Alexandra Witze
@alexwitze.bsky.social
Science journalist and correspondent for Nature (she/her). Reach me at alexwitze.01 (Signal), witzescience (@gmail.com), or awitze (@protonmail.com).
Pinned
How Trump 2.0 is reshaping science
Since US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, his team has made major changes to the federal government that have disrupted research and ...
www.nature.com
Nature reporters' ongoing coverage of Trump 2.0 impacts on science and scientists is collected here: www.nature.com/collections/...
Reach me at alexwitze.01 on Signal, or witzescience[at]gmail.com, with tips, feedback, follow-ups, anything we should be covering, etc.
Reach me at alexwitze.01 on Signal, or witzescience[at]gmail.com, with tips, feedback, follow-ups, anything we should be covering, etc.
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
This announcement brimmed with hype but at its heart are interesting qs - what if models could learn from high-end scientific (rather than everyday) data? And are there specific science Qs that AI can help?
Done well, AI for science yields amazing stuff (see AlphaFold). But done badly brings risks
Done well, AI for science yields amazing stuff (see AlphaFold). But done badly brings risks
What's the deal with the AI-national labs-supercomputing initiative the federal government announced this week? @lizziegibney.bsky.social @jennaahart.bsky.social & I unpacked it: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Trump's AI ‘Genesis Mission': what are the risks and opportunities?
National laboratories have been instructed to broaden access to their data sets to accelerate research as part of the federal government's AI platform. But who stands to benefit?
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:06 PM
This announcement brimmed with hype but at its heart are interesting qs - what if models could learn from high-end scientific (rather than everyday) data? And are there specific science Qs that AI can help?
Done well, AI for science yields amazing stuff (see AlphaFold). But done badly brings risks
Done well, AI for science yields amazing stuff (see AlphaFold). But done badly brings risks
What's the deal with the AI-national labs-supercomputing initiative the federal government announced this week? @lizziegibney.bsky.social @jennaahart.bsky.social & I unpacked it: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Trump's AI ‘Genesis Mission': what are the risks and opportunities?
National laboratories have been instructed to broaden access to their data sets to accelerate research as part of the federal government's AI platform. But who stands to benefit?
www.nature.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
What's the deal with the AI-national labs-supercomputing initiative the federal government announced this week? @lizziegibney.bsky.social @jennaahart.bsky.social & I unpacked it: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
Following Trump's DEI cuts, attendance has plunged at some conferences for scientists from underrepresented groups. The loss of federal support means fewer chances for people to network, share science, and develop new career paths.
Still, attendees say "the sense of solidarity remains strong".
Still, attendees say "the sense of solidarity remains strong".
‘Anti-woke’ policies blamed for falling attendance at some US conferences
Scientific meetings that support Black, Latino and Indigenous researchers are grappling with funding cuts and other restrictions.
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Following Trump's DEI cuts, attendance has plunged at some conferences for scientists from underrepresented groups. The loss of federal support means fewer chances for people to network, share science, and develop new career paths.
Still, attendees say "the sense of solidarity remains strong".
Still, attendees say "the sense of solidarity remains strong".
What it was like inside last week’s MAHA Summit, by @maxkozlov.bsky.social who was there:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
(The 🧪emoji doesn’t seem right but I’m using it anyway)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
(The 🧪emoji doesn’t seem right but I’m using it anyway)
Psychedelics and immortality: Nature went to a health summit starring RFK and JD Vance
The Make America Healthy Again summit, attended by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and vice-president JD Vance, gave a sense of what’s driving US health policy.
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
What it was like inside last week’s MAHA Summit, by @maxkozlov.bsky.social who was there:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
(The 🧪emoji doesn’t seem right but I’m using it anyway)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
(The 🧪emoji doesn’t seem right but I’m using it anyway)
NASA's pix of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS are now up science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
This is the HiRISE/MRO image ⬇️
This is the HiRISE/MRO image ⬇️
November 19, 2025 at 8:27 PM
NASA's pix of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS are now up science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
This is the HiRISE/MRO image ⬇️
This is the HiRISE/MRO image ⬇️
HECK YEAH LIMNOLOGY
(this is a great piece about lake science, read it)
(this is a great piece about lake science, read it)
Mixing is a fundamental process that functions like a heartbeat for lakes. But at iconic lakes around the world, climate change is slowing or even stopping that heartbeat - causing profound impacts to these very special ecosystems. @quantamagazine.bsky.social
www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
www.quantamagazine.org/mixing-is-th...
Mixing Is the Heartbeat of Deep Lakes. At Crater Lake, It’s Slowing Down. | Quanta Magazine
The physics of mixing water layers — an interplay of wind, climate and more — makes lakes work. When it stops, impacts can ripple across an ecosystem.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:24 AM
HECK YEAH LIMNOLOGY
(this is a great piece about lake science, read it)
(this is a great piece about lake science, read it)
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
After a bruising 42-day shutdown, the government has finally reopened. We took a look at what's next for federal science—how quickly things will get back up to speed and whether there will be long-term consequences.
With Jeff Tollefson and @alexwitze.bsky.social:
With Jeff Tollefson and @alexwitze.bsky.social:
The US government shutdown is over: what’s next for scientists
Government researchers are heading back to work, but questions about the size of research-budget cuts will extend into next year.
www.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:40 PM
After a bruising 42-day shutdown, the government has finally reopened. We took a look at what's next for federal science—how quickly things will get back up to speed and whether there will be long-term consequences.
With Jeff Tollefson and @alexwitze.bsky.social:
With Jeff Tollefson and @alexwitze.bsky.social:
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
I for one welcome our new multicolor overlords
November 12, 2025 at 3:59 AM
I for one welcome our new multicolor overlords
November 12, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Aurora’s out!
Taken in Colorado, 40 degrees north
Taken in Colorado, 40 degrees north
November 12, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Aurora’s out!
Taken in Colorado, 40 degrees north
Taken in Colorado, 40 degrees north
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
Getting Rosalind Franklin’s story right is crucial, because she has become a role model for women going into science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Getting Rosalind Franklin’s story right is crucial, because she has become a role model for women going into science
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
Ever received a #media interview request and you weren't sure how to respond? This #workshop will help you to practice both your #writing and interview #skills.
🕑 Wednesday 26 Nov 2025 14:00 CET
⚠️ Places are limited!
📝 Register here: egu.eu/0LAXH4
📸: Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano on imaggeo.egu.eu
🕑 Wednesday 26 Nov 2025 14:00 CET
⚠️ Places are limited!
📝 Register here: egu.eu/0LAXH4
📸: Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano on imaggeo.egu.eu
November 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Ever received a #media interview request and you weren't sure how to respond? This #workshop will help you to practice both your #writing and interview #skills.
🕑 Wednesday 26 Nov 2025 14:00 CET
⚠️ Places are limited!
📝 Register here: egu.eu/0LAXH4
📸: Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano on imaggeo.egu.eu
🕑 Wednesday 26 Nov 2025 14:00 CET
⚠️ Places are limited!
📝 Register here: egu.eu/0LAXH4
📸: Rodrigo Balaguer-Romano on imaggeo.egu.eu
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
Reporter @virginiagewin.bsky.social interviewed 19 current and former US federal agency scientists about the science being dismantled at EPA, NOAA, NASA, CDC, NIH, & USGS.
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reporter @virginiagewin.bsky.social interviewed 19 current and former US federal agency scientists about the science being dismantled at EPA, NOAA, NASA, CDC, NIH, & USGS.
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
They say it's making America unprepared for environmental and public health crises.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
Reposted by Alexandra Witze
With the US government absent from the COP30 global climate summit, it will be up to others to avert catastrophe
go.nature.com/4ofcrH6
go.nature.com/4ofcrH6
How to fight climate change without the US: a guide to global action
With the US government absent from the COP30 global climate summit, it will be up to others to avert catastrophe.
go.nature.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:59 PM
With the US government absent from the COP30 global climate summit, it will be up to others to avert catastrophe
go.nature.com/4ofcrH6
go.nature.com/4ofcrH6
cats are in the bullpen
November 2, 2025 at 3:30 AM
cats are in the bullpen
I still have not recovered from that 18-inning shit, and need to go lie down
November 2, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I still have not recovered from that 18-inning shit, and need to go lie down
thank god it’s a large bottle of whiskey
November 2, 2025 at 3:16 AM
thank god it’s a large bottle of whiskey
i regret to say the whiskey has been opened
November 2, 2025 at 3:14 AM
i regret to say the whiskey has been opened
ohtani number three
onwards and upwards
onwards and upwards
November 2, 2025 at 3:10 AM
ohtani number three
onwards and upwards
onwards and upwards
moving even deeper into anything-could-happen territory
November 2, 2025 at 2:21 AM
moving even deeper into anything-could-happen territory
is this a baseball game or a hockey game
November 2, 2025 at 1:35 AM
is this a baseball game or a hockey game
Everybody gets a home run!
a woman in a red dress holds a microphone and says you get one and you get one we all get one
ALT: a woman in a red dress holds a microphone and says you get one and you get one we all get one
media.tenor.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Everybody gets a home run!