props to @catrionaclarke.bsky.social for being not only a great person to work with, but also an epic singer who somehow has the ability to pull together a last-minute choir of scientists!

The Nature Podcast festive spectacular 2025 Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 17 December 2025

This wk's @nature.com podcast has
- ME on my heart-warming festive gifts piece 🎁
- A choir of scientists 🎤
- @bmaher.bsky.social on researchers who shaped science in 2025
- ME again, on our festive quiz w/ @shamini.bsky.social, @nickpetrichowe.bsky.social and Ben T 🏆

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Have been watching this all day to clean my brain 💧🐻

I say something similar on our podcast episode coming out next week 😄 One reader did specifically say that the gift they got made them feel "seen and supported", as their interest was fostered - which led to a long career in science!

A reader got in touch about this! It must have been the hot gift at the time 😁

This is marvellous! I heard from a good few readers who traced their fascination with science back to the early Apollo missions

!! this would've made it into the piece if you'd emailed us ;)

The gift that shaped my career in science Nature asked about your most memorable scientific gifts. You delivered.

What's the best science gift you ever got? 🔭🔬

We asked @nature.com readers for their faves. They include the geneticist inspired by slicing up cow eyeballs she was given as a child, and the former head of the Canadian Space Agency who got a telescope for Christmas in time for the Apollo 8 mission

Leave, just leave. Leave the country, leave the winter

I'm hiring! Join my amazing digital team at @nature.com to help us reach a wider audience on social media. We're looking for a multimedia editor with strong experience in social video to join us in London, initially on a 12-month contract. DM me any questions

‘LinkedIn is like air to me’: the scientists who’ve cracked professional networking Fans of the global social-media platform explain how best to harness its career-boosting and collaboration potential.

Posting an article about LinkedIn on Bluesky feels a little strange, but I think this piece is useful for anyone who breaks out in a sweat at the thought of actively 'networking' for their career: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Asked GPT to (impossibly) "write a Bluesky post 100% guaranteed to go viral"

Its suggestion: "just saw a guy confidently order a "croissantini" at the coffee shop and the barista nodded like that was a normal word. i live in a simulation."

Then I said "Make it more viral" and things got weird... 🧵

Patrick Freyne: Returning home from Chad, I feel there’s a glitch in western empathy The Sudan war is the world’s biggest humanitarian disaster, but it seems our human compassion is taken up by other conflicts

Really great, moving piece from Patrick Freyne on the under-reported war in Sudan.

"When it happens to us, we will expect more people to care."

www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

Exclusive: the most-cited papers of the twenty-first century A Nature analysis reveals the 25 highest-cited papers published this century and explores why they are breaking records.

What's the most-cited paper published this century?

A @nature.com analysis reveals the 25 highest-cited papers published this century and explores why they are breaking records.

(With @helenpearson.bsky.social, @heidiledford.bsky.social and Matthew Hutson).
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The AI can say "Taoiseach", "Sinn Féin", and "Micheál Martin" so I guess this is just a gap in the training data?

Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy to face no-confidence vote next week as she denies Opposition claims Bitter row over speaking rights dominated Dáil for second day as three opposition leaders called for Ms Murphy’s resignation

I just discovered that the @irishtimes.com AI has an Irish accent - but cannot pronounce 'Ceann Comhairle' (however bad you're imagining its take on it, it's worse): www.irishtimes.com/politics/oir...

The next person who tells me that marathons are bad for the knees will get a little talk on how they're actually good for my myelin elasticity! 🏃‍♀️

#ScientistAtWork 2025: Nature is seeking stunning photographic images that capture researchers’ working lives Winners get a cash prize, and will have their image featured in Nature in print and online.

Entries are now open for Nature’s 2025 #ScientistAtWork photo competition!

Capture a moment in your working day for the chance to win a cash prize, and see your winning image in Nature

https://go.nature.com/41Ff5Me

‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard.


https://go.nature.com/3F8T6FX

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‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

J.P. Flores, a core organizer for today's rallies and a bioinformatics researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, told Nature: “March 7 is the beginning — I don’t necessarily see it as the endpoint.” #StandUpForScience www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Boston #standupforscience signs come out

Newspaper stand with newspapers all carrying the front page Campaign 'make it fAIr'

Every major UK newspaper - left, right, broadsheet, tabloid - is running a front page campaign against copyright carveouts for AI training.

I can't remember the last time any political cause had such broad support, let alone one so anti-big tech and so economically consequential.

well, exactly! but I find the time-draining tools (instagram, whatsapp etc) are also still enriching my life enough for me to keep using them.... for now anyway!

...and to properly tag @helenpearson.bsky.social :)

Are the Internet and AI affecting our memory? What the science says Search engines, GPS maps and other tech can alter our ability to learn and remember. Now scientists are working out what AI might do.

TIL a new term: ‘cognitive offloading’, the idea of using lists, phones, etc to lessen the demands on your brain.

I do this all the time - I basically let google be my memory! But is this damaging my *actual* memory?

@helenpearson.bsky.social has the full story:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

A cold boiled egg pot may be a convenient shot of protein, but where’s the joy in that? | Lucy Dearlove Somewhere between protein powders and chicken breasts in plastic containers, I fear the pursuit of wellness has become a thief of joy Last year, I needed to eat on the go between exercising and an evening class. Frequently, I would find myself striding…

A cold boiled egg pot may be a convenient shot of protein, but where’s the joy in that? | Lucy Dearlove

Chaos erupts in US science as Trump’s team declares freeze on federal grants The freeze’s effect on research is still unclear, but scientists fear ‘incalculable’ damage.

“We keep giving the new administration the benefit of the doubt, but I don’t think that’s warranted here”, says an NIH scientist who asked not to be identified... “We need to give up the illusion of going back to normal.”

Nature's report on the chaos in US science:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How audiences follow news on climate change?

This is the question at the heart of a new report by @waqasejaz.bsky.social @mitalilive.bsky.social @richardfletcher.bsky.social based on survey data from 🇧🇷 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇮🇳 🇯🇵 🇵🇰 🇬🇧 🇺🇸

Read here: https://buff.ly/4jwvTNG
7 findings in thread

G/O Media Is Publishing AI Slop Again - Aftermath News site Quartz is publishing a whole lot of AI-generated articles

Interesting piece on AI slop on Quartz from @aftermath.site

AI articles have a note at the bottom:
“While we strive for accuracy and timeliness, due to the experimental nature of this technology we cannot guarantee that we’ll always be successful in that regard.” 🫣

aftermath.site/quartz-ai-ar...