Emily Makowski
@emilymakowski.bsky.social
fact-checker and copy editor at Scientific American
Reposted by Emily Makowski
NEW: Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and a state assemblymember, will become New York City’s next mayor, The Associated Press reports.
He will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and, at age 34, ties the record for the youngest person to hold the office. https://to.pbs.org/4ovh28q
He will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and, at age 34, ties the record for the youngest person to hold the office. https://to.pbs.org/4ovh28q
November 5, 2025 at 2:40 AM
NEW: Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and a state assemblymember, will become New York City’s next mayor, The Associated Press reports.
He will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and, at age 34, ties the record for the youngest person to hold the office. https://to.pbs.org/4ovh28q
He will be the city’s first Muslim mayor and, at age 34, ties the record for the youngest person to hold the office. https://to.pbs.org/4ovh28q
Did you know that pi can be 4?
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
How an Error in Cult Classic Game Doom Sparked New Appreciation for Pi
What would the world look like if we changed the value of pi? Whether in the real world or a game environment, the answer is complex
www.scientificamerican.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Did you know that pi can be 4?
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
I love this article (full disclosure, I fact-checked it) and I gotta mention my favorite horror movie song, "Rocky Mountains" by Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind. 🎃 The way the melody plunges at 2:05... when I first heard it, my heart dropped out of my ribcage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMh_... #Halloween
October 31, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I love this article (full disclosure, I fact-checked it) and I gotta mention my favorite horror movie song, "Rocky Mountains" by Wendy Carlos & Rachel Elkind. 🎃 The way the melody plunges at 2:05... when I first heard it, my heart dropped out of my ribcage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMh_... #Halloween
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Horror movie composers use musical tricks to hijack your nervous system and put you on edge
Why Horror Movie Music Sends a Chill Up Your Spine
Horror movie composers use musical tricks to hijack your nervous system and put you on edge
www.scientificamerican.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Horror movie composers use musical tricks to hijack your nervous system and put you on edge
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Spooky web patterns known as "stabilimenta" may help spiders sense prey, a new study finds, adding fresh insight to a decades-old debate about the function of these structures
Spider Web Decorations Could Aid in Prey Detection, Study Finds
Researchers simulated the effects that different web decorations had on vibrations, adding fresh insight to a decades-old debate about the function of these structures
www.scientificamerican.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Spooky web patterns known as "stabilimenta" may help spiders sense prey, a new study finds, adding fresh insight to a decades-old debate about the function of these structures
Nematodes use static to leap onto their hosts ⚡️ Read more: www.scientificamerican.com/article/stat...
October 23, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Nematodes use static to leap onto their hosts ⚡️ Read more: www.scientificamerican.com/article/stat...
Scientific American is #hiring a full-time copy editor/fact-checker for breaking news: springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...
#ScientificAmerican #sciencejournalism #copyeditor
#ScientificAmerican #sciencejournalism #copyeditor
September 30, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Scientific American is #hiring a full-time copy editor/fact-checker for breaking news: springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...
#ScientificAmerican #sciencejournalism #copyeditor
#ScientificAmerican #sciencejournalism #copyeditor
The first planets outside of our solar system were discovered 33 years ago. Now more than 6,000 have been found
Want to Get Away? NASA Now Offers More Than 6,000 Alien Worlds to Daydream About
It’s a crowded galaxy, the latest exoplanet tally shows
www.scientificamerican.com
September 19, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The first planets outside of our solar system were discovered 33 years ago. Now more than 6,000 have been found
Reposted by Emily Makowski
You absolutely need to know about this fish that has Forehead Sex Teeth 🧪
Behold the Gloriously Weird Spotted Ratfish. It Has Teeth on Its Forehead for Sex
Researchers have finally traced the origin of the spotted ratfish’s bizarre forehead teeth, which are used for mating
www.scientificamerican.com
September 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
You absolutely need to know about this fish that has Forehead Sex Teeth 🧪
Reposted by Emily Makowski
“Florida is the first state to take the courageous step toward decluttering itself of excess children,” @petridishes.bsky.social writes on the state’s elimination of vaccine mandates. “No price is too high to pay in this pointless war.”
