Michelle W. Martin
@michellem.bsky.social
Science journalist, print and audio, Board Member Northwest Science Writers Association; work found in Boulder Daily Camera, The Denver Post, AARP, Alaska Airlines Magazine, KBCS
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
South Africa’s utility Eskom is reassessing 2 coastal sites — Thyspunt & Bantamsklip — for a third nuclear power plant. Conservationists warn Bantamsklip threatens a globally important marine ecosystem, including critically endangered African penguins, & say environmental risks remain unacceptable.
South Africa considers site near African penguin colony for third nuclear power plant
South African state electricity company Eskom is reevaluating two sites to host the country’s third nuclear power plant, having previously dismissed both for an earlier facility. The two potential…
news.mongabay.com
December 18, 2025 at 4:10 AM
South Africa’s utility Eskom is reassessing 2 coastal sites — Thyspunt & Bantamsklip — for a third nuclear power plant. Conservationists warn Bantamsklip threatens a globally important marine ecosystem, including critically endangered African penguins, & say environmental risks remain unacceptable.
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
BREAKING: The House of Representatives just passed a bill that would subject immigrant children to invasive bodily searches and keep them in detention instead of releasing them to their families.
The Senate must vote no on this horrific bill.
The Senate must vote no on this horrific bill.
December 16, 2025 at 10:05 PM
BREAKING: The House of Representatives just passed a bill that would subject immigrant children to invasive bodily searches and keep them in detention instead of releasing them to their families.
The Senate must vote no on this horrific bill.
The Senate must vote no on this horrific bill.
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Due to a combination of widespread anomalous to record-breaking warmth & a mix of low precip (in Rockies/northern Sierra) and heavy warm rain (vs snow, in Pac NW), numerous locations throughout the American West are reporting their lowest Dec 15 snow water equivalents on record.
December 16, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Due to a combination of widespread anomalous to record-breaking warmth & a mix of low precip (in Rockies/northern Sierra) and heavy warm rain (vs snow, in Pac NW), numerous locations throughout the American West are reporting their lowest Dec 15 snow water equivalents on record.
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Imagine a state digital service that could step in to provide relatively simple software like this so that vultures don't step in to hold public safety hostage. These problems become so straightforward to solve once we stop demanding for-profit solutions
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...
Private Equity Finds a New Source of Profit: Volunteer Fire Departments
www.nytimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Imagine a state digital service that could step in to provide relatively simple software like this so that vultures don't step in to hold public safety hostage. These problems become so straightforward to solve once we stop demanding for-profit solutions
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/u...
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Feverishly working on this
December 15, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Feverishly working on this
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
this would prevent any code reform that reduces costs, improves building quality, or increases climate adaptation
Representatives April Connors (R-8, Kennewick) and Addison Richards (D-26, Bremerton) have prefiled a bill that would freeze Washington's building code for ten full years.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary/...
December 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
this would prevent any code reform that reduces costs, improves building quality, or increases climate adaptation
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
I talked to @heyjohnryan.bsky.social at KUOW about adapting to increasingly strong atmospheric rivers, and that reducing risk ultimately requires tackling GHG emissions.
"If we don't do that, atmospheric rivers are going to keep growing stronger...It's going to overwhelm our ability to respond.”
"If we don't do that, atmospheric rivers are going to keep growing stronger...It's going to overwhelm our ability to respond.”
Northwest floods offer sneak peek of hotter climate's toll
“The science is clear that floods are going to become larger and more frequent in the future,” Washington State Climatologist Guillaume Mauger said.
www.kuow.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I talked to @heyjohnryan.bsky.social at KUOW about adapting to increasingly strong atmospheric rivers, and that reducing risk ultimately requires tackling GHG emissions.
"If we don't do that, atmospheric rivers are going to keep growing stronger...It's going to overwhelm our ability to respond.”
"If we don't do that, atmospheric rivers are going to keep growing stronger...It's going to overwhelm our ability to respond.”
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
People who have seen video of the U.S. military’s first boat strike in September in the Caribbean Sea said two survivors climbed atop the overturned hull and waved to something overhead. The new detail further complicates the military’s explanations for its actions during the strike.
Video of Boat Strike Shows Survivors Waving Before Fatal Follow-Up Attack
The new detail further complicates the military’s explanations for its actions during the Sept. 2 strike in the Caribbean Sea.
nyti.ms
December 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
People who have seen video of the U.S. military’s first boat strike in September in the Caribbean Sea said two survivors climbed atop the overturned hull and waved to something overhead. The new detail further complicates the military’s explanations for its actions during the strike.
Add that to reports from earlier this year that the weed killer has been detected at high levels in tampons
A landmark study on the safety of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the controversial herbicide Roundup, has been formally retracted by its publisher, raising new concerns about the chemical’s potential dangers.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
Science journal retracts widely cited study that claimed Roundup is safe
The Trump administration, meanwhile, aims to shield its manufacturer from lawsuits.
www.motherjones.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Add that to reports from earlier this year that the weed killer has been detected at high levels in tampons
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
The United Nations Ocean Decade: A catalyst for international collaboration enhancing ocean monitoring and data | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌊 🦑
The United Nations Ocean Decade: A catalyst for international collaboration enhancing ocean monitoring and data
In recognition of the ocean’s essential role in supporting life, the economy, and human well-being, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2017 declared 2021 to 2030 the Decade of Ocean Science f...
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:54 PM
The United Nations Ocean Decade: A catalyst for international collaboration enhancing ocean monitoring and data | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌊 🦑
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
The community of the #PNW #science writers only meets once a year - for a party/meeting/election. You don't want to miss it. Happens Jan. 14 at the
@seattleaquarium.bsky.social
Find out more about joining, details to come
nwscience.org
@seattleaquarium.bsky.social
Find out more about joining, details to come
nwscience.org
Northwest Science Writers Association |
nwscience.org
December 4, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The community of the #PNW #science writers only meets once a year - for a party/meeting/election. You don't want to miss it. Happens Jan. 14 at the
@seattleaquarium.bsky.social
Find out more about joining, details to come
nwscience.org
@seattleaquarium.bsky.social
Find out more about joining, details to come
nwscience.org
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
the U.S. government illegally killed him. His relatives say Alejandro Carranza was on a routine fishing trip, and his wife told reporters he left home to fish and had no ties to drug trafficking.
Colombian killed in U.S. strike was on a fishing trip, wife claims: "Why did they just take his life like that?"
Alejandro Carranza's family is questioning U.S. claims that he was carrying narcotics aboard a small vessel targeted last month.
www.cbsnews.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
the U.S. government illegally killed him. His relatives say Alejandro Carranza was on a routine fishing trip, and his wife told reporters he left home to fish and had no ties to drug trafficking.
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Two fishermen found the #humpback #whale entangled in their gear Wednesday near Troup Passage, north of the coastal community of Bella Bella, and called for help from Heiltsuk Nation guardians www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... via @ctvnews-mirror.bsky.social
Video shows Heiltsuk guardians disentangling humpback whale off B.C. coast
A humpback whale has been freed after getting tangled in prawn fishing gear off the B.C. coast this week.
www.ctvnews.ca
November 21, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Two fishermen found the #humpback #whale entangled in their gear Wednesday near Troup Passage, north of the coastal community of Bella Bella, and called for help from Heiltsuk Nation guardians www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar... via @ctvnews-mirror.bsky.social
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
New on the podcast - humpback acoustics! Debaran Kelso speaks with Dr. Fred Sharpe whose recent research focuses on aerial whale signals like blows, wheezes, and thrums.
📷: Fred Sharpe
#MarineMammals #MarineLife
📷: Fred Sharpe
#MarineMammals #MarineLife
November 18, 2025 at 11:18 PM
New on the podcast - humpback acoustics! Debaran Kelso speaks with Dr. Fred Sharpe whose recent research focuses on aerial whale signals like blows, wheezes, and thrums.
📷: Fred Sharpe
#MarineMammals #MarineLife
📷: Fred Sharpe
#MarineMammals #MarineLife
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
The Treasury Department has its own Epstein file containing thousands of bank records. My investigators reviewed a portion of those records last year. I've demanded the Secretary Bessent produce the file for further investigation. He has refused repeatedly.
November 18, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The Treasury Department has its own Epstein file containing thousands of bank records. My investigators reviewed a portion of those records last year. I've demanded the Secretary Bessent produce the file for further investigation. He has refused repeatedly.
A lot of people didn’t like the Washington Post journalist who was tortured and dismembered with a bone saw for writing critically about the man sitting next to me
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
I’m sorry to be self promoting but I a) have never been seduced by a fascist with a brain worm b) am capable of crafting a decent sentence and c) wrote a book that did not earn me a fawning profile in the newspaper but is still pretty good
bookshop.org/p/books/huma...
bookshop.org/p/books/huma...
Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet
Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet
bookshop.org
November 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I’m sorry to be self promoting but I a) have never been seduced by a fascist with a brain worm b) am capable of crafting a decent sentence and c) wrote a book that did not earn me a fawning profile in the newspaper but is still pretty good
bookshop.org/p/books/huma...
bookshop.org/p/books/huma...
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Important new analysis identifying the scope of clinical trials disrupted because of NIH shenanigans.
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
Clinical Trials Affected by Research Grant Terminations at the National Institutes of Health
This cross-sectional study summarizes the number of trials with terminated grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and calculates the proportion of affected trials among those with previou...
jamanetwork.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Important new analysis identifying the scope of clinical trials disrupted because of NIH shenanigans.
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
> 74 thousand trial participants affected
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
1/4
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
One of Brazil's top priorities for #COP30 is to fund the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which would finance efforts to protect forest ecosystems worldwide.
Learn more about why protecting forests is one of the most powerful solutions for people, nature, and climate at: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4o2QWZp
Learn more about why protecting forests is one of the most powerful solutions for people, nature, and climate at: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4o2QWZp
November 17, 2025 at 2:54 PM
One of Brazil's top priorities for #COP30 is to fund the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which would finance efforts to protect forest ecosystems worldwide.
Learn more about why protecting forests is one of the most powerful solutions for people, nature, and climate at: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4o2QWZp
Learn more about why protecting forests is one of the most powerful solutions for people, nature, and climate at: 🔗 https://bit.ly/4o2QWZp
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Draft atlases of the developing brain of humans and other mammals are presented in a collection of papers from BICAN published in Nature. These resources combine single-cell and spatial technologies to track how brain cell types emerge, diversify, and organize during development. 🧪
BICAN: A cell census of the developing human brain
Building on their landmark efforts to create cell-type atlases of adult brains using single-cell and spatial genomics technologies, researchers in the BRAIN ...
go.nature.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Draft atlases of the developing brain of humans and other mammals are presented in a collection of papers from BICAN published in Nature. These resources combine single-cell and spatial technologies to track how brain cell types emerge, diversify, and organize during development. 🧪
Came across this 2020 story about sea creatures that not only make "snot palaces" but that also "collectively drop millions of tons of carbon to the seafloor, where it stays, preventing further global warming"
apnews.com/article/ocea...
apnews.com/article/ocea...
Scientists learn how tiny critters make ocean 'snot palaces'
KENSINGTON, Maryland (AP) — Master builders of the sea construct the equivalent of a complex five-story house that protects them from predators and funnels and filters food for them — all from snot co...
apnews.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Came across this 2020 story about sea creatures that not only make "snot palaces" but that also "collectively drop millions of tons of carbon to the seafloor, where it stays, preventing further global warming"
apnews.com/article/ocea...
apnews.com/article/ocea...
So cool!
It’s baby octopus season 🐙🦑
Saw this little guy last night with the Salish Sea School in Anacortes, WA as part of their free community dock walk I volunteer as an interpreter for.
We can tell it is a giant pacific octopus from the single line of chromatophores on each arm.
Saw this little guy last night with the Salish Sea School in Anacortes, WA as part of their free community dock walk I volunteer as an interpreter for.
We can tell it is a giant pacific octopus from the single line of chromatophores on each arm.
November 16, 2025 at 4:33 AM
So cool!
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
B.C. couple captures ‘crazy’ encounter with humpback #whale, right off their dock | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1152556...
Global News | Breaking, Latest News and Video for Canada
Globalnews.ca – Watch and read Canada’s Breaking news plus Business, Health, Politics and World News
Globalnews.ca
November 14, 2025 at 5:23 PM
B.C. couple captures ‘crazy’ encounter with humpback #whale, right off their dock | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1152556...
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
Researchers are using AI to decode whale communications.
A new paper argues the findings could help make the case for the recognition of whales' legal rights—specifically a right to culture and a right to be free from torture.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
A new paper argues the findings could help make the case for the recognition of whales' legal rights—specifically a right to culture and a right to be free from torture.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
AI is Decoding Whales’ Language. Could That Be a Turning Point in the Push for Their Rights? - Inside Climate News
The Cetacean Translation Initiative (CETI) is using artificial intelligence to help understand sperm whale communications. Lawyers think the discoveries could galvanize the world to recognize whales’ ...
insideclimatenews.org
October 29, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Researchers are using AI to decode whale communications.
A new paper argues the findings could help make the case for the recognition of whales' legal rights—specifically a right to culture and a right to be free from torture.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
A new paper argues the findings could help make the case for the recognition of whales' legal rights—specifically a right to culture and a right to be free from torture.
insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202...
Reposted by Michelle W. Martin
