Allison Martell
@allisonmartell.bsky.social
Investigative data reporter for Reuters, based in Toronto. Interested in computer vision, NLP, and other kinds of machine learning for reporting. Also, I teach people to read. 🏳️🌈
Reposted by Allison Martell
In 2019 Meta did causal research looking at the effects of randomly asking Facebook users to stop using the platform for a month. After the first week of the study, results showed that leaving the platform was good for people’s mental health.
Meta then shut the project down.
Meta then shut the project down.
November 23, 2025 at 12:57 AM
In 2019 Meta did causal research looking at the effects of randomly asking Facebook users to stop using the platform for a month. After the first week of the study, results showed that leaving the platform was good for people’s mental health.
Meta then shut the project down.
Meta then shut the project down.
In August, the same three ships joined three others, along with six ferries, at the same site to conduct the landing exercise laid out in detail in our story. Read it here: www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In August, the same three ships joined three others, along with six ferries, at the same site to conduct the landing exercise laid out in detail in our story. Read it here: www.reuters.com/graphics/USA...
In July, we followed a ferry to an exercise in Guangdong. When we turned to BlackSky’s images, they showed the ferry, but also something we had never seen before – three cargo ships that were new to us, operating right at the beach.
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In July, we followed a ferry to an exercise in Guangdong. When we turned to BlackSky’s images, they showed the ferry, but also something we had never seen before – three cargo ships that were new to us, operating right at the beach.
I trained an AI model to detect when ships were off course, but once we were tasking satellites, even excellent performance was not good enough. Instead, I built an online dashboard where we could watch the ships in real time, and spun up GitHub actions to collect all AIS signals in a few key spots.
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I trained an AI model to detect when ships were off course, but once we were tasking satellites, even excellent performance was not good enough. Instead, I built an online dashboard where we could watch the ships in real time, and spun up GitHub actions to collect all AIS signals in a few key spots.
We tracked more than 100 AIS signals over the last year, and this summer we worked with BlackSky to task satellites, hoping to catch several views of one exercise.
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
We tracked more than 100 AIS signals over the last year, and this summer we worked with BlackSky to task satellites, hoping to catch several views of one exercise.
I mostly used the LSEG API for ship data, with some clean up and filtering in Python, and the temporal controller in QGIS. But there are a lot of civilian ships that could join these exercises, and finding this signal in the noise was challenging.
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I mostly used the LSEG API for ship data, with some clean up and filtering in Python, and the temporal controller in QGIS. But there are a lot of civilian ships that could join these exercises, and finding this signal in the noise was challenging.
These deck cargo ships, about 90m long, are cheap to build, and used all over China, so experts tell us they significantly increase China’s capacity to deliver troops to Taiwan.
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
These deck cargo ships, about 90m long, are cheap to build, and used all over China, so experts tell us they significantly increase China’s capacity to deliver troops to Taiwan.
You might have seen stories about ferries that join these exercises, or the barges launched in March that turn into a kind of temporary port. But this summer, we spotted another strategy: Cargo ships carrying vehicles right to the beach. (Image from BlackSky.)
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
You might have seen stories about ferries that join these exercises, or the barges launched in March that turn into a kind of temporary port. But this summer, we spotted another strategy: Cargo ships carrying vehicles right to the beach. (Image from BlackSky.)
What would make it illegal now?
November 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
What would make it illegal now?
I think we are very nearby if you are stuck!
November 2, 2025 at 2:36 AM
I think we are very nearby if you are stuck!
Relevant bsky.app/profile/matt...
I know a lot of people talk about "Ken Griffey's swing", "John Olerud's swing" but for my money there is nothing more beautiful than Alejandro Kirk:
- 5'7 and built like a Welsh corgi
- basically drops halfway into a splits on each swing
- each swing is a Street Fighter "Shooooryuken" uppercut
- 5'7 and built like a Welsh corgi
- basically drops halfway into a splits on each swing
- each swing is a Street Fighter "Shooooryuken" uppercut
November 1, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Relevant bsky.app/profile/matt...
Reposted by Allison Martell
Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza killed at least 15 people, including four journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters. Reuters statement: reut.rs/3HPt6kE
August 25, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Israeli strikes on Nasser Hospital in Gaza killed at least 15 people, including four journalists, one of whom worked for Reuters. Reuters statement: reut.rs/3HPt6kE
Reposted by Allison Martell
Witnesses said the second strike took place after rescue workers, journalists and other people had rushed to the site of the initial attack. The Reuters live video feed from the hospital, which was operated by Masri, suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike reut.rs/41pmNLb
August 25, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Witnesses said the second strike took place after rescue workers, journalists and other people had rushed to the site of the initial attack. The Reuters live video feed from the hospital, which was operated by Masri, suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike reut.rs/41pmNLb