The Xylom

Xylom shares unique stories that blend science with human experiences. We focus on three key questions: "How can we make science more relatable?"; "In what ways do external influences shape scientists?"; and "How do individuals engage with the evolving world through science?" Using personal stories, in-depth interviews, and solutions-based journalism, we aim to present science and the people involved in it in a more relatable way.

English

Blog

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#3314625

United States

#1495924

Science and Education/Science and Education

#4692

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

Crowdfunding is Nigeria’s Newest ‘Health Insurance’ Scheme

1 week ago | thexylom.com | Tijani Abdulkabeer

After being bedridden with a serious illness for a month, law student Afọlábí Saheed realized that he and his family had exhausted all their resources to pay for his treatment, and yet there were still more bills to pay. While his health insurance allowed him to pay discounted prices for some tests and drugs, it only covered a meagre part of the major medical bills. Saheed and his family felt helpless until crowdfunding from neighbors and friends saved the day.
“You Need To Air Out Your Dirty Laundry”: An Anatomy of a TCEQ Public Hearing

4 weeks ago | thexylom.com | Alex Ip

This is the third story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled, Floodlight, and Deceleration News. Read Part 1 and Part 2 here. As around 200 residents and advocates trickle into Portland Community Center on the evening of January 11th, 2024, they are greeted by a panel on a stage: Enbridge representatives to the left, TCEQ lawyers and permitting staff behind another table on the right.
“I Was Having a Good Time”: How Did a Small Town in South Texas Get Hit With Two Oil Spills?

1 month ago | thexylom.com | Alex Ip

This is the second story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled, Floodlight, and Deceleration News. Read Part 1 here. On December 25th, 2022, the 614 residents of Ingleside on the Bay, Texas, woke up to a yellow Christmas. Though South Texas avoided the worst of the Arctic “bomb cyclone” sweeping through the U.S. that week, Corpus Christi Bay was still more than 30 degrees colder than usual.
"All Hell Breaks Loose": How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town

1 month ago | thexylom.com | Alex Ip

This is the first story of a three-part series produced by The Xylom and co-published by Drilled, Floodlight, and Deceleration News. Read Part 2 and Part 3 here. On Jan. 6th, 2024, nine minutes before midnight, the police department in Ingleside, Texas, uploaded on Facebook a now-deleted public advisory about a local oil spill. “Flint Hills-INGLESIDE is reporting a release at one of their tanks.
EXPLAINER: What’s at Stake in the Georgia Public Service Commission’s Upcoming Primary Elections

1 month ago | thexylom.com | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

This story was first published by Atlanta Civic Circle and part of The 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now. The elections for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) are the only statewide races Georgia voters will decide this year. Literally — they’ll be at the top of the ballot, above your mayoral and city council candidates for the General Election on Nov. 4th.
Everything You Need to Know about Bird Flu

2 months ago | thexylom.com | Amber Dance

This story was first published on Knowable Magazine. In early 2024, the bird influenza that had been spreading across the globe for nearly three decades did something wholly unexpected: It showed up in dairy cows in the Texas Panhandle. A dangerous bird flu, in other words, was suddenly circulating in mammals — mammals with which people have ongoing, extensive contact. “Holy cow,” says Thomas Friedrich, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Nigerian Crackdown on Chinese Illegal Mining Too Little, Too Late

Mar 22, 2025 | thexylom.com | Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi

When Lukman Mubarak left home early in the morning of Sep. 15th, 2022, he had no idea that he would come back home to find his healthy 72-year-old mother lying dead on the ground due to a rock-blasting operation. His wife told him that his mother, Aishatu Mubarak, went to the veranda of their home to breathe in fresh air when sudden blasts from a nearby quarry operated by the China Kaidi Quarry company shook the entire house and left her in shock.
Aging Japanese EVs Are Giving Zimbabwe Fits

Mar 4, 2025 | thexylom.com | Ray Mwareya |Tsitsi Bhobo

In the past year, Zimbabwean garage manager Amos Gwada has told over fifty desperate clients that the only way to deal with their old Japanese electric vehicles was to sell them for scrap. “We have no knowledgeable EV mechanic around. I suggest we dismantle your car and only recover usable parts,” he told a client who comes in with a faulty Nissan Note hybrid sedan at his mechanical yard that hosts hundreds of technicians and associate car workers.
洛杉磯林火的相關失實訊息，如何得以遍及華文媒體？

Feb 23, 2025 | thexylom.com | Aorui Pi

受強風和罕見的干燥天氣影響下，美國南加州於上月 7 日爆發一系列持續山火，席捲整個洛杉磯大都會區。這場火災造成至少 29 人死亡，一度有近 20 萬人接獲疏散命令，為洛杉磯歷史上最具破壞性的火災。有關這場火災的假訊息也隨之廣為流傳，遍及在美的華人社交。華文事實查核平台《闢謠吧》的項目經理牛金霞說：「虛假信息蔓延如野火，令人們陷於困惑。火勢和虛假信息量之大，均彷彿難以遏制。」紛雜的不實訊息社交媒體成為了假訊息的傳播媒介。「中國的社交媒體是獨一無二的；在微信和小紅書等平台上，假訊息的傳播速度極快。」牛金霞說。這兩個平台分別有超過 13 億活躍用戶和 3.5 億用戶，事實查核人員難以緊跟步伐，拆解所有扭曲失實的內容。華文社交媒體上錯誤訊息的傳播之快，對移民到美國不久的新移民來說尤其堪憂；這些新移民大多正在應對自己不熟悉的體制，包括本已複雜又涉及重重語言障礙或艱澀術語的保險領域。定價不透明、缺乏標準化以及繁重的行政負擔，也令他們在提出索賠時面對很大困難。某商業新聞帳號當時就在微信上發布了一篇文章，錯誤地將 18...
How Unverified Claims About the LA Wildfires Spread Across Chinese-Language Media

Feb 14, 2025 | thexylom.com | Aorui Pi

This story was first published by IJNet. Fueled by powerful winds and rare dry conditions, a series of wildfires erupted on January 7 and swept through the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The fires claimed at least 29 lives and at one point, close to 200,000 people were under evacuation orders.