Ferris Jabr
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social
NYT bestselling author of Becoming Earth (Random House, 2024), being translated into 12+ languages ✵ Contributing Writer, New York Times Magazine ✵ Gardener, baker, naturalist ✵ 🇱🇧🇺🇸🏳️🌈 ✵ Surname rhymes with neighbor ✵ https://www.ferrisjabr.com
Ever since I learned of a marjolaine via GBBO, I’ve wanted to try my hand at one. Finally made one today! Layers of hazelnut-almond meringue (dacquoise), praline buttercream, and chocolate ganache, decorated with toasted nuts. One of the more complex cakes I’ve attempted.
November 28, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Ever since I learned of a marjolaine via GBBO, I’ve wanted to try my hand at one. Finally made one today! Layers of hazelnut-almond meringue (dacquoise), praline buttercream, and chocolate ganache, decorated with toasted nuts. One of the more complex cakes I’ve attempted.
A couple Thanksgivings ago, I poached some pears in syrup flavored with vanilla, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise; wrapped them in strips of pastry; and baked them until golden brown.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A couple Thanksgivings ago, I poached some pears in syrup flavored with vanilla, honey, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise; wrapped them in strips of pastry; and baked them until golden brown.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
This year I made whole apple dumplings basted in an apple cider reduction for a tangy sweet lacquer finish.
Holiday baking has officially commenced in our household! So far I’ve made cranberry orange bread, a “Nantucket cranberry pie” (basically an upside down, nutty cranberry cake), and a unique Polish apple dessert with a shortbread base and meringue/crumble combo topping (szarlotka or jabłecznik)
November 26, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Holiday baking has officially commenced in our household! So far I’ve made cranberry orange bread, a “Nantucket cranberry pie” (basically an upside down, nutty cranberry cake), and a unique Polish apple dessert with a shortbread base and meringue/crumble combo topping (szarlotka or jabłecznik)
Kestrels are such handsome birds. Lots out and about today, their plumage even more striking than usual. This shot captures the colors and patterns well.
November 22, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Kestrels are such handsome birds. Lots out and about today, their plumage even more striking than usual. This shot captures the colors and patterns well.
2025 in pressed flowers from our garden
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
2025 in pressed flowers from our garden
I harvested and pressed various flowers from our garden throughout the past year. Now I’m experimenting with arrangements. First up, relatively bright colors against a dark background:
November 20, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I harvested and pressed various flowers from our garden throughout the past year. Now I’m experimenting with arrangements. First up, relatively bright colors against a dark background:
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
The bookshelf in our beautiful seminar room @ksjatmit.bsky.social is filled with books by former fellows. Want to be next? Applications to our fellowship are open and on our website. @annaleen.bsky.social @ferrisjabr.bsky.social @tomzellerjr.com @s-r-m.bsky.social and Melanie Kaplan. Please share.
November 19, 2025 at 6:25 PM
The bookshelf in our beautiful seminar room @ksjatmit.bsky.social is filled with books by former fellows. Want to be next? Applications to our fellowship are open and on our website. @annaleen.bsky.social @ferrisjabr.bsky.social @tomzellerjr.com @s-r-m.bsky.social and Melanie Kaplan. Please share.
In Idaho's Clarkia fossil beds, ~15-million-yr-old leaves are sandwiched between rock. When exposed, the leaves momentarily retain their original colors—red, copper, sometimes even a chlorophyllic hue—before oxidizing and fading.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
November 19, 2025 at 5:44 PM
In Idaho's Clarkia fossil beds, ~15-million-yr-old leaves are sandwiched between rock. When exposed, the leaves momentarily retain their original colors—red, copper, sometimes even a chlorophyllic hue—before oxidizing and fading.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
A sedimentary scrapbook. Reverse polaroids from Earth's deep past.
Cardinals: FOOD! MINE! MOVE!
Juncos: a precious morsel! spilled here? perhaps, if quick, I might partake…
Corvids: Once more we deign to accept these middling tributes, these inadequate oblations: mere gestures to the innate superiority of Aves, to the obvious divinity of all things feathered
Juncos: a precious morsel! spilled here? perhaps, if quick, I might partake…
Corvids: Once more we deign to accept these middling tributes, these inadequate oblations: mere gestures to the innate superiority of Aves, to the obvious divinity of all things feathered
Do birds think that bird feeders are
—magical boxes that grow food
—me doing a terrible job of storing my precious seeds, allowing birds to steal some
—me intentionally feeding them
—magical boxes that grow food
—me doing a terrible job of storing my precious seeds, allowing birds to steal some
—me intentionally feeding them
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Cardinals: FOOD! MINE! MOVE!
