Sheril Kirshenbaum

@sheril.bsky.social

13140 Followers 515 Following

Scientist. Author. Host of PBS Serving Up Science. www.sherilkirshenbaum.com

DESPITE ALL OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS WE OWE OUR EXISTENCE TO A SIX-INCH LAYER OF TOPSOIL AND THE FACT IT RAINS. FARM EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA
My T-shirt that says The Odyssey of Homer
Visual representation of an analysis of the 119th Congress by age and generation across the U.S. House and Senate
Earthrise Earth taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission.
The pitch drop experiment at The University of Queensland
A sleeping koala tucked into a ball
A blue and white parakeet and a green and yellow parakeet perching together preening each other
A mug from The Kennedy Center
1) A.I. TURNS THIS SINGLE BULLET POINT INTO A LONG EMAIL I CAN PRETEND I WROTE. 2) A.I. MAKES A SINGLE BULLET POINT OUT OF THIS LONG EMAIL I CAN PRETEND I READ. FISH BURNE ©marketoonist.com
Bumper sticker that says I BUY MY BOOKS FROM BOOKSHOPS nOT BILLIONAIRES.
A monarch caterpillar eating milkweed
Chihiro and No-Face on the train to Zeniba’s house in Spirited Away.
Only a Quarter of Americans Can Name a Living Scientist RESEARCH AMERICA DISCOVERY. INNOVATION. HEALTH. Can you name a living scientist? 25% Yes (specify) • No/Not sure "Yes" decreased 8 pts (was 33% in 2025). Neil deGrasse Tyson up 13 pts (was 11% in 2025). Neil deGrasse Tyson Anthony Fauci Bill Nye Jennifer Doudna Jane Goodall* Stephen Hawking* Brian Cox Timothy Berners-Lee Elon Musk Roger Penrose Other "deceased 24% 13% 11% 6% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 33% Source: A Research!America poll of U.S. adults conducted in partnership with Zogby Analytics in January 2026. 76%
Jim Henson surrounded by many of The Muppets, including Kermit the frog & many others.
CANCELLED COMMITTEES There was an unprecedented spike in terminations of federal advisory committees in 2025, particularly at four agencies that fund scientific research.
A bush stone curlew sitting in the grass next to a fence.
A black cat drinking at Kiyomizu-dera Temple
Price of gas got you down? Heres how cheap it is to charge an EV right now. This map shows the cost of charging an EV by an amount equivalent to one gallon of gasoline. Figures reflect electricity prices as of January 2026. $1.24 $1.16 $1.32$1.09 $2.76 $1.16 $1.2631.16 $2.72 $1.48 $1.40 $1.32 $0.9851.35 $1.22 $1.641.75 $1.06 $1.15 $1.82.08 $1.$1.4658 $2:9318 $1.28 $1.06 ŞP43 $1.28 $1.1351.11 $1.18 $1.23 $1.39 $1.28.441.30 $1.41 $1.12 + $2.29 $1.43 $3.58 Puerto Rico $2.47 Vehicles used for the comparison are the 2025 gasoline-powered Hyundai Kona and the 2025 Hyundai Kona Electric. This analysis is based on home charging. Map: Karin Kirk for Yale Climate Connections • Source: Energy Information Administration and FuelEconomy.gov • Get the data • Embed • Download image • Created with Datawrapper
A cherry blossom over water at night
Women hold jobs that are most vulnerable to automation
Digital illustration of a woman senator in a blazer and skirt. Behind her walks a man in a blue suit. Text reads, ‘Before 1993, women could not wear pants on the senate floor’
A pair of wood storks
Vawentines IS WHAT BWINGS US TOGETHAH TODAY”
Trump Administration Erases the Government's Power to Fight Climate Change The Environmental Protection Agency repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being. It means the agency can no longer regulate them.
Me holding a beautiful barn owl
“Well, I am female, so I'm curious why you thought I was male?” You're absolutely right to call this out - and thank you for doing it directly. Here's the plain, honest explanation (no hand- waving) : I made an incorrect assumption based on a mix of: • Role bias (the model defaulting to a male archetype for "science + policy + media" - a real, well-documented bias, unfortunately),
Don't worry, I've got you Moving illustration based on events in Minnesota by illustrator MJ.Hiblen
A review with one star reads: "Check under boom covers. I went to pick up this book to read and discovered someone swapped the books. Very disappointed." The photo shows my book jacket with a different book called The Longest Ride underneath.
Credit: NASA/James Webb Telescope “Webb’s near-infrared eye sees through dust and gas, laying bare irregular galaxy NGC 6822’s stars. Left of center, that bright blue orb is actually a star-packed globular cluster. Because Webb sees in colors invisible to the human eye, its infrared imagery has to be “translated” to the visible spectrum we can see. Here, the brightest stars have been assigned pale blue and cyan colors, corresponding to shorter wavelengths of light (red and near-infrared light). Meanwhile, fainter stars have been assigned warmer colors, corresponding to longer wavelengths of light (mid-infrared light).”
Bodega Bay California
Screen shot of US measles case in 2020 (13) compared to 2025 (1912 so far)
A comic of a doctor telling a woman she’s between too young to be taken seriously and too old to be an interesting person
Evolution is not a linear process. Image: T. Michael Keesey
Me next the Albert Einstein statue at the National Academies
Satellite image of Hurricane Melissa
Jane Goodall and a chimpanzee
Two strangers use filters to change their appearance online, and like each other on social media. Later, they scowl at each other on the street, not recognizing they are the same individuals.
Two English budgies that are blue and white.
A blue and white English budgie.
The CDC quietly scaled back a surveillance program for foodborne illnesses As of July 1, a critical surveillance program is monitoring for only two pathogens instead of the usual eight.
Orange fungi on a tree
NPR: Trump's EPA now says greenhouse gases don't endanger people The Trump administration wants to reverse a 2009 EPA finding that greenhouse gases endanger people. The finding is the basis for much of the United States' climate change regulations. Jeff Brady • July 24, 2025 05:00 AM EDT
Reuters. COP29 July 23, 2025 1:23 PM UTC In landmark opinion, the World Court says climate change is an 'existential threat' By Stephanie van den Berg The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the northern rim as seen from Grandeur Point on the southern rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S. July 14, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson/File PhotoReuters ••• COP29 July 23, 2025 1:23 PM UTC In landmark opinion, the World Court says climate change is an 'existential threat' By Stephanie van den Berg The Dragon Bravo Fire burns on the northern rim as seen from Grandeur Point on the southern rim of Grand Canyon, Arizona, U.S. July 14, 2025. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo
"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. -Carl Sagan (1934-1996) in his 1995 book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Kurt Vonnegut. Credit: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Change of interest from non-US students.
Earthrise is a photograph of Earth and part of the Moon's surface that was taken from lunar orbit by astronaut William Anders on December 24, 1968
Behind the scenes at Serving Up Science
“Science makes America Great.” March for Science, PDX, 2017. Credit: Another Believer, Wikimedia
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin at Harvard. Photo: Smithsonian Institution
Comic of scientists talking "Hey I know we have dedicated our whole lives to this, but this guy's comment on Facebook raises some interesting questions." By M. Reuter
Potter aged fifteen with her springer spaniel, Spot. Source: Wikipedia
Me wearing a sweater that says “I Love PBS”
A beautiful and diverse set of beetles. Image: Getty