Michael Greshko
@michaelgreshko.bsky.social
Associate online news editor @Science. Freelance contributor to NYT, SciAm, WaPo, etc., and author of the Deviations newsletter. Former staff writer at National Geographic. Signal: mgreshko.01 https://linktr.ee/michaelgreshko
I edited @humbertobasilio.bsky.social’s recent story on how Venezuela’s scientists are faring after the US capture of Maduro.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
January 25, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I edited @humbertobasilio.bsky.social’s recent story on how Venezuela’s scientists are faring after the US capture of Maduro.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
The drawing in question, "Holy Child," is disputed. Some say Leonardo did it. Others instead attribute it to one of the polymath's students.
Now the drawing is the focus of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, a group of scientists on a decade-long odyssey to track down Leonardo's DNA.
Now the drawing is the focus of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, a group of scientists on a decade-long odyssey to track down Leonardo's DNA.
January 7, 2026 at 4:40 PM
The drawing in question, "Holy Child," is disputed. Some say Leonardo did it. Others instead attribute it to one of the polymath's students.
Now the drawing is the focus of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, a group of scientists on a decade-long odyssey to track down Leonardo's DNA.
Now the drawing is the focus of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, a group of scientists on a decade-long odyssey to track down Leonardo's DNA.
🧪🧵 In the Epstein documents released today, there's a "radical breakthrough" email Epstein sent himself in 2018, containing musings such as the idea that beards "are meant to catch and hold smells."
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
November 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
🧪🧵 In the Epstein documents released today, there's a "radical breakthrough" email Epstein sent himself in 2018, containing musings such as the idea that beards "are meant to catch and hold smells."
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Terrific reporting here from @sarareardon.bsky.social that very clearly lays out the stakes. A lot of these grants focus on HIV/AIDS—about 13% of South Africans live w/ HIV, more than anywhere else in the world—and tuberculosis (of interest to @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social?).
March 14, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Terrific reporting here from @sarareardon.bsky.social that very clearly lays out the stakes. A lot of these grants focus on HIV/AIDS—about 13% of South Africans live w/ HIV, more than anywhere else in the world—and tuberculosis (of interest to @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social?).
If I've got the orientation right, I don't think that #IM2 will be able to deploy either its rover or its hopper. This is my very rough working model of IM2's orientation on the lunar surface, looking from what should be the top of IM2 down toward its legs.
March 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM
If I've got the orientation right, I don't think that #IM2 will be able to deploy either its rover or its hopper. This is my very rough working model of IM2's orientation on the lunar surface, looking from what should be the top of IM2 down toward its legs.
Intuitive Machines has released a high-resolution picture from its #IM2 lander. And this does not look good for PRIME-1...which is the instrument that's on top of the sideways lander. Very hard to drill into lunar regolith when the drill lies parallel to the moon's surface.
March 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Intuitive Machines has released a high-resolution picture from its #IM2 lander. And this does not look good for PRIME-1...which is the instrument that's on top of the sideways lander. Very hard to drill into lunar regolith when the drill lies parallel to the moon's surface.
It's my understanding that as Society leadership saw things, the Fox deal was a unique opportunity to shore up the Society's long-term financial health. And they had a point: "Membership dues" (magazine subscriptions) and associated ad revenue had been in decline for 25 years by that point.
February 22, 2025 at 2:43 PM
It's my understanding that as Society leadership saw things, the Fox deal was a unique opportunity to shore up the Society's long-term financial health. And they had a point: "Membership dues" (magazine subscriptions) and associated ad revenue had been in decline for 25 years by that point.
Like, if you actually break down NASA's spending, the bulk of the agency's budget is paid out to contractors, not to staff.
www.usaspending.gov/explorer/age...
www.usaspending.gov/explorer/age...
February 18, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Like, if you actually break down NASA's spending, the bulk of the agency's budget is paid out to contractors, not to staff.
www.usaspending.gov/explorer/age...
www.usaspending.gov/explorer/age...
As it turns out, Otte Ventures is a shareholder of NextVision Media UG, along with a Munich resident named Matthias Binder and an Augsburg resident named Marcel Kuhn.
February 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
As it turns out, Otte Ventures is a shareholder of NextVision Media UG, along with a Munich resident named Matthias Binder and an Augsburg resident named Marcel Kuhn.
The CEO and cofounder of Animals Around the Globe is a German fellow named Jan Otte, who seems keen to invest in a variety of online publishing and media firms through his company Otte Ventures GmbH.
www.linkedin.com/in/janotte21...
www.linkedin.com/in/janotte21...
February 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The CEO and cofounder of Animals Around the Globe is a German fellow named Jan Otte, who seems keen to invest in a variety of online publishing and media firms through his company Otte Ventures GmbH.
www.linkedin.com/in/janotte21...
www.linkedin.com/in/janotte21...
The website's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/climatecosmos) says that it is controlled by an outfit called Animals Around the Globe GmBh, which is a publication all its own: www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com
February 5, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The website's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/climatecosmos) says that it is controlled by an outfit called Animals Around the Globe GmBh, which is a publication all its own: www.animalsaroundtheglobe.com
CDC’s data subdomain, data.cdc.gov, is now fully “temporarily offline,” as the CDC assesses CDC data products’ alignment with Trump executive orders.
