Michael Greshko
@michaelgreshko.bsky.social
Associate online news editor @Science. Freelance contributor to NYT, SciAm, WaPo, etc., and author of the Deviations newsletter. Former staff writer at National Geographic. Signal: mgreshko.01 https://linktr.ee/michaelgreshko
@longreads.com this story might be of interest to you!
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Exclusive: Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA?
Inside the decadeslong quest to reveal the genes of a genius—and revolutionize art authentication
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:35 PM
@longreads.com this story might be of interest to you!
Many thanks to Garry Shaw and @theartnewspaper.bsky.social for their coverage of my research on the Voynich Manuscript: www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/07/c...
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Can a new cipher help to explain the mysterious Voynich Manuscript?
A researcher's encoding method may shed some light on the 15th-century codex
www.theartnewspaper.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Many thanks to Garry Shaw and @theartnewspaper.bsky.social for their coverage of my research on the Voynich Manuscript: www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/07/c...
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Exclusive: Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA?
Inside the decadeslong quest to reveal the genes of a genius—and revolutionize art authentication
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 4:40 PM
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Many thanks to Tom Metcalfe and @livescience.com for their coverage of my recent paper on the Voynich Manuscript: www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Mysterious Voynich manuscript may be a cipher, a new study suggests
A newly invented cipher may shed light on how the mysterious Voynich manuscript was made in medieval times.
www.livescience.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Many thanks to Tom Metcalfe and @livescience.com for their coverage of my recent paper on the Voynich Manuscript: www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
2025 was hectic. My son turned 2. I started a new editor job at the fabulous @science.org. I wrote and published an academic article on the Voynich Manuscript (wacky, I know). My family saw family and friends as often as we could. Let’s hope for more joy and less stress in 2026. Happy New Year!
December 31, 2025 at 11:50 PM
2025 was hectic. My son turned 2. I started a new editor job at the fabulous @science.org. I wrote and published an academic article on the Voynich Manuscript (wacky, I know). My family saw family and friends as often as we could. Let’s hope for more joy and less stress in 2026. Happy New Year!
Super cool story. Research a couple years ago by folks including me, @ernie.tedium.co, and @404media.co on the new owners of Deadspin helped bring about a good-news story on the ownership of a local California newspaper.
You might remember a year or two ago a couple of us did a lot of digging into Deadspin’s new owners. (@michaelgreshko.bsky.social did a lot of useful work on it.)
A side story that cropped up is that one of Deadspin’s buyers was trying to buy a local newspaper.
www.fastcompany.com/91077421/san...
A side story that cropped up is that one of Deadspin’s buyers was trying to buy a local newspaper.
www.fastcompany.com/91077421/san...
A local paper went bankrupt. Now a faraway buyer wants its assets
The News-Press's digital assets are up for sale. Locals worry they could become a farm for AI-generated SEO bait.
www.fastcompany.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Super cool story. Research a couple years ago by folks including me, @ernie.tedium.co, and @404media.co on the new owners of Deadspin helped bring about a good-news story on the ownership of a local California newspaper.
Many thanks to @tommyhale.bsky.social for a nice story about my Voynich Manuscript paper in @iflscience.com: www.iflscience.com/is-this-how-...
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Is This How The Voynich Manuscript Was Made? A New Cipher Offers Fascinating Clues
It remains the “most mysterious manuscript in the world.”
www.iflscience.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Many thanks to @tommyhale.bsky.social for a nice story about my Voynich Manuscript paper in @iflscience.com: www.iflscience.com/is-this-how-...
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧪 🌠 @danclery.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting this out. A pretty eye-popping stat in here: If satellite launches thru the 2030s happen as planned, there'll be HALF A MILLION satellites orbiting Earth by 2040—enough to contaminate many space telescopes' images with the occasional streak.
Satellite fleets pose problems for space telescopes, too | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Satellite fleets pose problems for space telescopes, too
Proposed “megaconstellations” would contaminate images from telescopes in low-Earth orbit, including Hubble
www.science.org
December 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
🧪 🌠 @danclery.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting this out. A pretty eye-popping stat in here: If satellite launches thru the 2030s happen as planned, there'll be HALF A MILLION satellites orbiting Earth by 2040—enough to contaminate many space telescopes' images with the occasional streak.
Reposted by Michael Greshko
This is the remarkable work of Michael (partly inspired by my Polygraphia III hypothesis) I gave a sneak preview of here in September – texperimentales.hypotheses.org/5898 🎉
November 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
This is the remarkable work of Michael (partly inspired by my Polygraphia III hypothesis) I gave a sneak preview of here in September – texperimentales.hypotheses.org/5898 🎉
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
tandfonline.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
recruiting.ultipro.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
Reposted by Michael Greshko
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Exclusive: CDC to end all monkey research
Studies related to HIV and other infectious diseases will be phased out, sources say; fate of the agency's animals remains unclear
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Jeffrey Epstein funded and hobnobbed with elite scientists, and he fancied himself an inquiring scientific mind. These are two pieces of his "radical breakthrough":
- "nose test. telepathy."
- "music [...] can it be looked at to reengineer the brain. harmony FFT. symphonic learning."
- "nose test. telepathy."
- "music [...] can it be looked at to reengineer the brain. harmony FFT. symphonic learning."
🧪🧵 In the Epstein documents released today, there's a "radical breakthrough" email Epstein sent himself in 2018, containing musings such as the idea that beards "are meant to catch and hold smells."
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Jeffrey Epstein funded and hobnobbed with elite scientists, and he fancied himself an inquiring scientific mind. These are two pieces of his "radical breakthrough":
- "nose test. telepathy."
- "music [...] can it be looked at to reengineer the brain. harmony FFT. symphonic learning."
- "nose test. telepathy."
- "music [...] can it be looked at to reengineer the brain. harmony FFT. symphonic learning."
🧪🧵 In the Epstein documents released today, there's a "radical breakthrough" email Epstein sent himself in 2018, containing musings such as the idea that beards "are meant to catch and hold smells."
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
November 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
🧪🧵 In the Epstein documents released today, there's a "radical breakthrough" email Epstein sent himself in 2018, containing musings such as the idea that beards "are meant to catch and hold smells."
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Then he replied to himself with an unusual list of people including Donald Trump ("donalad trup").
Reposted by Michael Greshko
McGraths Flat is an incredible fossil site in New South Wales that reveals Australia’s rich tropical past.
In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed.
#Paleontology #Lagerstatte
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed.
#Paleontology #Lagerstatte
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Australia’s red rocks hold mysteriously detailed fossils. We finally know how they formed
Chemical analysis could help predict locations of other ancient sites with impeccable fossils
www.science.org
November 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
McGraths Flat is an incredible fossil site in New South Wales that reveals Australia’s rich tropical past.
In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed.
#Paleontology #Lagerstatte
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
In a new study, scientists discover what caused the area’s exceptional fossilization—and where similar fossil sites might be unearthed.
#Paleontology #Lagerstatte
🧪🏺
New for @science.org
Thank you @spinfocl.bsky.social for the kind words about my research on the Voynich Manuscript, which I’m pleased to announce has been accepted for publication in Cryptologia following peer review. Read more about my work and the previous research that motivated it in Hermes’s blog post:
Das hat Zeit gekostet, aber ich denke, gewichtige Neuigkeiten müssen auch adäquat behandelt werden: "#Voynich Manuskript: Frische Fährte in den Kaninchenbau" texperimentales.hypotheses.org/5898 #VoynichMS feat. @michaelgreshko.bsky.social
Voynich Manuskript: Frische Fährte in den Kaninchenbau
Ist das Voynich-Manuskript endlich gelöst, so wie das in den letzten Jahren immer mal wieder verkündet wurde? Wenn das so ist, weiß ich davon nichts. Was ich aber weiß, ist, dass der US-amerikanische Wissenschaftsautor Michael Greshko auf der Voynich Manuskript Day 2025 Conference einen Ansatz zur Entstehung des Textes vorgestellt hat, den ich für vielversprechend […]
texperimentales.hypotheses.org
September 21, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Thank you @spinfocl.bsky.social for the kind words about my research on the Voynich Manuscript, which I’m pleased to announce has been accepted for publication in Cryptologia following peer review. Read more about my work and the previous research that motivated it in Hermes’s blog post:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this company's AI podcast on the Gilded Age has a thumbnail misspelling it "Guilded Age." Somewhat ironic. www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
5,000 Podcasts. 3,000 Episodes a Week. $1 Cost Per Episode — Behind an AI Start Up’s Plan
Former Wondery exec Jeanine Wright is leading a new firm, Inception Point AI, that's betting on flooding the zone with audio content: “I think that people who are still referring to all AI-generated c...
www.hollywoodreporter.com
September 10, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this company's AI podcast on the Gilded Age has a thumbnail misspelling it "Guilded Age." Somewhat ironic. www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/dig...
Personal news: I wrote ~3/8 of a book, and that book is out today! If you want a visually rich, historically grounded look at magic though the millennia, this book's for you. The National Geographic Book of Magic and the Occult is available wherever books are sold:
bookshop.org/p/books/nati...
bookshop.org/p/books/nati...
