Elise Cutts
@elisecutts.bsky.social
Science journalist is just a fancy way of saying "professional nerd." USian in Austria, language geek, collector of fine yellow zigzagged sweaters and etymology fun facts. Get my newsletter about big questions in science: www.reviewertoo.com 👽🌀🦋
Finally, an objective measure of how wimpy your friend who can't handle tabasco sauce is.
Aside: I wonder though if the human tasters are happy to be spared. Being able to discern fine differences in spiciness seems like a skill one would only develop because of genuine passion.
Aside: I wonder though if the human tasters are happy to be spared. Being able to discern fine differences in spiciness seems like a skill one would only develop because of genuine passion.
Synthetic tongue rates chillies’ heat — and spares human tasters
Gel-based device inspired by the cooling powers of milk assesses peppers whose burn ranges from mild to dangerous.
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Finally, an objective measure of how wimpy your friend who can't handle tabasco sauce is.
Aside: I wonder though if the human tasters are happy to be spared. Being able to discern fine differences in spiciness seems like a skill one would only develop because of genuine passion.
Aside: I wonder though if the human tasters are happy to be spared. Being able to discern fine differences in spiciness seems like a skill one would only develop because of genuine passion.
I feel like we need to stop saying "AI slop is overrunning the web" and instead say "people are flooding the web with AI slop."
PEOPLE use AI tools to do this crap. AI is not some unstoppable force of nature. It's a tool that makes it way too easy for people to indulge their worst impulses.
PEOPLE use AI tools to do this crap. AI is not some unstoppable force of nature. It's a tool that makes it way too easy for people to indulge their worst impulses.
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I feel like we need to stop saying "AI slop is overrunning the web" and instead say "people are flooding the web with AI slop."
PEOPLE use AI tools to do this crap. AI is not some unstoppable force of nature. It's a tool that makes it way too easy for people to indulge their worst impulses.
PEOPLE use AI tools to do this crap. AI is not some unstoppable force of nature. It's a tool that makes it way too easy for people to indulge their worst impulses.
AI has put a fire under me to actually start financially supporting creators I've long enjoyed.
TBH it should not have taken robots flooding the internet with slop for me to start valuing human beings investing time in producing amazing things enough to throw some money their way. But here we are.
TBH it should not have taken robots flooding the internet with slop for me to start valuing human beings investing time in producing amazing things enough to throw some money their way. But here we are.
November 25, 2025 at 6:04 PM
AI has put a fire under me to actually start financially supporting creators I've long enjoyed.
TBH it should not have taken robots flooding the internet with slop for me to start valuing human beings investing time in producing amazing things enough to throw some money their way. But here we are.
TBH it should not have taken robots flooding the internet with slop for me to start valuing human beings investing time in producing amazing things enough to throw some money their way. But here we are.
Who's a historical scientist who should be a household name but isn't?
November 25, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Who's a historical scientist who should be a household name but isn't?
Is anyone else's language privately degenerating (or evolving, reaching its true potential?) through a series of ironic vowel shifts?
This one is running rampant in my own speech right now:
Bug --> Boog
Hug --> Hoog
Slug --> Sloog
Blood (/blʌd/) --> Blood (/blud/)
This one is running rampant in my own speech right now:
Bug --> Boog
Hug --> Hoog
Slug --> Sloog
Blood (/blʌd/) --> Blood (/blud/)
November 24, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Is anyone else's language privately degenerating (or evolving, reaching its true potential?) through a series of ironic vowel shifts?
This one is running rampant in my own speech right now:
Bug --> Boog
Hug --> Hoog
Slug --> Sloog
Blood (/blʌd/) --> Blood (/blud/)
This one is running rampant in my own speech right now:
Bug --> Boog
Hug --> Hoog
Slug --> Sloog
Blood (/blʌd/) --> Blood (/blud/)
Was so jazzed to see this profile of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in an Austrian newspaper.
She's a scientist that definitely deserves to be better known. It still baffles me that she isn't a household name!!
She's a scientist that definitely deserves to be better known. It still baffles me that she isn't a household name!!
Cecilia Payne entdeckte vor 100 Jahren, woraus Sterne bestehen – und wurde übergangen
Die unkonventionelle Britin zeigte in ihrer brillanten Doktorarbeit, dass Sterne voller Wasserstoff sind. Sie stellte damit die Sicht auf das Universum auf den Kopf. Erst 1956 wurde sie die erste Prof...
www.derstandard.de
November 24, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Was so jazzed to see this profile of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in an Austrian newspaper.
She's a scientist that definitely deserves to be better known. It still baffles me that she isn't a household name!!
She's a scientist that definitely deserves to be better known. It still baffles me that she isn't a household name!!
Being self employed has changed how I think about money in at least one important way: I‘ve started to see the hidden hourly rates behind the sticker prices of services and products.
Often, esp. for small businesses, this means I think prices are fair that my friends think are asking too much.
Often, esp. for small businesses, this means I think prices are fair that my friends think are asking too much.
November 23, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Being self employed has changed how I think about money in at least one important way: I‘ve started to see the hidden hourly rates behind the sticker prices of services and products.
