Kristina Killgrove
@killgrove.bsky.social
Staff writer @LiveScience.com
Email: [email protected]
Web: Livescience.com/author/kristina-killgrove
PhD in anthropology, MA in classical archaeology. Former professor & Roman bioarchaeologist.
I crochet and bake a lot. Time zone: US Eastern
Email: [email protected]
Web: Livescience.com/author/kristina-killgrove
PhD in anthropology, MA in classical archaeology. Former professor & Roman bioarchaeologist.
I crochet and bake a lot. Time zone: US Eastern
Pinned
Being a science writer right now is like…
9am - Coffee and constitutional crisis!
10am - Read a neat study on 5000-year-old beads.
11am - US science funding is off/on/off/on!
Noon - Email a researcher about Iron Age skeletons.
Afternoon - More constitutional crises and screaming into the void!
9am - Coffee and constitutional crisis!
10am - Read a neat study on 5000-year-old beads.
11am - US science funding is off/on/off/on!
Noon - Email a researcher about Iron Age skeletons.
Afternoon - More constitutional crises and screaming into the void!
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Need a break from watching the parade or prepping another pie? Here’s a new kind of quiz for you — I’ve given you tiny closeups of famous artifacts. Can you figure out what they are? 🤠🏺🧪
Archaeology Fragments Quiz: Can you work out what these mysterious artifacts are?
Break out your best magnifying glass to solve these visual archaeology puzzles.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Need a break from watching the parade or prepping another pie? Here’s a new kind of quiz for you — I’ve given you tiny closeups of famous artifacts. Can you figure out what they are? 🤠🏺🧪
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
FYI: law and science, political science, and sociology all still have DDRIG programs run outside of the NSF but funded by NSF. The rest of these programs unfortunately do not.
I run the political science DDRIG.
I run the political science DDRIG.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:25 PM
FYI: law and science, political science, and sociology all still have DDRIG programs run outside of the NSF but funded by NSF. The rest of these programs unfortunately do not.
I run the political science DDRIG.
I run the political science DDRIG.
Need a break from watching the parade or prepping another pie? Here’s a new kind of quiz for you — I’ve given you tiny closeups of famous artifacts. Can you figure out what they are? 🤠🏺🧪
Archaeology Fragments Quiz: Can you work out what these mysterious artifacts are?
Break out your best magnifying glass to solve these visual archaeology puzzles.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Need a break from watching the parade or prepping another pie? Here’s a new kind of quiz for you — I’ve given you tiny closeups of famous artifacts. Can you figure out what they are? 🤠🏺🧪
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
The NSF social sciences program has funded some of the best research I’ve seen, especially at the PhD level. There really isn’t another country in the world with the equivalent funding capacity to fill this gap, and the damage from this choice will be felt for a long time.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:04 AM
The NSF social sciences program has funded some of the best research I’ve seen, especially at the PhD level. There really isn’t another country in the world with the equivalent funding capacity to fill this gap, and the damage from this choice will be felt for a long time.
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
It's a tiny amount of money ($25K, $12K when I was a student), but the consequences are huge. e.g., Years ago, this funding enabled me to conduct my PhD research, which ultimately informed the Supreme Court litigation that prohibited patents on human genes.
Talk about undone science.
Talk about undone science.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:08 PM
It's a tiny amount of money ($25K, $12K when I was a student), but the consequences are huge. e.g., Years ago, this funding enabled me to conduct my PhD research, which ultimately informed the Supreme Court litigation that prohibited patents on human genes.
Talk about undone science.
Talk about undone science.
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Today's biggest science news: Doomed comet explodes | Comet 3I/ATLAS course alteration | Dark matter detected?
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
www.livescience.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:01 PM
NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research.
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪
One cool artifact is a possible bulla, which may mean the deceased is a young Roman boy. But there was also an intaglio ring with Greek letters, possibly spelling the deceased's surname. 🧪🏺
2,000-year-old gold ring holds clue about lavish cremation burial unearthed in France
A lavish cremation tomb found in France may point to funeral rites for an adolescent boy.
www.livescience.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:07 PM
One cool artifact is a possible bulla, which may mean the deceased is a young Roman boy. But there was also an intaglio ring with Greek letters, possibly spelling the deceased's surname. 🧪🏺
Oooof. I funded my entire dissertation research project with this grant. Studied hundreds of ancient Roman skeletons and figured out which belonged to people who migrated to Ancient Rome. Other researchers are still citing this research (pub’d in 2010) and using my data to compare with their own. 🏺🧪
The NSF Bio Anthro Program DDRIG, Cultural Anthrpology DDRIG, and Archaeology DDRIG have all been archived (as of yesterday afternoon). Please speak with your grad students and plan accordingly. To say I am angry and depressed about this is an understatement.
November 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Oooof. I funded my entire dissertation research project with this grant. Studied hundreds of ancient Roman skeletons and figured out which belonged to people who migrated to Ancient Rome. Other researchers are still citing this research (pub’d in 2010) and using my data to compare with their own. 🏺🧪
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Coming together to eat the food we share has been part of humanity from the very beginning. I wrote this post after a Thanksgiving week lecture on evidence for Neanderthals and other ancient people making prepared mixtures of grains, lentils, and other foods.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
A Neandertal recipe with lentils and grain
Looking at a fascinating new study that finds mixtures of different plants within ancient morsels of charred foods.
www.johnhawks.net
November 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Coming together to eat the food we share has been part of humanity from the very beginning. I wrote this post after a Thanksgiving week lecture on evidence for Neanderthals and other ancient people making prepared mixtures of grains, lentils, and other foods.
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
www.johnhawks.net/p/a-neandert...
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Breaking News: The CDC quietly appointed Dr. Ralph Lee Abraham, who has been critical of vaccines, as its second in command. During the Covid pandemic, he promoted discredited treatments like ivermectin and, as Louisiana’s surgeon general, halted the state’s mass vaccination campaign.
C.D.C. Quietly Appoints Doctor Critical of Vaccines as Second in Command
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Ralph Lee Abraham promoted discredited treatments like ivermectin and, as Louisiana’s surgeon general, halted the state’s mass vaccination campaign.
trib.al
November 25, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Breaking News: The CDC quietly appointed Dr. Ralph Lee Abraham, who has been critical of vaccines, as its second in command. During the Covid pandemic, he promoted discredited treatments like ivermectin and, as Louisiana’s surgeon general, halted the state’s mass vaccination campaign.
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham has just been named as the principal deputy director at the CDC.
Abraham’s accomplishments include banning the health department from promoting vaccines and overseeing the concomitant explosion of whooping cough in the state, which has killed two babies.
Abraham’s accomplishments include banning the health department from promoting vaccines and overseeing the concomitant explosion of whooping cough in the state, which has killed two babies.
November 25, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham has just been named as the principal deputy director at the CDC.
Abraham’s accomplishments include banning the health department from promoting vaccines and overseeing the concomitant explosion of whooping cough in the state, which has killed two babies.
Abraham’s accomplishments include banning the health department from promoting vaccines and overseeing the concomitant explosion of whooping cough in the state, which has killed two babies.
Omg this recap is amazing and glorious and makes me feel a tiny bit less alone (being seemingly the only person I know doggedly following this story for all its salacious details).
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our time
www.theringer.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Omg this recap is amazing and glorious and makes me feel a tiny bit less alone (being seemingly the only person I know doggedly following this story for all its salacious details).
The middle-aged man had craniosynostosis -- premature fusion of three skull sutures -- which was typically fatal in childhood in the Medieval period. 🏺🧪
'I had never seen a skull like this before': Medieval Spanish knight who died in battle had a rare genetic condition, study finds
The extremely long skull of a medieval knight points to an underlying genetic condition.
www.livescience.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The middle-aged man had craniosynostosis -- premature fusion of three skull sutures -- which was typically fatal in childhood in the Medieval period. 🏺🧪
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
Neanderthals cannibalized 'outsider' women and children 45,000 years ago at cave in Belgium
Fragmented Neanderthal bones discovered in a cave in Belgium show that one group cannibalized the women and children of another group.
www.livescience.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died
Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old.
www.whatimreading.net
November 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Oh, Tish James case dismissed too. Now Miss Hannigan has to start her orphanage.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
Federal judge dismissed indictments against Letitia James and James Comey | CNN Politics
A federal judge dismissed the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday.
www.cnn.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Oh, Tish James case dismissed too. Now Miss Hannigan has to start her orphanage.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
Neanderthals cannibalized 'outsider' women and children 45,000 years ago at cave in Belgium
Fragmented Neanderthal bones discovered in a cave in Belgium show that one group cannibalized the women and children of another group.
www.livescience.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Archaeologists discover that Neanderthals ate the women and children first. 🧪🏺
This week’s astonishing artifact is some Byzantine bling. Its owner probably wore it to signify their association with the emperor. 🧪🏺
Pectoral with coins: 'One of the most intricate pieces of gold jewelry to survive from the mid-sixth century'
This sixth-century pectoral comprises 14 Byzantine gold coins and a gold disc gathered over two centuries.
www.livescience.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:35 PM
This week’s astonishing artifact is some Byzantine bling. Its owner probably wore it to signify their association with the emperor. 🧪🏺
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
The fact that the entire US elite class clutched onto this book as a source of deep insight tells you all you need to know about the people running this shitshow.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The fact that the entire US elite class clutched onto this book as a source of deep insight tells you all you need to know about the people running this shitshow.
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Please hear me when I say that
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room.
Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Please hear me when I say that
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
1) these anti-medical woo birth movements have been a primary feeder into anti-vaxx eugenic movements
2) they pre-date the age of social media
3) they exist because we have not addressed medical sexism and specifically obstetric violence
Reposted by Kristina Killgrove
Screaming at academics, who will never hear me, through my e-reader, to just decide, for the sake of ease of comprehension, to write separate sentences, instead of the current practice, of adding, unnecessarily, a million fucking commas.
November 22, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Screaming at academics, who will never hear me, through my e-reader, to just decide, for the sake of ease of comprehension, to write separate sentences, instead of the current practice, of adding, unnecessarily, a million fucking commas.
November 21, 2025 at 11:00 PM