What’s the secret to a great cup of tea? From where the Camellia sinensis bush is grown to whether the leaves are withered or fermented, much can influence the popular drink’s molecular and flavor profile

What’s the secret to a great cup of tea?

From where the Camellia sinensis bush is grown to whether the leaves are withered or fermented, much can influence the popular drink’s molecular and flavor profile 🍵

✍️ Amber Dance: knowmag.org/Tea_bluesky

Sweet! The cell’s sugary coating comes into view Built from thickets of glucose, galactose, mannose and more, the glycome plays key roles in cell communication, immunity and the blood-brain barrier

In HS biology we learn about DNA, RNA, proteins. My @knowablemag.bsky.social story describes the other major building block of life: #glycans
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

For particle physicists working with neutrinos, almost nothing is everything

Several massive multimillion dollar experiments should soon reveal more about the nature of these ghostly particles.

✍️ Nicola Jones

knowmag.org/4lcyNsh

Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses

Great read! Congratulations @katarinazimmer.bsky.social on your insightful @knowablemag.bsky.social piece exploring the remarkable biology of the Aedes aegypti #mosquito knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

The Pernicious Infections Infiltrating Ukraine’s Front Lines

For her 2025 #PulitzerStaffPicks, Alexandra Waddell, Digital Content Coordinator & Research Assistant at the Pulitzer Center, selected "The Pernicious Infections Infiltrating Ukraine’s Front Lines," by @richardastone.bsky.social for @knowablemag.bsky.social.

👉 bit.ly/YIStories25

Journey to the egg: How sperm navigate the path to fertilization COMIC: Male cells must survive twisty passages, strong currents and immune attacks; millions enter, but only one can finish

A few months ago I worked with
@adance.bsky.social to create a science comic for @knowablemag.bsky.social about the journey sperm makes to reach the egg. Little did I know that that this would involve me being immortalised in cartoon form. Check it out .... knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

Journey to the egg: How sperm navigate the path to fertilization COMIC: Male cells must survive twisty passages, strong currents and immune attacks; millions enter, but only one can finish

Have you ever wanted to see the Sperm's Journey portrayed by the Lord of the Rings fellowship?

Then you are in luck 😍

Behold, this new comic by @makinaro.com & Amber Dance for @knowablemag.bsky.social
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

How plant-eaters snag their essential amino acids Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impressive array of tricks to ensure their dietary needs ar...

“It’s really easy to make a wolf, because..their diet mirrors their body..But it’s really, really hard to make a moose, because a moose’s diet does not.” Fascinating story by @katarinazimmer.bsky.social on nutritional challenges of herbivores knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

Explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with my SciArt Starter Pack.

Paleoart to fine art,
comics to medical illustration,
bioart to space imagery.

150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡.

And no gen AI or NFTs. 🥳

Who knew that whales blasted snot through their blowholes, or that drones could collect the viscous fluid and teach us so much about whales in the process? Written by @gennarotomma.bsky.social for us at @knowablemag.bsky.social -- and a very fine story it is 🧪

Genetically engineered color-changing Arabidopsis 🧬📷- attempt #3

I think I finally nailed it with this one.

How a humble weed became a superstar of biology Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.

YAY! this is excellent! From Knowable Magazine: How Arabidopsis thaliana, a humble weed, became a superstar of plant biology | Knowable Magazine knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

"It is impossible to do justice to the countless discoveries made in this area based on the study of this small yet mighty weed." Those words (on abiotic stress response) from 2015 Tansley Review apply to the whole plant and the research community! thanks for kind words @nikogeldner.bsky.social

How a humble weed became a superstar of biology Arabidopsis thaliana was always an unlikely candidate for the limelight. But 25 years ago, the diminutive thale cress launched the botanical world into the molecular era.

From Knowable Magazine: How #Arabidopsis thaliana, a humble weed, became a superstar of plant biology | Knowable Magazine knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

the image says "time's up! science news media guild is officially on STRIKE. rally with us on Nov 5. 8am-8pm 1776 Massachusetts Ave NW." a picture of an alarm block is at the bottom

Today's the big day — we're officially on strike all day! We'll be picketing from 8am to 8pm at 1776 Massachusetts NW. Come show your support! @wbng.org @newsguild.org

including Anna Stepanova of @naascarabidopsis.bsky.social @somssich.bsky.social Chris Somerville, Elliot Meyerowitz
Caren Chang @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social (for an amazing image!) and Mark Estelle

Yet 25 years ago it became the 1st plant — and 3rd multicellular organism — to have its genome sequenced. Thanks so much to all the people who talked to me about the backstory and the road ahead

Arabidopsis, a little weed in the mustard family, joined the celebrity ranks of Drosophila, E. coli and other model organisms in the 1980s. There was a lot of pushback-- in some circles it was referred to as the "A-word" (!)

Detection firm finds 82% of herbal remedy books on Amazon ‘likely written’ by AI Originality.ai scans 558 titles in herbal remedies section between January and September

AI 'slop' has come for herbalism by
@aishadown.bsky.social
one book is #1 bestseller in Amazon’s skincare, aroma therapies and herbal remedies, subcategories.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Getting along with grizzly bears In rural Alaskan and Canadian communities, reducing conflict between people and their wild neighbors means both species must change their behavior

A warm congratulations to @ljevanso.bsky.social, whose feature story, “Getting along with grizzly bears,” is a finalist at the Webster Awards 2025 in the category “Excellence in Feature Reporting – Print/Digital.”

Happy birthday Knowable! on a cake with an 8 birthday candle

Happy birthday to us! 🥳 Today, we celebrate Knowable Magazine’s 8th year. That’s 8 years of diving into big questions in science and research; 8 years of burrowing into data and citing our sources; 8 years of evidence-based solutions and forays into wonder and awe...

AI is changing our understanding of earthquakes Machine learning is expanding scientists’ catalogs of quakes and refining maps of underground faults. It also promises to improve quake forecasts.

AI is helping map millions of tiny earthquakes, writes @alexwitze.bsky.social An AI-based quake catalog was 5x more complete than the human-made one & was made in a day rather than months. Here's a terrific (hype-free) look at ways the tech is changing seismology knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

Curating the Art & Sci section is one of my favorite newsletter duties- we feature scientific images; original works by artists; compelling pieces from the history of art and ideas, graphics created by science communicators, maps, fiber arts and more.

Tag me with ideas!

16 panels of brightly colored cell watercolors this is us from tiny red blood cells to large muscle fibers. Our bodies are made up of an astonishing diversity of cells. Some of these including red and white blood cells long and retina cells, neurons and skin cells are depicted above and portrait of a human by Washington DC based artist Michele Banks

Oh hey look at that. My piece Portrait of a Human is featured in @knowablemag.bsky.social #sciart

The Pernicious Infections Infiltrating Ukraine’s Front Lines Doctors and scientists are waging a shadow war in the besieged nation: bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. The deadly bugs are now knocking on western Europe’s door. The Pulitzer...

While Ukraine is resisting Russia's invasion, on the frontlines, doctors and scientists are fighting another war, one against antibiotic-resistant "superbugs".

Grantee @richardastone.bsky.social spoke with those containing the deadly bacteria.

Story for @knowablemag.bsky.social. bit.ly/47phkY7

Authors, @sciencewriters.org find your book in the Anthropic settlement database (try different spellings of your name and titles to catch small errors)

Jem Cresswell’s striking whale images – in pictures The photographer spent five years documenting humpback whales in the waters surrounding the Tonga Trench

Jem Cresswell’s striking whale images – in pictures www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🦑🌎🧪

Turns out that the technology for better EV batteries is already here, get all the deets from our new explainer

The pernicious infections infiltrating Ukraine’s front lines Doctors and scientists are waging a shadow war in the besieged nation: bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics. The deadly bugs are now knocking on western Europe’s door.

Drug-resistant bacteria are spreading and strengthening amid the chaos of the war in Ukraine. Read this important piece by @richardastone.bsky.social (reported from the field w help from @pulitzercenter.org); edited by the terrific @rosiemestel.bsky.social

knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...

Oof. 🖤