Elise Cutts
@elisecutts.bsky.social
Professional nerd (science journalist). USian in Austria, language geek, and collector of fine yellow zigzagged sweaters and etymology fun facts. Get my newsletter about big questions at the frontiers of science: www.reviewertoo.com 👽🌀🦋
"Bleb" has to be the most delightful bit of science jargon ever devised
It's a lil bubble of mineral inside of a different minerals.
It's a lil bubble of mineral inside of a different minerals.
January 20, 2026 at 10:39 AM
"Bleb" has to be the most delightful bit of science jargon ever devised
It's a lil bubble of mineral inside of a different minerals.
It's a lil bubble of mineral inside of a different minerals.
Does anyone else have trouble not just turning your brain off when you see an obviously AI generated figure in a science paper, poster, or talk?
January 20, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Does anyone else have trouble not just turning your brain off when you see an obviously AI generated figure in a science paper, poster, or talk?
Reposted by Elise Cutts
✨Auroras✨ over Groningen,NL during the first after-conference day of @rockyworlds.bsky.social This planet is just so incredible! Looking forward for the talks, sessions and activities the rest of the week🌌
January 20, 2026 at 6:34 AM
✨Auroras✨ over Groningen,NL during the first after-conference day of @rockyworlds.bsky.social This planet is just so incredible! Looking forward for the talks, sessions and activities the rest of the week🌌
Reposted by Elise Cutts
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11432
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
arxiv.org
January 19, 2026 at 3:27 AM
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11432
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
First results from the Lava Lamps survey hunting for atmospheres on lava planets shared at #RockyWorlds4:
It looks like there could be some kind of transition in the way lava planets redistribute heat around ~2500 K, which could indicate that the very hottest worlds have atmospheres.
Mysterious!
It looks like there could be some kind of transition in the way lava planets redistribute heat around ~2500 K, which could indicate that the very hottest worlds have atmospheres.
Mysterious!
January 19, 2026 at 4:00 PM
First results from the Lava Lamps survey hunting for atmospheres on lava planets shared at #RockyWorlds4:
It looks like there could be some kind of transition in the way lava planets redistribute heat around ~2500 K, which could indicate that the very hottest worlds have atmospheres.
Mysterious!
It looks like there could be some kind of transition in the way lava planets redistribute heat around ~2500 K, which could indicate that the very hottest worlds have atmospheres.
Mysterious!
Reposted by Elise Cutts
Really enjoyed this awesome poster at #RockyWorlds4 by William Brilliant about @terrahunting.bsky.social — can’t believe we are so close to starting our hunt for Earth-like #exoplanets in our cosmic neighbourhood!! 🤩🌍🔭
January 19, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Really enjoyed this awesome poster at #RockyWorlds4 by William Brilliant about @terrahunting.bsky.social — can’t believe we are so close to starting our hunt for Earth-like #exoplanets in our cosmic neighbourhood!! 🤩🌍🔭
@johannateske.bsky.social's #RockyWorlds4 talk on TOI-561 b just reinforces my feeling that this weird little planet is one to keep an eye on.
It's among a handful of hot rocks challenging what we think we know about which planets have air.
I wrote about this last year for @sciam.bsky.social:
It's among a handful of hot rocks challenging what we think we know about which planets have air.
I wrote about this last year for @sciam.bsky.social:
This Fiery Exoplanet Shouldn’t Have an Atmosphere—But It Does
Hot, small and old—exoplanet TOI-561 b is just about the worst place to look for alien air. Scientists using JWST found it there anyway
www.scientificamerican.com
January 19, 2026 at 1:51 PM
@johannateske.bsky.social's #RockyWorlds4 talk on TOI-561 b just reinforces my feeling that this weird little planet is one to keep an eye on.
It's among a handful of hot rocks challenging what we think we know about which planets have air.
I wrote about this last year for @sciam.bsky.social:
It's among a handful of hot rocks challenging what we think we know about which planets have air.
I wrote about this last year for @sciam.bsky.social:
Hello #RockyWorlds4!
I'm Elise, a science journalist here hunting for awesome science stories about planets.
I'm cool, I promise — I used to be a scientist so I might even understand your science jargon 🤓Come say hi and tell me about your work!
I'm Elise, a science journalist here hunting for awesome science stories about planets.
I'm cool, I promise — I used to be a scientist so I might even understand your science jargon 🤓Come say hi and tell me about your work!
January 19, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Hello #RockyWorlds4!
I'm Elise, a science journalist here hunting for awesome science stories about planets.
I'm cool, I promise — I used to be a scientist so I might even understand your science jargon 🤓Come say hi and tell me about your work!
I'm Elise, a science journalist here hunting for awesome science stories about planets.
I'm cool, I promise — I used to be a scientist so I might even understand your science jargon 🤓Come say hi and tell me about your work!
My visit to #RockyWorlds4 kicked off with a hot take from @nplinnspace.bsky.social's poster: Even in the best-case scenario, we couldn't tell how "Earth-like" an Earth-like planet is 🔥
She assumed TRAPPIST-1 e had Earth-like air and showed that vastly different climates would be indistinguishable.
She assumed TRAPPIST-1 e had Earth-like air and showed that vastly different climates would be indistinguishable.
January 19, 2026 at 11:38 AM
My visit to #RockyWorlds4 kicked off with a hot take from @nplinnspace.bsky.social's poster: Even in the best-case scenario, we couldn't tell how "Earth-like" an Earth-like planet is 🔥
She assumed TRAPPIST-1 e had Earth-like air and showed that vastly different climates would be indistinguishable.
She assumed TRAPPIST-1 e had Earth-like air and showed that vastly different climates would be indistinguishable.
Related: getting talked to in Dutch and then having my brain short-circuit trying to decide whether to load English or German in response is an interesting time
Literally every time I'm in the Netherlands I'm just giggling to myself the whole time reading signs/menus/etc in Dutch.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
January 19, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Related: getting talked to in Dutch and then having my brain short-circuit trying to decide whether to load English or German in response is an interesting time
Update: it ended up being 16hrs but you know, that's fine. The DB gods could have been so much more wrathful and chaotic
And so begins my 14hr* train adventure from Graz to Groningen for the #RockyWorlds4 planetary science conference 🪐
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
January 19, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Update: it ended up being 16hrs but you know, that's fine. The DB gods could have been so much more wrathful and chaotic
Literally every time I'm in the Netherlands I'm just giggling to myself the whole time reading signs/menus/etc in Dutch.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
January 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Literally every time I'm in the Netherlands I'm just giggling to myself the whole time reading signs/menus/etc in Dutch.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
If you speak English and German, Dutch looks like Denglisch that's been run through some kind of filter to make it weird and delightful.
And so begins my 14hr* train adventure from Graz to Groningen for the #RockyWorlds4 planetary science conference 🪐
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
January 18, 2026 at 4:58 AM
And so begins my 14hr* train adventure from Graz to Groningen for the #RockyWorlds4 planetary science conference 🪐
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
*assuming Deutsche Bahn can behave itself
Reposted by Elise Cutts
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Sharing this handy paper in case you, too, sometimes need to back up your claims about there being "a few dozen" known rocky HZ planets: arxiv.org/abs/2501.14054
Probing the Limits of Habitability: A Catalog of Rocky Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone
While most of the 6000 discovered exoplanets are highly unlike the Earth, the first rocky worlds in the Habitable Zone (HZ) provide intriguing targets for the search for life in the cosmos. As detecti...
arxiv.org
January 16, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Sharing this handy paper in case you, too, sometimes need to back up your claims about there being "a few dozen" known rocky HZ planets: arxiv.org/abs/2501.14054
My first reaction: wow, dog ears are a silly thing to study
My second reaction: actually understanding the genetics of silly stuff like "why are there redheads" ended up leading to interesting and important findings about pain tolerance and anesthesia so you know what, silly away.
My second reaction: actually understanding the genetics of silly stuff like "why are there redheads" ended up leading to interesting and important findings about pain tolerance and anesthesia so you know what, silly away.
Identification of genetic variants associated with ear length in drop-eared dogs - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Identification of genetic variants associated with ear length in drop-eared dogs
www.nature.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:27 PM
My first reaction: wow, dog ears are a silly thing to study
My second reaction: actually understanding the genetics of silly stuff like "why are there redheads" ended up leading to interesting and important findings about pain tolerance and anesthesia so you know what, silly away.
My second reaction: actually understanding the genetics of silly stuff like "why are there redheads" ended up leading to interesting and important findings about pain tolerance and anesthesia so you know what, silly away.
I will never no think it is weird that big cats are just... big... cats. Like, they're cats. They do cat things. Just in big.
I don't have this same feeling watching wild relatives of dogs. A wolf is not a doggo. But a lion? That's just a chonky cat.
I don't have this same feeling watching wild relatives of dogs. A wolf is not a doggo. But a lion? That's just a chonky cat.
January 16, 2026 at 3:43 PM
I will never no think it is weird that big cats are just... big... cats. Like, they're cats. They do cat things. Just in big.
I don't have this same feeling watching wild relatives of dogs. A wolf is not a doggo. But a lion? That's just a chonky cat.
I don't have this same feeling watching wild relatives of dogs. A wolf is not a doggo. But a lion? That's just a chonky cat.
Reposted by Elise Cutts
me [left]
the news [right]
the news [right]
January 16, 2026 at 1:02 PM
me [left]
the news [right]
the news [right]
Calling the bank in 2026 is like: "No, I want to talk to a human. No, I want to talk to a human. NO I WANT TO TALK TO A HUMAN!!!!!"
January 16, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Calling the bank in 2026 is like: "No, I want to talk to a human. No, I want to talk to a human. NO I WANT TO TALK TO A HUMAN!!!!!"
What is your weirdest exoplanets take?
January 16, 2026 at 8:53 AM
What is your weirdest exoplanets take?
So look, it was a bad month for space whales.
Europa's seafloor might be boring and dead and basically an inhospitable wasteland.
Titan might have no ocean at all.
It's probably fine though. Really. Even if you're just into this whole space thing for the aliens.
More in this week's post: 🔭🧪
Europa's seafloor might be boring and dead and basically an inhospitable wasteland.
Titan might have no ocean at all.
It's probably fine though. Really. Even if you're just into this whole space thing for the aliens.
More in this week's post: 🔭🧪
A bad month for space whales
Do Europa and Titan host habitable oceans? Maybe not. It's ok.
www.reviewertoo.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:23 PM
So look, it was a bad month for space whales.
Europa's seafloor might be boring and dead and basically an inhospitable wasteland.
Titan might have no ocean at all.
It's probably fine though. Really. Even if you're just into this whole space thing for the aliens.
More in this week's post: 🔭🧪
Europa's seafloor might be boring and dead and basically an inhospitable wasteland.
Titan might have no ocean at all.
It's probably fine though. Really. Even if you're just into this whole space thing for the aliens.
More in this week's post: 🔭🧪
I coded *just* enough homepage layouts for this online dog show game as a kid that I just barely have the technical skill needed to roll up my sleeves and make little tweaks to my website to get it to do the things I want.
Thank you, childhood dog show obsession, for being weirdly useful.
Thank you, childhood dog show obsession, for being weirdly useful.
January 14, 2026 at 10:42 AM
I coded *just* enough homepage layouts for this online dog show game as a kid that I just barely have the technical skill needed to roll up my sleeves and make little tweaks to my website to get it to do the things I want.
Thank you, childhood dog show obsession, for being weirdly useful.
Thank you, childhood dog show obsession, for being weirdly useful.
Me when I check if a cool scientist or science writer has a Bluesky account and they don't:
a man in a suit and tie is standing in the rain with his eyes closed .
Alt: Dr. Who (a guy in a suit) standing in the rain looking very sad
media.tenor.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:48 AM
Me when I check if a cool scientist or science writer has a Bluesky account and they don't:
For the nerds tired of algorithmic curation: my paper roundups are now weekly! 🧪
I wade into the stream of press releases, journal RSS feeds, newsletters, and preprint servers and pan for little gold nuggets that I collect each week in a human-curated newsletter.
Here's the first one:
I wade into the stream of press releases, journal RSS feeds, newsletters, and preprint servers and pan for little gold nuggets that I collect each week in a human-curated newsletter.
Here's the first one:
Paper Roundup 13.1.2026
A human-curated research roundup published each Tuesday
www.reviewertoo.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:57 AM
For the nerds tired of algorithmic curation: my paper roundups are now weekly! 🧪
I wade into the stream of press releases, journal RSS feeds, newsletters, and preprint servers and pan for little gold nuggets that I collect each week in a human-curated newsletter.
Here's the first one:
I wade into the stream of press releases, journal RSS feeds, newsletters, and preprint servers and pan for little gold nuggets that I collect each week in a human-curated newsletter.
Here's the first one:
Am I reading this wrong or did scientists do a study on whether getting yeast to brew nice beer made them less sexy?
January 13, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Am I reading this wrong or did scientists do a study on whether getting yeast to brew nice beer made them less sexy?