National Geographic Book of Magic and the Occult: A Visual History
A Visual History
bookshop.org
September 2, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Personal news: I wrote ~3/8 of a book, and that book is out today! If you want a visually rich, historically grounded look at magic though the millennia, this book's for you. The National Geographic Book of Magic and the Occult is available wherever books are sold:
bookshop.org/p/books/nati...
bookshop.org/p/books/nati...
Personal news: As an unusual hobby, I study the weird 15th-century text known as the Voynich Manuscript. I am giving a talk on some of my research on August 3: www.voynich.ninja/thread-4827....
I haven’t cracked it. Rather, I have devised a reference model for how the text may have been generated.
I haven’t cracked it. Rather, I have devised a reference model for how the text may have been generated.
Voynich Manuscript Day 2025 Schedule
www.voynich.ninja
July 27, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Personal news: As an unusual hobby, I study the weird 15th-century text known as the Voynich Manuscript. I am giving a talk on some of my research on August 3: www.voynich.ninja/thread-4827....
I haven’t cracked it. Rather, I have devised a reference model for how the text may have been generated.
I haven’t cracked it. Rather, I have devised a reference model for how the text may have been generated.
Reposted by Michael Greshko
Well, this makes it real: I'm retiring in September and this is the just-posted job listing for my replacement. @Science.org is a fabulous place to work, so @sciencewriters.org, apply here! recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
recruiting.ultipro.com
July 15, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Well, this makes it real: I'm retiring in September and this is the just-posted job listing for my replacement. @Science.org is a fabulous place to work, so @sciencewriters.org, apply here! recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
Reposted by Michael Greshko
Do you ever stop and think about how there used to be pterosaurs? A fun new study shows that pterosaurs used to eat plants (they'd been expected to be carnivores) & like modern birds, they had stones in their gullets called gastroliths that help break down plants 🧪 @science.org
Pterosaur died with belly full of plants—a fossil first
New discovery confirms the long-debated hypothesis that the ancient winged reptiles ate plants
www.science.org
July 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Do you ever stop and think about how there used to be pterosaurs? A fun new study shows that pterosaurs used to eat plants (they'd been expected to be carnivores) & like modern birds, they had stones in their gullets called gastroliths that help break down plants 🧪 @science.org
It has been so gratifying to see this issue—much of which is my October 2020 feature for Nat Geo Magazine—still have legs, nearly 5 years on.
I picked up the current Re-issue of 'Reimagining #Dinosaurs' in @ National Geographic - just in time for #JurassicWorldRebirth!
Our research is still as exciting as it was 4 years ago, but my lab is now proudly based @jhuartssciences.bsky.social [with co-featured Fabbri, Balanoff, & Bever labs].
Our research is still as exciting as it was 4 years ago, but my lab is now proudly based @jhuartssciences.bsky.social [with co-featured Fabbri, Balanoff, & Bever labs].
July 3, 2025 at 9:10 PM
It has been so gratifying to see this issue—much of which is my October 2020 feature for Nat Geo Magazine—still have legs, nearly 5 years on.
This is exactly representative of my experiments with ChatGPT as a research tool (to be clear, I don't use any generative AI in my work). One time I gave it a web-searching task, it said it was performing the task, it wasn't performing the task, and then BS'd at length when I called it out.
This is a hell of a thing to read.
Diabolus Ex Machina
This Is Not An Essay
open.substack.com
June 4, 2025 at 12:37 AM
This is exactly representative of my experiments with ChatGPT as a research tool (to be clear, I don't use any generative AI in my work). One time I gave it a web-searching task, it said it was performing the task, it wasn't performing the task, and then BS'd at length when I called it out.
🧪🚨 BREAKING @science.org exclusive, courtesy of @policyhound.bsky.social: In a letter to NSF staff obtained by Science, NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan says he is resigning 16 months early, amid mass firings and grant terminations/freezes. www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy
“I have done all I can,” says Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led agency since 2020
www.science.org
April 24, 2025 at 6:29 PM
🧪🚨 BREAKING @science.org exclusive, courtesy of @policyhound.bsky.social: In a letter to NSF staff obtained by Science, NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan says he is resigning 16 months early, amid mass firings and grant terminations/freezes. www.science.org/content/arti...
It was a pleasure to work with @joshuasokol.bsky.social on this piece! Check it out:
New study claims humanity's oldest star catalog was made in China, a debate with historical stakes + clear political subtext. Fun that my 1st story in a while also illustrates how ppl might be discussing what govt-funded science was or wasn't done MILLENNIA later. www.science.org/content/arti...
China lays claim to the world’s oldest surviving star catalog
Novel computer analysis of records ascribed to legendary Chinese astrologer dates them to nearly 2400 years ago
www.science.org
April 18, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It was a pleasure to work with @joshuasokol.bsky.social on this piece! Check it out: