Clare Watson

Had a blast talking at @istaresearch.bsky.social’s Think & Drink last Friday! @clarewatson.bsky.social and I shared how we went from lab bench to newsroom, and why trust, curiosity & scientist voices matter in journalism. Thanks to all who joined!

Chris Judge’s “A Daily Cloud” project began in 2020, born from quiet days in the garden during lockdown. With simple lines and a touch of imagination, he turned everyday skies into playful scenes - one cloud at a time. [1/3]

Credits: adailycloud [FB]
#clouds #creative

Great recommendation, we met last week!

Hi there 🧪 I've just started my journalism residency @istaresearch.bsky.social

If you're a scientist on campus or visiting Vienna, lmk! I'm the one reading magazines at lunch/on the bus + scribbling notes in talks.

👋 Please say hello & tell me about your work (or favourite hike or restaurant) 🌿

Panel discussion at ISTA: Renowned science journalists discussed both the challenges and the joys of science journalism.

Thanks to our panelists: @clarewatson.bsky.social, @giorgiag-sciwriter.bsky.social, @jackiesnow.bsky.social, Monika Mondal, Klaus Taschwer & moderator Marlene Nowotny!

The tussle over cigarette warning labels, and the hazy future of vaping Regulatory hurdles, industry objections and legal fights have gone on for decades over traditional tobacco. What’s in store for the next generation of smoking?

Do warning labels on tobacco products alter (would be) smokers’ behaviour?
@clarewatson.bsky.social discusses past, present and future of tobacco-related health communication with Lucy Popova: buff.ly/4dvhi1H

Hakai is one of my favourite places to write for. If you know of an organization that might want to help fund it, reach out! 🧪

The unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgements We read hundreds and hundreds of PhD acknowledgements. What we found was a kind of poetry in the science.

This beautiful multimedia essay, a compilation of the unexpected poetry of PhD acknowledgments, will surely make you smile.

From being lost for words to outpourings of thanks, Tabitha Carvan has captured it all; the very human side of #science 🧪

science.anu.edu.au/news-events/...

These period pads solidify blood to prevent leaks They’re filled with a seaweed-derived product that forms a gel and is biodegradable. They’re filled with a seaweed-derived product that forms a gel and is biodegradable.

TIL that menstrual products are based on the same principles they have been for aeons: absorb, and hope like hell it doesn't get saturated.
So researchers are testing a molecule that gels menstrual blood into a solid so it doesn't leak or spill.

These Ants Perform Life-Saving Operations on Injured Nestmates, Similar to Humans The world's tiniest surgeons?

While we have known for a few years now that ants treat each other's wounds, we're only just learning how astonishingly complex and precise ant medical care can be: some species perform life-saving amputations on each other! 🧪 #wildlife #nature #AmWriting

Using Trash to Track Other Trash | Hakai Magazine An Australian organization is taking “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” to heart with its ghost net clean-up program.

An Australian organization is taking “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” to heart by using trash to clean up ghost gear.

By @clarewatson.bsky.social

hakaimagazine.com/news/using-t...

The origin of the cockroach: how a notorious pest conquered the world Genomic analysis suggests the common kitchen vermin spread from Europe to the world. But it wasn't originally found in Europe. Genomic analysis suggests the common kitchen vermin spread from Europe to...

This was a fun little science ditty about how genomic analysis has revealed the German cockroach is not in fact German, but a canny and adaptable hitchhiker from South Asia who took advantage of human trade and wars to travel and thrive around the world.
#science #entomology #genomics #cockroach

We have 3 grants on offer to support SJAA members and I'd be happy to answer any Qs having received a few in the past.

With SJAA's support, my stories have ended up in @hakaimagazine.com @natureportfolio.bsky.social + taken me to Colombia for #WCSJ2023, an experience still paying dividends today.

Are you a student or early-career #ScienceJournalist based in Aus with a pitch up your sleeve?

A staff journalist with a story idea that requires travel? Or is there a professional development opportunity you'd like to snap up?

Our grant applications close next week! sjaa.org.au/opportunitie...

