Katya Zimmer
@katarinazimmer.bsky.social
Science and environment journalist covering discoveries, problems, and solutions
It was a pleasure speaking with Jorge Cham for iHeartRadio's #ScienceStuff podcast about the perils of AI-generated animal imagery. While this content may seem cute and harmless, I argue they could have real consequences for our relationship with other species: www.iheart.com/podcast/1119...
What Is AI Slop Doing to Us? - ScienceStuff | iHeart
<p>AI is everywhere these days. What happened to make it so powerful all of a sudden? And what is all this AI content doing to our brains? Jorge talks to three experts to find the answers.</p><p>See <...
www.iheart.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:58 PM
It was a pleasure speaking with Jorge Cham for iHeartRadio's #ScienceStuff podcast about the perils of AI-generated animal imagery. While this content may seem cute and harmless, I argue they could have real consequences for our relationship with other species: www.iheart.com/podcast/1119...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
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...
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
knowablemagazine.org
January 19, 2026 at 4:47 PM
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...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
Aedes aegypti is the “perfect mosquito”... to spread disease. Dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever, kill tens of thousands of people in tropical countries every year. And experts worry it could get worse.
More, by @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for @knowablemag.bsky.social 👇
More, by @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for @knowablemag.bsky.social 👇
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
knowablemagazine.org
January 21, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Aedes aegypti is the “perfect mosquito”... to spread disease. Dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever, kill tens of thousands of people in tropical countries every year. And experts worry it could get worse.
More, by @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for @knowablemag.bsky.social 👇
More, by @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for @knowablemag.bsky.social 👇
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
Farmers in Gabon notice that elephants sometimes eat the leaves and stems of banana and papaya plants while leaving the nutritious fruit behind. Why?
New evidence shows the elephants may be taking advantage of plants' medicinal properties to treat parasites. Read more:
New evidence shows the elephants may be taking advantage of plants' medicinal properties to treat parasites. Read more:
Pachyderm Pharmacies - bioGraphic
Scientists find that elephants who raid farms might be looking for medicinal plants, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge.
www.biographic.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Farmers in Gabon notice that elephants sometimes eat the leaves and stems of banana and papaya plants while leaving the nutritious fruit behind. Why?
New evidence shows the elephants may be taking advantage of plants' medicinal properties to treat parasites. Read more:
New evidence shows the elephants may be taking advantage of plants' medicinal properties to treat parasites. Read more:
The most valuable illegally traded wildlife product is not tiger bone. Nor is it rhino horn, or pangolin scales. It's actually rosewood. For @mongabay.com I looked into new technologies - from AI to DNA metabarcoding - that could help end the rosewood heist:
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-...
New technologies offer hope in fight to save the world’s imperiled rosewoods
News about the poaching and smuggling of threatened species often centers on products like tiger bone, rhino horn or pangolin scales. But much of the world’s illegally sourced wildlife products are ac...
news.mongabay.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
The most valuable illegally traded wildlife product is not tiger bone. Nor is it rhino horn, or pangolin scales. It's actually rosewood. For @mongabay.com I looked into new technologies - from AI to DNA metabarcoding - that could help end the rosewood heist:
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-...
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
“It’s really easy to make a wolf, because wolves eat basically what their body looks like. Their diet mirrors their body. But it’s really, really hard to make a moose, because a moose’s diet does not.” How do plant-eaters get their protein fix? @katarinazimmer.bsky.social @knowablemag.bksy.social👇🧪
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…
knowablemagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:07 PM
“It’s really easy to make a wolf, because wolves eat basically what their body looks like. Their diet mirrors their body. But it’s really, really hard to make a moose, because a moose’s diet does not.” How do plant-eaters get their protein fix? @katarinazimmer.bsky.social @knowablemag.bksy.social👇🧪
Early animals took an evolutionary risk: They gave up the ability to synthesize 9 of the 20 amino acids that living things need to make protein. Scientists are now learning how they ensure they get these amino acids from their diet.
@knowablemag.bsky.social:
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
@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...
knowablemagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Early animals took an evolutionary risk: They gave up the ability to synthesize 9 of the 20 amino acids that living things need to make protein. Scientists are now learning how they ensure they get these amino acids from their diet.
@knowablemag.bsky.social:
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
@knowablemag.bsky.social:
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social Hi Jesse! Did you get my note about my plastics story?
November 12, 2025 at 7:49 AM
@jessehirsch.bsky.social Hi Jesse! Did you get my note about my plastics story?
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
AI-Generated Animals Are Distancing Us From Nature
atmos.earth/science-and-...
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest issues—that it gives the impression that actually the environmental messages are less serious than they actually are”, Gosler.
atmos.earth/science-and-...
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest issues—that it gives the impression that actually the environmental messages are less serious than they actually are”, Gosler.
AI-Generated Animals Are Distancing Us From Nature | Atmos
Cuddly polar bears and hyperrealistic chimeras may seem harmless on social media, but experts worry AI animal content can be harmful.
atmos.earth
November 6, 2025 at 9:04 AM
AI-Generated Animals Are Distancing Us From Nature
atmos.earth/science-and-...
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest issues—that it gives the impression that actually the environmental messages are less serious than they actually are”, Gosler.
atmos.earth/science-and-...
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest issues—that it gives the impression that actually the environmental messages are less serious than they actually are”, Gosler.
AI-generated imagery of animals may seem harmless, but experts worry that it could worsen the public's understanding of wildlife, harm conservation, and even erode people’s general interest in nature.
Check out my latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social: atmos.earth/science-and-...
Check out my latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social: atmos.earth/science-and-...
AI-Generated Animals Are Distancing Us From Nature | Atmos
Cuddly polar bears and hyperrealistic chimeras may seem harmless on social media, but experts worry AI animal content can be harmful.
atmos.earth
November 11, 2025 at 8:13 AM
AI-generated imagery of animals may seem harmless, but experts worry that it could worsen the public's understanding of wildlife, harm conservation, and even erode people’s general interest in nature.
Check out my latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social: atmos.earth/science-and-...
Check out my latest for @atmosmag.bsky.social: atmos.earth/science-and-...
Lots of animals eat poisonous plants and critters and survive. How do they do it? I looked into this mystery in my latest for @knowablemag.bsky.social:
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
Animals that eat poisons and don’t die
Critters consuming species that contain deadly toxins have evolved a suite of clever strategies to keep out of harm’s way
knowablemagazine.org
October 29, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Lots of animals eat poisonous plants and critters and survive. How do they do it? I looked into this mystery in my latest for @knowablemag.bsky.social:
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
knowablemagazine.org/content/arti...
For many species threatened by sea level rise, translocation may be the only way to save them. Learn how conservationists are moving rare tree cacti and threatened seabirds to higher ground and helping entire marshes shift inland, in my latest for @nwf-south.bsky.social:
www.nwf.org/Magazines/Na...
www.nwf.org/Magazines/Na...
As Seas Rise, So May Wildlife Translocations
Countless plant and animal species are threatened by rising sea levels. For some, translocations may be the only way to avoid the fate of the Bramble Cay melomys.
www.nwf.org
October 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
For many species threatened by sea level rise, translocation may be the only way to save them. Learn how conservationists are moving rare tree cacti and threatened seabirds to higher ground and helping entire marshes shift inland, in my latest for @nwf-south.bsky.social:
www.nwf.org/Magazines/Na...
www.nwf.org/Magazines/Na...
A rare piece of good news: New research reveals how the Ampurta - a small carnivorous Australian marsupial - is thriving despite drought conditions. My story for @nautil.us showcases its nifty drought-resisting tricks that made this feat possible
nautil.us/deep-sleep-i...
nautil.us/deep-sleep-i...
Deep Sleep Is This Mammal’s Super Power
Few Mammals Sleep as Deeply as the Ampurta: How a threatened Australian marsupial is thriving in the face of drought.
nautil.us
October 6, 2025 at 6:38 AM
A rare piece of good news: New research reveals how the Ampurta - a small carnivorous Australian marsupial - is thriving despite drought conditions. My story for @nautil.us showcases its nifty drought-resisting tricks that made this feat possible
nautil.us/deep-sleep-i...
nautil.us/deep-sleep-i...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
The Big Bad Wolf is Afraid of You. Fascinating experiment on wild wolves in Poland. By me for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/s...
The Big Bad Wolf Is Afraid of You
www.nytimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
The Big Bad Wolf is Afraid of You. Fascinating experiment on wild wolves in Poland. By me for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/s...
Around the world, growing quantities of drugs are excreted by human bodies and slip, along with wastewater, into lakes and rivers. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores how this is influencing the behavior, reproduction and biology of aquatic animals
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
How Human Medicines Are Disrupting Aquatic Ecosystems
More drugs are entering aquatic habitats. Scientists are teasing apart how they influence the behavior, reproduction, and biology of organisms that live there.
pubs.acs.org
October 1, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Around the world, growing quantities of drugs are excreted by human bodies and slip, along with wastewater, into lakes and rivers. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social explores how this is influencing the behavior, reproduction and biology of aquatic animals
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
There’s more to seed banks—efforts to preserve threatened plants—than simply storing the seeds safely, @katarinazimmer.bsky.social explains:
buff.ly/tG23nqq
buff.ly/tG23nqq
September 30, 2025 at 5:30 AM
There’s more to seed banks—efforts to preserve threatened plants—than simply storing the seeds safely, @katarinazimmer.bsky.social explains:
buff.ly/tG23nqq
buff.ly/tG23nqq
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
Writing a news story for Nature about the impacts of US government cuts to science on Canadian science and scientists. If you are a Canadian scientist affected by Trump's funding cuts to science or other impacts, please get in touch via my contact form: www.lesleyevansogden.com
Please repost.
Please repost.
September 21, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Writing a news story for Nature about the impacts of US government cuts to science on Canadian science and scientists. If you are a Canadian scientist affected by Trump's funding cuts to science or other impacts, please get in touch via my contact form: www.lesleyevansogden.com
Please repost.
Please repost.
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
For a look at the latest techniques for keeping plant material for the future, cryopreservation among them, read @katarinazimmer.bsky.social's recent story. knowmag.org/3Zfy8w6
The surprisingly tricky art of seed banking
To safeguard threatened plants, science must unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken
knowmag.org
September 18, 2025 at 7:19 PM
For a look at the latest techniques for keeping plant material for the future, cryopreservation among them, read @katarinazimmer.bsky.social's recent story. knowmag.org/3Zfy8w6
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
‘Lipstick on a pig’: how to fight back against a peer-review bully @nature.com @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Lipstick on a pig’: how to fight back against a peer-review bully
Scientific societies, journals, editors and researchers are pushing back against mean-spirited peer reviews.
www.nature.com
September 15, 2025 at 10:48 PM
‘Lipstick on a pig’: how to fight back against a peer-review bully @nature.com @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
It was great to chat with @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for her important article on discrimination and microagressions in peer review.
Without system-wide changes, we must rely on individual action - if you experience this behaviour, inform the editorial team ✏️
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Without system-wide changes, we must rely on individual action - if you experience this behaviour, inform the editorial team ✏️
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
‘Lipstick on a pig’: how to fight back against a peer-review bully
Scientific societies, journals, editors and researchers are pushing back against mean-spirited peer reviews.
www.nature.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM
It was great to chat with @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for her important article on discrimination and microagressions in peer review.
Without system-wide changes, we must rely on individual action - if you experience this behaviour, inform the editorial team ✏️
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Without system-wide changes, we must rely on individual action - if you experience this behaviour, inform the editorial team ✏️
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
Thank you @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for interviewing me, along with many other experts, for this insightful piece "How Human Medicines Are Disrupting Aquatic Ecosystems" | ACS Central Science pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/....
How Human Medicines Are Disrupting Aquatic Ecosystems
More drugs are entering aquatic habitats. Scientists are teasing apart how they influence the behavior, reproduction, and biology of organisms that live there.
pubs.acs.org
September 15, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Thank you @katarinazimmer.bsky.social for interviewing me, along with many other experts, for this insightful piece "How Human Medicines Are Disrupting Aquatic Ecosystems" | ACS Central Science pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/....
Humans aren't the only animals that get irritable and angry when it's too warm. In this fun story for @sciencenews.bsky.social - which features an experiment dubbed "salamander fight club" - I unpack why many other animals respond the same way.
www.sciencenews.org/article/anim...
www.sciencenews.org/article/anim...
Just like humans, many animals get more aggressive in the heat
From salamanders to monkeys, many species get more violent at warmer temperatures — a trend that may shape their social structures as the world warms.
www.sciencenews.org
September 15, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Humans aren't the only animals that get irritable and angry when it's too warm. In this fun story for @sciencenews.bsky.social - which features an experiment dubbed "salamander fight club" - I unpack why many other animals respond the same way.
www.sciencenews.org/article/anim...
www.sciencenews.org/article/anim...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
Long-Form Feature Content > Consumer
☀️ ”For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids” | Victoria Uwemedimo and @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
☀️ ”For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids” | Victoria Uwemedimo and @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids
Nigeria is pioneering the development of small, off-grid solar panel installations to bring reliable electricity to remote communities — setting a model for other African countries
knowablemagazine.org
August 29, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Long-Form Feature Content > Consumer
☀️ ”For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids” | Victoria Uwemedimo and @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
☀️ ”For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids” | Victoria Uwemedimo and @katarinazimmer.bsky.social
Great to see an old piece of mine making the rounds again, where I explain why the Amazon rainforest does not produce 20% of the world's oxygen. (In fact, the Amazon’s net contribution to the oxygen we breathe likely hovers around zero!)
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...
Why the Amazon rainforest doesn’t really produce 20% of the world’s oxygen
The myth that the Amazon rainforest forms the “lungs of the Earth” is overstated. Here’s what scientists say.
www.nationalgeographic.com
August 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Great to see an old piece of mine making the rounds again, where I explain why the Amazon rainforest does not produce 20% of the world's oxygen. (In fact, the Amazon’s net contribution to the oxygen we breathe likely hovers around zero!)
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...
Reposted by Katya Zimmer
“Noise exposure has also been linked to a range of long-term health effects, including heart disease and diabetes – and noise-sensitive people may suffer the most from mental health impacts.”
✍️ @katarinazimmer.bsky.social, BBC Future
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
✍️ @katarinazimmer.bsky.social, BBC Future
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
How noise sensitivity disrupts the mind, brain and body
Though noise sensitivity is often dismissed by doctors, it can have long-term effects on our mental and physical health.
www.bbc.com
August 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
“Noise exposure has also been linked to a range of long-term health effects, including heart disease and diabetes – and noise-sensitive people may suffer the most from mental health impacts.”
✍️ @katarinazimmer.bsky.social, BBC Future
www.bbc.com/future/artic...
✍️ @katarinazimmer.bsky.social, BBC Future
www.bbc.com/future/artic...