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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 17d

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:

Jürgen Hermes @spinfocl.bsky.social · 17d

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

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 29d

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...

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

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Sep 2

*typo: magic THROUGH the millennia. A huge thanks to the book's fact-checker and proofreader, too!

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Sep 2

This book was a massive lift. Huge thank-you to my coauthors Nina Strochlic and Pat Daniels and to our incredible editor @mayamyersbooks.bsky.social, as well as to the whole team at WonderLab Group and National Geographic, with a special shoutout to Kate Olesin and Jennifer Emmett.

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Sep 2

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...

National Geographic Book of Magic and the Occult: A Visual History

A Visual History

bookshop.org

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Aug 8

Thanks! FYI, I am building out a Python implementation of the Naibbe cipher, as well as an automatic decryption script and a more robust Python version of Voynichesque. I will make those scripts available to the community as soon as I can.

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jul 27

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.

Voynich Manuscript Day 2025 Schedule

www.voynich.ninja

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Reposted by Michael Greshko

Meredith Wadman @meredithwadman.bsky.social · Jul 15

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

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Reposted by Michael Greshko

Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · Jul 10

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

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jul 10

Fair point. The first alternate that comes to mind is "feedification," with platforms training people to distribute + consume news & entertainment thru algorithmic feeds. 1/3 of US adults "believe that they no longer have to actively seek the news to be well informed": ijoc.org/index.php/ij...

The Proliferation of the “News Finds Me” Perception Across Societies | Gil de Zúñiga | International Journal of Communication

The Proliferation of the “News Finds Me” Perception Across Societies

ijoc.org

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jul 10

This gets to broader point: For all its benefits, democratization is deprofessionalization. As the barriers to entry lower, more people will do unpaid work to buy algorithmic lottery tickets. Tech platforms seem to have realized that dreams alone can pay for the median piece of "engaging content."

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jul 10

To add here, the sheer difficulty of scaling this up makes it all the more tempting to rely on platforms like Substack for audience acquisition and growth. But among other things, the writer risks the same situation as publications a decade ago: tech platforms wanting to be audience landlords.

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jul 3

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.

Dr. Jasmina Wiemann @jwiemann.bsky.social · Jul 3

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].

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jun 4

Headlines are an art form all their own—and they are are incredibly important to get right. The way I think of it, it's the hed, the dek, and the social copy in combination. If you can achieve snappiness and nuance thru a mix of all three (which is how many people enter stories), you're doing OK.

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Jun 4

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.

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · Jun 3

This is a hell of a thing to read.

Diabolus Ex Machina

This Is Not An Essay

open.substack.com

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Apr 24

🧪🚨 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

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Apr 18

It was a pleasure to work with @joshuasokol.bsky.social on this piece! Check it out:

Joshua Sokol @joshuasokol.bsky.social · Apr 18

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

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Reposted by Michael Greshko

Paul Voosen @voosen.me · Apr 11

BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.

Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.

Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency

White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted

www.science.org

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Apr 2

Weather Fox is another brand owned by Animals Around the Globe GmbH, of which Jan Otte is CEO. So yes.

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Reposted by Michael Greshko

Sara Reardon @sarareardon.bsky.social · Apr 1

One high level HHS official shown the door told @science.org, “I couldn’t have worked with these asshats anyway.”

www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump administration purges U.S. health agency leaders

Reassignment letters come as reductions in force begin at NIH, FDA, and CDC

www.science.org

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Apr 1

Strengthens the hypothesis of a French affinity for the manuscript, on the basis that "Grey Poupon" is clearly just a corruption of "Green Coupon."

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Mar 31

Maybe they didn't want to create confusion over the quality of their work?

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Mar 28

@hannah-richter.bsky.social did a phenomenal job reporting this story out:

Science Magazine @science.org · Mar 28

“It’s work that’s not going to get done, it’s bills that aren’t going to get paid, it’s students that aren’t going to get trained.” scim.ag/4256P8v

Confusion and worry as DOGE cuts hit NASA

Terminated grants include efforts to get students and underrepresented groups involved in science

scim.ag

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Reposted by Michael Greshko

Science Magazine @science.org · Mar 25

Exclusive: Science has learned that grant termination letters went out last night to principal investigators of 29 awards made by NIAID, including nine grants that were part of a program hoping to deliver antiviral drugs to prevent future pandemics. scim.ag/4iVm7mY

Saying ‘pandemic is over,’ NIH institute starts cutting COVID-19 research

Grant terminations halt research on improving vaccinations and preventing future pandemics

scim.ag

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · Mar 25

I have been combing through similar datasets and have come across some of the same grants/contracts. I can also confirm that these datasets are messy.

Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · Mar 25

Using public data, I've found 40 NASA contracts totaling $42M canceled in the past few days, impacting climate science, DEI, education, and administration activities. $25.2M was already paid out, so resulting savings is $17 million. Running list of cancelations here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

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