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Brendan Maher

@bmaher.bsky.social
4.8K followers 355 following 226 posts

News featured editor at Nature. bmaher.01 on signal.

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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Check out this awesome quiz created by my colleagues. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
nature.com
Can you name the women who have won a science Nobel prize?
Take Nature’s quiz on female Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry or physiology or medicine.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Can you name the women who have won a science Nobel prize? Take Nature’s quiz on female Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry or physiology or medicine. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Can you name the women who have won a science Nobel prize?
Take Nature’s quiz on female Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry or physiology or medicine.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Slim Pickens would approve, I suspect.
static.klipy.com
No Im Not Trump Weird Horse - Peter Sellers
Alt: Gif of man riding a bomb to his death. The final scene of Dr. Strangelove (How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb).
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We’ve written about predatory publishers, fake papers, fake peer review and imposter researchers…. Now suspect ‘learned societies’ 🧪 #academicSky Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Give me a shout.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
No cheating. Share the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.
A fire pit in front of an ADK chair, some tall purple flowers and a partially obscured purple sky
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Amy Maxmen, PhD @amymaxmen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Six babies born w/measles in PA, a potentially deadly condition. www.nbcnews.com/video/doctor... I spoke with a pediatrician in Utah who pleaded w/parents to give their newborn antibodies - mom had measles. He pushed & pushed & may have spared that baby's life. kffhealthnews.org/public-healt...
kffhealthnews.org
Anguished Parents. Doctors in Tears. Utah’s Long Measles Outbreak Takes a Toll. - KFF Health News
Measles has been spreading in Utah for nearly a year, straining hospitals, schools, and parents. The state’s outbreak provides a glimpse into a new era in America’s health, in which vaccine-preventabl...
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This thread only skims the surface of some of the juicy details we uncovered in this investigation. The full article is below. If you hit a paywall, make a free account. Have experiences with these orgs, or have another investigation I should pursue? My Signal is mkozlov.01.
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Yes this was one of the sham societies we investigated as part of the network! The same person uploaded the doctored RASNZ picture to Google Maps also uploaded the doctored European Academy of Engineering one we report on in the story
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We uncovered a sprawling network of sham academies using digitally manipulated photos, plagiarized content and scientists' identities without their consent eg The "European Academy of Engineering", supposedly headquarted in Sweden, was actually using a doctored photo of the University of Gothenburg
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We’ll have more to say on this @nature.com. Stay tuned! And reach out to us if you’ve had experiences with these kinds of organizations. @maxkozlov.bsky.social provides contact details in his story. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
What was shocking, though, was how many top-level scientists and institutions go along without vetting things. Our reporter found at least 30 news releases from institutions celebrating new members elected to these deceptive academies from places like Stanford, Columbia and the NAS.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Prominent researchers often get invites to these societies, and if they accept, they’ll soon find invites from some of the related partners. But it seems that some individuals don’t even get the invite before they are added to the ranks. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My colleage just finished an investigation into shady practices by a network of academic societies. Some of the stuff they do is laughably bad, like replacing signage on photos. But people still join them. Why? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Excellent report by the excellent @supson.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/women-...
wired.com
We Surveyed 634 Women Who Work in Tech. They Let Loose
Executives happily automating their days with AI. New hires confronting bro culture. Women in tech have a lot to say—and they told it all to WIRED.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Gufffffawwwww😆
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Congrats.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Emily Aguilar-Pine drove more than 1000 miles with precious cargo in the back of her SUV. Inside some protective wrapping labelled "hopes and dreams" was a rare vial of cultured microbes that could hold key to unlocking the history of complex life. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
These bizarre, much-coveted microbes are revealing the origins of complex life
Researchers are racing to culture a menagerie of exotic organisms and finding lots of surprises along the way.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
D&R canal towpath!!!
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Trust in scientists is relatively high, but politically polarized, in the United Kingdom www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Trust in scientists is relatively high, but politically polarized, in the United Kingdom
Politics and a sense of whether scientists are ‘on their side’ influence people’s trust in scientists, finds new report.
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Nature @nature.com · 10/09/2026
Academics explain that their research freedom beats the increased salary they would get in the corporate sector, but emerging hybrid models might allow them to get the best of both worlds. go.nature.com/4iF5fV1
go.nature.com
AI researchers reckon with the $1.5 million ‘academia tax’
Academics explain that their research freedom beats the increased salary they would get in the corporate sector, but emerging hybrid models might allow them to get the best of both worlds.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
As UK Biobank prepares to reopen, will it still be as valuable to researchers with new restrictions in place?
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 04/09/2026
A psychology journal has retracted a seminal 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination coauthored by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely of Duke University just days after a team of sleuths published analyses of the original study data, finding it had been tampered with.
retractionwatch.com
Procrastination study by Duke’s Dan Ariely retracted after sleuths find signs of data tampering
A psychology journal has retracted a seminal 2002 paper on deadlines and procrastination coauthored by behavioral scientist Dan Ariely of Duke University just days after a team of sleuths published…
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Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com · 03/09/2026
Nature reports how researchers are exploring how generative AI — systems that create text, images and other output — might be homogenizing both culture and cognition. #AI 🧪
go.nature.com
Bland new world: is AI making us all think the same?
Researchers worry that generative AI is homogenizing culture and cognition.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This profile is quite a journey.
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Nature @nature.com · 03/09/2026
Just one week after the landmark US approval of a game-changing drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, the same therapy is showing promise against the world’s biggest cancer killer: lung cancer. go.nature.com/3SIaWH4
go.nature.com
Landmark pancreatic cancer drug shows potential against lung cancer too
Results bolster hopes that the drug daraxonrasib could prove effective against a variety of tumours.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Gasp! What awful news.
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Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness @tangledwilderness.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Hey I'm not actually done talking about Dolly Parton. 🧵 Specifically I want to talk about her album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, released in 1980 (not the soundtrack to the film 9 to 5, that's a different thing). The whole album is about work, with most of the songs focused on a different type of worker.
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Nature @nature.com · 30/08/2026
The world’s most popular antidepressant drugs are under fire go.nature.com/4y4KYMG
go.nature.com
The baffling science of SSRIs: how do they really work?
Nature - The world’s most popular antidepressant drugs are under fire. But are they really harder to quit than heroin?
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Nature @nature.com · 30/08/2026
Dolly Parton was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities go.nature.com/4gwB0wA
go.nature.com
Dolly Parton dies aged 80 – researchers celebrate her contributions to science
Nature - The country singer was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities.
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Nature @nature.com · 23/08/2026
This controversial surgery for Alzheimer's patients aims to improve drainage of fluid from the brain. What do we know about it? go.nature.com/4zsxmfM
go.nature.com
A controversial Alzheimer’s surgery is said to reverse symptoms — here’s what scientists know
Nature - Jaw-dropping patient videos and miraculous testimonials ignited a frenzy in China over a technique that aims to improve drainage from the brain. Now it is entering trials worldwide.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
"So, I figured, let's see if he can fight, and he couldn't" Philly wins again!
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Nature @nature.com · 17/08/2026
“It’s the best thing that has ever happened to me” - this is the first approved drug designed to treat the cause of narcolepsy go.nature.com/3TSRgk3
go.nature.com
First-of-its-kind narcolepsy drug opens door to new therapies for the brain
The drug, called Orzeyful, takes aim at the root cause of the sleep disorder rather than at its symptoms.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Terrific and terrifying reporting by my new colleague.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Wild quote: “If the patient is able to improve even for a year, that’s a whole freaking miracle for the patient and their family.” www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
A controversial Alzheimer’s surgery is said to reverse symptoms — here’s what scientists know
Jaw-dropping patient videos and miraculous testimonials ignited a frenzy in China over a technique that aims to improve drainage from the brain. Now it is entering trials worldwide.
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Jeffrey Perkel (he/him) @jperkel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Leaving the lab can be exciting. But sorting through years of samples and data while preparing for your next career stage — and often a move to a different city or country — can be overwhelming. @sjmelchor.bsky.social has 7 tips for a graceful exit. #PhD 🧪 @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Seven tips for a graceful lab exit
Job transitions are challenging, but good communication and planning will help.
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Nature @nature.com · 12/08/2026
This controversial surgery for Alzheimer's patients aims to improve drainage of fluid from the brain. What do we know about it? go.nature.com/4wV6hjX
go.nature.com
A controversial Alzheimer’s surgery is said to reverse symptoms — here’s what scientists know
Jaw-dropping patient videos and miraculous testimonials ignited a frenzy in China over a technique that aims to improve drainage from the brain. Now it is entering trials worldwide.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
NEW: The NIH is quietly restricting funding for research that evaluates how public policy impacts human health. According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder. My latest for @nature.com:
nature.com
NIH limits funding for research on the health effects of public policy
US biomedical agency no longer considers policymakers as ‘mission relevant’, leaving dozens of grants in limbo.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I think you’re onto something here.
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Nature @nature.com · 02/08/2026
“We can almost look through the eyes of [Europe's earliest Homo sapiens] and see how they viewed the environment around them” go.nature.com/4xdqTmX
go.nature.com
40,000-year-old bird carvings provide clues to how ice age humans flourished
Nature - Newly discovered figurines point to skills that might have helped shape early humans’ expansion across Europe.
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MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Hohle Fels Cave Over the past 3 decades, they have dug up one jaw-dropping find after another. 40,000-year-old bird carvings provide clues to how ice age humans flourished🏺🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41... Figurines point to skills that might have helped shape early humans’ expansion across Europe.
In 2025, archaeologists discovered two small bird figurines, resembling relatives of the pheasant called ptarmigans, in Hohle Fels Cave, Germany. One figurine has its wings outstretched; the other is resting. Credit: R. Ehmann, University of Tübingen
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
How to become my favorite classics professor: 1) make comparisons to wooder ice. 2) get quoted in The Onion.
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EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
1. It's a fun action movie. A line that got cut but sums up some of my overall feelings: This Odyssey is not a rich, satisfying Homeric banquet, but sometimes in the heat, an ice-cold Philly water ice is all you want - even it's mostly sugar and food coloring, and makes no nutritional sense.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Not the best albums of the era but definitely perfect bookends when it comes to banger-filled concept albums. 🧑‍🍳💋👌 91 Big Audio Dynamite II 99 the unauthorized biography of Reinhold Messner.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Science in the Odyssey? Sure. Why not? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
What The Odyssey reveals about ancient science — from botany to psychiatry
From intelligent ships to clues about eclipses, Homer’s The Odyssey reveals how Bronze Age Greeks understood the world.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
The 'isn't it great that there are now new treatments for measles on the horizon' take is ... not a great take, IMO. I need a lie down. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/w...
nytimes.com
The New Race to Find Treatments for Measles
As vaccination rates decline, biotech companies see a potential new market for measles drugs.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
There are some promising treatments on the cusp. Read Amber's feature for more. (end/🧵) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
New hope in the fight against cachexia — cancer’s deadly co-conspirator
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the wasting and fatigue that often accompanies cancer. Treatments could be on the horizon.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, there's more than one pathway, and essentially more than one type of cachexia. But there's lots of interesting research into organ crosstalk in the condition... leading to the metabolic and psychological symptoms. (3/🧵)
static.klipy.com
It's a Conspiracy Man! Meme
ALT: It's a Conspiracy Man! Meme
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Funding bodies were making big investments in cachexia research half a decade ago. For example through the CANCAN network (2/🧵): www.cancergrandchallenges.org/challenges/a...
cancergrandchallenges.org
Cachexia
Understand and reverse cachexia and declining performance status in cancer patients. This challenge is being tackled by team CANCAN.
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Brendan Maher @bmaher.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Anyone who has experienced cachexia, firsthand or otherwise, knows how big a part it is in the fight against cancer. Amber Dance has a great write-up of the latest research. (1/🧵) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
New hope in the fight against cachexia — cancer’s deadly co-conspirator
Scientists are getting closer to understanding the wasting and fatigue that often accompanies cancer. Treatments could be on the horizon.
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