@mjflepage.bsky.social
Award-winning reporter at New Scientist who clings to the belief that good journalism mattters. I write about life on Earth, inc climate ☀️, food 🍱, CRISPR 🧬 and biomed 💊
My bio & stories: https://www.newscientist.com/author/michael-le-page
@mjflepage.bsky.socialIn a few centuries' time many coastal cities will likely be thriving reef ecosystems, too 🧪
@robertscotthorton.bsky.socialReposted by @mjflepage.bsky.socialWhat is the impact of the Ukraine war on US gasoline and diesel prices? None.
@mjflepage.bsky.socialOn a tour of Lancaster castle/prison last week I was amazed to learn the guards in 18th century weren’t paid & inmates used to end up deep in debt to them after buying food, etc. Didn’t imagine this kind of extortion was still happening today
@mjflepage.bsky.socialStrong El Ninos in combination with global heating can lead to climate regime shifts - permanent changes in a region's climate 🧪
This monster El Nino could produce more regime shifts than any other, possibly including the loss of big chunks of the Amazon £
@mjflepage.bsky.socialDid Russia cover up the accidental release of a dangerous bioweapon - or is all the furore over the 'plague' death just a colossal cock-up? 🧪
My analysis £
@mjflepage.bsky.social“I think it’s incredible that we find something so new, which is so large, in this world where we think everything is already known,” says Maarten Christenhusz 🧪
Three new species of giant waterlilies more than doubling the total to five!
@mjflepage.bsky.socialI knew there are multicellular bacteria, but not multicellular archaea!
@mjflepage.bsky.socialThis is a return to near-average weather, not a cold snap!
@mjflepage.bsky.socialThe El Nino 3.4 region has now hit 3.4C:
@mjflepage.bsky.socialMaking nerve cells fire when you shine a light on them is a tremendously powerful tool for studying how brains 🧠 work
Now the developers of optogenetics, as this technique is known, have won a Nobel 🧪
@mjflepage.bsky.social...in favour of the "overreaction is incompetence" view, I would say the fact that this lab worker went to a normal hospital doesn't fit with the idea that she handled bioweapons
Plus the information environment in Russia is dysfunctional, causing inappropriate responses
@mjflepage.bsky.socialIt's clear the Russian response is completely disproportionate if this really is a plague case, as I pointed out yesterday. I favour the cock-up explanation, but Kevin Esvelt is leaning to the conspiracy one
Like @leahmcelrath.bsky.social I respect his opinion, but...
@mjflepage.bsky.socialMy summary of what we know here:
@mjflepage.bsky.socialThis seems like an overreaction if this really is plague (Y pestis). So either the authorities know it’s something more dangerous or they don’t know what they are doing. I think incompetence is way more likely
@weatherprof.bsky.socialReposted by @mjflepage.bsky.socialThe water vapor concentration in the atmosphere may be approx 13% higher this winter than around 1950. More moisture = heavier downpours.
@newscientist.comReposted by @mjflepage.bsky.socialWe’re celebrating 70 years of New Scientist! Over the past seven decades, science has delivered some extraordinary breakthroughs. To mark the occasion, we asked our staff to look ahead: what scientific breakthrough are they most excited to see in the next 70 years?
@mjflepage.bsky.socialAnd to be clear, I don’t think this particular study merited coverage, I questioning your ridiculous generalisation
@mjflepage.bsky.socialThen I don’t think you get what news is. Casual remarks can be big news. I’ve covered loads of preprints that were published unchanged - and also chosen not to cover a lot of preprints that seemed dodgy that later appeared in high-profile journals, unchanged. What matters is good journalism
@mjflepage.bsky.socialSpoiler: "In terms of significance... Claude’s work is comparable to the 1987 discovery [of CRISPR] in E. coli, not the 2012 breakthrough that won a Nobel prize. And with regard to AI contributions to biology, Claude’s work isn’t even close to being in the same league as DeepMind’s AlphaFold system"
@mjflepage.bsky.socialHas @anthropic.com really made a discovery that's comparable to CRISPR, as some headlines are claiming?
Here's what you need to know to understand the potential significance £ 🧪
