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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Knowable Magazine @knowablemag.bsky.social · 21d

NASA’s Perseverance rover has found that particular parts of the rock are enriched with elements and minerals that — on Earth— can indicate microbes at work, @humbertobasilio.bsky.social reports in @sciam.bsky.social #astro #astronomy

This Martian Rock Might Be the Closest We’ve Come to Finding Alien Life

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Jason Dinh @byjasonpdinh.bsky.social · 23d

they're bricks. they get hot. and they could be the climate movement's next big thing

@humbertobasilio.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social on why heat batteries could be the next trillion-dollar industry 🧪🌎

This Brick Is the World’s Most Boring Climate Solution | Atmos

Thermal batteries promise round-the-clock renewable heat, offering a faster path to decarbonizing carbon-intensive industries.

atmos.earth

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Jason Dinh @byjasonpdinh.bsky.social · 28d

NEW: a first-ever study has directly tied heatwaves to the world's biggest climate polluters

each of these "carbon majors"—including Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP—has made between 16 and 53 otherwise impossible heat waves since 2000 possible.

@humbertobasilio.bsky.social for @atmosmag.bsky.social 🧪🌎

New Study Links 174 Companies to Deadly Heat Waves | Atmos

A first-of-its-kind study directly ties corporate emissions from oil, gas, and coal producers to rising heat waves worldwide.

atmos.earth

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Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · 28d

In the middle of the “second space race,” NASA scientists say we may be looking at the closest evidence yet of ancient life on Mars 🔭🧪

My story for @sciam.bsky.social with edits from @leebillings.bsky.social

www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-t...

This Martian Rock Might Be the Closest We’ve Come to Finding Alien Life

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 28d

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: The Mars rock that made headlines last year is still worth getting excited about. A new study says the case remains strong for potential biosignatures in the "Cheyava Falls" rock studied and sampled by the Perseverance rover.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-t...

This Martian Rock Might Be the Closest We’ve Come to Finding Alien Life

The Perseverance rover’s new findings set the stage for bringing Martian samples back to Earth to test whether microbes once inhabited the Red Planet

www.scientificamerican.com

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Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Sep 5

🚨 An environmental injustice we already knew but data confirms: children from marginalized communities in the U.S. attend the schools most exposed to heat waves. They’re often the same kids without air-conditioning at school — and very likely at home too, sources say

My story for @sciam.bsky.social

Kids from Marginalized Communities Are Learning in the Hottest Classrooms

The first national study of its kind shows that children from marginalized communities are more exposed to extreme heat events

www.scientificamerican.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Alexa Robles-Gil @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social · Jul 31

An ancient hybrid of tomatoes and potato-like plants may have given rise to the modern spud, a new study suggests.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/s...

What’s a Potato? A Nine-Million-Year-Old Tomato.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

The Xylom @thexylom.com · Jul 31

NEW: The Trump administration's dismantling of USAID is fueling a black market of HIV medication in Zimbabwe. Desperate nurses are plundering PrEP and PEP pills from the hospitals where they work, and selling them to sex workers well-funded by their Asian clients, worsening the country's HIV crisis.

Zimbabwe's HIV Medicine Black Market is Flush with Sex Workers and Asian Cash

Legally purchasing PreP and PEP pills from private pharmacies can be expensive for sex workers, who are required to submit to expensive medical tests on top of purchasing the pills.

www.thexylom.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) @spun.earth · Jul 25

SPUN is featured in @science.org in a piece written by @humbertobasilio.bsky.social. Learn where some of the most unique fungal communities exist, such as West Africa’s Guinean forests, Tasmania’s temperate rainforests, and Brazil’s Cerrado savanna.

Read here: www.science.org/content/arti...

Most of Earth’s critical underground fungus is unprotected

First global map of mushrooms that form beneficial relationships with plant roots reveals 90% live outside of conservation areas

www.science.org

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Alexa Robles-Gil @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social · Jul 21

Once a surfer's paradise, a string of deadly attacks made Réunion Island synonymous with one word only: sharks. But a team of scientists turned this tiny island into a hub of lifesaving research. For @science.org, I wrote about this fascinating place.

www.science.org/content/arti...

How a string of deadly shark attacks made a remote island a hub of lifesaving research

After 11 deaths, Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean became a center for shark attack science

www.science.org

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · Jul 3

Studying the AHA! moments. This story about insight by @humbertobasilio.bsky.social is truly inspiring. Take on the test within to see if you feel it, too.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Eureka! The brain science behind lightbulb moments

Experiences of insight come with a burst of brain activity — and a memory boost.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · May 29

NEW: The US government has collected DNA from over 100,000 migrant children—including a 4-year-old—and uploaded their genetic profiles into a national biometric database meant for sex offenders and violent criminals.

www.wired.com/story/cbp-dn...