Juncos: a precious morsel! spilled here? perhaps, if quick, I might partake…
Corvids: Once more we deign to accept these middling tributes, these inadequate oblations: mere gestures to the innate superiority of Aves, to the obvious divinity of all things feathered
Juncos: a precious morsel! spilled here? perhaps, if quick, I might partake…
Corvids: Once more we deign to accept these middling tributes, these inadequate oblations: mere gestures to the innate superiority of Aves, to the obvious divinity of all things feathered
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
November 14, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Recently visited the Glass Flowers at Harvard, a collection of 4,300 extraordinarily realistic glass models of plants crafted by the Blaschkas, a father and son team of sculptors
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
That’s right, these are all made primarily of GLASS — a fact difficult to accept given how accurate & lifelike they are
Every now and then I remember that sponges are ANIMALS — that these seeming hybrids of plant and rock; these sessile, porous, tissue-and-organ-less barrels, tubes, and blobs are just as much an animal as a falcon, wolf, or shark — and marvel once more at the wonderful weirdness of life on Earth.
November 14, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Every now and then I remember that sponges are ANIMALS — that these seeming hybrids of plant and rock; these sessile, porous, tissue-and-organ-less barrels, tubes, and blobs are just as much an animal as a falcon, wolf, or shark — and marvel once more at the wonderful weirdness of life on Earth.
The first ever images of baby planets forming in the discs of dust and gas surrounding their respective stars. How thrilling that we can actually observe the birth of other worlds from so far away!
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
![An amber-colored, vaguely ovoid blob of dust and gas in space with dark regions. A bright spot near the center is a baby planet forming.
"Astronomers led by a group at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany have captured a spectacular snapshot of planetary formation around the young dwarf star PDS 70. By using the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) — one of the most powerful planet-hunting instruments in existence — the international team has made the first robust detection of a young planet, named PDS 70b, cleaving a path through the planet-forming material surrounding the young star"
"This research was presented in two papers, entitled “Discovery of a planetary-mass companion within the gap of the transition disk around PDS 70” and “Orbital and atmospheric characterization of the planet within the gap of the PDS 70 transition disk”, both [published] in Astronomy & Astrophysics" in 2018.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:i4cn6hmf2bu54j6wozz2ckzb/bafkreiflyl4ctmspbmnsout3twbuvczscnqnktfezq4gz3qk4mdqilnke4@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 2:32 PM
The first ever images of baby planets forming in the discs of dust and gas surrounding their respective stars. How thrilling that we can actually observe the birth of other worlds from so far away!
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2025...
www.eso.org/public/unite...
HT @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
Here are four outstanding books I’ve read this year ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Each one tackles how we shape our natural world. And how, in turn, it shapes us.
Each one does it in its own unique way.
I highly recommend them all.
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social @chloedalton.bsky.social @johnvaillant.bsky.social
Each one tackles how we shape our natural world. And how, in turn, it shapes us.
Each one does it in its own unique way.
I highly recommend them all.
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social @chloedalton.bsky.social @johnvaillant.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Here are four outstanding books I’ve read this year ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Each one tackles how we shape our natural world. And how, in turn, it shapes us.
Each one does it in its own unique way.
I highly recommend them all.
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social @chloedalton.bsky.social @johnvaillant.bsky.social
Each one tackles how we shape our natural world. And how, in turn, it shapes us.
Each one does it in its own unique way.
I highly recommend them all.
@ferrisjabr.bsky.social @chloedalton.bsky.social @johnvaillant.bsky.social
Join me Sat Nov 8, 1PM at Boston's @museumofscience.bsky.social for a family-friendly presentation about our living planet, based on my book Becoming Earth. We'll learn how life transformed Earth over billions of years, making it the world we've known. Blue Wing Stage (w/ a view of the giant globe!)
November 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Join me Sat Nov 8, 1PM at Boston's @museumofscience.bsky.social for a family-friendly presentation about our living planet, based on my book Becoming Earth. We'll learn how life transformed Earth over billions of years, making it the world we've known. Blue Wing Stage (w/ a view of the giant globe!)
Wednesday Nov 5 I’ll be at my alma mater Tufts with Pulitzer winner and MIT KSJ director @usha.bsky.social discussing the importance of science journalism in this moment and the lessons and tools it offers us all
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
October 28, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Wednesday Nov 5 I’ll be at my alma mater Tufts with Pulitzer winner and MIT KSJ director @usha.bsky.social discussing the importance of science journalism in this moment and the lessons and tools it offers us all
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
Free and open to public w/ registration
www.tuftstickets.com/event/lighti...
We recently hosted a spooky season celebration. I tried to make most of the decor from recyclable / repurposed materials to reduce waste.
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
October 27, 2025 at 8:15 PM
We recently hosted a spooky season celebration. I tried to make most of the decor from recyclable / repurposed materials to reduce waste.
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
🎃👻🦇🧵of a few favorites:
Spell book (paper, clay, mod podge, fake eye, paint)
Made some Miyazaki soot sprite cake bites. Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate shell, and sprinkles.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
October 25, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Made some Miyazaki soot sprite cake bites. Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate shell, and sprinkles.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Susuwatari (ススワタリ, 煤渡り), also known as soot gremlins or dust bunnies, are fuzzy, golf ball-sized sprites, featured in My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.
