Michael Greshko
@michaelgreshko.bsky.social
Associate online news editor @Science. Freelance contributor to NYT, SciAm, WaPo, etc., and author of the Deviations newsletter. Former staff writer at National Geographic. Signal: mgreshko.01 https://linktr.ee/michaelgreshko
Reposted by Michael Greshko
What do Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and a snapping shrimp have in common? They both protect their brains from injury with headgear (though only 1 of them is up against a supersonic shockwave).
My latest for @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti....
Thanks as always @michaelgreshko.bsky.social :-)
My latest for @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti....
Thanks as always @michaelgreshko.bsky.social :-)
Snapping shrimp use headgear to protect their brains from shock waves
Unusual “hood” is the first known biological armor that protects against traumatic brain injury
www.science.org
February 11, 2026 at 4:05 AM
What do Seahawks QB Sam Darnold and a snapping shrimp have in common? They both protect their brains from injury with headgear (though only 1 of them is up against a supersonic shockwave).
My latest for @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti....
Thanks as always @michaelgreshko.bsky.social :-)
My latest for @science.org: www.science.org/content/arti....
Thanks as always @michaelgreshko.bsky.social :-)
One of the reasons why media is in the mess it's in is that a shockingly high number of media executives are simply awful at their jobs. Will Lewis inherited a bad hand from Fred Ryan and played it horrendously. What an ignominious legacy.
After a disastrous run two years, Will Lewis is OUT as CEO and publisher of The Washington Post. Jeff D'Onofrio steps in as interim boss.
February 8, 2026 at 12:44 AM
One of the reasons why media is in the mess it's in is that a shockingly high number of media executives are simply awful at their jobs. Will Lewis inherited a bad hand from Fred Ryan and played it horrendously. What an ignominious legacy.
It was a pleasure to edit Claudia's story about this remarkable bonobo—and a remarkable study done with him shortly before he passed away. 🧪https://www.science.org/content/article/imagination-isn-t-just-humans-famous-ape-shows
February 5, 2026 at 8:43 PM
It was a pleasure to edit Claudia's story about this remarkable bonobo—and a remarkable study done with him shortly before he passed away. 🧪https://www.science.org/content/article/imagination-isn-t-just-humans-famous-ape-shows
Reposted by Michael Greshko
A newspaper is not 1,000 substacks in a trenchcoat. You can't do alone what you can do in a big news organization. The capacity for deep, long-term reporting is lost.
Find somewhere that still does this, whether it's public media, a newspaper or a website, and subscribe to them today.
Find somewhere that still does this, whether it's public media, a newspaper or a website, and subscribe to them today.
February 4, 2026 at 4:33 PM
A newspaper is not 1,000 substacks in a trenchcoat. You can't do alone what you can do in a big news organization. The capacity for deep, long-term reporting is lost.
Find somewhere that still does this, whether it's public media, a newspaper or a website, and subscribe to them today.
Find somewhere that still does this, whether it's public media, a newspaper or a website, and subscribe to them today.
What a terrible day for the Washington Post. My thoughts are with the paper's talented, hardworking staff, who do not deserve this.
February 4, 2026 at 3:07 PM
What a terrible day for the Washington Post. My thoughts are with the paper's talented, hardworking staff, who do not deserve this.
Don't call it an "Earth twin": it could just as easily be a broiling Venus twin. But the smart money will follow @elisecutts.bsky.social's bet that this planet is going to become a darling of follow-up observations. Earth-size planet, with an almost exactly Earth-size orbit? 🧪
New planet just dropped and it
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
Earth-size planet spotted with yearlong orbit
Long-overlooked Kepler signal discovered by citizen scientists reveals promising world worth a closer look
www.science.org
January 28, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Don't call it an "Earth twin": it could just as easily be a broiling Venus twin. But the smart money will follow @elisecutts.bsky.social's bet that this planet is going to become a darling of follow-up observations. Earth-size planet, with an almost exactly Earth-size orbit? 🧪
Reposted by Michael Greshko
(rushes to be the first to make the THERE'S ALREADY A STARBUCKS THERE joke)
New planet just dropped and it
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
Earth-size planet spotted with yearlong orbit
Long-overlooked Kepler signal discovered by citizen scientists reveals promising world worth a closer look
www.science.org
January 28, 2026 at 10:09 PM
(rushes to be the first to make the THERE'S ALREADY A STARBUCKS THERE joke)
Reposted by Michael Greshko
New planet just dropped and it
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
Earth-size planet spotted with yearlong orbit
Long-overlooked Kepler signal discovered by citizen scientists reveals promising world worth a closer look
www.science.org
January 28, 2026 at 9:42 PM
New planet just dropped and it
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
1) is almost exactly Earth-sized
2) has a year that's almost exactly 1 Earth year.