In essence, is the measured improvement meaningful for patients and their families, or just a few points difference on an abstract scale?

What if trials measured how much a drug extends "the time in the ‘good parts’ — in the milder stages of disease", as statistician Lars Rau Raket puts it?

Great reporting here by @elandhuis.bsky.social, providing a greater understanding of the difficulties with #ClinicalTrials of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases like #Alzheimers #ALS while presenting new ideas about how those trials could better measure a drug's effect on disease progression.

Seagrass Can Stash Away Dangerous Heavy Metals | Hakai Magazine In Australia’s largest estuary, humble seagrass is the thin green line between safety and heavy-metal contamination.

In the Spencer Gulf of Australia, seagrass meadows stash truckloads of heavy metals in the coast's muddy depths. But if something were to happen to the seagrass—a marine heatwave perhaps—it could die and release the toxins back into the sea.

By Clare Watson.

hakaimagazine.com/news/seagras...

Surge in endometriosis research after decades of underfunding could herald new era for women’s health - Nature Medicine Advances in organoids and the role of the microbiome and diet are leading to new diagnostics and treatments for endometriosis, motivating a precision health approach to this long-neglected disease.

After decades of neglect, it's an exciting time for endometriosis research. In the past year, a flurry of studies have been published that could radically change our understanding of the condition, and how to treat it.

Learn as much as I did writing my latest story! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I think my favorite genre of life is accidental dumb faces. #Birds like this white faced heron are experts at these. Who else has more examples? Bonus points if it's your study species! 🧪

If you’re a reporter who’s been laid off, and you’ve got a great climate accountability story in the tank that you’re not going to be able to get published now, shoot me a pitch: emilyatkin (at) heated (dot) world. Let’s get your work published and let’s get you paid!

Evolution Keeps Making Crabs, And Nobody Knows Why This is so weird.

Crabs evolved (and disappeared) multiple times over the last 250 million years. @clarewatson.bsky.social digs into a conundrum that is taxing taxonomists: buff.ly/41FKq0O

Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2023 - Carbon Brief Using Altmetric data, Carbon Brief has compiled a list of the 25 most talked-about climate-related papers that were published in 2023.

Delighted to hear my paper w/ @rahmstorf.bsky.social & @naomioreskes.bsky.social, which showed Exxon predicted global warming w/ breathtaking accuracy years before it attacked climate science & scientists, was the second most talked-about climate article of 2023! www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-the...

Somewhat related is this study, on atmospheric drying over Europe... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So beautiful!

'Is that a dinosaur?': One of Australia's rarest reptiles found in regional WA years after relocatio... A WA wildlife carer says she nearly "wet her pants" with excitement, after an endangered western swamp tortoise was found on a dirt track near her home town of Northcliffe.

Amplifying good news in conservation!

First up, endangered western swamp turtles have survived for several years after an experimental relocation to see if they can survive south of their current range.
🐢
#climateRescue
🌏🧪
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01...

That's so great to hear! Hope the recovery continues without any setbacks. I remember my first run back after a few months of illness was slow but felt so good. Enjoy!

2023 is truly an abnormal year in an abnormal period for the world's climate.

"Unusual" under sells what's happening.
www.theage.com.au/environment/...

Hope you're enjoying your time in Australia, with all our kooky birds!

If the first solar entrepreneur hadn't been kidnapped, would fossil fuels have dominated the 20th ce... The 1909 incident may have cost the industry decades of progress – and the planet huge amounts of damaging carbon emissions.

You have to read this. The incredible story of George Cove, an early 1900s solar energy pioneer who was KIDNAPPED and forced to abandon his work - potentially holding renewable energy back by decades. 🤯

theconversation.com/if-the-first... <- by Sugandha Srivastav.

Spectacular finalists list for the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing for 2023:
Jo Chandler - 'Buried treasure'
Lauren Fuge - 'Point of view'
Rebecca Giggs - 'Noiseless messengers'
Amalyah Hart - 'Model or monster'
Nicky Phillips - 'Trials of the heart'
Helen Sullivan - 'A city of islands'