Nicholas A. Christakis

@nachristakis.bsky.social

20K followers 570 following 900 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%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Clark Gray

Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 2h

The “malleability of students to what they study” seems exactly right to me but it’s so good to have empirical confirmation.

The riskiness of STEM focus feels like it doesn’t *need* to be true yet probably *is* true in most settings, whereas the political consequences probably vary across settings?

We examine the impacts of assignment to STEM vs. humanities-focused curricula in Romania’s high school system. We apply a regression discontinuity design to administrative and survey data to estimate effects on educational pathways, desired careers, and non-cognitive outcomes. An overarching theme of our findings is the malleability of students to what they study. Assignment to STEM increases STEM college enrollment and technology or engineering career intentions by 25 pp. Exploring mechanisms, we find that STEM assignment changes students’ self-perceived academic abilities and their preferences over academic subjects and job tasks. STEM assignment is risky for low-achieving students, reducing their chances of passing a high school exit exam and enrolling in college. A final finding is that STEM makes boys more conservative, while shifting some of girls' views to the left. Our results identify a strategy for promoting STEM higher education and careers, but also highlight potential tradeoffs.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Anthropology.net @anthropology.net · 1d

A mosaic patolli board embedded in a Classic Maya floor at Naachtun reveals deliberate design, elite gaming, and a rare architectural innovation. This fifth-century board reshapes how archaeologists understand Mesoamerican play. #Maya #Archaeology #Games #Anthropology

The Game Set Into Stone

A mosaic patolli board buried in a Classic Maya household floor forces archaeologists to rethink how games were built, used, and valued.

www.anthropology.net

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

Yes, they are both super smart and articulate, and I learned something.

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d

Fabulous conversation about whether we have free will or not, by Robert Sapolsky and Peter Tse. I think that the constraint that time unfolds forward not backward is a crucial component of this debate, nicely illustrated by Tse.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSxe...

Free Will Debate: Sapolsky vs Tse مناظره اراده آزاد: پروفسور ساپولسکی و پروفسور تسه

YouTube video by پادکست هشیوار

www.youtube.com

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d

I’m glad you liked it. :-)

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks for catching that. I’ll delete and update!

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Brigitte Nerlich

Joshua Bull @joshuabull.bsky.social · 3d

I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack

oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...

Oxford Clarion's "Cat map" of Oxford cats

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

That wins the internet today.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Cognition @cognitionjournal.bsky.social · 4d

How early do children grasp mathematical patterns? In a new Cognition paper, Ciccione et al. show that 5–6-year-olds can intuitively extend lines, curves and oscillating patterns, revealing rich proto-mathematical intuitions before schooling.

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 4d

Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1)

Music by Philip Glass

x.com/donga16/stat...

Gaetano La Rosa on X: "Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1) Music by Philip Glass Pianos: Katia and Marielle Labèque Arrangements: Michael Riesman Video by Ronan Day-Lewis Starring Lena Christakis and Rocco Rinaldi-Rose https://t.co/Zs7uWbkfXm https://t.co/LJONd5giZA" / X

Katia & Marielle Labèque – Philip Glass: Les enfants terribles: Paul is dying (Part 1) Music by Philip Glass Pianos: Katia and Marielle Labèque Arrangements: Michael Riesman Video by Ronan Day-Lewis Starring Lena Christakis and Rocco Rinaldi-Rose https://t.co/Zs7uWbkfXm https://t.co/LJONd5giZA

x.com

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 4d

“There are universities now that are creating centers for open inquiry. What is a university if not a center for open inquiry? Why would we need such a center? That anyone suggests such a center should raise a lot of eyebrows.” www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

Why Jill Lepore Nearly Quit Harvard

The prosecutorial culture was “miserable.” She stayed, but has come to regret her silence at the time.

www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, David W. Lawson

Brian Wood @woodbrian.bsky.social · 6d

In 2008, after killing many of their neighbors, Ngogo chimpanzees expanded their territory. Female fertility then doubled, and infant mortality plummeted. Adaptive violence in our ape cousins, documented in this new paper. www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

Female fertility and infant survivorship increase following lethal intergroup aggression and territorial expansion in wild chimpanzees | PNAS

Lethal coalitionary intergroup aggression is a conspicuous aspect of wild chimpanzee behavior. Evidence indicates that such violence can lead to te...

www.pnas.org

Reposted by Neil Shephard, Emma Zang

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 6d

Yale’s Institute for Foundations of Data Science (FDS) @yaledatascience.bsky.social is seeking applications for postdoctoral positions. These are cool, generously supported, competitive positions, expected to last 2-3 years, for independent scholars working on the foundations of data science.

Yale University, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science

Job #AJO31114, Postdoc in Foundations of Data Science, Institute for the Foundations of Data Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US

academicjobsonline.org

Reposted by David Lazer, Zen Faulkes

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 6d

Researchers have tagged more than 400 monarch butterflies and are following their journeys on a cellphone app (and you can too). They are using a tiny solar-powered radio tag that weighs just 60 milligrams and sells for $200 (monarchs weigh 500 to 600 milligrams).