The US Is Storing Migrant Children’s DNA in a Criminal Database

Customs and Border Protection has swabbed the DNA of migrant children as young as 4, whose genetic data is uploaded to an FBI-run database that can track them if they commit crimes in the future.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · May 15

A principled student said in a grad speech that the “only appropriate thing to say in this moment” is to acknowledge the “atrocities” currently being committed in Palestine.

In response, NYU is withholding their diploma + apologizing to the community for the trauma the audience was “subjected to.”

NYU strongly denounces the choice by a student at the Gallatin School’s graduation today—one of over 20 school graduation ceremonies across our campus—to misuse his role as student speaker to express his personal and one-sided political views.
“He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules. The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.
“NYU is deeply sorry that the audience was subjected to these remarks and that this moment was stolen by someone who abused a privilege that was conferred upon him.”

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · May 8

Just published: US scientists who received renewals from the NIH over the past four decades produced more novel research than those who didn’t, study finds

You can then imagine what happens when scientists are shut out of renewals by Trump's NIH

Article by the talented @humbertobasilio.bsky.social

Renewal of NIH grants linked to more innovative results, study finds

Survey of hundreds of scientists’ work suggests that cutting off funding disrupts focus and reduces the novelty of research.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Apr 24

Jon Lee Anderson profiles Alexandre de Moraes, the crusading Brazilian jurist who took on the Bolsonarist insurrection—and Elon Musk.

The Brazilian Judge Taking On the Digital Far Right

Alexandre de Moraes’s efforts to fight extremism online have pitted him against Jair Bolsonaro, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump.

nyer.cm

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Sarahbeth Maney @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social · Apr 25

www.propublica.org/article/nike...

Nike Says Its Factory Workers Earn Nearly Double the Minimum Wage. At This Cambodian Factory, 1% Made That Much.

Nike has made an expansive effort to convince consumers, investors and others that it is improving the lives of factory workers who make its products, not exploiting them. A rare view of wages at one ...

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Apr 23

Sarah Stillman investigates a crisis of care in county jails: a scandal involving, at its worst, state-sponsored homicides of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

Starved in Jail

Why are incarcerated people dying from lack of food or water, even as private companies are paid millions for their care?

www.newyorker.com

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Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Apr 19

Mi Ro <3

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Alexa Robles-Gil @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social · Apr 2

In Mexico, a planned gas terminal threatens an important whale sanctuary. The controversial megaproject would routinely send huge tankers through the Gulf of California. If the project moves forward, "we are going to regret it a lot," a whale researcher told me.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Mexican whale researchers sound the alarm on an energy megaproject

A planned gas terminal would routinely send huge tankers through a marine mammal oasis, scientists fear

www.science.org

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Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 25

@aaup.bsky.social

Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 19

The smartest and most beautiful person I know will now be covering Science for The New York Times. Please go follow her to keep reading her amazing work.

Te amo, Alexa 🦭❤️

Alexa Robles-Gil @alexaroblesgil.bsky.social · Mar 19

So happy to share I'll be joining the @nytimes.com as a reporting fellow on the science desk in June! I'm feeling really grateful and excited for this opportunity to continue covering science

www.nytco.com/careers/news...

2025-26 Fellows | The New York Times Company

www.nytco.com

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Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 19

@eso.org

Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 19

@astronomy.blue @emily.space

Humberto Basilio @humbertobasilio.bsky.social · Mar 19

🚨The world's darkest skies are at risk. A massive hydrogen plant could cause enough light pollution to affect the observations of the most powerful telescopes on earth.

It could be “the beginning of the end” for astronomy in Chile, scientists say

My story @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Light pollution threatens fleet of world-class telescopes in Atacama Desert

The effects of a proposed green-energy facility in Chile could be devastating for some of the most powerful instruments available to astronomers.

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Humberto Basilio

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · Mar 17

"At this point I believe my academic career is effectively over"--a postdoc studying schizophrenia at Columbia, in the wake of the government's $400 million funding cut. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

‘My career is over’: Columbia University scientists hit hard by Trump team’s cuts

The US government has begun slashing US$400 million in research grants at Columbia University over pro-Palestinian campus protests.

www.nature.com

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