Florida Decided There Were Too Many Children
The state’s elimination of vaccine mandates is a courageous first step toward decluttering itself of any excess kids.
bit.ly
September 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
“Florida is the first state to take the courageous step toward decluttering itself of excess children,” @petridishes.bsky.social writes on the state’s elimination of vaccine mandates. “No price is too high to pay in this pointless war.”
Reposted by Emily Makowski
I wrote about how Hurricane Katrina helped spur pretty remarkable improvements in hurricane forecasts since 20 years ago and how current and planned budget cuts by the Trump administration to research could set us back.
Katrina Helped Revolutionize Hurricane Forecasting. Budget Cuts May Set Us Back
Hurricane forecasts have made huge leaps since Katrina hit 20 years ago, but that progress is threatened by Trump administration cuts to research
www.scientificamerican.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I wrote about how Hurricane Katrina helped spur pretty remarkable improvements in hurricane forecasts since 20 years ago and how current and planned budget cuts by the Trump administration to research could set us back.
Did you know that the width of the cone on a forecast is the same for every hurricane in a given season (it's based on average error), and it represents where the center will go 2/3 of the time? Honestly had no idea & it changes how I view these maps www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
When a Hurricane Is Raging, Here’s What the Forecast Actually Means
Hurricane forecasts feature a “cone of uncertainty,” but what is it actually showing? Scientific American breaks it down for you
www.scientificamerican.com
August 21, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Did you know that the width of the cone on a forecast is the same for every hurricane in a given season (it's based on average error), and it represents where the center will go 2/3 of the time? Honestly had no idea & it changes how I view these maps www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
This new moon is only six miles wide! www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
Meet Uranus’s Newly Discovered Moon, One So Small That You Could Walk around It
Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, scientists have spotted a moon nestled near Uranus’s rings that’s so small you could walk around it
www.scientificamerican.com
August 19, 2025 at 8:43 PM
This new moon is only six miles wide! www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa...
Our new digital-only August issue is all about bird flu: www.scientificamerican.com/issue/digita...
Bird Flu Volume 2, Issue 1
"Bird Flu, Salmonella and Other Health Risks from Raw Eggs Explained", "How to Protect Pets and Backyard Chickens from Bird Flu", "How Influenza Reassortment May Make Bird Flu More Dangerous" and more
www.scientificamerican.com
July 15, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Our new digital-only August issue is all about bird flu: www.scientificamerican.com/issue/digita...
"The minuscule savings achieved from the proposed cuts to science research won't be felt in the average taxpayer's pocketbook. But the cuts will hurt us. They will hurt us now and for generations to come." www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Science Makes the U.S. a Great Nation
History tells us what happens when great nations attack science
www.scientificamerican.com
July 8, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"The minuscule savings achieved from the proposed cuts to science research won't be felt in the average taxpayer's pocketbook. But the cuts will hurt us. They will hurt us now and for generations to come." www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Thousands of federal grants have been terminated, effectively cutting lifesaving research and the careers of people behind the work. Read their stories, thoughtfully written by @rachelnuwer.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Early-Career Researchers Reflect on the Emotional and Societal Fallout of Trump’s Funding Cuts
Canceled grants and slashed budgets are disproportionately affecting junior health researchers, dealing a major blow to the future of science and society in the U.S.
www.scientificamerican.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Thousands of federal grants have been terminated, effectively cutting lifesaving research and the careers of people behind the work. Read their stories, thoughtfully written by @rachelnuwer.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Yeah. The thing that worries me most is that these models were taught to be convincing before they were taught to be right.
June 19, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Yeah. The thing that worries me most is that these models were taught to be convincing before they were taught to be right.
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Emily Makowski
Adriana Smith didn't "give birth." She was dead. A baby was harvested from her. It's grotesque what was done to her.
June 17, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Adriana Smith didn't "give birth." She was dead. A baby was harvested from her. It's grotesque what was done to her.
old cookbooks never fail to amuse me. tomato sauce and Sprite?? this had to have been a vehicle for alcohol, right?
May 23, 2025 at 8:16 PM
old cookbooks never fail to amuse me. tomato sauce and Sprite?? this had to have been a vehicle for alcohol, right?
Reposted by Emily Makowski
May 22, 2025 at 2:39 AM