale to learn how algorithms amplify ideas, and (sometimes) mislead us, organized by @jugander.bsky.social w/ talks by @brendannyhan.bsky.social & @informor.bsky.social. Use code sawitonX on last registration page for 25% off yalefds.swoogo.com/socialalgori...

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d

@cfcamerer.bsky.social wait doesn’t that violate the efficient markets hypothesis? ;-)

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin L. Foster , and 5 more Nicholas A. Christakis, Brendan Nyhan, Gavin L. Foster, Robert C. Richards, Melanie C. Green, Alan Richardson, Mary L. Dudziak, Nathan P. Kalmoe

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 5d

You.
Are.
Allowed.
To.
Insult.
The.
Police.

It’s a core First Amendment principle. This is utterly lawless behavior, for which there will be no (short-term) consequences.

That he does it so casually, as they are walking away, in front of cameras.

Rightly confident in his impunity.

“[t]he freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state.”

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Catherine J. Frieman, Noel D. Johnson

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 6d

Scientists revive old Bulgarian recipe to make yogurt with ants. Ants carry lactic and acetic acid bacteria that help coagulate milk, as well as formic acid to acidify it. They even partnered with Danish chefs to create three recipes using ant yogurt. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Scientists revive old Bulgarian recipe to make yogurt with ants

Ants carry lactic and acetic acid bacteria that help coagulate milk, as well as formic acid to acidify it.

arstechnica.com

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Megan Ranney MD MPH @meganranney.bsky.social · 7d

“Combination vaccines were developed to reduce missed opportunities, increase coverage and minimize the trauma of multiple injections … Undoing that progress would put children at risk."

*ps, my editorial note: they are also SAFE

www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-s...

Trump's call to split up the MMR childhood vaccine revives long-settled debate

President Trump's suggestion that the combination measles, mumps and rubella vaccine should be separated marks a sharp break from decades of immunization practice.

www.cbsnews.com

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Gordon Hodson

Zoe Liberman @zoeliberman.bsky.social · 7d

Spread the word: I'm looking to recruit a PhD student for Fall 2026 to @ucsb.bsky.social! Reach out if you are applying this cycle and hoping to study infant and child social cognition, specifically expectations about friendship and/or groups. Bonus: live in paradise! And.. 1/3

UCSB Campus. Meadow in the foreground with Storke Tower and mountains in the distance

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 7d

On the other hand, I wholly agree that the graver and more pressing threat is the ascendant right-wing assault on our universities (shockingly backed at the highest levels of government at the moment!). Great verve, consistency of thought, and credibility is required to repulse this.

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 7d

Judging from his mischaracterization of some facts, and his non-engagement with actual content of words in the volume, I am not sure it's "gold." And, well, he lacks fortitude to be non-anonymous (so far as I can see?), whereas those he criticizes are public in their views. @rebeccasear.bsky.social

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 8d

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground

ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

abc7chicago.com

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Iain Thomson @iainthomson.bsky.social · 8d

The Jane Goodall Institute threatened to sue Gary Larson over this cartoon.

Goodall told them not to be so stupid, sold it on a tshirt, and wrote the introduction to The Far Side Gallery 5. Absolute legend.

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 8d

A giant of a scientist, Jane Goodall, has died. www.cnn.com/2025/10/01/e...

Conservationist Jane Goodall, whose work revolutionized the study of primates, has died | CNN

Jane Goodall, whose lifelong work as a primatologist helped broaden the world’s understanding of animal behavior and emotions, has died, her institute said Wednesday. She was 91.

www.cnn.com

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 8d

NB @curtlanglotz.bsky.social

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 8d

I hope when I die it takes place during a faculty meeting — because the transition will be so imperceptible.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Cameron Campbell, Gema Zamarro , and 1 more Nicholas A. Christakis, Cameron Campbell, Gema Zamarro, Florencia Torche

Emma Zang @dremmazang.bsky.social · 9d

🚨 We’re hiring! Yale Sociology is searching for a Senior Quantitative Sociologist to join our department.

Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174709

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

apply.interfolio.com

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Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Nicholas A. Christakis, Will Jennings , and 5 more Elizabeth Saunders, Nicholas A. Christakis, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Melissa R. Michelson, Ameet Sarpatwari, R. Daniel Kelemen, Kate Starbird

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 9d

I have never seen such a blistering rebuke of a President by a federal judge. He is telling us clearly to stand up for our liberty against a dictator. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Brian Keegan

NetSci 2026 @netsciconf.bsky.social · 9d

📌 Save the Date!

The flagship conference of the Network Science Society - 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗦𝗰𝗶 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 - is coming to Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭-𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.
Prepare to share ideas, discoveries & challenges in network science.

Registration opens soon! 🔗 www.netsci2026.com

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Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 10d

MAGA is embracing the kind of tactics it once deplored, Idrees Kahloon argues. "A culture of self-censorship is destructive. But prescribing state ideology as a cure is like treating a migraine with a lobotomy."

America’s Illiberalism Doom Loop

Republicans had real grievances with progressive orthodoxy—and are using them to justify drastic reprisals.

bit.ly

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 11d

If you are going to make sensible comments about political strategy, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Complexity Science Hub @csh.ac.at · 13d

#SpreadtheWord
We are looking for #PhD candidates passionate about using large-scale data analysis, quantitative models, and complexity science to study the complex interactions within #epidemiology, #OneHealth, and #publichealthsystems.
More info: csh.ac.at/education/gr...

Graduate Program * Complexity Science Hub

Courses are offered both by CSH and by our partner universities, one of which will serve as the degree-granting entity. Students will be guided to the

csh.ac.at

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Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 14d

If 90 percent of the field adores you and 10 percent will describe you as “difficult,” you’re likely screwed, career-wise.

www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

Why Aren’t Professors Braver?

Fear and self-censorship in academe.

www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Stuart Atkinson @stuartatkinson.bsky.social · 16d

Yesterday Curiosity took pix of jagged peaks in the distance with its ChemCam. I stitched them together, did some work on them, and... just look at that view... I've been doing this since Sojourner landed & this is one of my fave images ever... Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/S Atkinson

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Reposted by Jonathan H. Adler

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 16d

The rise in cancellations that began around 2014 was initially celebrated by the left... as “consequence culture.” Now comes the inevitable role reversal. Vice President JD Vance urged those who saw people celebrating Kirk’s assassination to “call them out,” including by calling “their employer.”

Opinion | The Censorship You Practice Today Will Be Used Against You Tomorrow

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Anna Nagurney

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 18d

My afternoon lecture at the Kyiv School of Economics, on Social Network interventions, was interrupted halfway through by an air raid, so we relocated to a subterranean bomb shelter, and simply continued, near some blast doors. This was a common experience for these students and teachers.

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 18d

The rector, Tymofii Brik, and the President, Timofiy Mylovanov, are pushing this KSE on an impressive trajectory.

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