Keith Smith

uk.indeed.comDeputy News Editor - Cambridge CB2 1LQ - Indeed.comAAAS Science International Inc

@science.org is seeking an experienced biomedicine journalist, for a news editor position based in the UK office. They will supervise reporters and freelancers producing stories on infectious disease, global health, and biomedical policy. #SciComm 🧪

Matthew Warren@mattbwarren.bsky.social

Great UK-based opportunity to join @science.org's news team as a Deputy News Editor uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=5...

Keith Smith reposted

Daniel Clery

@danclery.bsky.social

Simons Observatory takes a closer look at the infant universe | Science | AAAS @science.org 🔭🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

science.orgSimons Observatory takes a closer look at the infant universeNew facility in Chile will hunt for signs of cosmic inflation while using the microwave background to discover galaxy clusters

By combining data from MeerKAT and JWST, @manishacaleb.bsky.social et al. have traced a fast radio burst to a low-mass galaxy at redshift 2. That's only three billion years after the Big Bang, during the Universe's peak in star formation rate. ☄️🔭 #radioastro www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

theconversation.comAstronomers pinpoint the origin of a 10 billion-year-old millisecond signal from spaceA flash of radio waves from a young galaxy 3 billion years after the Big Bang is lighting up 80% of the universe’s history.

The lead authors have written a lay summary of their study for The Conversation (@aunz.theconversation.com). ☄️🔭 #radioastro theconversation.com/astronomers-pinpoint-the-origin-of-a-10-billion-year-old-millisecond-signal-from-space-293671

science.orgAudacious space heist aims to bring home bits of mysterious martian moonSamples from Japan’s MMX mission could reveal how Phobos formed—and may contain pieces of Mars

The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft will retrieve two samples from Mars' moon Phobos, then bring them back to Earth for lab analysis. In a feature-length article, @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social previews the mission, due to launch on 20 Oct. ☄️🔭🧪🛰️ #planetsci www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.orgIn Other JournalsEditors’ selections from the current scientific literature

Editor's choice: Rathsam et al. show that one star in a binary system has consumed a planet, gaining at least 11 Earth masses of planetary material. ☄️🔭 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Keith Smith reposted

Geoff Brumfiel

@gbrumfiel.bsky.social

The IceCube neutrino detector has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics. The Trump administration has proposed slashing its budget in half in 2027.

nobelprize.orgNobel Prize in Physics 2026The Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 was awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

Congratulations to Francis Halzen, founder of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, for receiving the Nobel Prize in physics. Halzen is recognised for his contributions to neutrino astrophysics, using the observatory at the South Pole that he proposed and led. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...

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The IceCube Collaboration reported neutrinos from within the Milky Way in 2023. They detected an excess of neutrino emission along the Galactic plane, with more towards the Galactic Centre. This distribution was predicted by models of cosmic ray interactions. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Of course Francis Halzen has made many other contributions to neutrino astrophysics - the Nobel Prize was not given for these five papers alone. The committee's full reasoning is here: www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2026...

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A companion paper in the same issue of @science.org showed that the blazar had been a source of lower energy neutrinos before, including a flare of events in 2015. Together, these papers identified the first astrophysical neutrino source since Supernova 1987A. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

In 2022, the IceCube Collaboration searched for more sources of astrophysical neutrinos. They identified a nearby active galaxy as the strongest steady source in the northern sky. IceCube recorded 79 neutrinos from this galaxy, over nine years. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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IceCube construction completed in 2011. In 2013, the collaboration published an analysis of the first 28 neutrino detections. Those few events were enough to show that high-energy neutrinos originate from beyond the Solar System. It made the @science.org cover. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

In 2017, IceCube precisely determined the direction from which a single high energy neutrino originated. They found it came from a blazar - an active galaxy with a jet from a supermassive black hole. The results were published in @science.org in 2018. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.orgArchitect of polar neutrino detector wins physics NobelFrancis Halzen honored for work on IceCube Neutrino Observatory, used to discover ghostly particles from far off universe

Here's the news report from my colleague @danclery.bsky.social, explaining the novel detector that Halzen developed, and summarising the astrophysical results it has obtained. "very few [people] thought it would work, including myself” said Halzen ☄️🔭⚛️🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

The Nobel Committee's scientific reasoning for the prize cites five key discoveries, made by Halzen and the IceCube Collaboration, that were published in @science.org. I had the pleasure of being the editor who handled four of them. Here's a thread of what each of those studies found. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪

Keith Smith reposted

scim.agU.K. funder uses ‘AI triage’ to reject grant proposals—leaving researchers dismayedThe AI-based assessment, which wasn’t explicitly described in the funding call, has raised privacy and fairness concerns

Following backlash from scientists, CRANE says it has suspended all grant decisions for this funding call and committed to sending rejected proposals for human review. https://scim.ag/46Qiqv3

An AI-driven tsunami of rising submissions is overwhelming the moderators of @arxiv.bsky.social . In response, they are limiting each researcher to uploading no more than 2 new preprints per month (co-authorship doesn't count). The striking part is this plot of submission numbers per month. ☄️🔭⚛️🧪

arXiv@arxiv.bsky.social

arXiv has updated our policy on rate limiting for all submitters. This update was made to fairly distribute moderator time & support the arXiv community of staff, volunteers, readers & authors. Please read our announcement to learn more: https://blog.arxiv.org/2026/10/01/updated-rate-limit-policy/

science.orgFive physics breakthroughs that should have won a Nobel Prize—but didn’tHow politics, bad timing, and skepticism left foundation stones of modern physics unrecognized

🧪⚛️🔭

David Grimm@david-grimm.bsky.social

When looking back on more than a century of physics Nobel Prizes, it’s clear they have missed some of the most important discoveries in the field. Here are the top five--victims of politics, bad timing, and plain old skepticism--that should have won. Fun story by Adrian Cho for @science.org

Keith Smith reposted

“I don’t use [generative AI] when I write grants or papers. … So I don’t particularly want them reading my work either.” https://scim.ag/46Qiqv3

Keith Smith reposted

scim.agNew space telescope will reopen astronomers’ view of the far-infraredNASA’s $1.2 billion PRIMA will explore how galaxies evolve and how planets emerge from disks of gas and dust

NASA has selected a far-infrared space telescope to explore the faint, cool glow of gas and dust that fuel star formation and coalesce into planets. https://scim.ag/4z0OZ5m

Keith Smith reposted

theguardian.comThe night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We’re forgetting what darkness feels likeIf more cities start regulating outdoor lighting, we humans could make the environment better for all living creatures

“We’re forgetting what darkness feels like” Tove Danovich describes multiple facets of light pollution, in the Guardian (citing a @science.org paper for the 10% per year increase in sky brightness, featured in the headline) 🧪🔭 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

science.orgGiant telescope project rejects La Palma as backup siteU.S.-led Thirty Meter Telescope declines €1 billion Spanish offer to build the observatory on the Canary Islands

TMT turns down €1 billion and the offer of a host site (La Palma) where they can actually build 🤷‍♂️ The project prefers to stick with Mauna Kea, so remains stuck in legal limbo and without sufficient funding. ☄️🔭

Daniel Clery@danclery.bsky.social

Giant telescope project rejects La Palma as backup site | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

21 Sept

Stellar astrophysicist Emily Levesque @emsque.bsky.social will be the next Editor-in-Chief of the @aas.org journals (ApJ, ApJL, ApJS, AJ, PSJ, RNAAS). ☄️ Levesque has been a scientific editor of AAS journals since 2025. She will succeed Ethan Vishniac in August next year. aas.org/press/emily-...

Keith Smith reposted

14 Sept

Increasing the breadth of researchers trained as reviewers is crucial. In 2024, we began a program that invites reviewers to add trainees as co-reviewers. Nearly 6000 scientists have participated. All our reviewers, past and present, can now get credit on ORCID. #PeerReviewWeek

14 Sept

Samples of asteroid Ryugu collected by Hayabusa2 are similar to Ivuna-type (CI) meteorites. Kawasaki et al. use isotopic measurements of Ryugu and Ivuna to show that their parent bodies formed only 2 million years after the beginning of the Solar System. ☄️🔭 #planetsci www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Keith Smith reposted

9 Sept

OpenAI claims it has solved the Navier-Stokes problem. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s known so far about this apparent breakthrough—and the surrounding controversy: https://scim.ag/4ytDoM0

7 Sept

This coffee system at #EPSC2026 clearly isn't going to work. The queue takes longer than the scheduled length of the break 😮

Keith Smith reposted

6 Sept

This week I am attending the @europlanetmedia.bsky.social conference #EPSC2026 in The Hague. If you’re here and interested in publishing in @science.org, please grab me for a chat in a coffee break!

