Nicholas A. Christakis
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nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis
@nachristakis.bsky.social
22K followers 580 following 1K 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

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 4h
The morphospace lives on.
ricardsole.bsky.social Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 7h
Why does life explore so few of the forms it could possibly take? Using fractal descriptors, this #scienceadvances paper shows that Earth’s biosphere clusters around simple shapes, reflecting deep evolutionary constraints. @artemyte.bsky.social @manlius.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

ricardsole.bsky.social
Ricard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 7h
Why does life explore so few of the forms it could possibly take? Using fractal descriptors, this #scienceadvances paper shows that Earth’s biosphere clusters around simple shapes, reflecting deep evolutionary constraints. @artemyte.bsky.social @manlius.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Mark Bray, Norbert Schwarz , and 30 more

mims.bsky.social
Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 1d
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:

* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon

The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire

www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
www.wsj.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d
And here is Prof. Arthur Galston's response, verbatim, to the challenge of coping with the abuse of one's scientific work.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUL0...
The Galston Answer
YouTube video by For the Love of Science
www.youtube.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d
Oppenheimer said "I am become Shiva, the destroyer of worlds." But what if your scientific work is used in (less extreme) harmful ways? How should a scientist cope with this?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoAg...
What to Do if Your Work is Abused
YouTube video by For the Love of Science
www.youtube.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 2d
A Kavanaugh stop lasting 25 days in jail?
mims.bsky.social Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 2d
ICE releases Maryland woman attorneys say is US citizen after 25 days in detention

"A young woman, whose family says she was born in Laurel and is a U.S. citizen, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Wednesday after 25 days in detention"

www.thebanner.com/community/ic...
Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22, was detained by ICE in Baltimore on Dec. 14. (Courtesy of the Morales Family)

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

mims.bsky.social
Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 2d
ICE releases Maryland woman attorneys say is US citizen after 25 days in detention

"A young woman, whose family says she was born in Laurel and is a U.S. citizen, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Wednesday after 25 days in detention"

www.thebanner.com/community/ic...
Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22, was detained by ICE in Baltimore on Dec. 14. (Courtesy of the Morales Family)

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Mark D. White

walterolson.bsky.social
Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 2d
The seven circuits to resolve the issue - the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, & 11th - all agree that the First Amendment protects the right to record police in public. The 8th, which covers Minnesota, hasn't joined yet but very likely would. My piece at @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social last fall.
DHS Says Videotaping ICE Agents Is Illegal. Federal Courts Disagree.
Filming law enforcement serves important goals central to a free republic.
www.cato.org

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Thanks for the kind words.

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Our new vlog

For the Love of Science

has weekly updates on the craft of science

at YouTube (youtube.com/@NAChristakis) or on Instagram (instagram.com/p/DTQbdgvAN-T/).

This week's installment:

What to Do if Your Work Is Abused
and
The Galston Answer
For the Love of Science
Weekly videos about the craft of science. A Human Nature Lab science outreach effort.
youtube.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Still, a scientist should not avoid doing work that might be used for bad ends for fear that it might be abused. The primary commitment of a scientist is to the truth.

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Here is the full reading of what my teacher, the botanist and Yale professor Arthur Galston, had to say about this challenge scientists can face, long ago, when he found that his work on plant hormones was unexpectedly used in Agent Orange:

The Galston Answer

youtube.com/watch?v=nUL0...
The Galston Answer
YouTube video by For the Love of Science
youtube.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
The solution to the challenge of others abusing one's scientific discoveries is to stay engaged. The work of a scientist doesn't stop upon publication.

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
I faced this challenge (of others abusing my work) when our paper on the social contagion of obesity appeared in 2007. People (and headlines) said you should "ditch your fat friends." I didn't expect this negative framing, or the death threats. I was very troubled by this.
www.nejm.org

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
New "For the Love of Science" short vlog:

What to Do if Your Work Is Abused

What should scientists do if their work is used for bad purposes?

youtube.com/watch?v=KoAg...
What to Do if Your Work is Abused
YouTube video by For the Love of Science
youtube.com

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

chrisbail.bsky.social
Chris Bail @chrisbail.bsky.social · 3d
Dr. Nicholas Christakis (@nachristakis.bsky.social ) will be joining us as a Keynote Speaker at the Conference on Society-Centered AI 2026 Feb 12-14th! Learn more and Register here: sites.duke.edu/scai/

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Yup! "This puts liberal critics of things like diversity statements in a bind. They’ve gotten what they want via a route that involved political pressure they oppose. How should internal critics of university illiberalism, of which you’ve been a vocal one, negotiate this weird situation?"
Randall Kennedy Is Afraid. He Thinks You Should Be Too.
The Harvard law professor on federal extortion, DEI overreach, and why defeating Trump in court won’t be enough.
www.chronicle.com

Reposted by Katharine Hayhoe, Nicholas A. Christakis, Elizabeth Stokoe , and 5 more

altmetric.com
Altmetric @altmetric.com · 3d
THREAD

The first full year of tracking research on @bsky.app

Hi, we are Altmetric, and we track how research is communicated across the web.

We now have one full calendar year of Bluesky research data and thought we'd have a looksie.
My name is Jeff meme with Altmetric replaced. Channing Tatum with his clothes on.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis

guygrossman.bsky.social
Guy Grossman @guygrossman.bsky.social · 3d
Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
Video: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis
An analysis of footage from three camera angles shows that the motorist was driving away from — not toward — a federal officer when he opened fire.
www.nytimes.com

nachristakis.bsky.social
Nicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 3d
Reaults like these have long suggested (eg Simon Conway Morris) that if there are exoplanets similar to earth, any life there might resemble terrestrial life in certain ways. Ecology is a powerful factor in evolution. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals - Nature
Comparisons of 154 genomes from 21 animal phyla and outgroups have been used to reconstruct ancestral adaptation to life on land across 11 distinct terrestrialization events, revealing strong evidence...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Colin F. Camerer, Richard E. Lenski , and 11 more

thetnholler.bsky.social
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 3d
WITNESS: "I just can't let this narrative of self-defense go any further. That’s absolutely not what it was… ICE agents didn’t let anyone help her for 15 minutes, then medics couldn’t get through with their ambulance.”

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Nicholas A. Christakis, John Horgan , and 11 more

allinwithchris.bsky.social
All In with Chris Hayes @allinwithchris.bsky.social · 3d
@chrislhayes.bsky.social: “A 37-year-old American citizen, the mother of a young child is dead tonight. She was shot in the face by an agent of the federal government, and that government has spent the day telling despicable lies about her.”

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis