Carl Zimmer
@carlzimmer.com
NYT columnist. Signal: carlzimmer.51
Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/carlzimmer/
Web: http://carlzimmer.com
[This account includes a tweet archive]
Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/carlzimmer/
Web: http://carlzimmer.com
[This account includes a tweet archive]
Pinned
Carl Zimmer
@carlzimmer.com
· Aug 15
Air-Borne by Carl Zimmer: 9780593473597 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
One of Smithsonian Magazine's Ten Best Science Books of 2025 The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside dow...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
Grateful for review of Air-Borne by @cbo.bsky.social: "Zimmer combines narrative precision, journalistic range, and scientific synthesis to produce a book that is both informative and intellectually ambitious." www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.... & www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724793...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
‘Doom Loop’: OpenAI and Microsoft Admits LLMs Are Destroying the Web and Built on Theft
"Millions of people around the world will soon consider large models ‘hoovering up’ all their work to be an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions."
www.404media.co
September 18, 2026 at 1:30 PM
OpenAI and Microsoft admitted LLMs are predatory tech built on “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said AI has created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.” www.404media.co/doom-loop-op...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
Trump: "We're also going to be demanding the drug companies, with respect to a certain situation -- the autism -- that they make their doses in 20% shots. So you have shot 1, shot 2, shot 3, shot 4, shot 5 ... I think you're gonna see a massive reduction in autism"
September 18, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Trump: "We're also going to be demanding the drug companies, with respect to a certain situation -- the autism -- that they make their doses in 20% shots. So you have shot 1, shot 2, shot 3, shot 4, shot 5 ... I think you're gonna see a massive reduction in autism"
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
NEW: Brown Brothers Media is the most successful media company you've never heard of. For years, its success was fueled by AI, fake writers, and fake reporting.
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month
Brown Brothers Media is a media empire raking in millions of clicks with AI, fake writers, and plagiarism.
futurism.com
September 17, 2026 at 3:12 PM
NEW: Brown Brothers Media is the most successful media company you've never heard of. For years, its success was fueled by AI, fake writers, and fake reporting.
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
When we started asking questions, BBM started mass-deleting content. Somehow, what came next was even worse.
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Kennedy renews attacks on vaccines at Children’s Health Defense conference. Story by @isabellacueto.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/09/17/r...
Kennedy renews attacks on vaccines at Children’s Health Defense conference
Health secretary RFK Jr. returned to his roots in a keynote address at a conference hosted by the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit he helped start.
www.statnews.com
September 18, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Kennedy renews attacks on vaccines at Children’s Health Defense conference. Story by @isabellacueto.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/09/17/r...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
This was a bonkers read.
I wrote about what came before CRISPR 4 billion years ago: a war among viruses. Gift link: nyti.ms/3TBq4q0
The Next Gene-Editing Technology May Also Be the Oldest (Gift Article)
Scientists have discovered a powerful gene-targeting system in viruses. Billions of years old, VIPR seems to predate CRISPR and may be even more powerful.
nyti.ms
September 17, 2026 at 7:18 PM
This was a bonkers read.
I wrote about what came before CRISPR 4 billion years ago: a war among viruses. Gift link: nyti.ms/3TBq4q0
The Next Gene-Editing Technology May Also Be the Oldest (Gift Article)
Scientists have discovered a powerful gene-targeting system in viruses. Billions of years old, VIPR seems to predate CRISPR and may be even more powerful.
nyti.ms
September 17, 2026 at 6:25 PM
I wrote about what came before CRISPR 4 billion years ago: a war among viruses. Gift link: nyti.ms/3TBq4q0
Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection. nyti.ms/3UTlcwU
Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection (Gift Article)
An internal memo reinterprets the law so that only the intentional killing of animals, not collateral harm, is illegal.
nyti.ms
September 17, 2026 at 1:51 PM
Trump Administration Moves to Gut a Core Endangered Species Protection. nyti.ms/3UTlcwU
Pennsylvania measles outbreak now up to 731 cases and 4 deaths www.pa.gov/agencies/hea...
Measles
Measles is a disease that spreads easily from person to person and can make you sick. People who are not vaccinated are at the highest risk. The best protection against measles is vaccination. DOH is ...
www.pa.gov
September 17, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Pennsylvania measles outbreak now up to 731 cases and 4 deaths www.pa.gov/agencies/hea...
