Joe Rojas-Burke
@rojasburke.bsky.social
I'm a #ScienceWriter based in Arizona (most of the time) and in Brooklyn. Sharing stuff about science, journalism, politics, beloved plants and animals, #RockClimbing, #Bicycling, #Gardening...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
The first strike was also a war crime
This would be, without any doubt, a war crime committed by the United States. We prosecuted Germans and Japanese for doing this exact thing in WWII.
December 4, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The first strike was also a war crime
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
I spoke to the New York Times in this great explainer piece by Charlie Savage
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
December 4, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I spoke to the New York Times in this great explainer piece by Charlie Savage
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
If I saw a "murder hornet," I'd be running in the other direction. But these wee frogs think they're tasty snacks—even though they get stung repeatedly while consuming them. That story and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
December 4, 2025 at 4:43 PM
If I saw a "murder hornet," I'd be running in the other direction. But these wee frogs think they're tasty snacks—even though they get stung repeatedly while consuming them. That story and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
98% of tree crops & 75% of greenhouses in Gaza were destroyed in the Gaza war. Remote sensing studies like this “can play a critical role in restoration and recovery efforts in Gaza by providing an evidence-based foundation for agricultural rehabilitation.”—Najat Aoun Saliba
98% of Gaza’s Tree Cropland Destroyed by Israel - Eos
Maps based on remote sensing analysis could inform remediation efforts by identifying whether agricultural lands were damaged by bombs, debris, or forced displacement of its caretakers.
eos.org
December 4, 2025 at 4:44 PM
98% of tree crops & 75% of greenhouses in Gaza were destroyed in the Gaza war. Remote sensing studies like this “can play a critical role in restoration and recovery efforts in Gaza by providing an evidence-based foundation for agricultural rehabilitation.”—Najat Aoun Saliba
Fall colors (in Arizona). It's my first autumn in the Sonoran Desert and the seasons feel so upside down. Yesterday I watched a pair of birds, curve billed thrashers, building a nest in the secure stronghold of a cholla cactus.
December 4, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Fall colors (in Arizona). It's my first autumn in the Sonoran Desert and the seasons feel so upside down. Yesterday I watched a pair of birds, curve billed thrashers, building a nest in the secure stronghold of a cholla cactus.
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Open AI doesn't want to be transparent about what's in their datasets - this bill would force them. If you're pro AI regulation (esp if you're in Bay Area), please show up and offer your support for this bill! If you can't make it, help spread the word!
RSVP link: bit.ly/44lRMsX Details below 👇
RSVP link: bit.ly/44lRMsX Details below 👇
December 3, 2025 at 10:33 PM
Open AI doesn't want to be transparent about what's in their datasets - this bill would force them. If you're pro AI regulation (esp if you're in Bay Area), please show up and offer your support for this bill! If you can't make it, help spread the word!
RSVP link: bit.ly/44lRMsX Details below 👇
RSVP link: bit.ly/44lRMsX Details below 👇
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
BREAKING: All House Democrats have signed our discharge petition to extend the ACA tax credits.
That makes 214.
We can protect health care and lower costs — if only 4 Republicans will join us.
That makes 214.
We can protect health care and lower costs — if only 4 Republicans will join us.
December 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM
BREAKING: All House Democrats have signed our discharge petition to extend the ACA tax credits.
That makes 214.
We can protect health care and lower costs — if only 4 Republicans will join us.
That makes 214.
We can protect health care and lower costs — if only 4 Republicans will join us.
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Official government discrimination encourages *private* discrimination, as surely as night follows day.
Fox News' Will Cain: "I’m sure there are very honorable law-abiding upstanding citizens and contributors from the Somali community here in the United States, BUT..."
He goes on to say "we aren’t going to pretend here that all cultures are of equal value or the same."
He goes on to say "we aren’t going to pretend here that all cultures are of equal value or the same."
December 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Official government discrimination encourages *private* discrimination, as surely as night follows day.
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Everybody standing there:
December 3, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Everybody standing there:
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
This is one of those things that I think is quietly important – when these people are talking shit about cities, Portland or Minneapolis or New York or Charlotte or wherever, you have to loudly say, “no, fuck you, you’re lying, that town and its people whip ass and you’re the asshole”
“I walk around Portland, and I go, ‘Fuck you, assholes. Portland is fine.’” - John Darnielle, @themountaingoats.bsky.social. We're proud to claim you as a Portlander, sir.
The Mountain Goats Ascend to Revolution Hall
Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle discusses musicals, his new album, and why he keeps coming home to Portland.
www.wweek.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:46 PM
This is one of those things that I think is quietly important – when these people are talking shit about cities, Portland or Minneapolis or New York or Charlotte or wherever, you have to loudly say, “no, fuck you, you’re lying, that town and its people whip ass and you’re the asshole”
It took years, but finally that Roundup paper ghost-written by Monsanto has been retracted. The whole episode is indicative of a terrible rot that is active in corners of scientific publishing.
www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...
www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...
Influential study on glyphosate safety retracted 25 years after publication
A 2000 study that concluded the well-known herbicide glyphosate was safe, widely cited since then, has just been officially disavowed by the journal that published it. The scientists are suspected of ...
www.lemonde.fr
December 3, 2025 at 4:58 PM
It took years, but finally that Roundup paper ghost-written by Monsanto has been retracted. The whole episode is indicative of a terrible rot that is active in corners of scientific publishing.
www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...
www.lemonde.fr/en/environme...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Federal Government Announces Racial Profiling Campaign, Explains It’s Because of the President’s Personal Bigotry
Officials prepare immigration operation in Minnesota that would focus on Somali immigrants, source tells AP, as Trump says he doesn't want Somalis in U.S.
