Kiona N. Smith
@kionasmith07.bsky.social
Science reporter and author. Also knitter, crocheter, cross-stitcher, tabletop gamer, Pokemon Go player, and #NAFOFella. Actually 2 goblins and a magpie in a trenchcoat. She/they. https://linktr.ee/kionasmith
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
I wonder if we could get people to believe that the em dash was named that in honor of Emily Dickinson? 😁
January 17, 2026 at 2:00 AM
I wonder if we could get people to believe that the em dash was named that in honor of Emily Dickinson? 😁
Anthropologist here: can confirm.
it’s one of those fundamentally cursed hospitality violations that you read about in ancient texts
The more I think about this, the angrier I get. It takes a particularly virulent strain of sociopathy to sit and let hard-working people serve you a meal knowing that you plan to arrest them and send them off for deportation once they're off of work.
Really depraved shit.
Really depraved shit.
January 18, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Anthropologist here: can confirm.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Here are ten ways to feel part of space even if you can't be an astronaut. (Post from 2019; some of these are a bit dated now)
🧪 🔭
🧪 🔭
Ten ways to get involved in space without leaving Earth
Experiencing weightlessness, watching the Earth rise over the stark lunar landscape, and seeing the stars exposed without the veil of the E...
zoharesque.blogspot.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Here are ten ways to feel part of space even if you can't be an astronaut. (Post from 2019; some of these are a bit dated now)
🧪 🔭
🧪 🔭
I think the ship made it pretty far along its route for that to have been the case, but you do have a point.
January 17, 2026 at 11:33 PM
I think the ship made it pretty far along its route for that to have been the case, but you do have a point.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 3:37 PM
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
My friend, the gardener,
tells me that now
is a time for planting,
a time for sowing seeds
in the hopes that someday
beautiful nourishing things
will grow again
and when I reply
that I don’t have a yard,
the gardener,
calmly explains that she
wasn’t talking about plants.
tells me that now
is a time for planting,
a time for sowing seeds
in the hopes that someday
beautiful nourishing things
will grow again
and when I reply
that I don’t have a yard,
the gardener,
calmly explains that she
wasn’t talking about plants.
March 8, 2025 at 12:25 AM
My friend, the gardener,
tells me that now
is a time for planting,
a time for sowing seeds
in the hopes that someday
beautiful nourishing things
will grow again
and when I reply
that I don’t have a yard,
the gardener,
calmly explains that she
wasn’t talking about plants.
tells me that now
is a time for planting,
a time for sowing seeds
in the hopes that someday
beautiful nourishing things
will grow again
and when I reply
that I don’t have a yard,
the gardener,
calmly explains that she
wasn’t talking about plants.
No one knows! I heard rumors that it fell off a landscaping truck, but it's still a mystery.
January 17, 2026 at 5:00 PM
No one knows! I heard rumors that it fell off a landscaping truck, but it's still a mystery.
We had a random boulder about this size turn up in the mall parking lot in my town, and for about a week it was A Big Deal. It was way cooler and didn't celebrate colonization.
Once again posting Plymouth Rock, the final boss of disappointing landmarks
January 17, 2026 at 3:45 AM
We had a random boulder about this size turn up in the mall parking lot in my town, and for about a week it was A Big Deal. It was way cooler and didn't celebrate colonization.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Yesterday these folks had raised $17k. As of right now they’re a few hundred bucks from $100k.
A lot of that is Bluesky—y’all absolutely kick so much ass.
A lot of that is Bluesky—y’all absolutely kick so much ass.
Hey folks Calvary Food Shelf has been helping out people in Minneapolis for 30 years, and now they’re ramping up to meet the crisis, including doing home deliveries so people don’t have to risk going out.
They’re just over halfway to their current goal—let’s get them all the way, shall we?
They’re just over halfway to their current goal—let’s get them all the way, shall we?
Support Calvary Food Shelf: Emergency Response Fundraiser on GiveMN
Help us respond to urgent community needs
www.givemn.org
January 17, 2026 at 3:36 AM
Yesterday these folks had raised $17k. As of right now they’re a few hundred bucks from $100k.
A lot of that is Bluesky—y’all absolutely kick so much ass.
A lot of that is Bluesky—y’all absolutely kick so much ass.
I got to write about a cool medieval shipwreck in my latest for @arstechnica.com 🧪
Archaeologists find a supersized medieval shipwreck in Denmark
The sunken ship reveals that the medieval European economy was growing fast.
arstechnica.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:31 AM
I got to write about a cool medieval shipwreck in my latest for @arstechnica.com 🧪
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
January 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Inverse as a whole was worth so much more than management ever realized. I'm not even much of a gamer, and I still enjoyed reading y'all's coverage (and you totally sold me onna couple of things I otherwise would've missed), because you filled it with so much heart and soul and insight.
January 16, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Inverse as a whole was worth so much more than management ever realized. I'm not even much of a gamer, and I still enjoyed reading y'all's coverage (and you totally sold me onna couple of things I otherwise would've missed), because you filled it with so much heart and soul and insight.
I feel like this was true of the science team at Inverse too. Both sections had some damn good people, and it was a genuine joy to work alongside all of them and see them doing awesome things.
This feels like little consolation at this exact moment, but I've genuinely never been prouder of anything in my entire life than what we did at Inverse. We were always a scrappy little team doing incredible stuff with increasingly less resources. The work we did meant something.
January 16, 2026 at 5:43 PM
I feel like this was true of the science team at Inverse too. Both sections had some damn good people, and it was a genuine joy to work alongside all of them and see them doing awesome things.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Please also keep in mind @shannonliao.bsky.social @robinbombus.bsky.social and @theloniusly.bsky.social who are all equally incredible writers and creators. It was nothing but a joy to work with them, in every way.
January 16, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Please also keep in mind @shannonliao.bsky.social @robinbombus.bsky.social and @theloniusly.bsky.social who are all equally incredible writers and creators. It was nothing but a joy to work with them, in every way.
Somebody hire Hayes! You will not regret it!
Inverse's Gaming section is being shut down as the company "divests" from gaming content. I'm out of a job along with my wonderful co-writers. I've put my heart and soul into this job for four years. Gonna need to take time to process, but I'm now completely open for work - and boy do I need it.
January 16, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Somebody hire Hayes! You will not regret it!
Somebody hire Robin! You will not regret it!
Inverse has decided to "divest from gaming content" so I'm out of a job again!
This is almost certainly the end of my career in games media, and probably the end of my writing career. I'd love for that not to be the case, so I'd appreciate any leads but I'm honestly not hopeful for obvious reasons♥️
This is almost certainly the end of my career in games media, and probably the end of my writing career. I'd love for that not to be the case, so I'd appreciate any leads but I'm honestly not hopeful for obvious reasons♥️
January 16, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Somebody hire Robin! You will not regret it!
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
As you talk about Greenland, please make sure you are talking about the >56,000 Inuit who have called the Island their home for thousands of years. Here are 2 stories that include their voices, concerns, and hopes.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
‘Buying countries is Stone Age mentality:’ Inuit speak up on Greenland
Indigenous Greenlanders, who endured centuries of colonialism from Denmark, now face a new threat from Donald Trump’s United States
canadiangeographic.ca
January 16, 2026 at 11:22 AM
As you talk about Greenland, please make sure you are talking about the >56,000 Inuit who have called the Island their home for thousands of years. Here are 2 stories that include their voices, concerns, and hopes.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
canadiangeographic.ca/articles/buy...
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Read about the royal Cheonmachong Tomb of the ancient Silla Kingdom of Korea, located at the Daereungwon Tomb Complex in Gyeongju on this link:
www.worldhistory.org/Cheonmachong/
www.worldhistory.org/Cheonmachong/
Cheonmachong
Cheonmachong is a 5-6th-century CE royal tomb of the ancient Silla kingdom of Korea located at the Daereungwon Tomb Complex in Gyeongju. It is popularly known as the 'Heavenly Horse Tomb' because of.....
www.worldhistory.org
January 16, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Read about the royal Cheonmachong Tomb of the ancient Silla Kingdom of Korea, located at the Daereungwon Tomb Complex in Gyeongju on this link:
www.worldhistory.org/Cheonmachong/
www.worldhistory.org/Cheonmachong/
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
Called my rep and said "I shall quote that the act of treason shall consist only of engaging in warfare against the United States, and that seems like a fairly good description of what's going on in MN, so once again I have to ask: Where are the articles of impeachment?"
January 15, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Called my rep and said "I shall quote that the act of treason shall consist only of engaging in warfare against the United States, and that seems like a fairly good description of what's going on in MN, so once again I have to ask: Where are the articles of impeachment?"
Timeline cleanse to start your day
Perfectly normal beginning to every great Dartmoor love story, in my experience.
January 15, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Timeline cleanse to start your day
In my latest for @arstechnica.com, researchers sequenced a complete woolly rhino genome from a 14,000-year-old bit of meat found in the stomach of a frozen wolf puppy, and it sheds some light on megafaunal extinction. 🧪
Scientists sequence a woolly rhino genome from a 14,400-year-old wolf’s stomach
Fortunately for paleogeneticists, wolf puppies don't chew their food thoroughly.
arstechnica.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:35 PM
In my latest for @arstechnica.com, researchers sequenced a complete woolly rhino genome from a 14,000-year-old bit of meat found in the stomach of a frozen wolf puppy, and it sheds some light on megafaunal extinction. 🧪
Oh, you mean Peeing and Pooping in Space, by Kiona Smith? I dunno, she's pretty terrible at social media, but I hear she writes a heck of a fun book.
Peeing and Pooping in Space
Explore the irreverent side of space travel—and learn about the marvels of modern engineering—in this hilarious illustrated guide to excrement etiquette ...
www.hachettebookgroup.com
January 14, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Oh, you mean Peeing and Pooping in Space, by Kiona Smith? I dunno, she's pretty terrible at social media, but I hear she writes a heck of a fun book.
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
the horror of this is compounded by the fact that the whipple building sits on the same military fort where 1600+ Dakota, mostly women and children were held in a concentration camp in 1863, where over 300 died
Oglala Sioux Tribe demands the release of Lakota men detained by ICE www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Oglala Sioux Tribe demands the release of Lakota men detained by ICE
The Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota has demanded the Department of Homeland Security release tribally enrolled citizens held by ICE, according to a statement released by the tribe.
www.mprnews.org
January 14, 2026 at 1:46 PM
the horror of this is compounded by the fact that the whipple building sits on the same military fort where 1600+ Dakota, mostly women and children were held in a concentration camp in 1863, where over 300 died
Reposted by Kiona N. Smith
As bad as things may be in the US, it's important to keep thing in perspective, and recognize the terrible burden the people of Ukraine have been shouldering for far longer than I thought possible
From Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union (June 22, 1941) to Germany’s surrender (May 8, 1945) – 1416 days
From Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022) to Russian army being stuck in Kupiansk for the 14th month (January 10, 2026) – 1416 days
It’s been a very long war.
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
From Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022) to Russian army being stuck in Kupiansk for the 14th month (January 10, 2026) – 1416 days
It’s been a very long war.
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
January 11, 2026 at 2:10 AM
As bad as things may be in the US, it's important to keep thing in perspective, and recognize the terrible burden the people of Ukraine have been shouldering for far longer than I thought possible