Science

🌍 NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in collaboration with data from the World Meteorological Organization, merges satellite observations, advanced models, and immense computing power to monitor aerosols in our atmosphere. These tiny, invisible solid or liquid particles — including black carbon (orange/red), sea salt (cyan), dust (magenta), and sulfates (green) — travel vast distances, affecting air quality, human health, climate, and visibility far from their source. 🔹 In South America, black carbon from wildfires burning in the Amazon rainforest drifts across the continent. 🔹 Over the Atlantic, massive plumes of dust from Northern Africa journey westward toward the Americas, influencing ecosystems, weather, and even hurricane formation. This striking visualization, powered by NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model and informed by WMO’s authoritative climate data, delivers realistic, high-resolution weather and aerosol insights. These data streams fuel #AI innovation and help provide customized environmental predictions — critical tools for #climateresilience and disaster preparedness #EW4ALL. ➡ A reminder: Every particle tells a story about the planet’s interconnected systems — and our shared responsibility to protect them

If your paper is getting rejected, it isn’t necessarily the science that’s the problem (it’s likely the journal fit that’s off!). Here’s how you can be be strategic about journal selection. How do I choose the right scientific journal? ↳ Analyze your citation list and target relevant publications. Can impact factor really determine journal quality? ↳ Look beyond numbers, focus on specialized audience fit. How to avoid predatory journal publication traps? ↳ Verify journal reputation before submitting your research. Will editors help improve my manuscript? ↳ Follow author guidelines meticulously. Navigating the academic publication landscape can feel like traversing a complex maze. As a professor, I've learned that selecting the right journal is both an art and a science. Here's a game-changing approach I've developed: 1. Conduct a citation audit: Count journals you've referenced most frequently. These are likely your ideal publication targets. 2. Beyond Impact Factor: Don't get fixated on numbers. A lower-ranked journal with a specialized audience might be more valuable than a high-impact generic publication. 3. Beware of predatory journals: If an unsolicited email promises quick publication for a fee, run! Legitimate open-access journals conduct rigorous peer review. 4. Craft a strategic cover letter: Suggest credible reviewers, highlight your paper's novelty, and demonstrate professionalism. 5. Patience is key: Most journals reject approximately 50% of submissions. Don't be discouraged - each submission is a learning opportunity. Pro tip: Always read and follow the journal's specific author guidelines. This shows you're a detail-oriented, professional researcher. Have you ever struggled with selecting the right scientific journal for your research? What challenges have you encountered? #science #scientist #ScientificCommunication #publishing #phd #professor #research #postgraduate

🌍 We Can’t Afford to Get Climate Policy Wrong—A Look at the Data Behind What Really Works 🌍 In the race against time to combat climate change, bold promises are everywhere. But here’s the critical question: Are the policies being implemented actually reducing emissions at the scale we need? A groundbreaking study published in Science, cuts through the noise and delivers the insights we desperately need. Evaluating 1,500 climate policies from around the world, the research identifies the 63 most effective ones—policies that have delivered tangible, significant reductions in emissions. What’s striking is that the most successful strategies often involve combinations of policies, rather than single initiatives. Think of it as the ultimate teamwork: when policies like carbon pricing, renewable energy mandates, and efficiency standards are combined thoughtfully, the impact is far greater than any one policy could achieve on its own. It’s a powerful reminder that for climate solutions the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts. Moreover, the study’s use of counterfactual emissions pathways is a game changer. By showing what would have happened without these policies, it provides a clear, quantifiable measure of their effectiveness. This is exactly the kind of rigorous evaluation we need to ensure that every policy counts, especially when we’re working against the clock. If we’re serious about meeting the Paris Agreement’s targets, we need to focus on what works—and this research offers a clear roadmap. Let’s champion policies that have proven to make a difference, because we don’t have time to waste on anything less. 🔗 Full study in the comments #ClimateAction #Sustainability #PolicyEffectiveness #ParisAgreement #NetZero #ClimateScience

Text understanding with #LLMs is useful but not enough for scientific understanding and discovery. In chemistry, in addition to text, chemical structure is essential to determine the properties of molecules. We have created the first multimodal text-chemical structure model: MoleculeSTM. It has an aligned latent space of both modalities. This allows the users to provide free-form text instructions to create molecules with arbitrary sets of properties. This enables zero-shot text-guided molecule editing (lead optimization) without the need to fine-tune the model for each new specification. Paper: bit.ly/4736BPH Code: bit.ly/4877YOS The core idea of MoleculeSTM is to align the chemical structure and textual description modalities using contrastive pretraining. The pivotal advantage of such alignment is its capacity to introduce a new paradigm of LLM for drug discovery: by fully utilizing the open vocabulary and compositionality attributes of natural language. To adapt it to a more concrete task, we focus on zero-shot text-guided molecule editing (aka lead optimization). Existing ML-based molecule editing methods suffer from data insufficiency issues. MoleculeSTM circumvents this by formulating molecule editing as a natural language understanding and interpolation problem, which is much easier to solve under the zero-shot setting. Such a novel paradigm is meaningful for addressing more practical drug discovery challenges. We will have more follow-up works along this LLM for the molecule/drug discovery research line. Please stay tuned! Shengchao Liu Chaowei Xiao Weili Nie Zhuoran Qiao Caltech

Climate Change Risk Assessments 🌎 Climate-related financial disclosure requirements are expanding across jurisdictions, increasing expectations for companies to assess and report on climate-related risks and opportunities. A structured climate change risk assessment (CCRA) is central to meeting these evolving regulatory demands. CCRAs evaluate both physical risks—such as extreme weather events, water stress, and sea level rise—and transition risks, including policy changes, carbon pricing, and shifts in market or technology landscapes. They also help identify potential opportunities linked to decarbonization, energy efficiency, and new revenue models. Scenario analysis is a core component. It enables companies to test strategic resilience under divergent climate pathways, including high-emissions futures and low-emissions transitions aligned with the Paris Agreement. Most regulatory frameworks now require both perspectives. Benefits of a robust CCRA include improved risk management, reduced exposure to disruptions, and strengthened alignment with investor expectations. Insights from these assessments can be embedded into enterprise risk systems, capital planning, and strategic roadmaps. Key challenges include short-term thinking in risk registers, limited access to forward-looking climate data, and misalignment between climate risk analysis and existing sustainability goals. These gaps can reduce the effectiveness of disclosures and slow organizational response. Recommended approaches include leveraging established scenarios (e.g. IPCC, IEA), integrating outputs into ERM systems, using frameworks like ISSB and TCFD for structure, and applying competitive benchmarking to validate assumptions. Cross-functional engagement improves practical relevance. As regulatory standards converge, CCRAs are becoming a baseline expectation. Those who develop structured, forward-looking assessments will be better positioned to adapt business models, manage uncertainty, and align with capital markets under increasing climate scrutiny. Source: Ramboll #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #risk

Choosing the right chart is half the battle in 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. This one visual helped me go from “𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞?” → “𝐆𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 10 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬.”👇 The right chart makes insights stick. The wrong one? Confusion. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭 – which chart to use, when, and why: 𝟏. 𝐁𝐚𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Compare values across categories • When: Sales by region, product performance • Why: Our brains process length differences instantly 𝟐. 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Show trends over time • When: Revenue growth, user adoption curves • Why: Makes patterns and changes obvious 𝟑. 𝐏𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Display parts of a whole • When: Market share, budget allocation • Why: Works when you have 5 or fewer segments 𝟒. 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭 – Find relationships between variables • When: Price vs. demand, experience vs. salary • Why: Reveals correlations and outliers 𝟓. 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 – Show frequency distribution • When: Customer age ranges, response times • Why: Spots normal vs. skewed distributions 𝟔. 𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Compare multi-dimensional data • When: Employee skills assessment, product features • Why: Shows strengths and gaps at a glance 𝟕. 𝐌𝐚𝐩 – Visualize geographic data • When: Sales by state, store locations • Why: Location patterns jump out immediately 𝟖. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐩 – Highlight intensity patterns • When: Website clicks, correlation matrices • Why: Color gradients reveal hot spots 𝟗. 𝐁𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Display three variables • When: Market cap vs. growth vs. profit margin • Why: Adds a third dimension through size 𝟏𝟎. 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐭 – Modern take on pie charts • When: KPI progress, category breakdown • Why: Center space for key metrics 𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐩: Match your chart to your audience's decision. Executives need trends? Line chart. Team needs to compare options? Bar chart. The right visualization = clearer insights, faster decisions, stronger impact. ♻️ Save this guide for your next presentation! 𝐏.𝐒. I share job search tips and insights on data analytics & data science in my free newsletter. Join 16,000+ readers here → https://lnkd.in/dUfe4Ac6

Why so few female professors? 🔹97% of female professors say "barriers within academia" such as "implicit bias in evaluations, male networks and an unwelcoming academic culture" play an important role. 🔹Only 22% of male professors mention such barriers. Instead, male professors are more likely to point to "family factors" and "women's own interests and preferences". 🔹A majority of male professors shows "hesitation, uneasiness or reluctance when asked how the low proportion of female professors can be explained". Only 3% of female professors do so. These are among the key results of a study by sociologists Margaretha Järvinen and Nanna Mik-Meyer, based on 77 qualitative interviews with full professors in economics, political science, and sociology in Denmark. Moreover, the study identifies "a ‘silent standpoint’ among the participating male professors: the idea that women are generally less qualified than men as candidates for full professorships." Read the full study here: Margaretha Järvinen and Nanna Mik-Meyer (2026), The Silent Standpoint: How Professors Explain Gender Disparities in Academia, British Journal of Sociology, forthcoming: https://lnkd.in/eG6UkJ6x (open access) The quotes from the interviews in the "Supporting information" file are also quite illuminating. HT Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard

In this Science study ( 👉 https://lnkd.in/er4CDurn, see also here article in Financial Times about it👉https://lnkd.in/enxcG69K) , researchers analyzed 1,500 climate policies implemented across 41 countries between 1998 and 2022. The goal? To identify which policies truly work in reducing emissions. Here’s what they found: 🔘 Successful Policy Interventions: 63 policies led to significant emission reductions, cutting between 0.6 and 1.8 billion metric tonnes of CO2. ✅ 🔘 Price-Based Instruments: Carbon pricing and emission trading schemes were particularly effective. 💰 🔘 In developed economies, pricing stands out individually, with 20% out of all successful detected interventions being associated with pricing individually. Yet subsidies are the most complementary instrument, especially in combination with pricing (33%). By contrast, in developing economies regulation is the most powerful policy.  🔘 Policy Mixes: Combining policies, especially market-based ones, with regulatory measures led to greater success. 🔄 🔘 Sector-Specific Findings: Different sectors (e.g., buildings, transport) responded better to specific policy types. 🏢🚗 In the FT article, there’s some caution about the findings: it might take longer than the study suggests for policy interventions to show success ⏳. For me, the key takeaways are: 🔹 Policy Mix is Essential: To be truly effective, a combination of policies is necessary 🎯. 🔹 Context Matters: Effective policy mixes vary by sector and economic context 🌍. 🔹 Practical Over Perfect: Instead of seeking the "perfect" policy mix, focus on taking action. It's too complex to aim for perfection—just strive to make a difference 💪.

“Our messaging is not working” Enrique Ortiz, a veteran conservationist and founding member of the Andes Amazon Fund, has spent decades translating the complexities of ecosystems into action. But in his recent commentary for Mongabay, he issues a striking critique—not of science itself, but of how it’s conveyed. “Facts are not the most important part,” Ortiz writes. “The current narrative needs a re-thinking.” That rethinking, he argues, begins not with more data, but with deeper insight into how people process information, make decisions, and respond emotionally to the world around them. Ortiz’s concern is not that people are unaware of climate change. In fact, the majority of the global population acknowledges it. But many remain unmoved, caught in a web of abstract language, ideological filters, and emotional distance. Scientific accuracy, while essential, often falters in the face of cognitive and cultural barriers. Ortiz points to the findings of cognitive scientists and neuroscientists: facts rarely shift belief systems. Instead, people gravitate toward stories, experiences, and social cues. “When facing uncertainty,” he notes, “humans make decisions that are satisfactory, rather than optimal.” This disconnect, Ortiz argues, is especially clear in environmental communication. Words like “rewilding,” “green,” or “ecological” may have once inspired clarity, but have since become muddled through overuse or conflicting interpretations. Worse, they sometimes trigger skepticism or backlash. In this fog of abstraction, the human connection is lost. What’s needed, Ortiz suggests, is a new narrative strategy—one that harnesses the emotional power of stories and speaks to how people actually think and feel. He draws from his own experience as an educator: while his lectures on plant-animal interactions faded from memory, it was the stories that lingered. This phenomenon, known as “narrative transportation,” isn’t mere sentimentality. It’s a neurological reality that helps ideas stick—and decisions shift. Rather than continuing to warn of catastrophe, Ortiz believes we should share stories of adaptation and resilience. From Andean farmers modifying how they grow quinoa and potatoes, to everyday consumers making environmentally conscious choices, these narratives offer agency and hope. They bridge divides and foster shared values. “Our messaging is not working,” Ortiz writes bluntly. “We need a revolution in narratives—and in how we tell them.” That revolution may begin not in the lab or the newsroom, but in the quiet space where empathy meets understanding—and where change can finally take root. 📰 His piece: https://lnkd.in/gmrWBcc5 📸 Hoatzin. My photo.

Today, I’m thrilled to share what I believe is the biggest breakthrough in microbiome science for a decade. Nature Magazine, the world's most influential scientific journal, has just published a scientific paper by ZOE's scientists, establishing the first reliable, repeatable, global way to measure the health of an individual’s gut microbiome. It represents the culmination of eight years of work at ZOE. Scientists have been trying to solve this puzzle for more than 20 years, right back to when they first discovered how important our gut microbes are for our health. It’s been achieved only because more than 34,000 ZOE members took part in this research. We’ve known for a long time that the microbiome is linked to cholesterol, inflammation, blood sugar control and even how we store fat. But we’ve never had a clear, evidence-based way to measure how healthy a microbiome actually is. This analysis finally delivers it, revealing a global ranking of microbes that works across populations, diets and environments. The insights are remarkable. Among the top 50 “good microbes” linked with better health, 22 were completely unknown to science until today, and most of the others have never been successfully grown in a lab. We also discovered clear links between these good microbes and health outcomes: healthy individuals carry around 3.6 more of these beneficial species, and people at a healthy weight carry about 5.2 more than those living with obesity. We also found a strong connection to diet. People eating healthier diets consistently have microbiomes that score better on this ranking. What we eat shapes our gut health, and now we can measure this relationship with unprecedented clarity. ZOE was created to enable microbiome research at a scale that traditional science has been unable to fund, and use this research to create actionable advice that can transform our gut health. This is a major milestone in that journey. I’m delighted to say that as a result, this breakthrough science is immediately available for the public to investigate their own microbiome through ZOE’s new Gut Health Test in the UK, and this is coming soon in the US. You can now receive not only a reliable measurement of how healthy your microbiome is as you change their diet, but also discover the health of clusters of gut microbes in your gut affecting metabolism, inflammation and more. To all our amazing ZOE members who have participated in our science: you made this possible. You are transforming our understanding of the microbiome. Thank you so much. I hope you feel as proud and excited as I do. I should note that your research is now published in Nature, which is the ultimate scientific accolade, and you can definitely brag about that with your friends! If you think this science could help others understand their health, I’d love for you to share it. You’ll find links to more details from our findings and access to the paper in the comments.