Federal authorities plan operation in Minnesota focusing on Somali immigrants, AP source says
Federal authorities are preparing an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, focusing on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S.
bit.ly
December 2, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Federal Government Announces Racial Profiling Campaign, Explains It’s Because of the President’s Personal Bigotry
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.
December 2, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.
I love how this German interviewer quickly responds to misleading answers and annotates the finished Q&A with clarifying notes about the US push to burn more fossil fuels, withdraw from the Paris Agreement, abandon wind & solar
www.spiegel.de/internationa...
www.spiegel.de/internationa...
Project 2025 Author: "We Won't Let Anyone Stop US from Using Our Oil and Gas"
She's not a big fan of electric cars and solar energy, but she does like coal: Diana Furchtgott-Roth is one of the leading authors of "Project 2025." DER SPIEGEL wanted to know more about how the Heri...
www.spiegel.de
December 1, 2025 at 7:19 PM
I love how this German interviewer quickly responds to misleading answers and annotates the finished Q&A with clarifying notes about the US push to burn more fossil fuels, withdraw from the Paris Agreement, abandon wind & solar
www.spiegel.de/internationa...
www.spiegel.de/internationa...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Karoline Leavitt's Thanksgiving spread. Please dissect.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
November 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Karoline Leavitt's Thanksgiving spread. Please dissect.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
This is in the running for my favorite lecture slide ever
November 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
This is in the running for my favorite lecture slide ever
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Scoop: Provisions of the NDAA that would ensure military members’ right to repair their own equipment are set to be removed from the funding act, replaced by language that will require the military to pay subscription fees to defense contractors via “data-as-a-service.”
www.wired.com/story/subscr...
www.wired.com/story/subscr...
The US Military Wants to Fix Its Own Equipment. Defense Contractors Are Trying to Shoot That Down
A push by military contractors could alter pending legislation that would have empowered servicemembers to repair equipment. Lobbyists are pitching a subscription service instead.
www.wired.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Scoop: Provisions of the NDAA that would ensure military members’ right to repair their own equipment are set to be removed from the funding act, replaced by language that will require the military to pay subscription fees to defense contractors via “data-as-a-service.”
www.wired.com/story/subscr...
www.wired.com/story/subscr...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
“unsurprising” and “damning for the president, the attorney general and the solicitor general”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Times Analysis Finds Errors in Trump’s Supreme Court Filing That Calls for National Guard in Chicago
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:50 PM
“unsurprising” and “damning for the president, the attorney general and the solicitor general”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/u...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
November 25, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
"Suffering without meaning is very hard for most people to bear. Children’s Health Defense, like religion, helps people put their suffering in context. It offers people explanations that fuse spirituality and science."
Very on the mark, this op-ed about anti-vaxers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Very on the mark, this op-ed about anti-vaxers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Opinion | I Went to an Anti-Vaccine Conference. Medicine Is in Trouble.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
"Suffering without meaning is very hard for most people to bear. Children’s Health Defense, like religion, helps people put their suffering in context. It offers people explanations that fuse spirituality and science."
Very on the mark, this op-ed about anti-vaxers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Very on the mark, this op-ed about anti-vaxers
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
The BBC removed a line about Trump being the most openly corrupt president in American history...from a lecture about the cowardice of today's elites.
I wonder if the BBC has heard of the Streisand Effect
I wonder if the BBC has heard of the Streisand Effect
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 11:35 AM
The BBC removed a line about Trump being the most openly corrupt president in American history...from a lecture about the cowardice of today's elites.
I wonder if the BBC has heard of the Streisand Effect
I wonder if the BBC has heard of the Streisand Effect
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
On Friday, Washington reported that the person hospitalized with the bird flu H5N5 has died.
The CDC's bird flu tracker hasn't updated to include the death. I haven't seen a press release. Last year, that would have at least been scheduled by now. doh.wa.gov/newsroom/gra...
The CDC's bird flu tracker hasn't updated to include the death. I haven't seen a press release. Last year, that would have at least been scheduled by now. doh.wa.gov/newsroom/gra...
Grays Harbor County resident dies from complications of avian influenza
For immediate release: November 21, 2025 (25-140) Contact: DOH Communications The person was infected with the H5N5 virus; the risk to the public remains low OLYMPIA – A Grays Harbor County resident w...
doh.wa.gov
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
On Friday, Washington reported that the person hospitalized with the bird flu H5N5 has died.
The CDC's bird flu tracker hasn't updated to include the death. I haven't seen a press release. Last year, that would have at least been scheduled by now. doh.wa.gov/newsroom/gra...
The CDC's bird flu tracker hasn't updated to include the death. I haven't seen a press release. Last year, that would have at least been scheduled by now. doh.wa.gov/newsroom/gra...
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
Reposted by Joe Rojas-Burke
“global reinsurance companies have had what the researchers call a ‘climate epiphany’ and have roughly doubled the rates.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
A Climate ‘Shock’ Is Eroding Some Home Values. New Data Shows How Much. (Gift Article)
Changes in the insurance market have started to affect home prices in the most disaster-prone areas, new research finds, pushing some homeowners’ finances to the breaking point.
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“global reinsurance companies have had what the researchers call a ‘climate epiphany’ and have roughly doubled the rates.” www.nytimes.com/interactive/...