How the hell did you get here?

Hello human.

I’m Jackson Ryan and I’m the Science Editor at CNET.com, a great website, and the person who writes this newsletter.

In my daily life I come across a lot of science writing, comms and journalism — I am what the children call “terminally online” — and a lot of it is quite good but some of it is quite bad. Some of it is even really bad. That bad science writing can be really damaging for scientists, for the media and for institutions.

I decided to start a newsletter to unpack some of the more incredulous science reporting you might see and explain how it came to be. I believe that doing this helps you understand the worlds of science and media better.

That’s what this newsletter is all about and that’s why I hope you’ll subscribe.

This newsletter is not affiliated with CNET — it’s just something I do on a Sunday afternoon.

Before you go, take this with you

You can find me online @dctrjack or on Mastodon, if that’s more your speed.

Obviously, you can also respond to any of my stories via email and that will come straight to my inbox. If I get something wrong, let me know — that’s what science is all about — but I won’t tolerate dickheads.

You don’t have to pay a cent to get the content here at No Breakthroughs but you might have to pay for some content if I become so famous that I am able to wrestle Elon Musk 1-on-1. That’s the kind of story that needs a paywall.

Thanks for reading.