Scientists replaced half a mouse’s brain with a few million human neurons. It could become new way to study dementia and other brain disorders. Gift link: nyti.ms/4xqUcCk
Scientists Fuse Human Neurons Into the Brains of Mice (Gift Article)
The studies may help reveal the causes of brain disease in people and point the way to treatments. But researchers already are calling for new ethical guidelines.
nyti.ms
September 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Scientists replaced half a mouse’s brain with a few million human neurons. It could become new way to study dementia and other brain disorders. Gift link: nyti.ms/4xqUcCk
For over a century, new advances in science have fueled new worries about biological weapons, from the germ theory of disease to AI. Here’s my look at the risks—and what to do about them. Gift link: nyti.ms/4rdk6rJ
Leaked A.I. Queries Raise Fears of New Biological Weapons Race (Gift Article)
Current chatbots aren’t likely to help lone actors invent a deadly pathogen, experts say. But newer models, trained in biology, may need stronger safeguards.
nyti.ms
September 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
For over a century, new advances in science have fueled new worries about biological weapons, from the germ theory of disease to AI. Here’s my look at the risks—and what to do about them. Gift link: nyti.ms/4rdk6rJ
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
With less than one month to go in the federal fiscal year, NSF has awarded 31% fewer grants in its math and physical sciences directorate than the average for 2000–24.
https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-shrinking-nsf-support-for-the-physical-sciences?utm_campaign=PT_social
https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-shrinking-nsf-support-for-the-physical-sciences?utm_campaign=PT_social
The shrinking NSF support for the physical sciences
The agency has awarded fewer grants in the physical sciences this year than most years in its history.
physicstoday.aip.org
September 10, 2026 at 8:55 PM
With less than one month to go in the federal fiscal year, NSF has awarded 31% fewer grants in its math and physical sciences directorate than the average for 2000–24.
https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-shrinking-nsf-support-for-the-physical-sciences?utm_campaign=PT_social
https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/the-shrinking-nsf-support-for-the-physical-sciences?utm_campaign=PT_social
Denisovans here, Denisovans there, Denisovans everywhere
Always happy to add new Denisovans. This is quite a record now from ancient proteins, five sites that span a geographic area encompassing all of China. These people had remarkable stories we are starting to understand how to tell.
www.johnhawks.net/p/new-deniso...
www.johnhawks.net/p/new-deniso...
New Denisovans from China’s southwest
The site of Bianfu Cave provides evidence that this group spanned all of China during the later Middle Pleistocene.
www.johnhawks.net
September 9, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Denisovans here, Denisovans there, Denisovans everywhere
People in Indonesia consume 15 grams of microplastics every month, the equivalent of three credit cards. Gift link: nyti.ms/4hbbsGR
The Microplastics Epidemic in Indonesia (Gift Article)
Tiny fragments of plastic are in the air, land and water in the country, where the burning of trash is common.
nyti.ms
September 7, 2026 at 7:09 PM
People in Indonesia consume 15 grams of microplastics every month, the equivalent of three credit cards. Gift link: nyti.ms/4hbbsGR
Infant died of measles in Pennsylvania, coroner confirms www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
Infant died of measles in Pennsylvania, coroner confirms
The 6-week-old died Aug. 18 at home, after being in palliative care at home soon after birth, Lancaster County coroner Stephen Diamantoni said.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 5, 2026 at 3:58 AM
Infant died of measles in Pennsylvania, coroner confirms www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
RFK asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania deaths from the agency’s online measles tally after he questioned whether the disease contributed to the fatalities, three sources familiar with the situation said. www.reuters.com/world/kenned...
EXCLUSIVE: Kennedy asked to remove Pennsylvania measles death from CDC tally, sources say
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania deaths from the agency’s online measles tally after he questioned whether the disease c...
www.reuters.com
September 3, 2026 at 2:47 PM
RFK asked his new CDC director to remove a reference to two Pennsylvania deaths from the agency’s online measles tally after he questioned whether the disease contributed to the fatalities, three sources familiar with the situation said. www.reuters.com/world/kenned...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
Top artificial-intelligence models failed to predict the biological consequences of rewriting a virus's entire DNA code.
go.nature.com/4rbHdmN
go.nature.com/4rbHdmN
Mutating every DNA letter of a genome shows surprising effects — and the limits of AI
Top artificial-intelligence models failed to predict the biological consequences of rewriting a virus's entire DNA code.
go.nature.com
September 3, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Top artificial-intelligence models failed to predict the biological consequences of rewriting a virus's entire DNA code.
go.nature.com/4rbHdmN
go.nature.com/4rbHdmN
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
"The Justice Department told a Manhattan federal court that it was in the national interest for the judge to find that OpenAI did not violate copyright law when it used articles by The New York Times and other publishers to develop artificial intelligence systems."
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/t...
Justice Dept. Sides With OpenAI in New York Times Copyright Suit (Gift Article)
The department argued in a court filing that OpenAI legally used articles by The New York Times to develop A.I., adding that national security depended on American tech dominance.
www.nytimes.com
September 2, 2026 at 8:48 PM
"The Justice Department told a Manhattan federal court that it was in the national interest for the judge to find that OpenAI did not violate copyright law when it used articles by The New York Times and other publishers to develop artificial intelligence systems."
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/t...
The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered agency officials to challenge two measles deaths reported by Pennsylvania. Story by @apoorvanyt.bsky.social & @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4d7A5BJ
C.D.C. Director Challenges Pennsylvania’s Report of Two Measles Deaths (Gift Article)
Questioning a state’s investigation is highly unusual for the public health agency, but reflects tensions between the Trump administration and many states over health issues.
nyti.ms
September 1, 2026 at 11:19 AM
The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered agency officials to challenge two measles deaths reported by Pennsylvania. Story by @apoorvanyt.bsky.social & @teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/4d7A5BJ
UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke to combine herbaria, creating the third-largest university plant collection in the United States ncbg.unc.edu/2026/08/31/u...
UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke to combine herbaria, creating the third-largest university plant collection in the United States - North Carolina Botanical Garden
The combined herbaria will create an unmatched archive for studying plant diversity in the southeastern United States (Chapel Hill, N.C.— Aug. 31, 2026) UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University will unite....
ncbg.unc.edu
August 31, 2026 at 11:12 PM
UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke to combine herbaria, creating the third-largest university plant collection in the United States ncbg.unc.edu/2026/08/31/u...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks
How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks
Publishers acceded to state requests watering down information on climate change’s impact, a WUSF/Hechinger Report investigation finds. Now the state has turned to updating its science standards.
dlvr.it
August 20, 2026 at 3:37 PM
How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks
Scientists are drawing the map of autism-linked proteins in search of treatments. Here’s a story on an ambitious new study. Gift link: nyti.ms/4wWPZpM
August 27, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Scientists are drawing the map of autism-linked proteins in search of treatments. Here’s a story on an ambitious new study. Gift link: nyti.ms/4wWPZpM
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
Chemists are like “room temp over night”😭
The lab is a mysterious place--where some people have "magic hands," and some experiments just won't work. Here's my story about the unspoken knowledge of science, and the struggle to share it. Gift link: nyti.ms/3UccF7Z
August 27, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Chemists are like “room temp over night”😭
The lab is a mysterious place--where some people have "magic hands," and some experiments just won't work. Here's my story about the unspoken knowledge of science, and the struggle to share it. Gift link: nyti.ms/3UccF7Z
August 27, 2026 at 2:06 PM
The lab is a mysterious place--where some people have "magic hands," and some experiments just won't work. Here's my story about the unspoken knowledge of science, and the struggle to share it. Gift link: nyti.ms/3UccF7Z
Viral podcast update! I talked to the NPR podcast "Are We Doomed?" about the quest for universal vaccines. 1/2 play.prx.org/listen?ge=pr...
Are We Doomed?
From mild runny noses to savage pandemics, viruses and other pathogens have tormented humans for all of history. We are locked in a perpetual race against tiny shapeshifting enemies that mutate, sprea...
play.prx.org
August 26, 2026 at 10:50 PM
Viral podcast update! I talked to the NPR podcast "Are We Doomed?" about the quest for universal vaccines. 1/2 play.prx.org/listen?ge=pr...
Reposted by Carl Zimmer
Interior has reassigned ~30 of its most senior career staffers.
Among those losing their longtime positions? The woman who directed the National Wildlife Refuge System for the last 10 years, and the man who ran the migratory bird program for the last 15.
Among those losing their longtime positions? The woman who directed the National Wildlife Refuge System for the last 10 years, and the man who ran the migratory bird program for the last 15.
‘They Want Us All To Leave’: Interior Reassigns Dozens of Senior Staff
Around 30 top staffers have been reshuffled, with some people moving to teams outside their areas of expertise.
www.notus.org
August 25, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Interior has reassigned ~30 of its most senior career staffers.
Among those losing their longtime positions? The woman who directed the National Wildlife Refuge System for the last 10 years, and the man who ran the migratory bird program for the last 15.
Among those losing their longtime positions? The woman who directed the National Wildlife Refuge System for the last 10 years, and the man who ran the migratory bird program for the last 15.