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Nadia Drake

@nadiadrake.bsky.social
6.1K followers 153 following 122 posts

Science journalist, champagneophile, nap champ. Currently freelance, formerly National Geographic. 🇱🇧🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈 Signal: nadiadrake.01

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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
lololol oh hai friend!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I hope we’re all inspired to think a little bit differently about our conceptions of alien life and what we need to convince us that it's there — even if in the end, we reach the same conclusions we started with. It’s worth the effort. (end)
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
So, the journey between the germ of an idea and this published story was twisty and fun, and I hope you enjoy it. I’m grateful for each and every conversation I had while reporting this story, and especially to @leebillings.bsky.social and @sciam.bsky.social for going on this adventure with me.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Typically, we lean into “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” as the standard of proof…but what we’re now saying is that at some point, enough “ordinary” evidence could amount to something extraordinary. That is, if you think life on Mars is even an extraordinary claim at all!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The problem is essentially this: When it comes to ancient Mars, many astrobiologists think we’ll need to rely on multiple independent observations to point to life. But then we’re also saying that each of those observations on its own is not conclusive.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I had hoped there might be a way to craft a statistical framework — something Bayesian — to help us understand when or if “life” might be an answer for the body of observations we’re making on Mars. Something that would help us quantitatively define that boundary.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Reporting the story was an adventure, full of deeply insightful conversations and unexpected disappointments, and along the way, I took a dive into the Viking biology experiments and even spoke with the mission’s director.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
A few months ago, I got a bit obsessed with a question about life on Mars: When—or if—“life” becomes the most parsimonious explanation for a handful of potential biosignatures, how will we know? Would we even admit it? This story grew from that question. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
scientificamerican.com
Has NASA already found life on Mars?
In searches for past and present Martian life, some scientists say we’ve been too cautious to see what’s right in front of us
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Thank you!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
😆
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Thank you, Marina!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
What budget?
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
SQUEEEEEEE
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
TIIIIIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAN
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
This is how we snowstorm.
I’m snuggled on the couch with our dog, who is wearing dinosaur jammies and is about to get a belly rub.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
You know which one I’m waiting for TITAAAAAAAAAAN!!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
And yours ❤️‍🩹 We really were lucky to share a planet with them.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
By us! Thanks for working with me on this one ☺️
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Reposted by Nadia Drake
Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA’s next-gen Habitable Worlds Observatory may be our best chance to find alien life. But can a nation busy ripping itself apart unite to launch a mission to solve life’s cosmic mysteries? By @nadiadrake.bsky.social (and me). www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
scientificamerican.com
NASA’s First-Ever Alien-Hunting Space Telescope Could Enlighten Our New Dark Age
The Habitable Worlds Observatory is poised to tell us whether Earthlike planets are common—if it can get off the ground
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Alex I just heard that we are "sending mankind throughout the universe" so really that's just a tiny hop
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Missing my dad extra hard today — it's been three orbits since he left.
Dad and me in the snow; I'm wearing a pink snow suit and am barely old enough to walk. He's holding my hand. I'm a few years old and am sitting on Dad's shoulders. He looked excited. I look puzzled.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Hmmmm…that’s an auspicious date 🧐
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Lots to look at in this subcommittee markup, but: Whose yacht did those orcas attack?? 🤦‍♀️ appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-su...
appropriations.house.gov
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
"You’re punching a generation-size hole, maybe a multigenerational hole, in the scientific and technical workforce. You don’t just Cryovac these people and pull them out when the money comes back. People are going to move on.” www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...
scientificamerican.com
This Budget Plan Would Devastate U.S. Space Science
Scientists are rallying to reverse ruinous proposed cuts to both NASA and the National Science Foundation
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
That’s a cool shot! Safe flight and see you soon 🌌
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Thank you! I really appreciate it. Yay Clipper!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Meanwhile, check out the midpoint of this re-entry window. (Prediction is current as of 4pm US Eastern, and it will change, but if 2025 wants to be maximally chaotic…it’s on course) #kosmos482 aerospace.org/reentries/6073
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
“A lot of life’s interesting things are in the bits that don’t fit. The anomalies. The curiosities.” — Jocelyn Bell Burnell #breakthroughdiscuss
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
About the leaked NASA budget proposal that kills an almost-ready-to-launch flagship mission: "It sets back a program that is clearly the leading program in the world—in a historic fashion. You take that program and shoot it through the head." www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
scientificamerican.com
NASA’s Next Major Space Telescope Is Ready to Launch. Trump Wants to Kill It and Other Vital Science
Amid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The one science story that friends, family, and neighbors are pinging me about right now: • K2-18b I love that people are excited about it! That's great!! But how much damage are we doing to the general appetite for cool, actual science with the type of hyperbole that came from this team?
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Mmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmm. Would also add that there’s room for improvement in multiple areas. These are good conversations to have. 🖖👽
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
Extremely yes!! Cannot wait. (But do we have to wait five years? Okay…)
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
And yet, carrying unclassified data about Mars gets you detained and ejected.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Re-upping this absolute gem for no reason whatsoever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYD3...
A screen grab of Darth Vader asking Princess Leia, “What did you do with those plans you were sent?” It’s from an absolutely genius mash up of Stars Wars set to Beatles songs.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Wow — this shot of a total solar eclipse is truly one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Shot from the moon's surface by @firefly-aerospace.bsky.social's Blue Ghost lander, it shows the sun about to emerge from behind the Earth. What a beautiful cosmic perspective! 💍
An image of a total solar eclipse, seen from the moon's surface. The sun's light is a thin ring around a dark Earth, except where the sun is beginning to emerge from behind the Earth, producing what's colloquially called the "diamond ring" effect.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
You’re really selling it! …be right there 😂
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
😱
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Before we know it, California will be called "Champagne" because this is a person who cannot stand being wrong (especially when he's really, really wrong)
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
She would like a visit and more peanut noodles, please.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Beans SphereXed herself chasing a deer…
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
"Please stand by. We are awaiting a wayward boat to clear the range." — Blue Origin, accurately telling the story of my launch-reporting life 🚀
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Birdy’s warbles make for a fine, fine addition to the town hall audioscape.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
I decided to stop in Florida on the way to #AAS245. This pic sucks but we had a great view of the Cape (and New Glenn!) on the way in. 🚀
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
We don’t have any here ☹️
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Found the answer 🌊 www.sfgate.com/sports/artic...
sfgate.com
A Santa Cruz surfer rode potential world-record 108-foot-tall Mavericks wave
A Santa Cruz surfer rode a massive California wave last week that was estimated to be 108 feet tall, making it a potential new world record.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Thank you!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Me too!! 😊 Thank you — and happy new year!
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
And, with 30-40ft waves expected locally, what the heck is the forecast at Mavericks?? 🫣 www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
Part of Santa Cruz pier collapses as coastal city gets pounded by high surf
City officials closed the Santa Cruz Wharf to the public after part of the structure collapsed Monday.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
Hooooly moly. If you’ve ever visited Santa Cruz, surely you’ve seen the wharf. Maybe you were even lucky enough to go watch the sea lions from the viewing areas (one of my favorites) that just fell into the sea. www.santacruzsentinel.com/2024/12/23/s...
santacruzsentinel.com
Santa Cruz Wharf partially collapses; 3 rescued from water
Two victims were rescued by lifeguards and one self-rescued, officials said.
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Nadia Drake @nadiadrake.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Lolol thank you! (I am quite pleased.)
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