3) orbits a star that is not a 💢temperamental little shit M-dwarf 💢but is instead a 🧡 good orange boi 🧡
Me for @science.org based on results presented at #RockyWorlds4: 🔭🧪
I had the distinct pleasure of top-editing @hannah-richter.bsky.social's story on the new quietest place on Earth. This is a fun read! 🧪
Wake up, babe, the new quietest spot on Earth just dropped 🤫🧊🌐
It's 2.5 km under the South Pole—and geologists have installed seismometers there that operate more quietly than the background rumblings of Earth itself. Read more about this cool project in @science.org : tinyurl.com/5n76jfht #science
It's 2.5 km under the South Pole—and geologists have installed seismometers there that operate more quietly than the background rumblings of Earth itself. Read more about this cool project in @science.org : tinyurl.com/5n76jfht #science
Earthquake sensors buried in the quietest spot on Earth
Deep beneath the South Pole, two seismometers will monitor the planet’s interior and the movement of Antarctic ice
tinyurl.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I had the distinct pleasure of top-editing @hannah-richter.bsky.social's story on the new quietest place on Earth. This is a fun read! 🧪
Reposted by Michael Greshko
This was a good essay www.megangreenwell.com/the-adults-i...
The Adults in the Room
Megan Greenwell's 2019 article about G/O Media and Jim Spanfeller's mismanagement of Deadspin
www.megangreenwell.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:59 AM
This was a good essay www.megangreenwell.com/the-adults-i...
The Post’s current strategy fascinates me. What is the plan here?
According to an internal email to Washington Post sports staff, the paper isn't sending any reporters to cover the winter Olympics next month. The decision comes as major layoffs are expected in the coming weeks.
January 25, 2026 at 5:06 PM
The Post’s current strategy fascinates me. What is the plan here?
I edited @humbertobasilio.bsky.social’s recent story on how Venezuela’s scientists are faring after the US capture of Maduro.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
January 25, 2026 at 12:35 AM
I edited @humbertobasilio.bsky.social’s recent story on how Venezuela’s scientists are faring after the US capture of Maduro.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
A few of them made an important observation: Science is downstream of basic human needs and freedoms. Research cannot thrive when fundamental rights are under attack.
@humbertobasilio.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting out how scientists in Venezuela are responding to the chaos over the past few weeks. One constant refrain: The oil industry once funded a lot of research in related sectors, and researchers in the country are now wondering what comes next.
Maduro’s capture marks a new era for Venezuela. As U.S. oil companies return, national science could revive—and Venezuelan scientists want in.
“We can’t leave everything in the hands of foreign companies,” they told me.
My story for @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
“We can’t leave everything in the hands of foreign companies,” they told me.
My story for @science.org
www.science.org/content/arti...
Oil helped build Venezuela’s science. Can oil now revive it?
Decades ago, Venezuelan researchers helped the oil industry thrive. Now they hope to be part of its reconstruction
www.science.org
January 23, 2026 at 9:12 PM
@humbertobasilio.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting out how scientists in Venezuela are responding to the chaos over the past few weeks. One constant refrain: The oil industry once funded a lot of research in related sectors, and researchers in the country are now wondering what comes next.
@longreads.com this story might be of interest to you!
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Exclusive: Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA?
Inside the decadeslong quest to reveal the genes of a genius—and revolutionize art authentication
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 6:35 PM
@longreads.com this story might be of interest to you!
Many thanks to Garry Shaw and @theartnewspaper.bsky.social for their coverage of my research on the Voynich Manuscript: www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/07/c...
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Can a new cipher help to explain the mysterious Voynich Manuscript?
A researcher's encoding method may shed some light on the 15th-century codex
www.theartnewspaper.com
January 7, 2026 at 5:20 PM
Many thanks to Garry Shaw and @theartnewspaper.bsky.social for their coverage of my research on the Voynich Manuscript: www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/07/c...
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can check out my full, open-access paper here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Exclusive: Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA?
Inside the decadeslong quest to reveal the genes of a genius—and revolutionize art authentication
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 4:40 PM
🧪 EXCLUSIVE 🧪 from @science.org: Scientists have swabbed a 500-year-old drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci—and may have found a piece of his DNA. www.science.org/content/arti...
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Yes, really. A quick thread:
Many thanks to Tom Metcalfe and @livescience.com for their coverage of my recent paper on the Voynich Manuscript: www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Mysterious Voynich manuscript may be a cipher, a new study suggests
A newly invented cipher may shed light on how the mysterious Voynich manuscript was made in medieval times.
www.livescience.com
January 4, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Many thanks to Tom Metcalfe and @livescience.com for their coverage of my recent paper on the Voynich Manuscript: www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
You can read the full open-access paper describing the Naibbe cipher here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
2025 was hectic. My son turned 2. I started a new editor job at the fabulous @science.org. I wrote and published an academic article on the Voynich Manuscript (wacky, I know). My family saw family and friends as often as we could. Let’s hope for more joy and less stress in 2026. Happy New Year!
December 31, 2025 at 11:50 PM
2025 was hectic. My son turned 2. I started a new editor job at the fabulous @science.org. I wrote and published an academic article on the Voynich Manuscript (wacky, I know). My family saw family and friends as often as we could. Let’s hope for more joy and less stress in 2026. Happy New Year!
Super cool story. Research a couple years ago by folks including me, @ernie.tedium.co, and @404media.co on the new owners of Deadspin helped bring about a good-news story on the ownership of a local California newspaper.
You might remember a year or two ago a couple of us did a lot of digging into Deadspin’s new owners. (@michaelgreshko.bsky.social did a lot of useful work on it.)
A side story that cropped up is that one of Deadspin’s buyers was trying to buy a local newspaper.
www.fastcompany.com/91077421/san...
A side story that cropped up is that one of Deadspin’s buyers was trying to buy a local newspaper.
www.fastcompany.com/91077421/san...
A local paper went bankrupt. Now a faraway buyer wants its assets
The News-Press's digital assets are up for sale. Locals worry they could become a farm for AI-generated SEO bait.
www.fastcompany.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Super cool story. Research a couple years ago by folks including me, @ernie.tedium.co, and @404media.co on the new owners of Deadspin helped bring about a good-news story on the ownership of a local California newspaper.
Many thanks to @tommyhale.bsky.social for a nice story about my Voynich Manuscript paper in @iflscience.com: www.iflscience.com/is-this-how-...
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Is This How The Voynich Manuscript Was Made? A New Cipher Offers Fascinating Clues
It remains the “most mysterious manuscript in the world.”
www.iflscience.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Many thanks to @tommyhale.bsky.social for a nice story about my Voynich Manuscript paper in @iflscience.com: www.iflscience.com/is-this-how-...
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The open-access paper can be read here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🧪 🌠 @danclery.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting this out. A pretty eye-popping stat in here: If satellite launches thru the 2030s happen as planned, there'll be HALF A MILLION satellites orbiting Earth by 2040—enough to contaminate many space telescopes' images with the occasional streak.
Satellite fleets pose problems for space telescopes, too | Science | AAAS 🔭🧪 @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Satellite fleets pose problems for space telescopes, too
Proposed “megaconstellations” would contaminate images from telescopes in low-Earth orbit, including Hubble
www.science.org
December 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
🧪 🌠 @danclery.bsky.social did a terrific job reporting this out. A pretty eye-popping stat in here: If satellite launches thru the 2030s happen as planned, there'll be HALF A MILLION satellites orbiting Earth by 2040—enough to contaminate many space telescopes' images with the occasional streak.
Reposted by Michael Greshko
This is the remarkable work of Michael (partly inspired by my Polygraphia III hypothesis) I gave a sneak preview of here in September – texperimentales.hypotheses.org/5898 🎉
November 28, 2025 at 2:36 PM
This is the remarkable work of Michael (partly inspired by my Polygraphia III hypothesis) I gave a sneak preview of here in September – texperimentales.hypotheses.org/5898 🎉
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
tandfonline.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
recruiting.ultipro.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:06 PM
🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
Reposted by Michael Greshko
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org
Exclusive: CDC to end all monkey research
Studies related to HIV and other infectious diseases will be phased out, sources say; fate of the agency's animals remains unclear
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM
EXCLUSIVE: CDC to end all monkey studies. Decision handed down by recent college grad and former DOGE employee who is now deputy chief of staff at the agency. Animals were being used in studies of HIV prevention. Some may be euthanized. My latest for @science.org