February 1, 2025 at 12:28 AM
CDC’s data subdomain, data.cdc.gov, is now fully “temporarily offline,” as the CDC assesses CDC data products’ alignment with Trump executive orders.
It's loading for me at the moment.
January 31, 2025 at 6:14 PM
It's loading for me at the moment.
🧪 NEW: Minutes ago, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sent out an email update on its hold on funding, as the NSF conducts a compliance review with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders. Funds are still held up, and the ACM$ web portal is still down: www.research.gov/acms-web/
January 30, 2025 at 8:16 PM
🧪 NEW: Minutes ago, the National Science Foundation (NSF) sent out an email update on its hold on funding, as the NSF conducts a compliance review with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders. Funds are still held up, and the ACM$ web portal is still down: www.research.gov/acms-web/
🧪 The situation is particularly acute for postdoctoral research fellows who are directly funded by NSF, as they depend on funds for their literal living expenses. The web portal used to access NSF funds is still shut down: www.research.gov/acms-web/
January 30, 2025 at 2:39 PM
🧪 The situation is particularly acute for postdoctoral research fellows who are directly funded by NSF, as they depend on funds for their literal living expenses. The web portal used to access NSF funds is still shut down: www.research.gov/acms-web/
If we zoom out to terriers, Wofford College puts in a respectable performance
December 14, 2024 at 11:46 PM
If we zoom out to terriers, Wofford College puts in a respectable performance
I’m at NASA headquarters today for @sciam.bsky.social to cover a major NASA update on the Artemis program. I won’t be live-skeeting but will provide updates as I can.
December 5, 2024 at 6:06 PM
I’m at NASA headquarters today for @sciam.bsky.social to cover a major NASA update on the Artemis program. I won’t be live-skeeting but will provide updates as I can.
Roger that. Here's a sketch I drew today of my dog Luna.
November 20, 2024 at 3:21 AM
Roger that. Here's a sketch I drew today of my dog Luna.
These days especially, I’m trying to find moments of joy. Here’s a sketch of my dog Luna I made from observation this afternoon.
November 20, 2024 at 12:45 AM
These days especially, I’m trying to find moments of joy. Here’s a sketch of my dog Luna I made from observation this afternoon.
Thanks for the follows!
To reintroduce myself: I’m a science journalist and ex-Nat Geo staff writer who covers paleontology, space, physics, archaeology, and much more for Science, Nature, SciAm, NYT, WaPo, etc.
Sign up for my newsletter: deviations.ghost.io
To reintroduce myself: I’m a science journalist and ex-Nat Geo staff writer who covers paleontology, space, physics, archaeology, and much more for Science, Nature, SciAm, NYT, WaPo, etc.
Sign up for my newsletter: deviations.ghost.io
November 18, 2024 at 5:56 PM
Thanks for the follows!
To reintroduce myself: I’m a science journalist and ex-Nat Geo staff writer who covers paleontology, space, physics, archaeology, and much more for Science, Nature, SciAm, NYT, WaPo, etc.
Sign up for my newsletter: deviations.ghost.io
To reintroduce myself: I’m a science journalist and ex-Nat Geo staff writer who covers paleontology, space, physics, archaeology, and much more for Science, Nature, SciAm, NYT, WaPo, etc.
Sign up for my newsletter: deviations.ghost.io
One of the fun things about Deviations (deviations.ghost.io), my personal newsletter, is that I set myself a goal of writing a complex anagram for the kicker of every edition.
Here's the closing anagram for today's send:
Here's the closing anagram for today's send:
November 13, 2024 at 6:03 PM
One of the fun things about Deviations (deviations.ghost.io), my personal newsletter, is that I set myself a goal of writing a complex anagram for the kicker of every edition.
Here's the closing anagram for today's send:
Here's the closing anagram for today's send:
Dice rolls approximate normal distributions; adding extra numbers to those sums has the effect of shifting the distribution to the right. Which is exactly what climate change is doing to temperatures over land. (The chart at the right: www.giss.nasa.gov/research/bri...)
November 13, 2024 at 5:37 PM
Dice rolls approximate normal distributions; adding extra numbers to those sums has the effect of shifting the distribution to the right. Which is exactly what climate change is doing to temperatures over land. (The chart at the right: www.giss.nasa.gov/research/bri...)
These simple rules do a remarkably good job of replicating the IPCC's estimates of how much more frequent these two kinds of heat extremes will get under 1-4°C of global warming.
November 13, 2024 at 5:37 PM
These simple rules do a remarkably good job of replicating the IPCC's estimates of how much more frequent these two kinds of heat extremes will get under 1-4°C of global warming.
In 2021-2023, the IPCC published its Sixth Assessment Report, an enormous global summary of what we know about climate change. www.ipcc.ch/assessment-r...
A summary of the science of climate change, published in 2021, included this fascinating look at heat extremes over land:
A summary of the science of climate change, published in 2021, included this fascinating look at heat extremes over land:
November 13, 2024 at 5:37 PM
In 2021-2023, the IPCC published its Sixth Assessment Report, an enormous global summary of what we know about climate change. www.ipcc.ch/assessment-r...
A summary of the science of climate change, published in 2021, included this fascinating look at heat extremes over land:
A summary of the science of climate change, published in 2021, included this fascinating look at heat extremes over land: