Hannah Payette Peterson
@hpp.xyz
Biologist/neurotech VC, artist 🔬🧠 Building a network of scientific and creative thinkers | http://linkedin.com/in/hpayettepeterson | www.hpp.xyz | Berlin ↔️ Boston
Pinned
Hannah Payette Peterson
@hpp.xyz
· Dec 3
The Octopus: A Case Study in Alien Intelligence
What these evolutionary outliers can teach us about alternative minds
medium.com
Pondering the cosmic implications of the octopus 🐙 & what this strange creature can teach us about the diversity of possible minds in the universe ✨ So I wrote this.
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
Excited to see Europe prioritizing scientific funding! 🧪🇪🇺
“Science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party.”
EC President Ursula von der Leyen, announcing a €500M initiative to attract top global talent.
In a fractured world, science remains a unifying force – rooted in diversity, driven by curiosity, and shared by all humanity.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen, announcing a €500M initiative to attract top global talent.
In a fractured world, science remains a unifying force – rooted in diversity, driven by curiosity, and shared by all humanity.
May 7, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Excited to see Europe prioritizing scientific funding! 🧪🇪🇺
Hard to beat biology in terms of complexity 🧠 🧪
Neural networks are loosely inspired by the brain, but that’s where the similarities end. Incorporating the astounding cellular diversity and network complexity of the human brain could make AI better. @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/ai-is-nothin...
AI Is Nothing Like a Brain, and That’s OK | Quanta Magazine
The brain’s astounding cellular diversity and networked complexity could show how to make AI better.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Hard to beat biology in terms of complexity 🧠 🧪
Catch these two paintings of mine in the show "Little Things" at @olbluegallery.bsky.social, opening April 18
#sciart
#sciart
April 6, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Catch these two paintings of mine in the show "Little Things" at @olbluegallery.bsky.social, opening April 18
#sciart
#sciart
Reposted by Hannah Payette Peterson
Vaccination against shingles might also prevent dementia, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study of health records from around 300,000 people in Wales.
https://go.nature.com/446nriQ
https://go.nature.com/446nriQ
Does shingles vaccination cut dementia risk? Large study hints at a link
Analysis of nearly 300,000 people finds an association between the shingles jab and a lower rate of dementia — but questions linger.
go.nature.com
April 2, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Vaccination against shingles might also prevent dementia, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study of health records from around 300,000 people in Wales.
https://go.nature.com/446nriQ
https://go.nature.com/446nriQ
Interesting paper about a new thermogenetic switch—Melt enables precise control of cell behavior using small temperature changes. A potential alternative to optogenetics that doesn't require getting light inside tissue 💡 Could be huge for neurotech, particularly noninvasive neuromodulation 🧠 🧪
A temperature-inducible protein module for control of mammalian cell fate - Nature Methods
The Melt (Membrane localization using temperature) protein translocates to the plasma membrane upon temperature shift. Melt variants with a range of switching temperatures enable straightforward therm...
www.nature.com
February 8, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Interesting paper about a new thermogenetic switch—Melt enables precise control of cell behavior using small temperature changes. A potential alternative to optogenetics that doesn't require getting light inside tissue 💡 Could be huge for neurotech, particularly noninvasive neuromodulation 🧠 🧪
Just keep swimming 🐟
Maybe they’re migrating. Maybe they’re just being pulled along. Hard to tell the difference sometimes 🪐
("Endless Orbit / Accretion Fish". Oil, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas, 70x60 cm)
Maybe they’re migrating. Maybe they’re just being pulled along. Hard to tell the difference sometimes 🪐
("Endless Orbit / Accretion Fish". Oil, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas, 70x60 cm)
February 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Just keep swimming 🐟
Maybe they’re migrating. Maybe they’re just being pulled along. Hard to tell the difference sometimes 🪐
("Endless Orbit / Accretion Fish". Oil, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas, 70x60 cm)
Maybe they’re migrating. Maybe they’re just being pulled along. Hard to tell the difference sometimes 🪐
("Endless Orbit / Accretion Fish". Oil, acrylic and silver leaf on canvas, 70x60 cm)
Great to see this promising research coming out of Berlin 🦾 Gene therapy is such an exciting field right now 🧬🧪 @naturecomms.bsky.social paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Developing a CRISPR therapy for muscular dystrophy
Researchers at the Experimental and Clinical Research Center in Berlin are developing a targeted treatment for muscular dystrophy with the help of gene-editing. Preclinical research led by the Spuler ...
www.mdc-berlin.de
January 7, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Great to see this promising research coming out of Berlin 🦾 Gene therapy is such an exciting field right now 🧬🧪 @naturecomms.bsky.social paper here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Hannah Payette Peterson
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Stanford Medicine have devised an influenza vaccine that prompts immunity to ALL four major flu subtypes AND shows potential against bird flu, indicating a significant advancement in flu prevention and a potential increase in vaccine efficacy. Let’s talk about that! 🧪🧵⬇️
January 2, 2025 at 5:00 PM
THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Stanford Medicine have devised an influenza vaccine that prompts immunity to ALL four major flu subtypes AND shows potential against bird flu, indicating a significant advancement in flu prevention and a potential increase in vaccine efficacy. Let’s talk about that! 🧪🧵⬇️
FOXO3 is a gene linked to longevity with protective effects against cellular stress. Refoxy's targeting it for IPF, but their bigger vision is tackling aging at its roots. Exciting to see (our portfolio) companies addressing age-related diseases + aging itself as biology unlocks new possibilities 🧪
Biotech Refoxy Pharmaceuticals advances research with €9.1M funding
The financing will accelerate the preclinical development of Refoxy’s program in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and expand its platform to other age-related indications.
tech.eu
December 4, 2024 at 7:01 PM
FOXO3 is a gene linked to longevity with protective effects against cellular stress. Refoxy's targeting it for IPF, but their bigger vision is tackling aging at its roots. Exciting to see (our portfolio) companies addressing age-related diseases + aging itself as biology unlocks new possibilities 🧪
Pondering the cosmic implications of the octopus 🐙 & what this strange creature can teach us about the diversity of possible minds in the universe ✨ So I wrote this.
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
The Octopus: A Case Study in Alien Intelligence
What these evolutionary outliers can teach us about alternative minds
medium.com
December 3, 2024 at 8:05 PM
Pondering the cosmic implications of the octopus 🐙 & what this strange creature can teach us about the diversity of possible minds in the universe ✨ So I wrote this.
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
🧪 #philsci #neurosky #neuroscience
Orcas may have revived a trend of wearing dead salmon on their heads 👒🐟 They are very social animals, and behaviors or "trends" can spread from pod to pod. Still unclear why they do this though 🌊 but I love the aesthetic ✨🧪
Why orcas wear dead salmon as 'hats' remains a mystery, scientists say | CBC News
In what may seem like a call-back to 1980s whale culture, a resident orca off the coast of Washington state was recently spotted sporting a dead salmon on its head.
www.cbc.ca
December 1, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Orcas may have revived a trend of wearing dead salmon on their heads 👒🐟 They are very social animals, and behaviors or "trends" can spread from pod to pod. Still unclear why they do this though 🌊 but I love the aesthetic ✨🧪
So many scientists & artists here!
An oil painting of mine to tie these worlds together, inspired by decentralized nervous systems in 🐙: a majority of neurons (350 / 500M) are in the arms, not the central brain—an alternative structure of information processing in a relatively intelligent organism 🧠
An oil painting of mine to tie these worlds together, inspired by decentralized nervous systems in 🐙: a majority of neurons (350 / 500M) are in the arms, not the central brain—an alternative structure of information processing in a relatively intelligent organism 🧠
November 27, 2024 at 1:06 PM
So many scientists & artists here!
An oil painting of mine to tie these worlds together, inspired by decentralized nervous systems in 🐙: a majority of neurons (350 / 500M) are in the arms, not the central brain—an alternative structure of information processing in a relatively intelligent organism 🧠
An oil painting of mine to tie these worlds together, inspired by decentralized nervous systems in 🐙: a majority of neurons (350 / 500M) are in the arms, not the central brain—an alternative structure of information processing in a relatively intelligent organism 🧠
Old news, but love this milestone from a portfolio company 🧠🦾
Inbrain, the Spanish startup that competes with Elon Musk's Neuralink, raises 46 million
The company participated by Sabadell Asabys and Aliath Bioventures welcomes Imec's investment arm as a partner
www.lavanguardia.com
November 24, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Old news, but love this milestone from a portfolio company 🧠🦾
"Hope Adrift" - a tiny coral reef clinging to an asteroid, drifting through the void, searching for a kinder place to flourish 🐠 Oil, acrylic and gold leaf on panel, 20 x 20 cm
#oilpainting #surrealism #newcontemporary
#oilpainting #surrealism #newcontemporary
November 24, 2024 at 3:44 PM
"Hope Adrift" - a tiny coral reef clinging to an asteroid, drifting through the void, searching for a kinder place to flourish 🐠 Oil, acrylic and gold leaf on panel, 20 x 20 cm
#oilpainting #surrealism #newcontemporary
#oilpainting #surrealism #newcontemporary
Last winter while recovering from hip surgery, I was thinking a lot about the Three Body Problem books, evolution, game theory, and the Fermi paradox. So I wrote something:
Evolution, game theory, and (possibly) why we haven’t met any aliens yet
Ideas from the Three Body Problem books
medium.com
November 22, 2024 at 12:23 PM
Last winter while recovering from hip surgery, I was thinking a lot about the Three Body Problem books, evolution, game theory, and the Fermi paradox. So I wrote something:
European universities excel in research 🔬🧬 but innovations often don't become impactful startups. Fragmented regulations hinder EU founders.
A pan-European 'EU Inc' could remove obstacles, unleashing breakthroughs for the world.
Sign the petition: eu-inc.org 💪
A pan-European 'EU Inc' could remove obstacles, unleashing breakthroughs for the world.
Sign the petition: eu-inc.org 💪
EU Inc — Sign the petition to create a pan-european startup entity
Let’s unite the European startup ecosystems by creating a pan-european legal entity. We got 6 weeks. Sign now and help promoting!
eu-inc.org
November 8, 2024 at 1:06 PM
European universities excel in research 🔬🧬 but innovations often don't become impactful startups. Fragmented regulations hinder EU founders.
A pan-European 'EU Inc' could remove obstacles, unleashing breakthroughs for the world.
Sign the petition: eu-inc.org 💪
A pan-European 'EU Inc' could remove obstacles, unleashing breakthroughs for the world.
Sign the petition: eu-inc.org 💪
A creative way to help reestablish coral and other marine life 🐙
An 80-Foot Steel Kraken Will Create an Artificial Coral Reef Near the British Virgin Islands
This past April a massive 80-foot steel kraken was purposefully sunk into the Caribbean Sea on top of a decorated WW2 ship. The former Navy fuel barge and its monstrous passenger were placed underwate...
www.thisiscolossal.com
November 8, 2024 at 12:10 PM
A creative way to help reestablish coral and other marine life 🐙