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

#2807475

United States

#829418

Science and Education/Science and Education

#2529

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

Everything You Need to Know about Bird Flu

3 weeks 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

1 month ago | 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.
洛杉磯林火的相關失實訊息，如何得以遍及華文媒體？

2 months ago | 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

2 months ago | 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.
Indian Women Dry Fish With the Power of the Sun, in the Palms of Their Hands

2 months ago | thexylom.com | Laasya Shekhar

On a breezy December afternoon in the village of Mudasal Odai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, fisherwoman Anasuya Indrakumar leisurely plaits her teenage daughter’s hair in the front yard of her thatched home instead of her usual chore of drying the fish. Nearby, her husband mends damaged fishing nets, while a stray dog eats the leftover scraps. The ocean waves rhythmically crash on the beach while peacocks squawk and forage for food.
How Two Close Encounters with Copperheads Changed Don Lyman

2 months ago | thexylom.com | Don Lyman

On a warm spring day in 1967, I was running down a dirt path during a sixth-grade field trip in northern Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park, when I first came across a large venomous copperhead snake. Dappled sunlight filtered through the canopy of pines, oaks, and tulip trees, and fell in bright patches on the trail. In one of those sunlit patches the copperhead lay, and I failed to notice it until I almost stepped on it.
గజరాజులతో పోరాటంలో పేదరికంలోకి దక్షిణాది రైతు

Jan 26, 2025 | thexylom.com | Laasya Shekhar

ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌లోని చిత్తూరు జిల్లాలో 190 రామాపురం అనే అందమైన గ్రామంలో, వి. రాకేష్ శర్మకు చెందిన రెండు ఎకరాల భూమి మాత్రమే నిరుపయోగంగా నిలిచింది. అక్కడ కొన్ని ఎండిన వేరుశెనగ మొక్కలు నిర్లక్ష్యానికి గురైన స్థితిలో ఉన్నాయి. కానీ వాటిని తొలగించేందుకు ఎవరూ ముందుకు రావడం లేదు. నిర్లక్ష్యానికి గురైన ఈ దృశ్యం గ్రామస్థుల హృదయాల్లో తీవ్ర విషాదాన్ని రేకెత్తిస్తుంది. ఎందుకంటే ఈ భూమి గతంలో వేరుశెనగ, మిరప, ఇతర స్వదేశీ కూరగాయ పంటలను సమృద్ధి ఉత్పత్తి చేసి మంచి దిగుబడినిచ్చేది.
Post | The Xylom

Jan 15, 2025 | thexylom.com | Laasya Shekhar

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Women are the Backbone of The Gambia’s Mangrove Gambit

Dec 22, 2024 | thexylom.com | Ekpali Saint

When Ansumana Darbo thinks about his childhood in the Sankandi village of The Gambia, his mind is filled with playful memories of watching fishermen return from fishing trips along the Bintang Bolong river bank. The beehive of activities on shorelines would excite him. The fishermen were usually successful, and Darbo would watch carefully how the fishermen sorted out their good catch.
Turning the Sargassum Crisis into a Seaweed Industry

Dec 19, 2024 | thexylom.com | Julian Reingold

Across the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic lie the shores of the Caribbean, “a beautiful place — wild, untouched, above all untouched,” as described by Jean Rhys in her 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea. But by the summer of 2011, this pristine coast started turning orange, then brown, then black, becoming littered with heavy metals and toxic gasses as the sargassum seaweed took over and turned the turquoise oceans into dead zones.