That story is unconfirmed, and the palaeontologist, Ji Qiang, who was given the fossil by a man claiming to be the labourer's grandson does not believe it to be true. He told Ye Ruolin about the 'Dragon Man' skull and its origins for @sixthtone.bsky.social back in 2021 www.sixthtone.com/news/1007882
But there's an interesting aside that many articles have missed. It's widely reported that the Harbin skull was discovered in 1933 during bridge construction, buried in a well by the labourer who found it, and rediscovered when that man revealed its existence to his family on his deathbed.
We now know what the Denisovans looked like www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🚨 NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya is testifying before the US Senate Appropriations Committee today.
The hearing is bound to be spicy, after more than 300 agency staff wrote him a letter decrying his leadership and actions as director. 🔥
I'll be live-posting the hearing, so follow along here.
Freelance journalists are not being supported by the mastheads that rely on their hard work. Sign on to help get fairer rates for freelancers.
www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/fr...
Sexual harassment allegations linked to drop in citations
But numbers remain steady for researchers who commit scientific misconduct.
@dyanilewis.bsky.social reports @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This is outrageous. Great reporting by @mikedigirolamo.bsky.social news.mongabay.com/2025/02/an-a...
So disheartening to read about this and so many other similar changes. I know I'm not alone.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Despite the headline….
“Only Australia arrested climate and environmental protesters at a higher rate than UK police.”
Look at the root base on this giant Tasmanian blue gum that fell - this tree was a victim of bad forest management in Tas, having suffered from forest fires lit by the loggers and eventually being wind-thrown because its neighbors were cut down. 5 years ago swift parrots were nesting in this tree
This is such sad news. STAT consistently publishes great work by top-notch science and health journalists.
6. Finally, a note on the targets. The 2030 targets will require lots to be done (like building transmission and a workforce) to ensure the renewables can be ramped up sufficiently, in line with the projections. And then for 2050... well... something will need to happen in the rest of the economy.
5. Now for the projections... Labor's 2030 target will me met mostly by cuts in the electricity sector. But you need to read the projections with caution. They actually simply *assume* that the cuts are made, and pop them on the chart. (Also, those cuts peter out after 2030.)
😥
3. Another problem with that (aside from not representing a shift in how our economy is functioning) is that the measure of land use emissions is very unreliable. The government changes its mind every year about it. And each time, it seems to be revised to make things look better.
2. The majority of the cuts since 2005 have been in the land sector - not doing things like, erm, stopping burning fossil fuels...
So, I did a bit of a dig through the quarterly emissions update and the projections, and pulled out a few things. Much of this won't surprise those who follow this closely. But all this stuff deserves continued attention. 🧵
1. Our emissions reductions have basically flatlined since 2020.
“Since switching over to Bluesky, I noticed that you could not see the stats in the app, so I decided to build an app myself.”
Yes, now I can dig into all of the articles I’ve been waiting to read - yours definitely one I’ve been looking forward to!
Me holding up a copy of The Best Australian Science Writing 2024
It’s finally arrived! This year’s Best Australian Science Writing anthology, edited by @drjr.bsky.social and Carl Smith. Super proud to have a piece in there about the plight of the world’s oldest storytelling scene, which is tucked away in a Sulawesi limestone cave.
Wonderful little write up about Best Australian Science Writing 2024 reflecting on science, the pieces we included and science writing in The Saturday Paper. My thanks to James Bradley, himself an extremely talented writer.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/2024/11/30/t...
“Although science might not be partisan, it’s political”
Calling science apolitical is a political statemnet
A greater awareness & recognition of the inherently political nature of science is a key step towards restoring public trust in science
By @sabs.bsky.social
defector.com/do-not-accep...
It’s very funny how much the current narrative around The Greens is about how extreme they are, and how much more sensible Bob Brown was… when Bob Brown is pleading with them to stop rolling over on issues as fundamental as environment policy
‘I fly, I drive. We’re all complicit’: Richard Flanagan on vanishing species and refusing the Baillie Gifford prize money
I've just created the "Climate Change Downunder" starter pack for all things climate change related in Australia. Here you'll find scientists, academics and professionals who work in the climate change space in Oz.
Hit me up with new accounts to add!
go.bsky.app/TK2pwCz
Spot on
Can it really be called a ‘documentary’ if the claims don’t pass a fact-check (or even a smell test, tbh)?
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
