Translating as best I can
@itssciencebitch.bsky.social
In a world where science is increasingly relevant, I attempt to put important science into non-scientist words so it reaches more people. All the nuance may not be captured every time but I do my best. (Corrections/clarifications welcome!)
Pinned
Thanks for the shout-out! And to any researchers- I accept corrections/clarifications, please let me know if I get something wrong! Also if you see something I should translate, let me know. I am just getting my bearings on this site!
Non-scientist translation: Strokes are when blood & oxygen are blocked in parts of the brain. Recovery means we need to restore those blood pathways. We found special cells that help re-make those pathways. This is good! It helps us make treatments to encourage those cells to work faster & better.
Stroke recovery depends on revascularization. Key players: pericytes, venular SM cells & perivascular fibroblasts act as brain SPCs, aiding vessel regen. #StrokeRecovery PMID:39962273, Nat Neurosci 2025, @NatureNeuro https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-01872-y 🧪
March 2, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Non-scientist translation: Strokes are when blood & oxygen are blocked in parts of the brain. Recovery means we need to restore those blood pathways. We found special cells that help re-make those pathways. This is good! It helps us make treatments to encourage those cells to work faster & better.
Non-scientist translation: Crocs depend on the environment to control their body temperature. Since everything is getting hotter, they're having to change their habits to adapt, but eventually they're going to reach a limit they can't handle. This is bad because they are important to the ecosystem.
🐊🔥 Crocodiles Feeling the Heat
A new study finds estuarine crocodiles’ body temperatures are rising with climate change, exceeding critical limits.
To cope, they dive less and cool off more - but how long can they adapt?
🔗 www.cell.com/current-biol...
#ClimateChange #SciComm 🧪 #Crocodiles
A new study finds estuarine crocodiles’ body temperatures are rising with climate change, exceeding critical limits.
To cope, they dive less and cool off more - but how long can they adapt?
🔗 www.cell.com/current-biol...
#ClimateChange #SciComm 🧪 #Crocodiles
Climate-induced shifts in crocodile body temperature impact behavior and performance
Barham et al. measure the body temperature of estuarine crocodiles over 15 years and
find that body temperatures have increased over time alongside air temperatures and
in patterns reflecting multi-ye...
www.cell.com
March 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Non-scientist translation: Crocs depend on the environment to control their body temperature. Since everything is getting hotter, they're having to change their habits to adapt, but eventually they're going to reach a limit they can't handle. This is bad because they are important to the ecosystem.
Non-scientist translation: we studied lots of fossils to see when spiders evolved their web-maker parts. This gives us an idea of what order spiders evolved in and what pressured them to make webs. It helps us understand history but also gives us ideas about how to use spiders in modern day.
If you're looking for a paper to read today:
"Fossil evidence for the origin of spider spinnerets, and a proposed arachnid order."
Explores Attercopus, a Devonian arachnid showing early evolution of spider segmentation & silk production. 🧪 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
"Fossil evidence for the origin of spider spinnerets, and a proposed arachnid order."
Explores Attercopus, a Devonian arachnid showing early evolution of spider segmentation & silk production. 🧪 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
March 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Non-scientist translation: we studied lots of fossils to see when spiders evolved their web-maker parts. This gives us an idea of what order spiders evolved in and what pressured them to make webs. It helps us understand history but also gives us ideas about how to use spiders in modern day.
Non-scientist translation: It's better to switch how we make energy than to try to capture pollution. Capturing the pollution costs more and takes more energy, which causes more pollution! Better to switch to energy that doesn't make pollution in the first place.
🌍💨 Is carbon capture worth it?
