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anitamchandran.bsky.social
Anita
@anitamchandran.bsky.social
1.2K followers 240 following 32 posts
sci writer and literary editor

editing: Nature Communications (machine learning and imaging), @tamarindlitmag.co.uk (fiction)

read me in the BBC, Nature Phys, Nature Biotech and others
Posts Replies Media Videos
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Wrote about the relationship between science and fiction for @scienceforthepeople.org.web.brid.gy. Lots of thoughts about how the arts / sciences are more similar than we might think, and how the two disciplines are in constant conversation.

Read at magazine.scienceforthepeople.org/vol27-1-reth...
Fiction Can Improve Communication Between Scientists and Society • SftP Magazine
The generative possibilities of fiction for science communication: why fiction techniques are underutilized in science communication and scientific writing, and the benefits of fiction writing tools a...
magazine.scienceforthepeople.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:03 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
used to look forward to this column literally every year like a feral gremlin waiting for nerd xmas (Nobel season) and this does not disappoint
October 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Anita
kasperdijk.bsky.social
Congrats to László K and his fearless translator troops, also including Mari Alföldy, Hans Skirecki, and more
kirkdalebooks.bsky.social Kirkdale Bookshop @kirkdalebooks.bsky.social · Oct 9
Shout out to LK's various translators including George Szirtes, Ottilie Mulzet, and John Batki
October 9, 2025 at 11:38 AM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Sátántangó was one of the most brilliant, baffling, and bleak books I've ever read. I hated and loved it in equal measure. I think about it often. Congrats to László Krasznahorkai !
October 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
devastating news about Kaiteur Kitchen and other potential evictions in Castle Square... between evictions of long-standing businesses and the hopeless and upcoming end of Corsica Studios, it feels that the life is being quickly drained from E&C
October 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Reposted by Anita
rebeccamayjohnson.bsky.social
'Last Wednesday, I received a call from Faye Gomes, owner of exceptional Guyanese restaurant Kaieteur Kitchen. Almost in tears, she told me she, along with 3 other food traders had been locked out of their premises at Castle Square in Elephant and Castle'

www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/theres-one...
There's one week left to save one of London's best restaurants
The battle for Castle Square, and suspicious goings on in Southwark, by Jonathan Nunn and Gavin Cleaver
www.vittlesmagazine.com
October 8, 2025 at 9:36 AM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Leaving One Battle After Another with the same feeling of being electrified that I had after Whiplash
September 28, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Reposted by Anita
maxkozlov.bsky.social
With NIH director Jayanta Bhattacharya dismissing my reporting as "false" and "spreading rumors" hours before releasing a policy that confirmed said "rumors," I feel compelled to respond.

Here's an inside look into how this story was reported. It was a weird one. 🧵

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
On a Nature news article reporting that NIH planned to suspend subawards for foreign collaborations: “No, that’s false. There’s going to be a policy on tracking subawards. The NIH and the government should be able to see where the money’s going.” “I’m really uncomfortable with this conversation, because you’re like, actually spreading rumors that you don’t know anything about. … Nature also is spreading rumors. Halt foreign collaborations, that’s not true.” “We’re working on the policy, Jocelyn. You shouldn’t be reporting rumors. I know there’s leaks all over here, but the leaks don’t actually reflect what’s happening. Don’t write about rumors. It actually makes the things that you and I care about worse. Like it spreads panic.” Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted future subawards to foreign scientists and said they will need to apply directly for money under a system still in development.
May 6, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Anita
gautampk.com
Had a letter published in the @financialtimes.com yday,written in response to a column last Monday that blames poor critical thinking on STEM education

Raising divisions between arts and science only helps those who want to undermine all education. The problem is the commercialisation of academia 🧪
Letter: A flawed understanding of the nature of science
From Gautam Kambhampati, Publisher, Tamarind Literary Magazine, Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, UK
www.ft.com
April 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Anita
tamarindlit.co.uk
From the hauntingly beautiful ‘Forest Stratum’ by Jade Doyle in Tamarind Issue 7. On sale now at tamarindlit.co.uk/buy/. Ships globally, or available in digital.
‘Slimy with algae and damp earth, the new root growth of a Huon pine rose up and out of the dirt and entered the cord's power socket, intertwining and fusing with the conductor.’ Jade Doyle Tamarind Issue 7
January 21, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Reposted by Anita
tamarindlit.co.uk
From ‘The Ripening’ by Sayani Sarkar in Tamarind Issue 7.

On sale now at tamarindlit.co.uk/product/issu...
Quote: ‘Cells proliferate, blood flows, proteins tumble, tissues grow. Gravidity is the sign of life.’ Sayani Sarkar Tamarind Issue 7
January 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Happy new year! If you’re trying to build a reading habit for 2025, why not support an indie lit mag? The latest issue of Tamarind, our not-for-profit lit mag focusing on the sciences and arts, is on sale now.

tamarindlit.co.uk

Ships globally!
Tamarind Literary Magazine
tamarindlit.co.uk
January 1, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by Anita
tamarindlit.co.uk
Merry Christmas from the team at Tamarind. We wish you all a cosy holiday season and a wonderful year of reading ahead. ✨
Tamarind issue 7 posed in front of a Christmas tree at a famous London bookshop 😌
December 25, 2024 at 4:28 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Quite the gauntlet in production, but probably our best one yet. Tamarind issue 7 is on sale now!
tamarindlit.co.uk Tamarind Literary Magazine @tamarindlit.co.uk · Dec 23
Tamarind Issue 7 is here! This issue covers ecocide to emergent consciousness, taking you from evolution in the Cambrian seas to a bionic Eden in the sixth millennium, and including an interview with author Louisa Hall. Order at tamarindlit.co.uk/buy/ for £9 in print or £5 digital. Ship worldwide.
Tamarind Issue 7 cover features two stylised computer monitors featuring nature displays in a romantic courtship dance. In the foreground is a pile of bones, topped with a human skull with the tiniest green plant growing from it. Tagline reads ‘science is art’
December 23, 2024 at 8:31 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
On today, the day that follows the longest night, a little poem about darkness from Wendell Berry.
To Know the Dark WENDELL BERRY To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
December 21, 2024 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Anita
richvn.bsky.social
"AI is a poor name. If it was called ‘extremely rapid computation’, or ‘assisted data analysis’ or ‘cognitive prosthesis’ then that would de-emphasize the magical portions of it."
Kim Stanley Robinson
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Sci-fi icon Kim Stanley Robinson: ‘there’s so much bad fiction about anthropomorphizing AI’
The influential writer talks about frighteningly accurate predictions, the creative act of reading, AI consciousness — and hope.
www.nature.com
December 18, 2024 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Anita
nujofficial.bsky.social
As Guardian & Observer journalists begin third day of strikes to help #SavetheObserver please help by reposting, by not reading the Guardian or by voicing your opinion to guardian.readers@theguardian.com You can also donate to www.nuj.org.uk/resource/gua... @gonuj.org Thanks for your support!
Guardian & Observer journalists Hardship Fund
Donate to the Fund to show solidarity and support colleagues in need of financial assistance.
www.nuj.org.uk
December 12, 2024 at 8:24 AM
Reposted by Anita
gitaralleigh.bsky.social
#ukpoets
tamarindlit.co.uk Tamarind Literary Magazine @tamarindlit.co.uk · Nov 17
Reminder that we are open for subs for our 8th issue! We accept fiction, non-fiction and poetry concerning science, scientists and the intersections of science and society.

More at tamarindlit.co.uk/submissions/
Submissions – Tamarind Literary Magazine
tamarindlit.co.uk
December 11, 2024 at 4:49 AM
Reposted by Anita
middleeasteye-rss.bsky.social
Syrian rebels seize Damascus, ending decades of brutal Assad dynasty rule - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syrian-rebels-control-south-approaching-damascus
Syrian rebels seize Damascus, ending decades of brutal Assad dynasty rule
Bashar al-Assad reportedly flees the capital by plane as State TV declares an end to his 'criminal regime' after lightning blitz by rebels
www.middleeasteye.net
December 8, 2024 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Anita
carolecadwalla.bsky.social
NEW: the Scott Trust confirms sale of the Observer.

RIP the Guardian.

A total betrayal of the staff the organisation’s so-called ‘values’.

This is a deal negotiated between 2 chums on a billionaire’s yacht: welcome to the the Guardian’s very own VIP lane
December 6, 2024 at 9:34 AM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
In solidarity with striking workers at The Guardian today and tomorrow. When we were on strike in May, Guardian colleagues came to support us on the picket line, and hopefully we can do the same for them. ✊🏽

* reposting because the last vers contained a Guardian link

@nujofficial.bsky.social
Why we are striking Save The Observer Guardian and Observer journalists are going on strike to oppose the deal transferring the Observer to Tortoise media - rushed through, and done without the involvement Democracy dies of any Observer staff - because: behind paywalls 1. Putting the Observer behind a paywall does not promote or protect liberal journalism and will erode its reach. 2. The deal has been done without testing the value of the Observer or inviting / considering other bids. 3. The Observer is currently a successful part of Guardian Media Group. The paper's journalism gets more than 10 million page views online every weekend. Its print circulation is around 106,000 and is a significant source of revenue. 4. Tortoise, a digital start-up, was launched in 2018 and has yet to record a profit. Between 2018 and 2022, it lost £16.3m. 5. Tortoise's promised investment in the Observer has already been reduced to £20m in cash (from £25m). Experts say the proposed business plan's figures don't add up. 6. The striking journalists believe that the deal will diminish the Guardian and poses an existential threat to the Observer. To voice your concern please write to: guardian.readers@theguardian.com (copying: observer.letters@observer.co.uk) For more information: nuj.org.uk/savetheobserver
December 4, 2024 at 3:39 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
One of our best yet 😮‍💨
tamarindlit.co.uk Tamarind Literary Magazine @tamarindlit.co.uk · Nov 29
Thrilled to share our lineup for issue 8. From ecocide to emergent consciousness, and an interview with the incomparable Louisa Hall, this issue has it all. Can’t wait for you to read it.

Coming December 2024.

#litmag
Contents page of tamarind issue 8. Reads: TAMARIND Issue Seven The Ripening Sayani Sarkar Forest Stratum Jade Doyle The Lion and the Lamb David Sheskin On Time Akshay Gajria The Boy That Buys the Beef Jonathan Doering Aurora Francesca Carra Ruggero Oddi's Last Letter Eli Ehrenpreis Non-Human Narratives Jennifer McCormack New Fruit Rebecca Heilweil In Conversation with Louisa Hall
November 29, 2024 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Anita
canongate.co.uk
I was going to put the bat down and step away from the dead horse, but now that we've been quoted in the Guardian talking about the AI dingbats, I want to just say a couple of things about self-publishing and the value of $5,000.
November 26, 2024 at 10:33 PM
anitamchandran.bsky.social
Reading this excerpt of Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking and wondering about the confusion, fear and frustration that scientific writing and concepts can evoke, especially when we are in situations of distress and uncertainty.

Wondering at how we can bridge the so called ‘expertise gap’… 1/2
Text reads: review for the USMLE." This book was by Stephen G. Waxman, M.D., chief of neurology at Yale-New Haven, and was called Clinical Neuroanatomy. I skimmed successfully through some of the appendices, for example "Appendix A: The Neurologic Examination," but when I began to read the text itself I could think only of a trip to Indonesia during which I had become disoriented by my inability to locate the grammar in Bahasa Indonesia, the official language used on street signs and storefronts and billboards. I had asked someone at the American Embassy how to tell the verbs from the nouns. Bahasa was a language, he had said, in which the same word could be either a verb or a noun. Clinical Neuroanatomy seemed to be one more case in which I would be unable to locate the grammar. I put it on the table by my bed at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where it would remain for the next five weeks
November 24, 2024 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Anita
tamarindlit.co.uk
Reminder that we are open for subs for our 8th issue! We accept fiction, non-fiction and poetry concerning science, scientists and the intersections of science and society.

More at tamarindlit.co.uk/submissions/
Submissions – Tamarind Literary Magazine
tamarindlit.co.uk
November 17, 2024 at 6:50 PM