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 👽🌀🦋
Should be possible now :)
November 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Should be possible now :)
The trouble of Cepheids not being visible beyond a certain distance reminds me of how many useful measurements in geoscience stop working if you go far enough back into the past. Scientists have to be so creative and resourceful to pin things down in space and time!
November 11, 2025 at 8:36 AM
The trouble of Cepheids not being visible beyond a certain distance reminds me of how many useful measurements in geoscience stop working if you go far enough back into the past. Scientists have to be so creative and resourceful to pin things down in space and time!
Sounds interesting! Shoot me a DM with a link to your professional website or Google Scholar and I can get back to you.
November 11, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Sounds interesting! Shoot me a DM with a link to your professional website or Google Scholar and I can get back to you.
Just DM if that works
November 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Just DM if that works
In any case I suspect this is probably the most intellectually stimulated pet octopus in the world
November 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
In any case I suspect this is probably the most intellectually stimulated pet octopus in the world
(Also, scrolling through the comments, it looks like the YouTuber tried contacting octopus cognition researchers for help and they declined. I'm guessing there's a reason why? I could imagine there'd be fear, esp. before seeing the video, that this was going to be cruel/inhumane? Is it?)
November 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
(Also, scrolling through the comments, it looks like the YouTuber tried contacting octopus cognition researchers for help and they declined. I'm guessing there's a reason why? I could imagine there'd be fear, esp. before seeing the video, that this was going to be cruel/inhumane? Is it?)
She's such a striking tortie. Those amber eyes!
November 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
She's such a striking tortie. Those amber eyes!
Our species in one picture, tbh.
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Our species in one picture, tbh.
Sure, I can't promise anything (as always with these sorts of things), but I posted this hoping people would send me their papers, so send away!
November 10, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Sure, I can't promise anything (as always with these sorts of things), but I posted this hoping people would send me their papers, so send away!
I would hope most scientists would feel this way about their work tbh!
November 10, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I would hope most scientists would feel this way about their work tbh!
Just realized I missed out on an opportunity to do some alliteration with puke and pterosaur and feeling sad about it
November 10, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Just realized I missed out on an opportunity to do some alliteration with puke and pterosaur and feeling sad about it
*fine* a pterosaur is not actually a dino but still
November 10, 2025 at 12:24 PM
*fine* a pterosaur is not actually a dino but still
This definitely sounds up my alley!
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This definitely sounds up my alley!
You could make this argument for kangaroos, I guess, but not for placental mammals with random X-inactivation.
November 10, 2025 at 11:53 AM
You could make this argument for kangaroos, I guess, but not for placental mammals with random X-inactivation.
ideally I'd find stuff that's cool but doesn't sound cool
November 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM
ideally I'd find stuff that's cool but doesn't sound cool
Not in placental mammals like humans — dad's X is just as likely to be expressed as mom's outside the placenta.
You can visibly see this in tortoiseshell cats. The patches of brown/black are expressing one parent's X, and the patches of orange are expressing the other parent's X.
You can visibly see this in tortoiseshell cats. The patches of brown/black are expressing one parent's X, and the patches of orange are expressing the other parent's X.
November 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Not in placental mammals like humans — dad's X is just as likely to be expressed as mom's outside the placenta.
You can visibly see this in tortoiseshell cats. The patches of brown/black are expressing one parent's X, and the patches of orange are expressing the other parent's X.
You can visibly see this in tortoiseshell cats. The patches of brown/black are expressing one parent's X, and the patches of orange are expressing the other parent's X.
The placenta preferentially silences dad's X. I'm not sure of other body parts, I was taught that X-inactivation in placental mammals is random.
But in marsupials it's the dad's X that gets preferentially silenced.
But in marsupials it's the dad's X that gets preferentially silenced.
November 10, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The placenta preferentially silences dad's X. I'm not sure of other body parts, I was taught that X-inactivation in placental mammals is random.
But in marsupials it's the dad's X that gets preferentially silenced.
But in marsupials it's the dad's X that gets preferentially silenced.
I'm interested in frontier research, basic science, etc. — big questions kind of stuff. I'd love to feature diverse identities, career paths, ages, locations, etc.
DM if you're interested.
Comment if there's a researcher or even just a topic or field you'd like to see in a Q&A!
DM if you're interested.
Comment if there's a researcher or even just a topic or field you'd like to see in a Q&A!
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I'm interested in frontier research, basic science, etc. — big questions kind of stuff. I'd love to feature diverse identities, career paths, ages, locations, etc.
DM if you're interested.
Comment if there's a researcher or even just a topic or field you'd like to see in a Q&A!
DM if you're interested.
Comment if there's a researcher or even just a topic or field you'd like to see in a Q&A!
The next one is going to be on culture and how it interacts with human evolution 👀
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The next one is going to be on culture and how it interacts with human evolution 👀
Last month's Q&A with @spintheory.bsky.social dug into the ~physics~ of polarization in the US Senate and what it has to do with the simple neural network models that sparked the AI boom:
Politicians talk big. But what if (with a bit of physics) you could let their votes speak for themselves?
In this Q&A, I chat with @spintheory.bsky.social about what his mathematical maps of US Senate politics reveal about polarization — with a surprising link to the physics foundations of AI 🧪⚛️
In this Q&A, I chat with @spintheory.bsky.social about what his mathematical maps of US Senate politics reveal about polarization — with a surprising link to the physics foundations of AI 🧪⚛️
Political (neural) networking
A Q&A with Eddie Lee on physics and polarization in the Senate
www.reviewertoo.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Last month's Q&A with @spintheory.bsky.social dug into the ~physics~ of polarization in the US Senate and what it has to do with the simple neural network models that sparked the AI boom: