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An iPhone screen with the app icons for Twitter and Mastodon side by side. Other apps are arranged in rows around them.
What’s the Future of Science Twitter?
In the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover, many researchers are exploring their options with the open-source platform Mastodon.
What’s the Future of Science Twitter?
What’s the Future of Science Twitter?

In the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover, many researchers are exploring their options with the open-source platform Mastodon.

In the wake of Elon Musk’s takeover, many researchers are exploring their options with the open-source platform Mastodon.

social media

A clinician (off screen) wearing blue gloves presses a diapered infant’s heel against a paper card to collect blood samples.
Did Researchers Really Uncover the Cause of SIDS?
Dan Robitzski | May 18, 2022 | 10 min read
An interesting but preliminary biomarker study’s reception illustrates the challenges of conducting and communicating nuanced research in the era of social media.
Smartphone with thumb over twitter icon
UK Funding Agency Apologizes for Role in Researchfish Controversy
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Apr 20, 2022 | 3 min read
Researchfish is a platform commonly used to track the status of grants and the impacts of research. When academics were critical of the company online, Researchfish shared these comments with the largest funding agency in the UK, and the scientists’ comments were sometimes shared with their employers.
Researcher fighting misinformation online
Twitter’s Science Stars Fight Misinformation
Jef Akst | Jan 17, 2022 | 10+ min read
COVID-19 has thrown science and scientists into the spotlight. Some have accepted the challenge, amassing hundreds of thousands of followers and using the ongoing pandemic as a “teachable moment.”
Social media illustration
Opinion: Dismantling Anti-vaccine Rhetoric on Social Media
Federico Germani and Nikola Biller-Andorno | Jan 4, 2022 | 5 min read
Can requiring users of Facebook and other platforms to pass critical thinking tests stem the tide of widely disseminated misinformation?
Black in X Addresses Long-Standing Inequity in STEM
Lisa Winter | Nov 16, 2020 | 7 min read
In a year of racial tumult, Black scientists are uniting for visibility and action. 
COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, coronavirus, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conspiracy, QAnon, Twitter, Facebook, Donald Trump, social media, death certificate, statistics, National Center for Health Statistics
No, the CDC Has Not “Quietly Updated” COVID-19 Death Estimates
Amanda Heidt | Sep 1, 2020 | 3 min read
An online conspiracy theory retweeted by President Donald Trump misconstrued data regarding the number of people who have died from the coronavirus.
Going Viral for the Wrong Reasons
Bob Grant | Jan 30, 2020 | 3 min read
What is a publication to do when readers misuse its content?
Infographic: How a City Health Department Uses Social Media
Emma Yasinski | Jan 6, 2020 | 1 min read
Foodborne illnesses are consistently underreported. Social media may help.
illustration of people using social media on various electronic devices
Can Social Media Inform Public Health Efforts?
Emma Yasinski | Jan 6, 2020 | 9 min read
Scientists are using social media to track diseases and understand how people respond to them.
Scientists Are Opting for Remote Postdoc Positions
Ashley Yeager | May 1, 2018 | 9 min read
Technology and family constraints are making the “ghostdoc” more popular, but the setup is not without costs, researchers say.
Understanding What Makes a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
Jim Daley | May 1, 2018 | 4 min read
Researchers at the Rare Genomics Institute look at how families finance the cost of diagnostic exome sequencing.
A Vast Majority of the World’s Population Breathes Unsafe Air
Catherine Offord | Apr 17, 2018 | 2 min read
A new report estimates that 95 percent of people live in areas with dangerously high levels of fine particulate matter such as dust and soot.
Biohacker Injects DIY Herpes Vaccine on Facebook Live
Shawna Williams | Feb 4, 2018 | 2 min read
The stunt, performed at a biohacking conference, was purportedly part of a two-subject trial of the genetically modified vaccine.
Science Labs Offer Help to Texas Researchers
Jef Akst | Aug 29, 2017 | 2 min read
Sparked by a tweet from a Philadelphia scientist, the March for Science–Houston has launched a database of facilities offering to host reagents and researchers. 
Science on Reddit in 2016
Kerry Grens | Dec 29, 2016 | 1 min read
A conversation with Nate Allen, head moderator of r/Science
Social Media Accelerates Science
Ben Andrew Henry | Nov 1, 2016 | 6 min read
How researchers are taking advantage of Twitter and other forums to do, share, and discuss research
Facebook CEO’s Donation a Boon to Basic Science
Kerry Grens | Sep 25, 2016 | 1 min read
But can $3 billion dollars meet the lofty goals of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative?
Helping Scientists Spread Their Research
Alison F. Takemura | Aug 1, 2016 | 1 min read
A platform called Kudos helps users disseminate—and explain—their publications for free.
Fieldwork Bloopers
Tanya Lewis | Jun 21, 2016 | 1 min read
Scenes from illustrator Jim Jourdane’s Fieldwork Fail: The Messy Side of Science
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