A new study finds that switching to 100% wind, water, & solar could slash energy, health, & climate costs by 91.8% - while many carbon capture policies increase costs & emissions.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#Climate #Renewables #CarbonCapture #SciComm 🧪
A new study finds that switching to 100% wind, water, & solar could slash energy, health, & climate costs by 91.8% - while many carbon capture policies increase costs & emissions.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#Climate #Renewables #CarbonCapture #SciComm 🧪
Energy, Health, and Climate Costs of Carbon-Capture and Direct-Air-Capture versus 100%-Wind-Water-Solar Climate Policies in 149 Countries
Air pollution, global warming, and energy insecurity are three major problems facing the world. This study first examines whether 149 countries can transition 100% of their business-as-usual (BAU) all...
pubs.acs.org
February 17, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Non-scientist translation: It's better to switch how we make energy than to try to capture pollution. Capturing the pollution costs more and takes more energy, which causes more pollution! Better to switch to energy that doesn't make pollution in the first place.
I think most non-scientists can understand this summary, but will ask, "why does this matter?" This is not actually about the egg, but about using computers to model heating/cooking something with two phases- in this case, egg and yolk. Lots and lots of things have two phases, not just food.
The perfect approach to boiling an egg, researchers found, was cooking it in 100°C water for 2 minutes, then 30°C water for 2 minutes, and repeating for a total of 32 minutes.
How to make the perfect boiled egg—if you have the patience
New method cracks the code for a soft yolk and a cooked white
scim.ag
February 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I think most non-scientists can understand this summary, but will ask, "why does this matter?" This is not actually about the egg, but about using computers to model heating/cooking something with two phases- in this case, egg and yolk. Lots and lots of things have two phases, not just food.
whoops! reskeeting twice for non-scientist translation: We have a new cancer therapy that teaches your cells to fight cancer! This girl took the therapy and it has kept her cancer-free for a long time, meaning we can start to be confident your cells will remember and continue to fight cancer!
CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
Woman in cancer remission for record 19 years after CAR-T immune treatment
CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach.
go.nature.com
February 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
whoops! reskeeting twice for non-scientist translation: We have a new cancer therapy that teaches your cells to fight cancer! This girl took the therapy and it has kept her cancer-free for a long time, meaning we can start to be confident your cells will remember and continue to fight cancer!
Reposted by Translating as best I can
CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
Woman in cancer remission for record 19 years after CAR-T immune treatment
CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach.
go.nature.com
February 17, 2025 at 5:02 PM
CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
https://go.nature.com/42XLYpK
Reposted by Translating as best I can
Here is the pig butt study, where you can not only learn more about the worm, but also how to say pig butt in Latin:
core.ac.uk/reader/21626...
🧪🦑🐙🌊🪼
core.ac.uk/reader/21626...
🧪🦑🐙🌊🪼
Scientists first collected a pig butt worm from the dark ocean depths near Monterey, California. The size of marbles, pigbutts are a near complete mystery. Officially described in 2007, scientists aren’t even sure if the pigbutt form is an adult, or just a very very awkward adolescent stage.
February 12, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Here is the pig butt study, where you can not only learn more about the worm, but also how to say pig butt in Latin:
core.ac.uk/reader/21626...
🧪🦑🐙🌊🪼
core.ac.uk/reader/21626...
🧪🦑🐙🌊🪼
Reposted by Translating as best I can
Birds-of-Paradise are nuts. We know this.
They dance. They build stages. They have bonkers plumage, some of which is "ultra-black". And now, scientists have just shown that they also GLOW, via biofluorescence.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
Gift link 🧪 #birds
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/s...
They dance. They build stages. They have bonkers plumage, some of which is "ultra-black". And now, scientists have just shown that they also GLOW, via biofluorescence.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
Gift link 🧪 #birds
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/s...
Birds of Paradise Glow on Their Mating Parade (Gift Article)
The always colorful males light up with biofluorescence, sending off signals.
www.nytimes.com
February 12, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Birds-of-Paradise are nuts. We know this.
They dance. They build stages. They have bonkers plumage, some of which is "ultra-black". And now, scientists have just shown that they also GLOW, via biofluorescence.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
Gift link 🧪 #birds
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/s...
They dance. They build stages. They have bonkers plumage, some of which is "ultra-black". And now, scientists have just shown that they also GLOW, via biofluorescence.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!
Gift link 🧪 #birds
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/s...
Non-scientist translation: if a cow gets bird flu, it can get passed into its milk. If the milk is treated with reeeaaallly high heat really fast (pasteurization) then it kills the virus and you won't get sick. But 'raw milk', which doesn't have that process, will still have the virus.
In response to the emergence of H5N1 influenza A viruses as a novel pathogen of cattle, a study in Nature Communications shows that pasteurisation of cows’ milk should effectively inactivate the virus, but that it remains infectious in unpasteurised milk. https://go.nature.com/3WRQ8fb 🧪
February 13, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Non-scientist translation: if a cow gets bird flu, it can get passed into its milk. If the milk is treated with reeeaaallly high heat really fast (pasteurization) then it kills the virus and you won't get sick. But 'raw milk', which doesn't have that process, will still have the virus.
Reposted by Translating as best I can
Hey world! My lab is studying how humans perceive cat vocalizations. Are you willing to take about 10-20 minutes to help us out? All you need is a computer and headphones! Click this link to take our survey - FOR SCIENCE! tinyurl.com/yrmaa3dn
Please share! :)
Please share! :)
February 11, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Hey world! My lab is studying how humans perceive cat vocalizations. Are you willing to take about 10-20 minutes to help us out? All you need is a computer and headphones! Click this link to take our survey - FOR SCIENCE! tinyurl.com/yrmaa3dn
Please share! :)
Please share! :)
Non-scientist translation: we studied hospitals that make money vs hospitals that are government funded. Patients say the hospitals that make money are way worse to be at, and it seems it only gets worse, not better, with time. Healthcare shouldn't be for profit.
"In this analysis of 73 private equity–acquired hospitals and 293 matched control hospitals, global measures of patient care experience worsened after private equity acquisition... The difference...increased with each subsequent year after acquisition." 🧪
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
Changes in Patient Care Experience After Private Equity Acquisition of US Hospitals
This cross-sectional study compares global patient measures to determine whether patients experienced a change in care and whether hospital communication, clinical process, and environment changed fro...
jamanetwork.com
February 11, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Non-scientist translation: we studied hospitals that make money vs hospitals that are government funded. Patients say the hospitals that make money are way worse to be at, and it seems it only gets worse, not better, with time. Healthcare shouldn't be for profit.
Non-scientist translation: These guys turned microscopic special-soap bubbles into solar-powered chemical factories that can just hang out in water. Which is *wild*. And also really good, since water and light are pretty sustainable for projects like this!
Excited for this collaborative paper on nanoscale photoreactors to finally be out in #ChemSci @roysocchem.bsky.social! Check it out!
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Supramolecular self-assembly of metal complex surfactants (MeCS) into micellar nanoscale reactors in aqueous solution
Surfactants are amphiphilic molecules that can form micellar structures with a hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona in water. In this work, we combine the remarkable properties of photoactive met...
pubs.rsc.org
February 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Non-scientist translation: These guys turned microscopic special-soap bubbles into solar-powered chemical factories that can just hang out in water. Which is *wild*. And also really good, since water and light are pretty sustainable for projects like this!
Non-scientist translation: You know that whole "every action makes an equal and opposite reaction" rule? It works with molecules! But they were able to prove it with some cool moving molecules that go up and down but always balance. Knowing how molecules work helps us with medication and tech!
Fresh off the press! Read our latest article with @3mlab.bsky.social and @deanast.bsky.social just out at Chem @cellpress.bsky.social!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#ChemSky #SciSky #PhySky #molecularmachines
1/5
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#ChemSky #SciSky #PhySky #molecularmachines
1/5
Transition-path times of individual molecular shuttles under mechanical equilibrium show symmetry
Measuring individual trajectories during the operation of synthetic devices is crucial for a thorough understanding of this operation. Here, we use op…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Non-scientist translation: You know that whole "every action makes an equal and opposite reaction" rule? It works with molecules! But they were able to prove it with some cool moving molecules that go up and down but always balance. Knowing how molecules work helps us with medication and tech!
Non-scientist translation: We need chemicals for medication, but it's picky. Like shoes. You can't use the right one for the left, or the other way round. So they're hard to make. One spin and it's made wrong. These folks are using proteins to keep stuff from spinning, so they can make what we need!
Exploiting #biocatalysis for the synthesis of densely functionalised heterocycles.
Excited to see this work from my time in the Flitsch lab out now in #JACS.
Thanks to co-first author Lea, Grayson, Pere Clapés and Sabine Flitsch!
#ChemSky #ChemBio @uommib.bsky.social @acs.org
Excited to see this work from my time in the Flitsch lab out now in #JACS.
Thanks to co-first author Lea, Grayson, Pere Clapés and Sabine Flitsch!
#ChemSky #ChemBio @uommib.bsky.social @acs.org
Stereoselective Chemoenzymatic Cascades for the Synthesis of Densely Functionalized Iminosugars
1,4-Dicarbonyls are versatile synthons for the construction of diverse pharmacophores and natural products. However, the stereoselective synthesis of densely functionalized 1,4-dicarbonyls is challeng...
pubs.acs.org
February 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Non-scientist translation: We need chemicals for medication, but it's picky. Like shoes. You can't use the right one for the left, or the other way round. So they're hard to make. One spin and it's made wrong. These folks are using proteins to keep stuff from spinning, so they can make what we need!
Non-scientist translation: sometimes doctors are wrong. This is not new, but now we're finding new ways to diagnose the tough stuff!
It's also good to have studies like this, because it's important to acknowledge even experts get things wrong sometimes, and we can always try new things to improve!
It's also good to have studies like this, because it's important to acknowledge even experts get things wrong sometimes, and we can always try new things to improve!
A re-analysis of rare disease patients' genetic data delivers 500 new diagnoses 🧬🧪
Rare diseases get a second opinion and new diagnoses
A re-analysis of rare disease patients' genetic data delivers 500 new diagnoses
buff.ly
February 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Non-scientist translation: sometimes doctors are wrong. This is not new, but now we're finding new ways to diagnose the tough stuff!
It's also good to have studies like this, because it's important to acknowledge even experts get things wrong sometimes, and we can always try new things to improve!
It's also good to have studies like this, because it's important to acknowledge even experts get things wrong sometimes, and we can always try new things to improve!
Non-scientist translation: it is really important to figure out how animals socialize. But it's hard, cause they fly and move around and sometimes all look alike. These folks used math and cool computer chips, as well as some awesome birds, to test some new ways we can track animal friendships!
Alex and I have published our methods paper today!
We tested three methods to define social associations from RFID tag data across four wild study systems.
All three methods detected signal from the noise of flocking, with differences driven by ecological nuances or study design.
#ornithology 🧪🪶
We tested three methods to define social associations from RFID tag data across four wild study systems.
All three methods detected signal from the noise of flocking, with differences driven by ecological nuances or study design.
#ornithology 🧪🪶
New paper out in BEAS! Co-first with @j-dunning.net : we compared three different ways of defining social associations from RFID data across four avian study systems.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
February 11, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Non-scientist translation: it is really important to figure out how animals socialize. But it's hard, cause they fly and move around and sometimes all look alike. These folks used math and cool computer chips, as well as some awesome birds, to test some new ways we can track animal friendships!
Non-scientist translation: The ocean used to be kind of acid-poison, so life couldn't grow. After a bunch of things like earthquakes and volcanoes, the ocean got mixed up with earth chemicals and now it's actually really good at not being poisonous. Which is awesome for beach days this summer.
Ocean waters have this property, which we call Alkalinity, which keeps the acidity of seawater in a rather tight range. But in the earliest ocean, it possibly still hadn't developed, leading to waters being too acidic for life until it did. 🧪⚒️🌊
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4...
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4...
February 11, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Non-scientist translation: The ocean used to be kind of acid-poison, so life couldn't grow. After a bunch of things like earthquakes and volcanoes, the ocean got mixed up with earth chemicals and now it's actually really good at not being poisonous. Which is awesome for beach days this summer.
Translation for scientists and non-scientists alike: a machine can't think like a person when it comes to figuring out which patterns matter and which patterns don't. Always remember your brain is the most important computer you have and use it!
