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Gemma Conroy

@gvconroy.bsky.social
157 followers 155 following 16 posts

Freelance science reporter for Nature news and editor of the Nature Briefing: Careers newsletter. Bylines also at The New York Times, ABC Science, ScienceAlert and others. gemmaconroy.com

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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The next time you have food poisoning, think of all the immune cells zipping from your gut to your brain. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Stomach bugs’ send protective immune cells rushing from gut to brain
Voyaging gut-derived immune cells ‘remember’ past stomach infections in mice.
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Heidi Ledford @heidiledford.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Food poisoning bug sends immune cells charging from the gut to the brain -- fun, fascinating story by @gvconroy.bsky.social @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
'Stomach bugs' send protective immune cells rushing from gut to brain
Voyaging gut-derived immune cells ‘remember’ past stomach infections in mice.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We hear about emotional intelligence a lot, but there's still a lot of debate about what it is and its role in the workplace. I untangle the research on emotional intelligence, how scientists can develop it and why it's not about being 'nice'. My latest for @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
A guide to emotional intelligence in the lab
Learning how to manage your feelings can help you to tackle some tricky situations at work, say organizational psychologists.
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Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) @istaresearch.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Great research needs independent storytelling to connect discovery with society. That’s why we’re delighted to welcome @gvconroy.bsky.social​ as one of our Journalists in Residence this year. Gemma is an Australian science journalist whose work has appeared in top publications. Welcome!
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Clinics selling unproven stem cell treatments are cropping up in Mexico, attracting hopeful tourists from all over the world. The country’s researchers are calling for tougher regulations. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Inside Mexico’s stem-cell industry
Researchers in the country are calling for stronger regulation of treatments that many people make long journeys to receive.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Want to know what your disease risk will look like decades from now? This new AI tool has the answer. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Which diseases will you have in 20 years? This AI accurately predicts your risks
A modified large language model called Delphi-2M analyses a person’s medical records and lifestyle to provide risk estimates for more than 1,000 diseases.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
The pandemic seemed to age people’s brains faster, but cognition only worsened in those who had an infection. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
People’s brains aged faster during the COVID pandemic — even the uninfected
Study of nearly 1,000 people showed that brain ageing was not linked to infection status, but cognitive decline was.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
After ruling the NIH grant cuts were illegal yesterday, Judge Young, a Reagan appointee on the bench since 1985, ended the hearing with a blistering 15-minute speech. I've cleaned up my notes — here are his remarks in full. 🧵
nature.com
Judge rules against NIH grant cuts — and calls them discriminatory
The decision means that the US biomedical agency has to restore funding to hundreds of research projects, but the government will likely appeal.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
While the world falls apart, a bunch of cockatoos have figured out how to use drinking fountains. My latest for @nytimes.com 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/s...
nytimes.com
Clever Cockatoos Have Figured Out How to Drink From Water Fountains
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
When given a certain human enhancer, mice grow bigger brains than usual. This offers one possible explanation for why humans evolved such large brains. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Mice grow bigger brains when given this stretch of human DNA
Finding adds to the bigger picture of how humans developed such large brains.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Can you find love at the lab bench? Should you mention your research on y our dating profile? I spoke to science PhDs about their dating experiences. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘I don’t have the bandwidth’: how to juggle dating alongside a PhD
Is lasting love more likely if you date only other scientists? How much should you talk about your research on a first date? Researchers lift the lid on their experiences of when science meets affairs...
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Ah yes, mitochondria. They don’t really go anywhere right? Wrong. Researchers have been seeing these tiny energy factories move between cells, which could have implications for our health. We might even harness this process to treat disease. My latest for @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪
nature.com
Cells are swapping their mitochondria. What does this mean for our health?
Researchers are studying why the energy factories are moving between cells and whether the process can be harnessed to treat cancer and other diseases.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Resilience can only be a good thing right? Not when ‘toughing it out’ means enduring a toxic culture. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘I was told to toughen up’: is academia getting resilience all wrong?
Being repeatedly told to bounce back and develop a thicker skin can mask a toxic lab culture.
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Julian A Nowogrodzki @plantnerd.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
🚨🧪 We’ve been talking to scientists at rallies today across the country in DC, Boston, Seattle, and NJ. Here’s why scientists are “Dismayed, depressed, disgusted” and what they’re doing about it 🧵 ⤵️ for more #StandUpforScience #StandUpforScience2025 @nature.com
nature.com
‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts
Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration.
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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
“If we don’t get this hiring freeze lifted...the impact will be felt by the American people in the form of delayed treatments and therapies for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease." The latest on the dismantling of US science, from @dangaristo.bsky.social
nature.com
US universities curtail PhD admissions amid Trump science funding cuts
Nature talks to prospective students left in limbo as some institutes withdraw offers and put applications on hold.
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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
China is leading the world in research into new kinds of computing chips, data from @csetgeorgetown.bsky.social suggests. If the research can be commercialised, the US won't be able to use export controls to hold back Chinese AI. My story here: www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪🤖
nature.com
China research on next-generation computer chips is double the US output
Leading efforts in fields such as optical physics could stymie US export controls designed to stifle the country’s microchip industry.
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Davide Castelvecchi @castelvecchi.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
"We had to convince ourselves that it wasn’t something strange or weird with the telescope” How @km3net.bsky.social discovered the most energetic neutrino ever (a mini 🧵) www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Record-breaking neutrino is most energetic ever detected
Although still under construction, the sea-floor KM3NeT detector spotted a neutrino 20 times more powerful than any previously detected.
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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
"The scientific community must be clear-eyed about the path ahead." - Gretchen Goldman of @ucsusa.bsky.social on Trump 2.0 in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Despair is not an option’ — how scientists can help protect federal research
Government scientists in the US must be clear-eyed and continue to serve the public.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
DeepSeek has taken the tech world by storm. Here’s how the little-known Chinese startup did it. My latest with @smritimallapaty.bsky.social and @lizziegibney.bsky.social 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
How China created AI model DeepSeek and shocked the world
Government policies, generous funding and a pipeline of AI graduates have helped Chinese firms create advanced LLMs.
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Nature @nature.com · 24/01/2025
Latest from the Nature Careers Podcast 🔊 ‘Do I need to lead this lifestyle to succeed?’ The mental health crises that forced faculty members to change tack go.nature.com/3Wzdi9P
go.nature.com
‘Do I need to lead this lifestyle to succeed?’ The mental health crises that forced faculty members to change tack
The pressures faced by lab leaders to be excellent researchers, teachers, managers, accountants and mentors can exact a heavy toll.
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. #AcademicSky www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Never seen anything like this’: Trump’s team halts NIH meetings and travel
In an unprecedented move, research-grant reviews have been suspended indefinitely at the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Not all retractions happen because of dodgy practices. Researchers whose papers are retracted due to an honest mistake often find the ordeal extremely stressful. My latest for @nature.com 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Retractions caused by honest mistakes are extremely stressful, say researchers
A survey highlights the emotional toll of retractions for authors and what could be done differently.
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Nicky Phillips @nickyphillips7.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
My first post on Bluesky is about .... Bluesky. Tell us why you use it? Has it replaced X for you? What do you miss about X? 🧪
nature.com
Has Bluesky replaced X for scientists? Take Nature’s poll
The research community has flocked to the social-media platform Bluesky. Tell us about your experience.
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Emma Stoye @emmastoye.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Nature is keen to find out how scientists are using Bluesky and whether it has become their go-to soc media platform. Do you use Bluesky? Has it replaced X for you? Tell us about it: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Has Bluesky replaced X for scientists? Take Nature’s poll
The research community has flocked to the social-media platform Bluesky. Tell us about your experience.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 22/12/2024
Linde Jacobs’s mother died after a genetic mutation gradually laid waste to her brain. Now the same gene is coming for her own mind. Can she find a way to stop it?
nytimes.com
A Woman With a Rare Gene Mutation Fights to Avoid Her Mother’s Fate
A mutant gene is coming to steal Linde Jacobs’s mind. Can she find a way to stop it?
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
It turns out ‘Lucy’ could run on two legs, but she was no match for modern humans. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Humans evolved for distance running – but ancestor ‘Lucy’ didn’t go far or fast
3D models of Australopithecus afarensis suggest the muscular adaptations that made modern humans better runners.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Scientists have glimpsed the first signs of the ‘neutrino fog’. Is this the beginning of the end for dark matter experiments? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
First sighting of ‘neutrino fog’ sparks excitement – but is it bad news for dark matter?
Ultra-sensitive detectors have observed neutrinos from the Sun, whose signals mimic those expected to be produced by elusive dark matter.
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Gemma Conroy @gvconroy.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
Australia has banned social media for kids under 16. Other governments are considering similar measures. What’s the evidence these bans will work? www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Governments are banning kids from social media: will that protect them from harm?
Australia is the latest nation to introduce restrictions, but evidence about whether they will work is limited.
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