Laura Helmuth

I've been writing a work advice column for a year now. Here are some of the themes that pop up a lot, about communication, power, promotions, and more.
Work is a lot of work! It helps if we help each other.
https://lastwordonnothing.com/2026/02/09/five-pieces-of-work-advice-from-an-agony-aunt/

I've been writing an advice column about work, and WOW people have a lot of problems at work.
This week, a newly promoted manager has former peers (who once seemed like friends!) who are not doing their jobs. Another letter writer wants to support a long-unemployed partner. And the third question involves mentoring someone who needs more confidence.
https://slate.com/advice/2026/02/work-advice-boyfriend-layoffs-unemployment-tech.html

One or more accounts have been impersonating me here on mastodon. Thanks very much to the people who flagged the fakes and got them suspended.
I stopped hanging out here after some chaos at the end of 2024, but after logging in to deal with the fakes, I remembered that it's nice here! I'm back and glad to be back.

The International Space Station has been leaking for five years. This is a fun story about the decay of the ISS and the future (or not) of space habitats https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-international-space-station-has-been-leaking-for-five-years/

Almost everyone will eventually have to give or receive long-term health care. Harris's proposal for supporting at-home care got lost in the chaos of this month. Here's why it is SO important https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-harriss-medicare-plan-could-make-at-home-care-for-older-adults-easier/

Pound for pound, there is more gold in cell phones than in ore from a gold mine. Here's some good news about cleaner new techniques to extract gold from electronics (plus an explanation of the difference between adsorb and absorb) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/this-sponge-pulls-gold-from-electronic-waste/

This is a good resource for undecided or unmotivated voters, or people talking with same: comprehensive analyses of what the 2024 election means for science, health care, technology, education, nuclear weapons and more (issues, not horse race nonsense) https://www.scientificamerican.com/report/how-the-2024-presidential-election-will-shape-science-health-and-the-environment/

The only way to determine whether a new apple variety is worth cultivating is to taste it. An apple scientist told me: “At the peak of crunch times, I’ve had to taste 600 apples a day. The first 100 are okay, but after that, it gets to be real work.” https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apples-have-never-tasted-so-delicious-heres-why/

Apples are SO GOOD now! Here's how we got so many amazing varieties. Isn't it wonderful that you can hold a pinnacle of human achievement in your hand and take a bite? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apples-have-never-tasted-so-delicious-heres-why/

The archaeologists never expected to find a 30-acre medieval city in a relatively inhospitable climate around 7,000 feet above sea level. And then they found a second one, of 300 acres https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lost-silk-road-cities-discovered-high-in-the-mountains-of-central-asia/

"The politicization of science starts with the right's intolerance for ambiguity - not *Scientific American*'s Harris endorsement." By @pluralistic.net https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/23/eisegesis/

Sure, things are bad now but 3.26 billion years ago an asteroid 50-100 times bigger than the one that killed the dinosaurs hit Earth, vaporized rock that rained down as molten droplets, boiled the ocean's upper layers and killed most microbial life. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-earths-early-life-thrived-amid-catastrophic-asteroid-impacts/

We don't really know how lightning starts. New observations from a modified U-2 spyplane in the stratosphere show that gamma ray flashes are involved https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thunderstorm-gamma-ray-flashes-may-be-missing-link-for-lightning-bolts/

Have you encountered the idea that language is necessary for thought? It was pretty widely accepted for decades, but new research shows it's not so. This is a fun story about a new way of thinking about thinking https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-dont-need-words-to-think/

A "pesky inconsistency" in measurements of how quickly the universe is expanding could mean there's something wrong with dark energy and the standard model of cosmology https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-early-dark-energy-resolve-the-mystery-of-cosmic-expansion/ by Marc Kamionkowski & Adam Riess on Scientific American

Vaccines are one of humanity's greatest achievements, "the most universal innovation that we have across humankind," & have saved more than 154 million lives. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-how-many-lives-vaccines-have-saved-around-the-world/

Marie Curie didn't necessarily aim to hire women in her lab, but she didn't have anything AGAINST women, and so ended up creating a network of more than 45 women trainees who changed (and are still changing) the course of science. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-marie-curie-helped-a-generation-of-women-break-into-science/

Calling all science fiction writers: An ancient slab of seafloor has been discovered underneath the Pacific Ocean, where it has hovered for more than 120 million years. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-age-of-dinosaurs-seafloor-found-beneath-pacific-ocean/

Four-foot-long giant clams are sparkly inside & scientists just discovered that their iridescence is part of the most efficient solar panels ever known https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/most-efficient-solar-panels-ever-have-been-found-in-giant-sparkly-clams/

The anti-science movement is "organized, it’s well-financed, and it’s politically motivated. It’s doing a lot of damage to the country and to American science and scientists. And now it’s become a lethal force." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccine-scientist-warns-antiscience-conspiracies-have-become-a-deadly-organized-movement/

Cats are perfect. This is a fun interview with evolutionary biologist Anjali Goswami @Paleoswami@ecoevo.social about why cats are peak evolution and bats & rodents suck https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats-are-perfect-an-evolutionary-biologist-explains-why/ by @katewong@sciencemastodon.com

Hello to a new smol fren in my backyard pond. Reminds me of some of the best advice my dad ever gave me: That snake (or spider/toad/caterpillar/etc.) is more scared of you than you are of it.

A survey from Nature found that about half of scientists who used to use Twitter have cut back or quit it entirely & half are using other platforms. It's great to see you here instead! https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02554-0

This weekend is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. I hope you have clear skies to see pieces of a comet raining down on Earth! Here's a great explanation of the spectacle from @badastro@mastodon.social https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/perseid-meteor-shower-peaks-this-weekend-in-a-stargazing-must-see/