Elise Cutts
@elisecutts.bsky.social
Science journalist is just a fancy way of saying "professional nerd." USian in Austria, language geek, collector of fine yellow zigzagged sweaters and etymology fun facts. Get my newsletter about big questions in science: www.reviewertoo.com 👽🌀🦋
If you don't already know about the Quiet Posters feed, it's great.
It specifically prioritizes posts from people ~you follow~ who do not post frequently. So you don't miss those gleaming but infrequent nuggets of wisdom
It specifically prioritizes posts from people ~you follow~ who do not post frequently. So you don't miss those gleaming but infrequent nuggets of wisdom
November 14, 2025 at 6:58 PM
If you don't already know about the Quiet Posters feed, it's great.
It specifically prioritizes posts from people ~you follow~ who do not post frequently. So you don't miss those gleaming but infrequent nuggets of wisdom
It specifically prioritizes posts from people ~you follow~ who do not post frequently. So you don't miss those gleaming but infrequent nuggets of wisdom
Reposted by Elise Cutts
So freaking proud of @maxlevy.bsky.social for his AAAS Kavli Gold 🏆 award for his feature about electrostatic ecology — how small creatures interact with electrostatic forces. Quanta's first Kavli Gold! Thanks to the whole team! www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-w...
The Hidden World of Electrostatic Ecology | Quanta Magazine
Invisibly to us, insects and other tiny creatures use static electricity to travel, avoid predators, collect pollen and more. New experiments explore how evolution may have influenced this phenomenon.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:06 PM
So freaking proud of @maxlevy.bsky.social for his AAAS Kavli Gold 🏆 award for his feature about electrostatic ecology — how small creatures interact with electrostatic forces. Quanta's first Kavli Gold! Thanks to the whole team! www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-w...
Reposted by Elise Cutts
This is lunacy. The Chinese scholars I know are among the hardest working, most selfless people I've ever encountered. They want to contribute to our intellectual endeavors, and they make our research teams better.
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:04 PM
This is lunacy. The Chinese scholars I know are among the hardest working, most selfless people I've ever encountered. They want to contribute to our intellectual endeavors, and they make our research teams better.
I was so scared to leave academia but I can't help but feel like I got out just in time 😬
November 14, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I was so scared to leave academia but I can't help but feel like I got out just in time 😬
Reposted by Elise Cutts
This is fucking batshit evil bananas
“The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.”
U.S. Congress considers sweeping ban on Chinese collaborations
Researchers speak out against proposal that would bar funding for U.S. scientists working with Chinese partners or training Chinese students
www.science.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:09 AM
This is fucking batshit evil bananas
Habits of mind are hard to break...
a NEW PAPER led the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Iles (accepted by PASA) quantifies how astronomers might be biased in how they judge galactic bars
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
November 14, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Habits of mind are hard to break...
Reposted by Elise Cutts
Quick! My book THE BIG PICTURE: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself has a limited-time Kindle deal going on. Get the Ebook for just $1.99 while it lasts. A rousing exploration of the science and philosophy of naturalism for just two bucks!
www.amazon.com/Big-Picture-...
www.amazon.com/Big-Picture-...
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself - Kindle edition by Carroll, Sean M. . Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.
www.amazon.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Quick! My book THE BIG PICTURE: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself has a limited-time Kindle deal going on. Get the Ebook for just $1.99 while it lasts. A rousing exploration of the science and philosophy of naturalism for just two bucks!
www.amazon.com/Big-Picture-...
www.amazon.com/Big-Picture-...
Reposted by Elise Cutts
A fun read about group selection on culture, not genes 🧪
What changes when humans change: individuals with genes, or groups with culture?
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
The individual isn't what it used to be
Tim Waring thinks human evolution is shifting from genetic and individual to cultural and collective
www.reviewertoo.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
A fun read about group selection on culture, not genes 🧪
Shh don't tell the European countries worried about having enough young workers to hold up their pension systems
"In 2025, 40% of women aged 15 to 44 say they would move abroad permanently if they had the opportunity. The current figure is four times higher than the 10% who shared this desire in 2014, when it was generally in line with other age and gender groups."
Record Numbers of Younger Women Want to Leave the U.S.
The percentage of younger women in the U.S. who express a desire to migrate permanently has surged in the past decade.
news.gallup.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Shh don't tell the European countries worried about having enough young workers to hold up their pension systems
What changes when humans change: individuals with genes, or groups with culture?
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
The individual isn't what it used to be
Tim Waring thinks human evolution is shifting from genetic and individual to cultural and collective
www.reviewertoo.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:21 PM
What changes when humans change: individuals with genes, or groups with culture?
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
In this month's Q&A, I talk with @twaring.bsky.social about his argument that humans are going through an evolutionary transition: groups are the new individual, and culture is the new genome. 🧪
Necessary reading!
With sequencing of Hitler's DNA making headlines, time for a reminder: analysing a polygenic score from a dead historically-significant figure won't give new insights into that person's behaviour. In a brief paper last year, we used Beethoven's genome to directly illustrate the fallacies involved.🧪👇
Notes from Beethoven’s genome
Wesseldijk et al. compare the genomic information collected from Ludwig van Beethoven
with population-based datasets used to quantify musical achievement.
www.cell.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Necessary reading!
Do you think it's possible for culture to be inherited and undergo evolution in a way that's meaningfully analogous to genetic inheritance and evolution?
November 13, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Do you think it's possible for culture to be inherited and undergo evolution in a way that's meaningfully analogous to genetic inheritance and evolution?
How normal is it where you live to not know your blood type?
I only recently learned mine, which in hindsight seems like a really, really overdue piece of vital information 😅 I asked my mom (in the US), she doesn’t know hers. The few Austrians I asked about this found my ignorance very disturbing.
I only recently learned mine, which in hindsight seems like a really, really overdue piece of vital information 😅 I asked my mom (in the US), she doesn’t know hers. The few Austrians I asked about this found my ignorance very disturbing.
November 12, 2025 at 11:07 PM
How normal is it where you live to not know your blood type?
I only recently learned mine, which in hindsight seems like a really, really overdue piece of vital information 😅 I asked my mom (in the US), she doesn’t know hers. The few Austrians I asked about this found my ignorance very disturbing.
I only recently learned mine, which in hindsight seems like a really, really overdue piece of vital information 😅 I asked my mom (in the US), she doesn’t know hers. The few Austrians I asked about this found my ignorance very disturbing.
Watching She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is the rainbow unicorn brain cleanse I needed today
a cartoon of a unicorn with rainbow wings
Alt: a cartoon of a unicorn with rainbow wings glittering majestically
media.tenor.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:59 PM
Watching She-Ra and the Princesses of Power is the rainbow unicorn brain cleanse I needed today
I don't get as mad as I probably should when people flake on interviews because I assume they're just as bad at managing a calendar as I was before cross-timezone journalism kicked me in the butt
November 12, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I don't get as mad as I probably should when people flake on interviews because I assume they're just as bad at managing a calendar as I was before cross-timezone journalism kicked me in the butt
they didn't run a polygenic score for artistic talent smh
Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which hinders normal puberty and the development of sexual organs, according to groundbreaking research
www.thetimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
they didn't run a polygenic score for artistic talent smh
For those of you, like me, who need a bit more writing about women as humans and not as a political problem to be solved i your inbox right about now.
I'm starting a newsletter! Sign up if you are interested in essays about anthropology, art, & anatomy, from my POV as a science journalist, artist, and author of The Stronger Sex, and and upcoming Wanderers, Weavers, and Warriors: The Real Story of Our Female Ancestors. palimpsest-of-flesh.ghost.io
Palimpsest of Flesh
Anatomy, Anthropology, and Art from Starre Vartan
palimpsest-of-flesh.ghost.io
November 12, 2025 at 12:13 PM
For those of you, like me, who need a bit more writing about women as humans and not as a political problem to be solved i your inbox right about now.
Thinking about the women I know who went through menopause, I realize that I was not taught SHIT about how 50% of humans age in school health class.
Basically they just said "oh yeah eventually the periods stop." Lol.
Was my school health class just bad? Or do people simply not talk about this?
Basically they just said "oh yeah eventually the periods stop." Lol.
Was my school health class just bad? Or do people simply not talk about this?
November 12, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Thinking about the women I know who went through menopause, I realize that I was not taught SHIT about how 50% of humans age in school health class.
Basically they just said "oh yeah eventually the periods stop." Lol.
Was my school health class just bad? Or do people simply not talk about this?
Basically they just said "oh yeah eventually the periods stop." Lol.
Was my school health class just bad? Or do people simply not talk about this?
I'm thinking of starting a monthly(?) online #complexity science/big questions book club for women and nonbinary people.
Is this something you or people in your (-gasp- offline) network would be interested in? 🧪
Is this something you or people in your (-gasp- offline) network would be interested in? 🧪
November 12, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I'm thinking of starting a monthly(?) online #complexity science/big questions book club for women and nonbinary people.
Is this something you or people in your (-gasp- offline) network would be interested in? 🧪
Is this something you or people in your (-gasp- offline) network would be interested in? 🧪
I popped over to Substack to take a peek at the top 25 #science newsletters and uh... wow.
Highlights include:
A racist's racist newsletter
A COVID conspiracy newsletter
An antivax newsletter
A newsletter with the pitch: "fed up with our woke joke universities?"
~transphobia~
~eugenics~
Highlights include:
A racist's racist newsletter
A COVID conspiracy newsletter
An antivax newsletter
A newsletter with the pitch: "fed up with our woke joke universities?"
~transphobia~
~eugenics~
November 12, 2025 at 8:36 AM
I popped over to Substack to take a peek at the top 25 #science newsletters and uh... wow.
Highlights include:
A racist's racist newsletter
A COVID conspiracy newsletter
An antivax newsletter
A newsletter with the pitch: "fed up with our woke joke universities?"
~transphobia~
~eugenics~
Highlights include:
A racist's racist newsletter
A COVID conspiracy newsletter
An antivax newsletter
A newsletter with the pitch: "fed up with our woke joke universities?"
~transphobia~
~eugenics~
anyone who thinks God can't roll dice has never seen their DM do this before picking up a full handful of D6s:
November 11, 2025 at 7:09 PM
anyone who thinks God can't roll dice has never seen their DM do this before picking up a full handful of D6s:
Asking scientists🧪:
What do you consider the most interesting open questions in your field?
Bonus points if it's a question people alive today actually have a shot at answering.
What do you consider the most interesting open questions in your field?
Bonus points if it's a question people alive today actually have a shot at answering.
November 11, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Asking scientists🧪:
What do you consider the most interesting open questions in your field?
Bonus points if it's a question people alive today actually have a shot at answering.
What do you consider the most interesting open questions in your field?
Bonus points if it's a question people alive today actually have a shot at answering.
Randomly remembering my wacky middle school history teacher who routinely dressed up as Indiana Jones and basically made Guns Germs and Steel his entire curriculum.
He also threw glitter and confetti into a fan and had us try not to get glittered in the lesson on Chernobyl and radioactive fallout.
He also threw glitter and confetti into a fan and had us try not to get glittered in the lesson on Chernobyl and radioactive fallout.
November 11, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Randomly remembering my wacky middle school history teacher who routinely dressed up as Indiana Jones and basically made Guns Germs and Steel his entire curriculum.
He also threw glitter and confetti into a fan and had us try not to get glittered in the lesson on Chernobyl and radioactive fallout.
He also threw glitter and confetti into a fan and had us try not to get glittered in the lesson on Chernobyl and radioactive fallout.
The children need archaeologists!
Think of the children!
Think of the children!
You're never gonna believe this, but we're out of archaeologists again.
We have matched ~650 groups with archaeologists this semester! I am so grateful to the 196 Archaeologist volunteers!
We have 60 unmatched groups rn
Know archaeologists who could do a session? Send them to SkypeAScientist.com
We have matched ~650 groups with archaeologists this semester! I am so grateful to the 196 Archaeologist volunteers!
We have 60 unmatched groups rn
Know archaeologists who could do a session? Send them to SkypeAScientist.com
SKYPE A SCIENTIST
Skype a Scientist matches your classroom, scout troop, or library with scientists for Q&A sessions for free!
SkypeAScientist.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The children need archaeologists!
Think of the children!
Think of the children!
I'd love to hear from others who recently launched a newsletter or indie pub ~NOT~ on Substack:
How are y'all finding both each other (yay, community) and new readers?
I host my newsletter on @ghost.org and love it, but I do feel I'm missing out a bit on the social network side of Substack.
How are y'all finding both each other (yay, community) and new readers?
I host my newsletter on @ghost.org and love it, but I do feel I'm missing out a bit on the social network side of Substack.
November 11, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I'd love to hear from others who recently launched a newsletter or indie pub ~NOT~ on Substack:
How are y'all finding both each other (yay, community) and new readers?
I host my newsletter on @ghost.org and love it, but I do feel I'm missing out a bit on the social network side of Substack.
How are y'all finding both each other (yay, community) and new readers?
I host my newsletter on @ghost.org and love it, but I do feel I'm missing out a bit on the social network side of Substack.