Rowan Hooper
@rowhoop.bsky.social
Journalist and podcast host @newscientist.com. Former Tokyoite. Books: SUPERHUMAN (2018) and HOW TO SPEND A TRILLION DOLLARS (2021). Next book: TOGETHERNESS (2026). すごい!
Paying my respects to the Neolithic chieftain of Richmond Park, resting under this rain-soaked barrow
February 13, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Paying my respects to the Neolithic chieftain of Richmond Park, resting under this rain-soaked barrow
Reposted by Rowan Hooper
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
February 13, 2026 at 5:44 AM
In terms of what cures are being lost:
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
- Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis
- herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis
- shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease
Happy birthday to the legendary Gosh! Comics
February 12, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Happy birthday to the legendary Gosh! Comics
Reposted by Rowan Hooper
Welcome to the podcast MAGGIE ADERIN! Cc @pennysarchet.bsky.social
February 12, 2026 at 5:03 PM
Welcome to the podcast MAGGIE ADERIN! Cc @pennysarchet.bsky.social
Reposted by Rowan Hooper
And here’s the chair - with Dalek wheels - he sat in to write it #DarwinDay
November 24, 2024 at 7:43 PM
And here’s the chair - with Dalek wheels - he sat in to write it #DarwinDay
Between 1840 and 1880 Peru exported ~12.7 million tonnes of guano. The potato blight that devastated Ireland may have been a strain brought over in guano from Peru
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
Ancient Peruvian civilisation grew mighty by harvesting guano
The Chincha Kingdom was transporting seabird excrement from islands to valleys as early as the 13th century, and this powerful fertiliser may have been key to its economic success
www.newscientist.com
February 12, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Between 1840 and 1880 Peru exported ~12.7 million tonnes of guano. The potato blight that devastated Ireland may have been a strain brought over in guano from Peru
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
Absolutely amazing - and to be shown immediately if someone says "what about China?"
NEW ANALYSIS: China's CO2 has now been 'flat or falling' for 21 months
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
* Down in 2025
* Still below Mar 2024
* Clean energy wave a key factor
If this is China's peak (TBC) it's the climate story of the century so far…
www.carbonbrief.org/...
February 12, 2026 at 10:45 AM
Absolutely amazing - and to be shown immediately if someone says "what about China?"
In the Bronze Age there was probably a Jim Ratcliffe moaning about this
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
The surprising origins of Britain's Bronze Age immigrants revealed
About 4600 years ago, the population of Britain was replaced by a people who brought Bell Beaker pottery with them. Now, ancient DNA has uncovered the murky story of where these people came from
www.newscientist.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:35 AM
In the Bronze Age there was probably a Jim Ratcliffe moaning about this
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
www.newscientist.com/article/2515...
Celebrate #DarwinDay by having a pint in the pub, or a coffee in Leon, on 36 Great Marlborough St in Soho, where Darwin lived in his epic year 1837
February 12, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Celebrate #DarwinDay by having a pint in the pub, or a coffee in Leon, on 36 Great Marlborough St in Soho, where Darwin lived in his epic year 1837
Happy publication day to @jomarchant.bsky.social - IN SEARCH OF NOW is the freshest and most sense-making account of the conscious experience I’ve read in YEARS. Brilliant!
February 12, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Happy publication day to @jomarchant.bsky.social - IN SEARCH OF NOW is the freshest and most sense-making account of the conscious experience I’ve read in YEARS. Brilliant!
The newts have re-emerged!
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
The newts have re-emerged!
I hope this ruling fuels the rise of milk substitutes, especially microbial milk, as I wrote about here
February 11, 2026 at 2:44 PM
I hope this ruling fuels the rise of milk substitutes, especially microbial milk, as I wrote about here
don't they need a better lawyer? Surely the Oatly product is literally post-milk?
No, that was already the law. The Supreme Court's ruling is that Oatly cannot trademark the phrase "Post Milk Generation".
🚨 NEW: The Supreme Court has ruled that oat milk can no longer be called milk
February 11, 2026 at 2:36 PM
don't they need a better lawyer? Surely the Oatly product is literally post-milk?
Kanzi described as the “Einstein of his species” - but it suggests even wild bonobos have extraordinary and deep inner lives and imaginations
Kanzi, a bonobo with exceptional language skills, took part in a make-believe tea party that demonstrated cognitive abilities never seen before in non-human primates
Bonobo's pretend tea party shows capacity for imagination
Kanzi, a bonobo with exceptional language skills, took part in a make-believe tea party that demonstrated cognitive abilities never seen before in non-human primates
www.newscientist.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Kanzi described as the “Einstein of his species” - but it suggests even wild bonobos have extraordinary and deep inner lives and imaginations
Trees don't predict solar eclipses, amazing! (What's amazing is that the original paper was published in a Royal Society journal)
A follow-up to the debunk of trees anticipating solar eclipses. Wonderfully argued by Novoplansky, the lead author. (I accidentally deleted the original post).
figsinwintertime.substack.com/p/when-scien...
figsinwintertime.substack.com/p/when-scien...
