Stephen ShanklandHead of Content at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup developing fusion power plants for clean, affordable, zero-carbon power. Former science and technology journalist at CNET.
Stephen ShanklandBig personal news: after 25 years at CNET, I’ve joined Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup developing zero-carbon power plants to help fight climate change. As head of content, I'll work to make knowledge of fusion mainstream as the technology proves itself worthy. Questions? Hit me up! Details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7187102636267995138/
#Fusion #ClimateChange #FusionEnergy #startup #NewJob
Stephen ShanklandFor reasons lost in the mists of time, TWA (the long-since defunct Trans World Airlines, acquired by American Airlines in 2001) used to hand out miniature staplers with a box of staples, too.
#Airlines #tchotchke #Americana
Stephen ShanklandOne of those perspective-shifting reads for me today:
"A generation ago conventional wisdom held that as China liberalized, its economy would come to resemble America’s. Instead, capitalism in America is starting to look like China."
https://www.wsj.com/economy/the-u-s-marches-toward-state-capitalism-with-american-characteristics-f75cafa8
Stephen Shankland80 years ago today, the US dropped Fat Man, the plutonium-powered implosion bomb, on Nagasaki, Japan. I'm visiting Los Alamos, where the bomb was built, and today saw this replica at the lab's Bradbury Science Museum. LANL is now building replacement plutonium pits at TA-55. Heavy thoughts.
#History #LosAlamos #NewMexico #NuclearWar #AtomicBomb #WW2 #Science
Stephen Shankland@darkuncle@infosec.exchange I shoot with a Canon R5 Mark II and various lenses — 200-800mm for birds, 100mm macro for bugs, 14-35mm and 24-70mm for landscapes. Processed in Lightroom, usually pretty light edits. The mirrorless camera era has really helped with eye-tracking autofocus.
Stephen Shankland@darkuncle@infosec.exchange And perhaps it goes without saying, but I don't usually post the abundant duds. :)
Stephen ShanklandBack in New Mexico for a couple weeks. Here's a nursing bighorn sheep, a rufous hummingbird, a sphinx moth gathering nectar, and a still life with Big Milly the millipede, named to contrast with a beetle my kid called Little Billy a couple weeks ago.
#NaturePhotography #moth #hummingbird #millipede #NewMexico
Stephen ShanklandI am amused. The kicker is hilarious. (There's been a lot of chatter about em dashes as a signal of AI authorship.) https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-em-dash-responds-to-the-ai-allegations
Stephen ShanklandFrom Sig Hecker, a man I covered in my early days as a journalist when he was LANL Director. Harsh on Russia, but harsher on Trump administration for "destroying our system of alliances and friendships around the world" and moving US science & tech research "dramatically backwards."
https://thebulletin.org/2025/08/reflections-on-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-80-years-on/
Stephen ShanklandBig personal news: after 25 years at CNET, I’ve joined Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a startup developing zero-carbon power plants to help fight climate change. As head of content, I'll work to make knowledge of fusion mainstream as the technology proves itself worthy. Questions? Hit me up! Details: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7187102636267995138/
#Fusion #ClimateChange #FusionEnergy #startup #NewJob