We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies. It’s a Revelation.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Nicholas A. Christakis, David Lazer , and 1 more Lisa W. Fazio, Nicholas A. Christakis, David Lazer, Elizabeth Stokoe

Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 6d

Important new analysis identifying the scope of clinical trials disrupted because of NIH shenanigans.

> 74 thousand trial participants affected

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

1/4

Clinical Trials Affected by Research Grant Terminations at the National Institutes of Health

This cross-sectional study summarizes the number of trials with terminated grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and calculates the proportion of affected trials among those with previou...

jamanetwork.com

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 6d

In muddy sediments, bacteria build electrically conducting wires. These miniature electricians, known as cable bacteria, form a super-organism and craft tiny plates out of nickel and organic compounds and bundle and braid them into conductive fibers.

Metal scaffolds turn bacteria into live wires

Mud-dwelling cable bacteria construct metal organic frameworks to grow

www.science.org

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 6d

"Congress should revive the Bivens Act and strike qualified immunity. Anything less is an endorsement of a two-tiered system of justice—one for the rulers and another for the ruled."

www.wsj.com/opinion/a-se...

Opinion | A Senators-Only Right to Sue in Shutdown Deal

In their legislation reopening the government, senators awarded themselves a legal power to sue the government that should be universal.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Nicholas A. Christakis, Brendan Nyhan , and 3 more Anna O. Law, Nicholas A. Christakis, Brendan Nyhan, Andrew L. Whitehead, Brian Murphy, Nicole Guenther Discenza

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 8d

The Christian right for decades has fear-mongered that federal agents (under Dem presidents) would "criminalize" Christianity and literally prevent them from worshipping.

Now that Trump's stormtroopers are doing it ... crickets

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 8d

Here’s a story for every national news outlet:

In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.

“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”

www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...

6d Listen to this article
Congregants of an east Charlotte church scattered into the woods Saturday when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of their members, according to witnesses.
About 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property off Albemarle Road while their children played games and their spouses cooked meals.
Agents parked just outside a closed gate leading to the church parking lot and ran into the yard, said the pastor, who did not want to identify himself or his church.

The agents asked no questions and showed no identification before taking one man away, whose wife and child were inside at the time, the pastor said. They attempted to grab others, too.
"Right now, everybody is scared. Everybody," he said. "One of these guys with immigration, he say he was going to arrest one of the other guys in the church. He pushed him."
Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken. Some yard workers fled into the surrounding woods when officials arrived, including 15-year-old Miguel Vazquez.

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

Here I am with my daughter, Lenna Christakis, www.lennachristakis.com at the Beinecke Library in 2019. :-)

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

Georgia O’Keefe taking exactly zero crap: “People often wonder why I am reluctant to grant permission for such things; this situation is exactly the type that makes me feel this way.”

More fine letters in the holdings of @yale.edu Beinecke Library:

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

Plus, a bonus: Kahlo mentions the frescos that 'Diego' was so 'happy' to be painting in Detroit. Which, oh, would be this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit...

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

Two of the greatest painters of the 20th century, Kahlo and O'Keefe, and OF COURSE it would be hard for Kahlo to find the right flowers for O'Keefe (who, I think, was hospitalized for depression when Kahlo was writing).

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

On 3/1/33, Frida Kahlo wrote Georgia O'Keefe an incredible letter that I held in my hands at @yale.edu Beinecke Library in 2019.

This brought me to tears: "If you [are] still in the hospital when I come back, I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you."

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Rebecca Solnit , and 23 more Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Rebecca Solnit, Nicholas A. Christakis, Will Jennings, Euan G. Ritchie, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Mary Feeney, Leigh Sparks, Ryan Enos, Tuomas Mattila, Melanie C. Green, Laurent Dubois, Andrew L. Whitehead, John Heathershaw, Michael D. McDonald, James Goodwin, Brian Keegan, Manuel Puppis, Brian Weatherson, Stuart White, Jason A. Heppler, Nancy M. Wingfield, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 9d

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

“Faith leader, Michael Woolf, minister at Lake Street Church of Evanston, is detained by Illinois State Police during a protest against immigration actions, outside the Broadview ICE facility in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 14, 2025. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska”

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

Surojit Sural @surojitsural.bsky.social · 9d

The mind-bending power of placebo

Studies with open-label placebos — sugar pills given without deception — suggest that the placebo effect is more psychologically complex than previously thought.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The mind-bending power of placebo - Nature Medicine

Studies with open-label placebos — sugar pills given without deception — suggest that the placebo effect is more psychologically complex than previously thought.

www.nature.com

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 10d

Chinese state-backed hackers hijacked Claude Code to run one of the first AI-orchestrated cyber-espionage operations.

The operation targeted large tech companies, financial institutions, chemical manufacturing companies, and government agencies.

www.anthropic.com/news/disrupt...

Disrupting the first reported AI-orchestrated cyber espionage campaign

A report describing an a highly sophisticated AI-led cyberattack

www.anthropic.com

Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 10d

This policy is inconsistent, because, at the same time, they are defunding American scientists.

How can such research be so essential that we cannot tolerate Chinese scientists coming into remote contact with it, and yet it should be defunded within America?

Roland Hatzenpichler @environmicrobio.bsky.social · 10d

“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”

U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations

Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students

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