When science worships its own shadow
On trees, eclipses, and the perils of belief
figsinwintertime.substack.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Trees don't predict solar eclipses, amazing! (What's amazing is that the original paper was published in a Royal Society journal)
Surely Oatly SHOULD be still allowed to use the phrase "Post Milk Generation"
The meaning of words is to be decided not by their use, usefulness, or history, but by their commercial benefit to the most powerful lobby groups. I have a recipe for almond milk in a cookbook from 1226. It has been used as a term in English for hundreds of years.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Oatly banned from using word ‘milk’ to market plant-based products in UK
Supreme court makes ruling after Swedish firm’s long-running battle with trade association Dairy UK
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Surely Oatly SHOULD be still allowed to use the phrase "Post Milk Generation"
Reposted by Rowan Hooper
Excited to be joining Bluesky! 👋 We’re the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, an interdisciplinary research centre at LSE. Our work is guided by ethical moonshots - ambitious, long‑term goals aimed at restoring a harmonious relationship between humans and other species.
🌐 lse.ac.uk/sentience
🌐 lse.ac.uk/sentience
The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience
lse.ac.uk
February 10, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Excited to be joining Bluesky! 👋 We’re the Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience, an interdisciplinary research centre at LSE. Our work is guided by ethical moonshots - ambitious, long‑term goals aimed at restoring a harmonious relationship between humans and other species.
🌐 lse.ac.uk/sentience
🌐 lse.ac.uk/sentience
This Sturla Holm Lægreid confession and now someone tracked down his ex.
It's a Winter Olympics episode of EastEnders.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
It's a Winter Olympics episode of EastEnders.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
‘It is hard to forgive’: former girlfriend of Norwegian Olympic biathlete responds to apology for affair
The former girlfriend of the Norwegian biathlete Sturla Holm Lægreid has responded to his very public apology for having had an affair
www.theguardian.com
February 11, 2026 at 11:28 AM
This Sturla Holm Lægreid confession and now someone tracked down his ex.
It's a Winter Olympics episode of EastEnders.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
It's a Winter Olympics episode of EastEnders.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...
Another El Niño could form this year, just 3 years after the last one. Even a moderate-strength one could make 2027 very hot.
February 11, 2026 at 9:32 AM
Another El Niño could form this year, just 3 years after the last one. Even a moderate-strength one could make 2027 very hot.
Just needs the Ski Sunday theme
Everybody knows that Pupper just won Downhill Gold
February 10, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Just needs the Ski Sunday theme
Loved THE LEGEND OF OCHI. And spotted on the wall of Emily Watson’s cabin: Darwin’s “I think” sketch of the tree of life from 1837
February 9, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Loved THE LEGEND OF OCHI. And spotted on the wall of Emily Watson’s cabin: Darwin’s “I think” sketch of the tree of life from 1837
Lindsey Vonn is 41. Over her the span of her career glaciers worldwide have lost ~273 gigatonnes in mass *annually* (figures from 2000 to 2023)
Thanks to the ever-courageous @LINDSEY VONN for showing yet another domain of courage: "As a ski racer, I've seen firsthand what global warming has done...[M]ost of the glaciers that I used to ski on are pretty much gone."
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
www.npr.org/2026/02/05/n...
Olympic athletes protest big oil
Several athletes are objecting to the International Olympic Committee over sponsorship of the Games by major oil companies. They say fossil fuel use threatens winter conditions needed for snow sports.
www.npr.org
February 9, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Lindsey Vonn is 41. Over her the span of her career glaciers worldwide have lost ~273 gigatonnes in mass *annually* (figures from 2000 to 2023)
Musk: “SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years”
On Kardashev type II civilisations and data centres in space
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z20p... (with @astrojonny.bsky.social)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z20p... (with @astrojonny.bsky.social)
Why Elon Musk Wants to Put 1 Million Satellites in Orbit
YouTube video by New Scientist
www.youtube.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Musk: “SpaceX has already shifted focus to building a self-growing city on the Moon, as we can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years”
Commentator: “he’s gone full Conan the Barbarian”
February 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Commentator: “he’s gone full Conan the Barbarian”