Gunnar De Winter
@gunnardewinter.bsky.social
Biologist and semi-philosopher | science (and fiction) writer | plays with words and ideas
🌍 Belgium (for now)
🙋♂️ gunnardewinter.com
🌍 Belgium (for now)
🙋♂️ gunnardewinter.com
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
*Very* interested to see this, for all sorts of reasons.
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Generative AI for synthetic biology: Designing biological parts, circuits, and genomes
The convergence of generative AI and synthetic biology is transforming biological
design, enabling the de novo creation of biological parts and systems with predictable,
programmable function. Kim et ...
www.cell.com
February 18, 2026 at 5:15 PM
*Very* interested to see this, for all sorts of reasons.
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
www.cell.com/cell-systems...
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
A giant virus encodes part of the protein-making toolkit of cells that gives it greater control over its amoeba host, raising questions about how it evolved and how such beings relate to living organisms
Giant viruses may be more alive than we thought
A giant virus encodes part of the protein-making toolkit of cells that gives it greater control over its amoeba host, raising questions about how it evolved and how such beings relate to living organisms
www.newscientist.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:51 PM
A giant virus encodes part of the protein-making toolkit of cells that gives it greater control over its amoeba host, raising questions about how it evolved and how such beings relate to living organisms
Some people go down rabbit holes for an essay. I jumped up and down a fractal for this one...
#science #biology #fractal #neuroscience #evolution #solarpunk #sciencefiction #writing 🧪
#science #biology #fractal #neuroscience #evolution #solarpunk #sciencefiction #writing 🧪
Fractal Fluency, or Why Our Brains Love Nature's Patterns
Forest baths, snowflakes, and the power of scaling up (and down)
subtlesparks.substack.com
February 18, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Some people go down rabbit holes for an essay. I jumped up and down a fractal for this one...
#science #biology #fractal #neuroscience #evolution #solarpunk #sciencefiction #writing 🧪
#science #biology #fractal #neuroscience #evolution #solarpunk #sciencefiction #writing 🧪
Porcupine dinosaur!
Researchers describe a new iguanadon so-well-preserved that they can study individual cells in the skin. The most intriguing finding is that this dinosaur's skin was dappled by hollow cylinders that are reminiscent of a porcupine's spikes.
🧪 #science #dinosaur #biology
Researchers describe a new iguanadon so-well-preserved that they can study individual cells in the skin. The most intriguing finding is that this dinosaur's skin was dappled by hollow cylinders that are reminiscent of a porcupine's spikes.
🧪 #science #dinosaur #biology
Cellular-level preservation of cutaneous spikes in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A juvenile iguanodontian from the Lower Cretaceous of China preserves both spikes and scales in its skin that are different from integumentary structures in either non-avian dinosaurs or extant squama...
www.nature.com
February 18, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Called it!
(I sketched dream hacking in detail in my 2024 @clarkesworldmagazine.com 👉 clarkesworldmagazine.com/dewinter_06_...)
#science #sciencefiction #neuroscience #writing #scicomm
(I sketched dream hacking in detail in my 2024 @clarkesworldmagazine.com 👉 clarkesworldmagazine.com/dewinter_06_...)
#science #sciencefiction #neuroscience #writing #scicomm
Dream hacking helps people solve complex problems in their sleep
Hearing a sound while working on a complex puzzle, and then hearing it again during sleep, helped lucid dreamers better tackle the problem the next day
www.newscientist.com
February 17, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Called it!
(I sketched dream hacking in detail in my 2024 @clarkesworldmagazine.com 👉 clarkesworldmagazine.com/dewinter_06_...)
#science #sciencefiction #neuroscience #writing #scicomm
(I sketched dream hacking in detail in my 2024 @clarkesworldmagazine.com 👉 clarkesworldmagazine.com/dewinter_06_...)
#science #sciencefiction #neuroscience #writing #scicomm
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
Have you seen this? This recent study of mode share (the % share of transportation trips that are by car, transit, walking, biking etc) relative to city size and income levels in almost 800 cities in 61 countries. Interesting results. HT @davidzipper.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 13, 2026 at 5:23 AM
Have you seen this? This recent study of mode share (the % share of transportation trips that are by car, transit, walking, biking etc) relative to city size and income levels in almost 800 cities in 61 countries. Interesting results. HT @davidzipper.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
And of course people are already writing books this way, and making music this way, and flooding the zone with bland pap, all indirectly plagiarised from flesh-and-blood people who did the real work. That's why Anthropic is in court.
February 12, 2026 at 10:18 AM
And of course people are already writing books this way, and making music this way, and flooding the zone with bland pap, all indirectly plagiarised from flesh-and-blood people who did the real work. That's why Anthropic is in court.
Yes yes yes.
"Solarpunk welcomes an integrated view of nature and technology, treating them as intertwined rather than opposed."
#science #solarpunk #writing #technology #culture
"Solarpunk welcomes an integrated view of nature and technology, treating them as intertwined rather than opposed."
#science #solarpunk #writing #technology #culture
In solarpunk cities of the future, tech follows nature’s lead | Aeon Essays
The vision of solarpunk: joining nature with technology in vibrantly inclusive ways to create a world that truly blooms
aeon.co
February 12, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Yes yes yes.
"Solarpunk welcomes an integrated view of nature and technology, treating them as intertwined rather than opposed."
#science #solarpunk #writing #technology #culture
"Solarpunk welcomes an integrated view of nature and technology, treating them as intertwined rather than opposed."
#science #solarpunk #writing #technology #culture
Footnote lovers, unite!
Footnotes from the Margins
I love footnotes, so I’ve decided to share the small detours and the bits that didn’t fit — from my writing and others’.
This one is about the great town of Stockton, which I hypothetically destroyed in a hurricane...
psychiatricmultiverse.substack.com/p/psyverse-0...
I love footnotes, so I’ve decided to share the small detours and the bits that didn’t fit — from my writing and others’.
This one is about the great town of Stockton, which I hypothetically destroyed in a hurricane...
psychiatricmultiverse.substack.com/p/psyverse-0...
February 11, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Footnote lovers, unite!
About neurobollocks.
I had a fun conversation with Joseph Folley over on youtube, covering misuse of neuroscience by wellness gurus and how neuroscience can inform philosophy
The Rise of Bulls**t Neuroscience | Tommy Blanchard
YouTube video by Unsolicited advice
www.youtube.com
February 10, 2026 at 6:57 PM
About neurobollocks.
This is excellent science communication and a great example of making research tangible and available.
"A platform that brings together the best available research on how different treatments proposed for ADHD work and how safe they are."
#science #scicomm #writing #ADHD #health
"A platform that brings together the best available research on how different treatments proposed for ADHD work and how safe they are."
#science #scicomm #writing #ADHD #health
EBI-ADHD: Interventions for ADHD | Evidence Matrix
A comprehensive scientific platform synthesizing evidence from clinical trials for ADHD interventions.
ebiadhd-database.org
February 10, 2026 at 10:23 AM
"Aran entered a cave chamber at “Within: The Ultimate Darkness Retreat” in Poland. For the next five days, she stayed isolated in a pitch-dark environment devoid of external sounds."
Where do I sign up?
#science #psychology #overstimulated
Where do I sign up?
#science #psychology #overstimulated
Researcher Kiana Aran Spent Five Days in a Dark Cave to Study the Science of “Sensory Deprivation”
As darkness retreats and flotation tanks gain popularity, a UCSD professor examines how “sensory deprivation” experiments affect the body and the brain.
www.the-scientist.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:21 AM
"Aran entered a cave chamber at “Within: The Ultimate Darkness Retreat” in Poland. For the next five days, she stayed isolated in a pitch-dark environment devoid of external sounds."
Where do I sign up?
#science #psychology #overstimulated
Where do I sign up?
#science #psychology #overstimulated
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
February 8, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Why did consciousness evolve at all? A superb special issue of @royalsocietypublishing.org brings together experts across disciplines to explore the functions of consciousness and why it emerged in some species but not others. @tecumsehfitch.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3...
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
Amazing opportunity!
My Centre is a unique place to do a PhD in Philosophy, because you can be in constant contact with experts in veterinary medicine, psychology, zoology and policy and be part of a team united by a shared interest in animal minds. We now have our 1st ever PhD scholarship: www.lse.ac.uk/sentience/phd
PhD Scholarship
www.lse.ac.uk
January 30, 2026 at 7:55 AM
Amazing opportunity!
Double alliteration title!
That should be enough to convince you to read it, honestly.
#science #biology #evolution #history
That should be enough to convince you to read it, honestly.
#science #biology #evolution #history
Ant Altruism and Paleolithic Psychopaths
A story of altruism, status games, and Leviathan's different guises
subtlesparks.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Double alliteration title!
That should be enough to convince you to read it, honestly.
#science #biology #evolution #history
That should be enough to convince you to read it, honestly.
#science #biology #evolution #history
Okay, just getting started today and already too much cool science dropped (1/?):
Baseodiscus the Eldest absolutely smashes the longevity record for ribbon worms at 26 years old
#science #biology
Baseodiscus the Eldest absolutely smashes the longevity record for ribbon worms at 26 years old
#science #biology
Baseodiscus the Eldest: First Report of a Decades‐Long Lifespan in a Nemertean Species
Nemertea is a speciose phylum of marine invertebrate predators ubiquitous in the world's oceans, which includes Lineus longissimus (Gunnerus, 1770)—the world's longest documented extant animal, yet m...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:34 AM
Smart cow!
Our new paper (with @biotay.bsky.social) is out and on the cover story of @currentbiology.bsky.social !!!! Veronika, a Carinthian mountain cow flexibly uses a “multi-purpose tool” to scratch herself. A video and more information will follow in the comments.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
January 19, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Smart cow!
Reposted by Gunnar De Winter
New article out about the benefits of living a varied life. Plus it has a picture of me in spandex! open.substack.com/pub/cognitiv...
The Case for a Varied Life
Don’t put all your eggs-periences in one identity basket
open.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:48 AM
New article out about the benefits of living a varied life. Plus it has a picture of me in spandex! open.substack.com/pub/cognitiv...
Simple tips to add several healthy years to your life:
- Sleep eight hours
- Move for an hour
- Add an extra half serving of vegetables
Shocker, I know.
#science #health #lifetips
- Sleep eight hours
- Move for an hour
- Add an extra half serving of vegetables
Shocker, I know.
#science #health #lifetips
Minimum combined sleep, physical activity, and nutrition variations associated with lifeSPAN and healthSPAN improvements: a population cohort study
Modest concurrent improvements in sleep, physical activity, and diet were associated
with meaningful gains in lifespan and healthspan.
www.thelancet.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Well, that's a coincidence. I 'found' the meteorite in my 'Desert Beetle Song' story...
www.tractorbeam.earth/story/desert...
www.tractorbeam.earth/story/desert...
A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle
The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanished
A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle
www.newscientist.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Well, that's a coincidence. I 'found' the meteorite in my 'Desert Beetle Song' story...
www.tractorbeam.earth/story/desert...
www.tractorbeam.earth/story/desert...
Don't sleep on Tractor Beam. They're doing great things with short fiction and really cool artwork.
#writing #writingcommunity
#writing #writingcommunity
Happy Winter Solstice soilpunks! 🌗❄️🕯️
Issue 4: THAW is here. You can read @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social's guest editor letter at tractorbeam.earth. And subscribe to our Substack (link in bio) to get the first look at all the stories as they drop over the next few weeks!
#scifi #thaw #tractorbeam
Issue 4: THAW is here. You can read @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social's guest editor letter at tractorbeam.earth. And subscribe to our Substack (link in bio) to get the first look at all the stories as they drop over the next few weeks!
#scifi #thaw #tractorbeam
Thaw | Tractor Beam
A quarterly publication of soilpunk fiction: Radical visions rooted in soil
tractorbeam.earth
January 9, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Don't sleep on Tractor Beam. They're doing great things with short fiction and really cool artwork.
#writing #writingcommunity
#writing #writingcommunity