Rodrigo Pérez Ortega

I'm thrilled to share that I'll be a 2025-26 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT @ksjatmit.bsky.social. I'll be reflecting on the state of science and journalism today, learning from top researchers and from amazing colleagues. I'm super excited for this experience! ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/04...

In my latest for @science.org, I tackle an ancient crime scene. The verdict: the first direct proof that lizards could shed their tails 99 million years ago. www.science.org/content/arti...

💧 Revisit our 2019 story on how revolutionary techniques using traces of environmental DNA are analyzing entire ecosystems “from microbes to whales.” ✍️ @rpocisv.bsky.social

El próximo 11 de junio participaré en “PERCIENTEX 2026. Periodismo para la integridad científica” en CosmoCaixa Barcelona. Debatiremos sobre integridad científica y periodismo de ciencia. 🎟️ Inscripción gratuita: cosmocaixa.org/es/p/percien... #PerCientEx #PeriodismoCientífico #WhatchDogJournalism

Herpetologist Alejandro Arteaga has won accolades for his efforts to identify and protect Ecuador’s reptiles and amphibians. But his methods have entangled him in controversy. https://scim.ag/4ePKBQ4

An Ecuadorian biologist is accused of scientific misconduct, inflating species counts, mishandling animals, entering reserves without permission and potentially complicating the development of lifesaving snake antivenoms. For more than a year, I investigated him for @science.org:

How are AI images and videos changing the world we live in? How can we even still tell what is real and what is not? In an effort to find out, I visited Hany Farid, „sort of the dean of digital forensics“, for a couple of days in Berkeley. It was eye-opening. My story in @science.org 🧪

Breaking my social media hiatus to share a story I've been pursuing for about a year. Last week, officials from Brazil and Germany announced the skull of the magnificent #Irritator will finally go home. Complex story with @tmitchellbrown.bsky.social in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Irritator challengeri, the best preserved Spinosaurus skull ever discovered, is finally heading home to Brazil! The announcement comes years after tireless attempts from Brazilian scholars to see the fossil repatriated from a German museum. #Paleontology #Spinosaurus 🧪🧪 New at @science.org

Congratulations to @meredithwadman.bsky.social and @cohenjon.bsky.social, who were named finalists for the 2026 @nihcm.bsky.social’s Trade Journalism Award. 🏆 Check out the nominated stories here: bit.ly/NIHCM2026TJA... #NIHCMAwardsJournalism

"And that’s the power of journalism. I think, as a science journalist, you’re not covering “the science,” like this big thing. You’re covering scientists, humans, and they all come with their passions, their features, their life stories." 👏🏽 @rpocisv.bsky.social ksj.mit.edu/news/2026/02...

In case anyone needs a reminder, "geneticists have long established that race and ethnicity are sociocultural constructs and not good proxies to describe genetic differences in disease risks and traits among groups." www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org @rpocisv.bsky.social

The Open Notebook has a tremendous collection of tips, how-to's, here's-how's, deeply reported pieces about how to communicate about science honestly, trustworthy-ily, engagingly & inclusively www.theopennotebook.com (3/7)

"I hope I’ve been successful at building bridges, trying to blur the line between science journalism in the U.S. and Latin America." Thanks to Laura for this great Q&A, in which share a bit of my particular views on doing science journalism between two worlds. ksj.mit.edu/news/2026/02...

In two weeks, I will be giving a talk at the @aaas.org meeting in Phoenix, AZ, in the session 'Curators on the Front Lines of the Information Wars', organized by @senseaboutsci.bsky.social With Michael Meth and @rpocisv.bsky.social aaas.confex.com/aaas/2026/me... I hope to see you in Phoenix!

🧪 ✏️Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️ This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...

🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️ This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...

Big thanks to @rpocisv.bsky.social for his generous spirit in suggesting we share these guidelines, and to @emmalgometz.bsky.social for the help adapting them. Let us know if you find these helpful, or put any of them to practice.

Muchas gracias a @rpocisv.bsky.social por su espíritu generoso al sugerirnos que compartiéramos estas guías, y a @emmalgometz.bsky.social por ayudarnos a adaptarlas. Haznos saber si te resultan útiles o si pones alguna de ellas en práctica. #TONenEspañol

Revolutionary techniques using traces of environmental DNA are analyzing entire ecosystems “from microbes to whales.” Learn more in @rpocisv.bsky.social's 2019 story: knowmag.org/3IcQbxZ

Great podcast by @rpocisv.bsky.social and colleagues from Science @science.org about our recent publication about recovery mitogenomes from Basin of Mexico Columbian mammoths. Its a not miss! 👇

A military megaproject led to Mexico’s biggest paleontological discovery—and is now reshaping what we know about mammoths. Learn more: https://scim.ag/45PD8M0

Mammoths in Mexico! A fascinating read by @rpocisv.bsky.social @science.org on the discovery and analysis of a massive Pleistocene fossil trove beneath an airport in Mexico City. 🧬 🦣 🇲🇽 www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

shorturl.at/KE6Ux

Thrilled to share our study sequencing genetic data from tropical mammoths 🏝️🦣. First DNA recovered from Columbian mammoths southern than USA shorturl.at/xjIvy. Thanks to all collaborators, you were key to this success! See below a fantastic note covering the paper by the great @rpocisv.bsky.social 👇

La historia de cómo secuenciamos los mamtus 🦣 más tropicales 🏝️ secuenciados al momento la pueden leer aquí 👇https://shorturl.at/KE6Ux. Redactadó por el gran @rpocisv.bsky.social. Muchas gracias Rodrigo por cubrir con tanto entusiasmo la nota sobre nuestro trabajo.

What we can learn from a mother lode of Mexican mammoths w/ @rpocisv.bsky.social this week on the @science.org podcast Listen here 🎧 www.science.org/content/podc...

Bed bugs have always our urban companions. Populations of the bed bug that associates with people appear to have surged as human societies shifted from nomadic to more settled lifestyles @rpocisv.bsky.social reports in @science.org 👇 www.science.org/content/arti...

A new study of bedbug genomes traces their success back to early civilization, and claims that they may be the first urban pest. More in my story for @science.org. www.science.org/content/arti...

Massive DNA sequencing effort reveals how colonization shaped Brazil’s genetic diversity. My new story in @science.org. www.science.org/content/arti...

In the largest ever study of Tenochtitlan obsidian, researchers found that the Aztec empire sought obsidian from far and wide to make ritual jewelry and basic tools, revealing complex trade networks and ritual preferences. More in my story in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

www.science.org/content/arti...

As a hugeeeeee fan of TON, this is very exciting news to get to share. I live in perpetual yearning for the day they ask me to do a Day in the Life article.

¿Cuánto prerreporteo es buena práctica y cuánto es una exageración? Bueno, depende, pero esta guía con @mxeliramos.bsky.social, @adithi-r1.bsky.social, Emiliano Rodríguez Mega, y otros puede ayudarte a encontrar tu respuesta. #TONenEspañol 🧪

Chimpanzee drumming may give clues to the roots of rhythm, my latest in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Scientists “blow up” brains 16 times their size to map neurons with superfine detail. Learn more: scim.ag/42Uyv1K

Can't see tiny neurons and their many connections? No problem, just "blow them up"! My latest for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

“Deciphering the brain’s wiring is one of neuroscience’s toughest challenges. […] But in a new Nature study published today, researchers offer a clever approach: Instead of struggling to ‘see’ tiny cell structures in a chunk of mouse brain, just make them bigger.” @rpocisv.bsky.social ‣ @science.org

Meet a worm that can stretch like an accordion! Found off the coast of a Spanish estuary, worm can contract its body to one-fifth its original length. More in my story for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

CONGRATS to TON's @rpocisv.bsky.social, selected as a 2025-2026 @ksjatmit.bsky.social fellow!! We're so thrilled for and proud of you, Rodrigo!! 🧪

Meet the Knight Science Journalism Class of 2026! Ten Academic-Year fellows and this year’s Africa and Middle East fellow were selected from a combined pool of almost 400 applicants. ksj.mit.edu/.../ksj-anno...

"If we really want the best talent in science, then let’s foster environments across the scientific enterprise that invite neurodiversity and recognize the strengths of neurological differences," writes @holdenthorp.bsky.social in a 2024 #ScienceEditorial. scim.ag/3GcwC7z

So cool! 🦑 by @erikstokstad.bsky.social in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

The biotech company Colossal Biosciences declared on Monday it had “resurrected” the dire wolf. The bold claim was immediately met with skepticism and outrage from scientists on social media. scim.ag/42imbGU

Researchers have been trying for a long time to nail down where in nature mpox lurks. Now they appear to have caught the virus that causes mpox in the act of spilling over from squirrels to monkeys. “It is the best clue so far for what the reservoir might be”, says @kgandersen.bsky.social #IDsky 🧪

Early experiences shape the brain’s ‘communication superhighways’ to affect cognition. My new story for @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

We've got another member of the "Bizarre monsters from the Cretaceous" club. Please meet this parasitic wasp that had a "flytrap" in its ass. In @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

AI models still miss disease in Black and female patients. My new story in @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...

Fur colors reconstructed from fossil melanosomes preserved in ancestors of modern mammals support a nocturnal lifestyle! Colors diversified only after the extinction of the #dinosaurs. Here are my thoughts on this exciting new study by Li et al. in @sciencemagazine! science.org/content/arti....