🧪 As LLM's start to offer more data analytics and research tools, it is important to keep their limitations in mind, like failing to see the "gorilla in the data" #MLSky 🩺💻
Your AI can’t see gorillas – Chiraag Gohel
A comparison of LLMs’ ability to perform exploratory data analysis
chiraaggohel.com
February 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Translation for scientists and non-scientists alike: a machine can't think like a person when it comes to figuring out which patterns matter and which patterns don't. Always remember your brain is the most important computer you have and use it!
Non-scientist translation: Some trees grow less tall and make more babies when they notice climate change. This means trees change behavior based on the climate. Very cool, but it also means we can't expect plants to act like they did before we started messing with the weather.
🧪
🌳🌳🌳 We have a new paper in @pnas.org showing climate warming leads to growth decline in beech because it drives trees to reproduce more frequently. Climate change can cause growth decline even when drought isn’t increasing by shifting where trees allocate resources doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2423181122
February 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Non-scientist translation: Some trees grow less tall and make more babies when they notice climate change. This means trees change behavior based on the climate. Very cool, but it also means we can't expect plants to act like they did before we started messing with the weather.
Non-scientist translation: we made a gene that was really, really big, in a lab instead of in a person or animal or plant. Proving technology can do this is awesome for things like gene therapy where we need to understand and change genes to get rid of disease!
February 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Non-scientist translation: we made a gene that was really, really big, in a lab instead of in a person or animal or plant. Proving technology can do this is awesome for things like gene therapy where we need to understand and change genes to get rid of disease!
Non-scientist translation: Whooping cough is killing people. Vaccines help you not get it. They also help your kids not get it. That may be something you want to do, if you don't want to die. Or have your kids die.
February 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Non-scientist translation: Whooping cough is killing people. Vaccines help you not get it. They also help your kids not get it. That may be something you want to do, if you don't want to die. Or have your kids die.
Non-scientist translation: even the coolest scientists (I'm a chemist and I stand by this) are complete dorks when they *like*-like somebody. More news at 10.
Love is a complex mix of emotions, behind which is a cocktail of hormones and neurotransmitters firing in the brain and body. And chemists, it turns out, aren’t immune to these chemical reactions and the silly things they make you do. cen.acs.org/people/Chemi...
Chemistry couples and punny romantic cards
Stories of love at first sight and following your heart
cen.acs.org
February 11, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Non-scientist translation: even the coolest scientists (I'm a chemist and I stand by this) are complete dorks when they *like*-like somebody. More news at 10.
Non-scientist translation: COVID isn't like chicken pox where you get it once and never get it again. Instead your body forgets about it over time and you'll probably get it again! Regular vaccinations will help your body remember.
New Nature study shows that a prior Covid infection during Omicron, offered some protection against reinfection only for those recently infected. This declined rapidly over time (red line) diminishing to near zippo protection by a year.
#BlueSky #MedSky #IDSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#BlueSky #MedSky #IDSky
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 11, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Non-scientist translation: COVID isn't like chicken pox where you get it once and never get it again. Instead your body forgets about it over time and you'll probably get it again! Regular vaccinations will help your body remember.
Non-scientist translation: we can make hydrogen from sticking electricity in water. It's basically doing the opposite of what that guy in the Martian was trying to do when he blew himself up.
Anyway, this is good cause we can use hydrogen as fuel instead of oil!
Anyway, this is good cause we can use hydrogen as fuel instead of oil!
Hydrogen produced by electrolyzing water with renewable forms of energy is an important part of the government plan. Officials expect clean fuels like hydrogen and ammonia to represent 1% of Japan’s power consumption by 2030 and 10% by 2050. cen.acs.org/energy/hydro... #chemsky🧪 #scinews
Japan strives to make green hydrogen a pillar of its energy mix
Host of companies enlisted to help turn government policies into a reality
cen.acs.org
February 11, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Non-scientist translation: we can make hydrogen from sticking electricity in water. It's basically doing the opposite of what that guy in the Martian was trying to do when he blew himself up.
Anyway, this is good cause we can use hydrogen as fuel instead of oil!
Anyway, this is good cause we can use hydrogen as fuel instead of oil!