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Rebekah White

@rebekahwhite.bsky.social
2K followers 1.7K following 164 posts

Science journalist, contributor @nzgeo.bsky.social, writes mostly about climate engineering, conservation, birds & also science fiction

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Reposted by Rebekah White
Nic Rawlence @nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
It was great fun talking to @rebekahwhite.bsky.social for her Just So story in the latest @nzgeo.bsky.social on why animals get big. You can read it here www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-...
nzgeo.com
The big questions
Does an elephant really need to be that massive? Why aren’t there any giant insects? Why did animals in New Zealand evolve to be either unusually large or unusually small? Why do crayfish keep growing...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
I can't believe that all the stuff in the supermarket is paywalled too
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Jolisa Gracewood @nzdodo.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Things kākā sound like: “tape being torn off a box” “a door opening for the first time in years” “rapid, soft, fluid warbles” “droplets falling into water, like a child blowing spit bubbles” “a locomotive” A richly rewarding parrot profile by @rebekahwhite.bsky.social www.nzgeo.com/stories/fort...
nzgeo.com
Forty names for kākā
The bird with a big mouth. The bird who leads the flock. The bird who announces the day. The bird who sounds the alarm. The dark bird. The rare bird. The noble, silly, insomniac parrot we’re going to ...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Really enjoying my week at nerd camp aka the World Conference of Science Journalists. Say hi if you're here! Here are my super panellists who spoke about community-based evidence the other day... @wfsj25.bsky.social
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
I hope this means people start to re-hire copyeditors and fact-checkers, who do things like "confirm people in stories are real" and "events definitely happened": thelocal.to/investigatin...
thelocal.to
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
Science journo folks: there are travel grants available to the World Conference of Science Journalists, this December in South Africa - deadline is really short, due October 15: www.wcsj2025.org/grants/ I'll be there, come hang out.
wcsj2025.org
Grants – WCSJ 2025
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
By the way, I started a publishing company, along with three of the most eye-wateringly competent people I know. We just opened pre-orders for our first book. It's so good. I've read it twice. I edited it. You can get one here! www.kickstarter.com/projects/hom...
kickstarter.com
Homeward Books: The home for books without a home
Splendor over mediocrity. Stories for the hot bath & the cold plunge. Defying the constraints of genre & delving deep into your heart.
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Reposted by Rebekah White
New Zealand Geographic @nzgeo.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Remember the Magic Eye books of the 90s?? Now, you can have a crack at viewing New Zealand’s native flowers in 3D. Clematis, orchid, ngutukākā, korukoru, oioi… this is a luscious, spectacular feature by @rebekahwhite.bsky.social, based on the new book He Puāwai by @theobrominated.bsky.social
nzgeo.com
Magic flora
Philip Garnock-Jones has spent more than a decade photographing our native flowers as they’ve never been shown before: in luscious, three-dimensional detail.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Thank-you, I found it super interesting to write!
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
This year at the Ig Nobels it's affirming to see empirical confirmation of a personal research project: that alcohol demonstrably improves my ability to speak a foreign language. The sample size is a bit small but I'd volunteer for anyone's replication attempt: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
I know that some publications usually send the intern to cover the Ig Nobels, but I think they're important (as well as hilarious) and, omg, editors, it's my dream to write about them! Not just who wins, but what they mean. Send me, I'm funny. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Ig Nobel prize 2025: Zebra cows and Teflon food among winners
The tongue-in-cheek scientific awards also recognise research into lizard's preferred pizza and garlicky breastmilk.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
It's my favourite day of the year! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Tipsy bats and perfect pasta: Ig Nobels celebrate ‘improbable’ research
The annual awards are a celebration of weird but thought-provoking science.
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Garth Nix @garthnix.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
I think there are a number of people on here who would be interested to see these pics of Dodie Smith’s London pad. www.countrylife.co.uk/interiors/co...
countrylife.co.uk
Country Life's never-before-published photographs of ‘101 Dalmatians’ author Dodie Smith's London flat
Every Monday, Melanie Bryan delves into the hidden depths of Country Life's extraordinary archive to bring you a long-forgotten story, photograph or advert.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
My data-journalist friend just researched and wrote this super-fascinating story about what kind of content TikTok sends teenagers, and how young people feel about it www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/i...
rnz.co.nz
Four phones, three weeks: Everything we saw on teen TikTok
We set up four brand-new social media accounts with teenage personas. Then we scrolled.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
if you're in New Zealand: please help a left-handed snail find love!
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
I just experienced a 40-degree day for the first time and I reckon this level of heat is like pain: impossible to explain to anyone unless they've also experienced it www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...
independent.co.uk
France and Spain hit by red weather warnings as Europe burns in 44C heatwave
France has only issued a red alert eight times in the past 20 years as it experiences soaring temperatures
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Am I laughing or am I crying; it's getting harder to tell www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-...
mcsweeneys.net
I’m Captain Ahab and I Say We Must Never Transition Away from a Whale-Based Energy Industry
When I heard that the globalist oligarchs and fat cats in the Washington marshland were conspiring to invest in alternative, non-whale-based energy...
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Artologica aka Michele Banks @artologica.net · 02/07/2025
INDIANA JONES AND THE LOST FUNDING
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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 27/06/2025
“If the engine of narrative is conflict, then what happens if a story organizes itself around another center?” Shruti Swamy asks in the introduction the the 2023 Harper Perennial edition of Always Coming Home (right).
The Library of America edition of Always Coming Home (left) and the Harper Perennial edition of Always Coming Home (right).
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Tess McClure @tessairini.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
total horror is being inflicted on the women of tigray. here we document the attempts by soldiers to destroy their fertility, and their hopes for justice as most of the world looks away www.theguardian.com/global-devel... @ximenaborrazas.bsky.social
theguardian.com
Rusted screws, metal spikes and plastic rubbish: the horrific sexual violence used against Tigray’s women
Tens of thousands of Tigrayan women report brutal wartime abuse by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, such as gang-rape and the insertion of objects into their uteruses. But justice seems a distant pros...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
@alecluhn.bsky.social Only just clocked that you were also at the Arctic Repair conference last week - I've been following your work for ages, wish I'd said hi! Give me a shout if you're ever in Oxford... it's better than Cambridge.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
This might be my favourite advertisement of all time. No beating around the bush. No lies. No exaggeration. (also, it's biscuits in the British sense)
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
I really wish I was not away in July and could go to this—but you should!
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
It's my year!!! ...I hope it's not my year.
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Startling Lady of Gore @postnatodepression.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Māori man with parasol. Northland region, ca. 1910. Photo by Northwood brothers of Kaitaia. Ref 1/1-010679-G, National Library of New Zealand.
A grinning man in European clothes, holding a very small parasol over his head.
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Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Sir David, who will be 99 on Thursday, says: "After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Sir David Attenborough Ocean film 'greatest message he's told'
Sir David says his new film Ocean is one of the most important of his career.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
In personal news, yesterday I moved back to Oxford and today I watched Andor, and it's hard to say which of those things I was looking forward to more
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Feeling extremely patriotic about New Zealand's attempt at entering Eurovision, or rather Eurovusion—this could not represent us better www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnXp...
youtube.com
Two Hearts - Eurovusion (Open Up)
YouTube video by Two Hearts
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Spending the week in Hong Kong en route to the UK learning about research here (and visiting one of my best friends). I love this city - it's so easy to go between super-dense neighbourhoods and national parks. Also, there are a lot of very good dogs.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Sci-fi flowers! I think this project is beautiful and fascinating: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/20/s...
nytimes.com
It’s Springtime on Polaris-9b, and the Exoflowers Are Blooming (Gift Article)
An artist imagines the flora of distant, nonexistent worlds.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Outside magazine was always such an example for me of what journalism could be. This story about how it shot itself in both feet and then punched itself in the face is also an example, I guess www.newyorker.com/news/letter-...
newyorker.com
The Decline of Outside Magazine Is Also the End of a Vision of the Mountain West
After its purchase by a tech entrepreneur, the publication is now a shadow of itself. A letter signed by its illustrious contributors says as much about a way of life as it does about the media indust...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
I have the Swedish national broadcaster's livestream of moose migration spots playing on my other screen and it's so lovely. The sun is just about to come up and the dawn chorus is going for it: www.svtplay.se/video/KMyV5B...
svtplay.se
Den stora älgvandringen – Idag 00:00
I flera tusen år har älgarna vandrat samma leder för att ta sig till sommarens rika betesmarker. Följ årets vandring, som är den sjunde säsongen då vi får se älgarna vandra i rutan och på SVT Play.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Well, this is an example of bad science: a one-off survey of people's self-reported eating habits going back an unspecified amount of time. No info on how closely people followed each diet. This doesn't show causation in the slightest. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Major endometriosis study reveals impact of gluten, coffee, dairy and alcohol
Edinburgh University report authors say dietary changes could benefit women living with the disease
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Reposted by Rebekah White
Rodrigo Pérez Ortega @rpocisv.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
So cool! 🦑 by @erikstokstad.bsky.social in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Colossal squid filmed in its natural habitat for the first time
The enigmatic predator, the heaviest known invertebrate, had never been seen alive in deep water
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
This is a picture of my brain leaking out of my ears after learning too much at #OceaniaSeabirds. But I'm always interested in cool bird stories! And @jmrbrock.bsky.social lurking there wants seabird dandruff samples from all over the Pacific. Or just someone to talk to about ferns.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Some people tell me my accent is incomprehensible! Determine for yourself. I'm on the @science.org podcast talking about geoengineering: www.science.org/content/podc...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Do I know anyone going to World Press Photo in May? Looks like there will be at least one person from NZGeo attending, maybe two! We'd love to meet other cool folks/publishers/people trying to keep photojournalism alive. Pic from Tatsiana's winning portfolio: www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/p...
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Cathleen O'Grady @cathleenogrady.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Smart and important story from @rebekahwhite.bsky.social. Some geoengineering experiments have brought nearby communities on board; others have failed to get support. What should scientists do to genuinely engage with people about their concerns? www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Geoengineering could fight climate change—if the public can be convinced
Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Some new climate technologies are pretty controversial, but they could also be pretty useful; we should talk about it! To be clear, it's not a matter of convincing people; it's a matter of being in dialogue. Sounds woolly, but a number of fantastic researchers help me unpack what this involves:
science.org
Geoengineering could fight climate change—if the public can be convinced
Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
Since the USA is thinking about permitting deep-sea mining in international waters, I reckon it's important to remember what's down there—not just mineral wealth but genetic wealth—and that it doesn't belong to anyone: www.biographic.com/the-three-wa...
biographic.com
The Three-Way Race to Exploit Deep-Sea Life - bioGraphic
The genetic bounty of the deep sea is being patented by a handful of multinationals.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
In light of recent events, I have been sending this website to basically everybody: my family, my editors, my Hinge chats owlsintowels.org
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Woke up to the cool news that a New Zealand photographer has won a major World Press Photo award for her longtime documentary work on Tūhoe www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/p...
worldpressphoto.org
Te Urewera – The Living Ancestor of Tūhoe People | World Press Photo
Tūhoe people perform a haka, a traditional challenge, as government officials arrive for the 2014 Tūhoe-Crown Settlement Day ceremony where the government formally apologized for historical injustices...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
*repeats to self* Nice things still exist in the world...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Same here. It understands my accent better than Otter did -- though this does result in fewer amusing transcription mistakes
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
You want to see an octopus riding a shark. 🎥: University of Auckland www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/s...
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Well, this year has been a real lesson in how things can always get worse www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/c...
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Aims to Eliminate E.P.A.’s Scientific Research Arm
More than 1,000 chemists, biologists and other scientists could be laid off under a plan to dismantle the Office of Research and Development.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
I love the work I do and hope to keep doing it for a long time, but sometimes projects don't line up very well and I end up trying to finish a draft in the middle of the night on a camping trip to a random island. That's my best friend keeping me company. I think he's asleep.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Can anyone verify that this is true? Because I cannot fathom how a magazine could afford this, even in the 1990s
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
AI is not good at being right and doesn't admit when it doesn't know something, according to a small study by the CJR: "Collectively, they provided incorrect answers to more than 60 percent of queries." www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
cjr.org
AI Search Has A Citation Problem
We Compared Eight AI Search Engines. They’re All Bad at Citing News.
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Rebekah White @rebekahwhite.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
"The scientific literature is an essential ocean of knowledge, in which floats an alarming amount of junk. Think of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, but the trash cannot be identified without special knowledge and equipment." www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...
theatlantic.com
The Scientific Literature Can’t Save You Now
You can cite peer-reviewed research in support of almost any claim, no matter how absurd.
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