iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

For the past three years, I’ve interviewed scientists selected as MacArthur Fellows for @science.org newsletter—and this year, much of their work runs counter to the administration’s revised U.S. research priorities. Read that and more in #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Holly Jean Buck by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Do AIs feel pain? They behave like they might—and will do terrible things to lessen the ache. Read about that and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪🤖

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Not gonna lie, I’m a little miffed that this robot can cartwheel better than me (especially given that I *was* trained how to!). Read more in this edition of @science.org's #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🤖

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Corals and the algae that they host are touted as one of the greatest partnerships in nature. But this symbiosis probably didn't start out harmoniously. In this edition of #ScienceAdviser: the story of a beautiful friendship that began as a break-in www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org 🧪

The symbiotic algae (purplish brown) in the tissues of this Galaxea fascicularis coral (green) may have initially intended to steal from the animal, not partner with it. Brandon Sanchez Mejia/UC Berkeley

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Could we really grow crops on the Moon? Recent experiments suggest yes, it's possible—with the help of worms. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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a person holding a small plant in their hand with the words hey there written below it

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Of course it was a ludicrous hypothesis. But how did the person who suggested live lobsters started the COVID-19 pandemic have such detailed intel on the market? That mystery and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🦞

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a red lobster is on a white surface with the url imgflip.com

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

I am *obsessed* with Antscan's detailed 3D ants. I wish there were data like these for all critters! #ScienceAdviser @science.org www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🐜

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

People have always been captivated by crystals. Turns out we’re not the only apes to find them fascinating. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Frightening as they may appear, vampire bats are quite sweet. They even help each other reach hard-to-lick spots! (What can I say? The subject line wrote itself.) That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🦇

Vampire bats showing their teeth. CREDIT: Oasalehm via Wikimedia Commons | CC BY-SA

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

We at #ScienceAdviser aim to please 😁 www.science.org/content/arti...

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Now more than ever, independent journalism is vital. Please consider supporting the work of @science.org's journalists: 1. Sign up for @nerdychristie.bsky.social's *excellent* ScienceAdviser newsletter: www.science.org/content/page... 2. Subscribe for $25/year. www.science.org/content/page...

science.org

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Sar Crespi @boron110.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

We've got highlights from the AAAS annual meeting with @science.org reporters and editors -- this week on the podcast w/ @nerdychristie.bsky.social @michaelgreshko.bsky.social & Perri Thaler Listen here: www.science.org/content/podc...

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

With all this talk of going to the Moon and Mars, it’s probably a good time to point out that we are definitely not ready to have babies in space. Like, at all. www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org #ScienceAdviser 🧪

A couple in astronaut costumes looks lovingly at each other. But let’s keep those space suits on, please. CREDIT: RDNE Stock project via PEXELS

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

They're alive!!!! ALLIIIIIIVVVEEEEEE! Newly described "zombosomes" lack a cellular 'brain' (nucleus) yet still generate energy and move about. Read about them and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

If you’ve ever cared for a cat, then you know our feline friends can be as baffling as they are adorable. Turns out these crafty kitties can even play tricks on scientists, making it look like they’re vegan. www.science.org/content/arti... #ScienceAdviser @science.org 🧪

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a gray and white cat is eating a green leaf

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

I won't judge you if you have a cow watching Veronika using a scrub brush as a tool! I know I did. Learn about that and so much more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🐮

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

These scientists found love (a woolly rhinoceros genome) in a hopeless place (inside the stomach of a mummified wolf). Read about it and more in this edition of @science.org's #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

A team of researchers examines a mummified wolf pup. Credit: Mietje Germonpré

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

I know I say this a lot, but this here is a *very good dog*—and a smart one, at that. This pup can learn words for new objects just by eavesdropping! Read all about it in @science.org's #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti...

This is Augie, a 5.5-year-old Labrador from Texas who participated in the study. Don Harvey

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

I've never broken a bone (*knocks on wood*), but I hear it's excruciating. Perhaps its some comfort that the neurons responsible for that pain also help the bone heal? That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🦴

$Graphic depicting the pathway of sensory nerves coordinating bone fracture repair. K. HOLOSKI/SCIENCE$

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I love how this newly discovered immune signaling in plants looks kind of like fireworks. It's a celebration of botany! That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪🌱

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

These 60,000-year-old arrowheads weren't just sharp—they were laced with poison, which "shows advanced planning, strategy and causal reasoning," as one expert put it. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Closeup views of both faces of five ancient arrowheads that were laced with alkaloid toxins. Center inset: all ten examined. Isaksson et al./Science Advances (2025)

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

It's still pretty early on a Wednesday morning for me. Right about now, I need a couple expresso shots like this fish needs a hole in the head... which is to say, a lot. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Daniel Geldof holding a rockhead poacher (small fish). Photo by Paige Jarreau

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

2025 was a rough year in many ways. But as Michelle Obama put it, “grief and resilience live together.” My hope for 2026 in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org 🧪

science.org

ScienceAdviser: Welcome 2026! We’re ready for you

Today in Science and science: A special New Year’s Day edition of ScienceAdviser

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

For the past week, I've asked #ScienceAdviser readers to pick their favorite newsletter stories of 2025. The results are in! Did your favorite ones make the cut? (Mine did!) Find out: www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org 🧪

Rye patiently awaits his reward—a toss of the ball in Heather Dawson’s hand—for finding a truffle. C. WILCOX/SCIENCE

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

These bots are smaller than some single-celled organisms, yet they can sense their world and move about. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

Talk about efficient packing! Those little black dots are nucleosomes in the most detailed look yet at how chromatin condenses. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Axolotls are famous for regenerating limbs. Turns out they can also regenerate their thymus—and that may show us how to someday to the same. That story and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in history—and volcanic eruptions may ultimately be to blame for it. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio's Decameron. Etching by L. Sabatelli after himself.

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

If I saw a "murder hornet," I'd be running in the other direction. But these wee frogs think they're tasty snacks—even though they get stung repeatedly while consuming them. That story and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

I had quite the uncomfortable Thanksgiving, thanks to the flu. Still, with a @science.org paper on flu genetics that same day, I had to know: Did my virus have the mutations that confer fever resistance? That story and more in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

I couldn’t have been more positive for influenza A. Christie Wilcox/Science

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Anyone else hear "boop" every time this finger presses on this transistor? Or is it just me? Maybe it's just me... Anyhow, the story of this video and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

A new technology allows researchers to glue down extracellular vesicles in precise patterns—allowing them to study how other cells respond to these packages alone. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Is this wolf using a tool to get a seafood snack? Or does it not count, because the animal didn't construct the trap itself? @phiejacobs.bsky.social dives into that debate, plus more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

The mass extinction at the end of the Permian was so bad that people call it the "Great Dying." But, it turns out marine life didn't take long to rebound. That story and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

After the end-Permian mass extinction 249 million years ago, a pod of the small-bodied ichthyopterygian Grippia longirostris hunt squid-like ammonoids while a school of the bony fish (Boreosomus and Saurichthys) feed in the distance. Artist: Robert Back

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Want to change an AI's mind? Argue with it. Or just give it more information. Turns out the beliefs of language models are surprisingly malleable... That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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a black and white logo for a company called chatgpt with a knot in the middle .

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Constanze Depp is finding that microglia aren't any better at multitasking than we are—and that likely contributes to the development of Alzheimer's. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪 🧠

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

Nightmarish as pitcher plants might seem, there's evidence that they give back to the insect communities they feed on. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

New research suggests this carnivorous Darlingtonia californica pitcher plant acts as both a friend and a foe to local insect populations. CREDIT: NoahElhardt via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS | CC BY-SA

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

While a new, broad-spectrum 'nanobody' antivenom performed impressively in preclinical trials, the real significance is “showing this is possible,” @andreaslaustsen.bsky.social told me. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Synthetic mix of “nanobodies” protected mice from lethal doses of venom from 17 of 18 African snakes—all except the eastern green mamba (Dendroaspis angusticeps). CREDIT: Wolfgang Wüster

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

If you've ever crunched wintergreen life savers in the dark to see flashes of light, you already know about mechanoluminescence. Some materials work similarly that aren't crystals. That and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti...

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Michael Granatosky on debunking the “rat hole”: “I hope this project reminds people that science can start anywhere—even with something as small and funny as a mark in the sidewalk.” That and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Chicago's "Rat Hole" is less rat, more Scrat CREDIT: Winslow Dumaine via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS | CC BY-SA

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Archaeologist Kristina Douglass is 1 of 11 scientist MacArthur Fellows this year. "For me, this award is a loud affirmation that the principles of community which have guided my work are not only valued, but essential to the way we must do science." #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Kristina Douglass performing Afro-Brazilian dance at the Malagasy Independence Day celebrations in Befandefa, southwest Madagascar, June 26, 2025, as part of a project to integrate embodied practices, like dance, into research and climate science. Credit: NGO VaeVae

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

It took decades for the work of Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi—the winners of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology—to have clinical relevance. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Continued support for blue-sky research is essential to fuel the breakthroughs of tomorrow.
Carola Vinuesa, Francis Crick Institute

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Insects have long been thought of as "little robots," so their welfare hasn't been considered when it comes to scientific experiments. That's changing. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Will-o’-the-wisps, the fleeting flames occasionally seen above swamps and graveyards, may be tiny lightning bursts jumping between microscopic bubbles of methane. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

This stop-motion video made from 7 years of pictures of the young star IM Lup is the first of a star’s disk winding up to form planets. That and more of the best from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

There’s more to sighing than simply forcing open any of the little air sacs in your lungs that have collapsed—the act actually helps prevent them from collapsing. That and more of the best in @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

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marie from the aristocats is looking out of a window with her paws crossed .

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Christie Wilcox @nerdychristie.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Putting together a daily newsletter is a lot of work! But still, I don't outsource any of the writing to LLMs—and a recent experiment from the SciPak team confirms why. That and more from @science.org and science in this edition of #ScienceAdviser: www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

science.org

ScienceAdviser: Why this newsletter doesn’t use ChatGPT

Today in Science and science: Gene therapy slows Huntington disease, two volcanoes compete for magma, and more

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GRC Venoms @grcvenom.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Exciting news 🐍🕷️🐝🐠🐜🦂!! We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Christie Wilcox (@nerdychristie.bsky.social), renowned science writer and communicator, will serve as the Keynote Mentor & Speaker at our upcoming Venom Evolution, Function, and Biomedical Applications Gordon Research Seminar (GRS)

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