Author Kathryn Hulick sitting on rocks by a lake with a pensive pose.

Are you a scientist or academic?
Join me next week at the APS Public Engagement Community Hour. I’m a children's book author & journalist. I'll be sharing how to make your science communication spark & sizzle! 🧪
🗓 April 16
⏰ 12-1:30 p.m. ET
Register for free: apsphysics.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Amazing! Thank you!

Earthset and an eclipse from the moon Wow!

It’s my birthday today and I get the gift of breathtaking images of Earth setting and an eclipse seen from the dark side of the moon! 🌖 Thank you NASA and the Artemis II crew. 🧪

open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

Why AI agent teams often fail to work together AI agents are starting to work in teams, but without careful organization, groups of bots can easily fall into chaos.

In the full story I give an example of how AI agent teams can be useful for certain types of problems, with an example from drug discovery. But the story is mainly about all the problems that can arise! www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-a...

The weird world of AI agent teams Behind the scenes at a bot-run social network, company, and science lab

I wrote about Moltbook and the weird world of AI agent teams for Science News. AI agents often don't work well together, it turns out, but you can wrangle them if you know what you're doing. 🧪 open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

Got brain rot? Excessive scrolling through social media or viral videos can mess with your mental health — and possibly alter your brain’s development, studies show.

How long have you been scrolling just now? If you don’t know, that could be a problem… learn about the science of brain rot in my new story for teens 🧪: www.snexplores.org/article/brai...

Art and science in Costa Rica 5 interesting nature facts and a look at my drawings

Did you know that trapdoor spiders weave secret lairs? Or that mangrove trees build new land? See what I drew and learned on a trip to the rainforest of Costa Rica. 🇨🇷
open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

I created an activity to teach science vocab! 🔬📚
Students pick a tricky science word from my book THE UFO FILES, dig into its meaning, then create a short video, reel, or poster to teach it.
patriciamnewman.com?p=13207
#STEMed #LitLinks #EduSky
@patricianewman.bsky.social

Happy World Read Aloud Day! Try a space quiz and listen to me read from The UFO Files!

Today, I volunteered as a virtual visiting author for #WorldReadAloudDay at six classrooms around the USA. I read from my book THE UFO FILES and talked about becoming an author. But first, I test your wits with a space quiz. Ready? Let's go! 👽 open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

This detached hand robot has a thing for skittering on its fingertips The robot can bend, grasp and carry in ways humans can’t, which could help it navigate spaces too confined for human arms.

I both love and hate this robot hand... the nerd in me thinks it's such a cool idea for a hand to detach and wander around, using its fingers like tentacles. But it also totally creeps me out! Anyone else? #robotics 🧪
www.sciencenews.org/article/deta...

5 things to remember when talking to a chatbot When using ChatGPT or other chatbots, remember your voice matters and watch out for flattery and hallucinations. And for important advice, ask real people.

Hi! I'd like to be on the list. I'm a freelance journalist covering AI and tech mainly for @sciencenews.bsky.social - here are some recent stories:
www.sciencenews.org/article/scie...
www.snexplores.org/article/ai-d...
www.snexplores.org/article/5-th...

Hypnosis isn’t magic. It’s the brain at work While we still don’t know much about how hypnosis works, it appears to help some people conquer pain, anxiety and other problems.

This is such a cool story about the brain science of hypnotism! www.snexplores.org/article/hypn... 🧪

Merry T-ReX-mas! Santa, what big teeth you have...

Merry T-reX-mas! 🦖 As a gift, I'm sharing an excerpt from my book, Welcome to the Future, about whether it might ever be possible to have a pet dinosaur... (because it worked out so well in Jurassic Park, right?) 🦕

Read the book excerpt:
kathrynhulick.substack.com/p/merry-t-re...

Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas? Oceans cover over 70% of the earth’s surface and house a dizzying array of organisms, including five species of the peppercorn-sized ocean-skater Halobates, which live exclusively at the ocean surface...

Why did I only just find out that that there are water striders that live IN (ON!!) THE OPEN OCEAN? 🧪

OCEAN STRIDERS!!

How AI Is Changing Neuroscience Discovery AI is altering how scientists study the brain

AI tools like DeepLabCut and SuperAnimal are changing how scientists study movement, helping them understand how brain activity drives behavior.

Read more: bit.ly/4qnX7JF

@trackingactions.bsky.social @deeplabcut.bsky.social

I spoke about AI at an MIT conference Here's one of the key points I made about young people and AI: The real world and real human voices matter. All AI should be in service to what real people care about learning, expressing, and experie...

So... recently I got to speak on a panel at MIT! The conversation centered on storytelling, ethics, and humanity in AI development. Here are the main points I made: kathrynhulick.substack.com/p/i-spoke-ab...

New Method Is the Fastest Way To Find the Best Routes | Quanta Magazine A canonical problem in computer science is to find the shortest route to every point in a network. A new approach beats the classic algorithm taught in textbooks.

This is a cool computer science story about a new method to find the shortest path between two points. “This thing might as well have been discovered 50 years ago, but it wasn’t” - Mikkel Thorup 🧪
www.quantamagazine.org/new-method-i...

Appreciate Quanta for shining a light on our joint work with Simon Gsell, Sham Tlili (@shamtlili.bsky.social), and Matthias Merkel (@merkellab.bsky.social).

mitochondria from bipolar patients are closer to the nucleus in these images; control patients' are spread out further

15 years in the making, we confirmed that mitochondria - the powerhouse of the cell - have an unusual localization in patients who experience psychosis (including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders). You’ll never guess what kind of patient cells we used to make this discovery… 🧵

Leaves with rounded edges in strong light some Orange some yellow some green

Tall yellow blades of grass in front of a lake in bright sunlight

Autumn trees in strong backlight with long shadows by a lake

Welcome, fall! 🍁🍃

My latest story in Science News. 🧪 “Even when [side effects] can be rare, when they happen to you, it means all the world,” says public health researcher John Ayers.

This is starting in 15 minutes! Listen to me and several other experts tell stories about inventions.

LitLinks: True story or science fiction? How to find the truth! - Patricia Newman An alien spacecraft has arrived on Earth, carrying intelligent beings. Is this a true story or science fiction?

Scientists are using AI to understand animal communication. Fact or fiction?

It's actually true! A new activity I wrote to go along with my new book The UFO Files helps students use critical thinking to check facts:
www.patriciamnewman.com/litlinks-tru...

@patricianewman.bsky.social

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

This experimental computer chip reuses energy A first-of-its-kind test shows that reusing energy within a computer chip can work, thanks to two techy tricks.

My latest story for Science News covers a really interesting experimental computer chip. It reuses energy that typical chips waste as heat:
www.sciencenews.org/article/comp...
If this scales up, it could help make AI cheaper and more efficient. 🧪
@sciencenews.bsky.social

Colored pencil drawing of a tree held in hand

Colored pencil drawing of a misty morning on a lake

Colored pencil drawing of trees in front of a lake with a white dog

Yellow leaf lying on top of a drawing of that leaf

I did a lot of colored pencil drawing this summer. Here are some of my favorites 🍃 open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

Thank you @sierramagazine.bsky.social and @kathrynhulick.substack.com for highlighting our work!🐋Read the quote from Daniela Rus (@csail.mit.edu), PI on CETI Machine Learning and Robotics Team and more in the piece “Could AI Help Humanity Understand Whales?” here: bit.ly/45tksRL 📸: Arun Madisetti

Keynote: Inventions | eCornell Be Informed. Be Inspired. Experience the Best of Cornell, Live and On Demand.

"Inventions almost always inspire curiosity since they – by their nature – have never existed before." I'm excited to be on this upcoming panel discussing invention and innovation, hosted by @ecornellonline.bsky.social September 30, 1pm ET, free to attend 🧪
ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/ove...

It wasn’t even on my bucket list… but just checked off “triathlon in the pouring rain” 🌧️ 😅

I’m here at Word on the Street until noon for an author talk and book signing! For my new book The UFO Files. Hope to see you. @quartokids.bsky.social www.quarto.com/books/978071...