Happy 15th birthday to @theopennotebook.bsky.social, truly a phenomenal project. Whenever early-career science journalists ask about resources, this is my #1 recommendation: comprehensive, innovative, and accessible
15 years ago today, TON began as a simple idea: to improve the craft of science journalism by connecting people and providing freely accessible resources to anyone who wanted them. And for our birthday, we’re asking for your help achieving a big goal: to raise $10,000 by midnight. 🧪 #TON15
The Open Notebook's 15th Anniversary - The Open Notebook
For 15 years, The Open Notebook has been the trusted home for journalists worldwide who cover science. What started as an experiment to demystify the craft of science writing has grown into a vital, g...
www.theopennotebook.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Happy 15th birthday to @theopennotebook.bsky.social, truly a phenomenal project. Whenever early-career science journalists ask about resources, this is my #1 recommendation: comprehensive, innovative, and accessible
PSA: There's a relatively new and super useful Gmail feature: a "Manage Subscriptions" tab in the lefthand menu under
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
October 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
PSA: There's a relatively new and super useful Gmail feature: a "Manage Subscriptions" tab in the lefthand menu under
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
More. It instantly shows you all the email lists you're subscribed to, including spam, and allows you to unsubscribe from most with the click of a button
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
Cucurbita pepo is one of the oldest domesticated species. Over millennia, it has proved astoundingly versatile.
Just as Brassica oleracea gave us broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, C. pepo morphed into the pumpkin, zucchini, delicata, pattypan, acorn, yellow squash and more!
Just as Brassica oleracea gave us broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, C. pepo morphed into the pumpkin, zucchini, delicata, pattypan, acorn, yellow squash and more!
November 18, 2024 at 6:32 PM
Cucurbita pepo is one of the oldest domesticated species. Over millennia, it has proved astoundingly versatile.
Just as Brassica oleracea gave us broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, C. pepo morphed into the pumpkin, zucchini, delicata, pattypan, acorn, yellow squash and more!
Just as Brassica oleracea gave us broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, C. pepo morphed into the pumpkin, zucchini, delicata, pattypan, acorn, yellow squash and more!
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
Autumnal reminder: The majority of canned pumpkin sold in American supermarkets is not the familiar round orange carving pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). Rather, it's Dickinson pumpkin, a large, often oblong and beige cultivar of C. moschata, which has better flavor and texture (Photo: AP)
October 27, 2023 at 6:18 PM
Autumnal reminder: The majority of canned pumpkin sold in American supermarkets is not the familiar round orange carving pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). Rather, it's Dickinson pumpkin, a large, often oblong and beige cultivar of C. moschata, which has better flavor and texture (Photo: AP)
We grew a squash. An heirloom called sweet meat that grows particularly well in the PNW. It is very large 😳 Just 1/4 filled up my biggest roasting tray.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
October 22, 2025 at 11:09 PM
We grew a squash. An heirloom called sweet meat that grows particularly well in the PNW. It is very large 😳 Just 1/4 filled up my biggest roasting tray.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
Fortunately we are hosting a celebration of autumn / spooky season this weekend. I’ll be making a stew, pie, cake, and savory sides.
It's pub day for the latest edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing! Honored to have my work featured along so many other writers I admire, incl @rossandersen.bsky.social @rebeccagiggs.bsky.social @bengoldfarb.bsky.social @sarahzhang.bsky.social Emma Marris & more. Congrats to all!
October 21, 2025 at 5:09 PM
It's pub day for the latest edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing! Honored to have my work featured along so many other writers I admire, incl @rossandersen.bsky.social @rebeccagiggs.bsky.social @bengoldfarb.bsky.social @sarahzhang.bsky.social Emma Marris & more. Congrats to all!
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
It's pub day for The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025, and the whole Best American series. I'm so proud of this book and all the brilliant, beautiful writing @susanorlean.bsky.social selected for it. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025
Check out The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025 - <p>“The best science and nature writing—which these stories represent—reminds us of the wide world and our connection to...
bookshop.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:49 PM
It's pub day for The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025, and the whole Best American series. I'm so proud of this book and all the brilliant, beautiful writing @susanorlean.bsky.social selected for it. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Ferris Jabr
Scoop: Trump has started demolishing the White House's East Wing facade to build his ballroom. The president had claimed construction of the $250 million building wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure. /W @ddiamond.bsky.social wapo.st/4hqBNiU
White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom
The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.
wapo.st
October 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Scoop: Trump has started demolishing the White House's East Wing facade to build his ballroom. The president had claimed construction of the $250 million building wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure. /W @ddiamond.bsky.social wapo.st/4hqBNiU