Often, esp. for small businesses, this means I think prices are fair that my friends think are asking too much.
Often, esp. for small businesses, this means I think prices are fair that my friends think are asking too much.
Reposted by Elise Cutts
A snipped from this page that's nearly done. the first planet forming and as planets form, clearing their lanes... Really eager to have time to put this one to bed!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2
#Nostos #Unflattening 2
November 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
A snipped from this page that's nearly done. the first planet forming and as planets form, clearing their lanes... Really eager to have time to put this one to bed!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2
#Nostos #Unflattening 2
Reposted by Elise Cutts
About a week ago I was interviewed by the Sharp and complex mind of @elisecutts.bsky.social, for Reviewer Too. Best interview experience you’ll ever get on complex subjects! Check it:
bsky.app/profile/elis...
Elise cuts (ha ha, pun intended) straight to the implications and interest. Very fun!
bsky.app/profile/elis...
Elise cuts (ha ha, pun intended) straight to the implications and interest. Very fun!
What changes when humans change: individuals with genes, or groups with culture?
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
The individual isn't what it used to be
Tim Waring thinks human evolution is shifting from genetic and individual to cultural and collective
www.reviewertoo.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
About a week ago I was interviewed by the Sharp and complex mind of @elisecutts.bsky.social, for Reviewer Too. Best interview experience you’ll ever get on complex subjects! Check it:
bsky.app/profile/elis...
Elise cuts (ha ha, pun intended) straight to the implications and interest. Very fun!
bsky.app/profile/elis...
Elise cuts (ha ha, pun intended) straight to the implications and interest. Very fun!
Conspiracy brain says this a list of jobs dominated by women, with engineering and business thrown on to avoid suspicion
The DoE has reclassified numerous health professional and other degrees, limiting access to federal student loan programs eligible for the higher OBBBA loan caps from thousands to a few hundred.
As ALWAYS, this is about $$.
We're about to become REALLY "great"...
shorturl.fm/xs7gY
As ALWAYS, this is about $$.
We're about to become REALLY "great"...
shorturl.fm/xs7gY
November 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Conspiracy brain says this a list of jobs dominated by women, with engineering and business thrown on to avoid suspicion
What is up with gmail's spam filter flagging messages from researchers?
Even addresses from the same university are acting weird —one scientist, no problem. The other, straight to spam.
Even addresses from the same university are acting weird —one scientist, no problem. The other, straight to spam.
November 21, 2025 at 1:35 PM
What is up with gmail's spam filter flagging messages from researchers?
Even addresses from the same university are acting weird —one scientist, no problem. The other, straight to spam.
Even addresses from the same university are acting weird —one scientist, no problem. The other, straight to spam.
... take my money
It's Black Friday and books are going cheap... 🤗
shorturl.at/uEJdj
shorturl.at/uEJdj
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 AM
... take my money
"LPSC did not provide specifics on the criteria that will be used to evaluate abstracts.. but the conference appears worried enough ... to strike straightforward information about bathrooms. From 2022-24, LPSC listed the locations of gender-neutral bathrooms on its website, but not in 2025 or ’26."
New from me for @science.org: A major planetary science conference will require submitted abstracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders.
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
‘This is censorship.’ Conference requires abstracts to comply with Trump anti-DEI order
NASA-funded planetary science institute previously scrubbed hundreds of records from its archive
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
"LPSC did not provide specifics on the criteria that will be used to evaluate abstracts.. but the conference appears worried enough ... to strike straightforward information about bathrooms. From 2022-24, LPSC listed the locations of gender-neutral bathrooms on its website, but not in 2025 or ’26."
I ran a recent story of mine that I wrote 100% by hand through an AI text detector and LOL.
Just. Lol.
Just. Lol.
November 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
I ran a recent story of mine that I wrote 100% by hand through an AI text detector and LOL.
Just. Lol.
Just. Lol.
New from me for @science.org: A major planetary science conference will require submitted abstracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders.
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
‘This is censorship.’ Conference requires abstracts to comply with Trump anti-DEI order
NASA-funded planetary science institute previously scrubbed hundreds of records from its archive
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
New from me for @science.org: A major planetary science conference will require submitted abstracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders.
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
When I interview a researcher and they casually use a 20-sided die as a "relatable metaphor" for some thing they're working on, I really have to fight back the urge to ask them about their D&D characters.
November 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
When I interview a researcher and they casually use a 20-sided die as a "relatable metaphor" for some thing they're working on, I really have to fight back the urge to ask them about their D&D characters.
Reposted by Elise Cutts
A very good article about one fake freelancer and the grim state of journalism/the world: thelocal.to/investigatin...
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 20, 2025 at 3:51 PM
A very good article about one fake freelancer and the grim state of journalism/the world: thelocal.to/investigatin...
This week's post is a blast from the past: my now year-ish-old sci am feature about the discovery of new 3D shapes that fill space without corners and which appear in art and nature.
Thanks to my contract terms I was able to break it out of paywall jail and share it for free:
Thanks to my contract terms I was able to break it out of paywall jail and share it for free:
November 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
This week's post is a blast from the past: my now year-ish-old sci am feature about the discovery of new 3D shapes that fill space without corners and which appear in art and nature.
Thanks to my contract terms I was able to break it out of paywall jail and share it for free:
Thanks to my contract terms I was able to break it out of paywall jail and share it for free:
That beautiful surface is a soft cell!
I covered the amazing discovery story of these weird shapes — they fill space like bricks, but lack corners — in a feature for @sciam.bsky.social last year.
It's one of my best stories. And later today, I'm re-posting it on my newsletter without a paywall 👀
I covered the amazing discovery story of these weird shapes — they fill space like bricks, but lack corners — in a feature for @sciam.bsky.social last year.
It's one of my best stories. And later today, I'm re-posting it on my newsletter without a paywall 👀
November 20, 2025 at 9:22 AM
That beautiful surface is a soft cell!
I covered the amazing discovery story of these weird shapes — they fill space like bricks, but lack corners — in a feature for @sciam.bsky.social last year.
It's one of my best stories. And later today, I'm re-posting it on my newsletter without a paywall 👀
I covered the amazing discovery story of these weird shapes — they fill space like bricks, but lack corners — in a feature for @sciam.bsky.social last year.
It's one of my best stories. And later today, I'm re-posting it on my newsletter without a paywall 👀
Would you people listen to a chill conversational podcast dedicated to weird papers? Think less science communication and more science-adjacent entertainment.
Because
Because
November 20, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Would you people listen to a chill conversational podcast dedicated to weird papers? Think less science communication and more science-adjacent entertainment.
Because
Because
Studies have not ruled out that RFK Jr. died years ago and is actually just a slowly rotting corpse possessed by the ghost of that bear he dumped in Central Park.
Worth investigating.
Worth investigating.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Studies have not ruled out that RFK Jr. died years ago and is actually just a slowly rotting corpse possessed by the ghost of that bear he dumped in Central Park.
Worth investigating.
Worth investigating.
Never underestimate the lengths people will go to to find weird rocks.
Just edited this fantastic feature by @elisecutts.bsky.social: quasicrystals are turning up in meteorites, lightning strikes and even the aftermath of the Trinity test ⚛️
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
Why quasicrystals shouldn’t exist but are turning up in strange places
Matter with “forbidden” symmetries was once thought to be confined to lab experiments, but is now being found in some of the world’s most extreme environments
www.newscientist.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Never underestimate the lengths people will go to to find weird rocks.
Reposted by Elise Cutts
Just edited this fantastic feature by @elisecutts.bsky.social: quasicrystals are turning up in meteorites, lightning strikes and even the aftermath of the Trinity test ⚛️
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
Why quasicrystals shouldn’t exist but are turning up in strange places
Matter with “forbidden” symmetries was once thought to be confined to lab experiments, but is now being found in some of the world’s most extreme environments
www.newscientist.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Just edited this fantastic feature by @elisecutts.bsky.social: quasicrystals are turning up in meteorites, lightning strikes and even the aftermath of the Trinity test ⚛️
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
A wild detective story about forbidden symmetries hiding in extreme places
www.newscientist.com/article/2503...
Truly weird that this could be hard to grasp.
Hell, even Christianity was able to figure out that sins can be both 1) "extremely bad for society, in many ways" and 2) "very genuinely popular with lots of people"
Hell, even Christianity was able to figure out that sins can be both 1) "extremely bad for society, in many ways" and 2) "very genuinely popular with lots of people"
There’s a very surreal conversation I keep having on here where people seem unable to hold two ideas at the same time, and I’m not sure why. It’s simply true that the Big AI platforms like ChatGPT are:
1. Extremely bad for society, in many ways.
2. Very genuinely popular with lots of people.
1. Extremely bad for society, in many ways.
2. Very genuinely popular with lots of people.
November 18, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Truly weird that this could be hard to grasp.
Hell, even Christianity was able to figure out that sins can be both 1) "extremely bad for society, in many ways" and 2) "very genuinely popular with lots of people"
Hell, even Christianity was able to figure out that sins can be both 1) "extremely bad for society, in many ways" and 2) "very genuinely popular with lots of people"
Reposted by Elise Cutts
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been much more interested in what was above my head than what was below my feet. But this project showed me that looking down and back in time can be an important step toward the future of how we study worlds beyond.
New PNAS study shows that life’s signature lingers in rocks long after the original biomolecules are gone. Hazen, Wong (@miquai.bsky.social) & Prabhu (@anirudhprabhu.bsky.social) found chemical traces of ancient life in 3.3 BYO rocks.
Let’s get into it. (1/6)
👉 carnegiescience.edu/chemical-evi...
Let’s get into it. (1/6)
👉 carnegiescience.edu/chemical-evi...
Chemical evidence of ancient life detected in 3.3-billion-year-old rocks
New study shows life’s signature still exists in rocks long after the original biomolecules are gone.
carnegiescience.edu
November 18, 2025 at 8:03 PM
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been much more interested in what was above my head than what was below my feet. But this project showed me that looking down and back in time can be an important step toward the future of how we study worlds beyond.