6 Sept

2 Sept

Editor's choice: Shimizu et al. use the Emirates Mars Mission to study the distribution of craters on Mars' moon Deimos. They find more craters on the side facing Mars, contrary to expectations. What caused this distribution? ☄️🔭 #planetsci www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@e-astronomer.bsky.social

🧪🔭☄️ #planetsci

Science Magazine@science.org

In a new Science Letter, Paul Fox recounts being the first person to see a sunset on another planet. "The images [of Mars] captured the public’s imagination, serving as a reminder that sharing … discoveries can incorporate … awe as well as provide important new information." https://scim.ag/3ScWHKa

Keith Smith reposted

Andy Lawrence

Replying to @michaelgreshko.bsky.social

One event, but still 2.6 sigma. Funny old thing, statistics

Keith Smith reposted

Daniel Clery

@danclery.bsky.social

science.orgExtreme black hole merger may be a cosmic illusionPuzzling event could be an artifact of gravitational lensing, a new model suggests

Extreme black hole merger may be a cosmic illusion | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

go.nature.comIs this the first glimpse of dark matter? Data point excites physicistsAn experiment spots an energy flash similar to that of the long-sought weakly interacting massive particle, or WIMP.

It's one data point, and the preprint states the statistical significance is 2.6 sigma. That's not enough to claim the detection of even a routine event, let alone discover a new type of particle. The scientists report their results reasonably, but media coverage should not get carried away. ⚛️☄️

Nature@nature.com

An experiment spots an energy flash similar to that of the long-sought weakly interacting massive particle, or WIMP. go.nature.com/4i6BsUK

Keith Smith reposted

Daniel Clery

@danclery.bsky.social

27 Aug

NASA’s Roman telescope readies a sweeping view of the universe | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

science.orgNASA’s Roman telescope readies a sweeping view of the universeWith a view 100 times larger than Hubble, the observatory will survey the cosmos for distant worlds and clues to dark energy

Keith Smith reposted

26 Aug

China has abruptly postponed the launch of its Chang'e-7 mission to study lunar water ice, a resource that could help establish crewed bases on the Moon. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4y4r44L

Keith Smith reposted

11 Aug

Do you want to work on breakthrough discoveries? @science.org is recruiting a full-time research editor to handle papers in physics, preferably with expertise in photonics. ⚛️🧪 Can be based in Cambridge (UK), Washington DC (US), or remote in either country. recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...

nasa.govNASA Updates Next Steps for Commercial Swift Boost Mission - NASADue to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an

19 Aug

NASA expects the Swift space observatory to de-orbit ‘later this year’. The mission to save it has failed, though the press release tries hard to put a positive spin on the attempt. ☄️🔭 #highenergyastro

Alexandra Witze@alexwitze.bsky.social

The Swift re-boost mission has failed. www.nasa.gov/news-release...

Keith Smith reposted

Nereide

@drnereide.bsky.social

11 Aug

1/9 In 2019, a Warsaw research team presented the first 3D map of the Milky Way in the journal Science. The map is based on direct distances to thousands of Cepheids. A pioneering achievement, still widely cited. 🔭🧪⚛️ #galactic #astronomy #universe

Keith Smith reposted

scim.agArson attack jolts Italy’s bid to host the Einstein TelescopeTwo scientists' cars were burned at the proposed Sardinian site, in what researchers say was an attempt to intimidate supporters of the gravitational-wave observatory

14 Aug

Two scientists working on Italy’s bid to host the Einstein Telescope, Europe’s next-generation gravitational-wave observatory, had their cars set ablaze in Lula, the village in Sardinia where the project would be built. https://scim.ag/4hywK1U

Keith Smith reposted

scim.agFirst evaluation of wearable radiation protection for human deep space exploration, as flown on Artemis IWith preparations underway for extended-duration crewed deep space missions, the health risks of solar particle events (SPEs) to astronauts are becoming increasingly pertinent. To address this hazard,...

14 Aug

A radiation shield vest tested onboard Artemis I could reduce risk from solar particle events, according to a new study. Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/3RN9Pp8

13 Aug

I used a pair of binoculars to project yesterday’s partial solar eclipse onto a piece of paper. It’s a simple way to get a good view of what’s happening, and plenty of passers by stopped for a look. 🔭🧪

scim.agNeptune’s inner moons and rings are exposed icy body interiorsTriton’s destructive wake exposed clay-like minerals from within ancient icy worlds, now reaccreted as Neptune’s inner moons.

Keith Smith reposted

Neptune’s inner moons may have formed from the deep interiors of ancient icy satellites, new observations show. Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4pGwU9f

31 July

An Editorial in @science.org discusses the recent reorganisation of the UK science ministry, and plans to improve commercialisation of British science. @profgeraintrees.bsky.social & @jameswilsdon.bsky.social argue that capital investment is the main limitation. 🔭🧪⚛️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...