Ivan Amato
@ivanamato.bsky.social
Science writer, sometime poet, crystal photomicrographer, wannabe novelist, hanging in there
Scenes from Analgesia. Recrystallized onto a microscope slide from a solution in ethanol, aspirin (aka acetylsalicylic acid, aka C9H8O4) assumed many arresting forms. Here's one scene from the slide that caught my eye. It covers an area the size of a teeny pill suitable for a chipmunk.
November 15, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Scenes from Analgesia. Recrystallized onto a microscope slide from a solution in ethanol, aspirin (aka acetylsalicylic acid, aka C9H8O4) assumed many arresting forms. Here's one scene from the slide that caught my eye. It covers an area the size of a teeny pill suitable for a chipmunk.
Amino Acid Thicketry. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal, a worthy spirit, into a composition of embellished stalks. The area shown is the size of a bee's eye.
November 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Amino Acid Thicketry. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal, a worthy spirit, into a composition of embellished stalks. The area shown is the size of a bee's eye.
Nothing like a godawful gastro prep for a routine medical screening with an oral solution of sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate. I saved enough to run some crystallization experiments. Here are two of the results. The area of each image is comparable in size to this letter O.
November 12, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Nothing like a godawful gastro prep for a routine medical screening with an oral solution of sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate. I saved enough to run some crystallization experiments. Here are two of the results. The area of each image is comparable in size to this letter O.
Citric acid (a chemical in your cells & perhaps among your cooking supplies) along with the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized from a solution in mezcal (a handy alcohol solvent) into some arresting forms onto one of my microscope slides. This butterfly-esque beauty could fit within a printed U.
November 9, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Citric acid (a chemical in your cells & perhaps among your cooking supplies) along with the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized from a solution in mezcal (a handy alcohol solvent) into some arresting forms onto one of my microscope slides. This butterfly-esque beauty could fit within a printed U.
Crystal Leaves. A combination of citric acid (a player in the metabolic process in your cells and a kitchen ingredient) and the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized together (from a solution in Mezcal!) onto a microscope slide into a leafy microscape that would fit on the underbelly of a ladybug.
November 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Crystal Leaves. A combination of citric acid (a player in the metabolic process in your cells and a kitchen ingredient) and the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized together (from a solution in Mezcal!) onto a microscope slide into a leafy microscape that would fit on the underbelly of a ladybug.
As the leafy signs of Autumn fall from the sky, I am reminded of this series of crystal photomicrographs that I gathered from a slide on which I recrystallized sugar (sucrose) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). The area in each image would just about fit within a printed O.
November 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
As the leafy signs of Autumn fall from the sky, I am reminded of this series of crystal photomicrographs that I gathered from a slide on which I recrystallized sugar (sucrose) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). The area in each image would just about fit within a printed O.
A joyous Halloween to ye all! I am a Golem of sorts, hewn in acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, that is) dissolved in a most inebriating spirit and resurrected (onto a glass slide no less!) into this ghoulish form, albeit the size of a peppercorn. Don't stare too long lest the bad things will happen.
October 31, 2025 at 1:47 PM
A joyous Halloween to ye all! I am a Golem of sorts, hewn in acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, that is) dissolved in a most inebriating spirit and resurrected (onto a glass slide no less!) into this ghoulish form, albeit the size of a peppercorn. Don't stare too long lest the bad things will happen.
Mandala in Micro. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid can crystallize into a diversity of fancy forms. A celebration of form and color. Here's one embodiment, which, because I had forgotten about the glass slide I grew these on, had evolved over time. The minuscule mandala would just about fit inside this O.
October 29, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Mandala in Micro. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid can crystallize into a diversity of fancy forms. A celebration of form and color. Here's one embodiment, which, because I had forgotten about the glass slide I grew these on, had evolved over time. The minuscule mandala would just about fit inside this O.
Imagine my fright when, during a scan of a microscope slide on which I had recrystallized magnesium sulfate (aka Epsom Salt), I happened onto this scary clown masquerading as a Pillsbury Doughboy with a cute hat and big scarf. We might be approaching Halloween, but DO NOT BE FOOLED by this ruse.
October 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Imagine my fright when, during a scan of a microscope slide on which I had recrystallized magnesium sulfate (aka Epsom Salt), I happened onto this scary clown masquerading as a Pillsbury Doughboy with a cute hat and big scarf. We might be approaching Halloween, but DO NOT BE FOOLED by this ruse.
Assuaging Pain. An acetaminophen/codeine pill. DIY 75% ethanol as a solvent for the analgesics and other soluble components of the pill. This is a speck-sized patch of the microscope slide on which I recrystallized the pharma chems. Looks to me like a waterfall lit with dappled sunlight.
October 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Assuaging Pain. An acetaminophen/codeine pill. DIY 75% ethanol as a solvent for the analgesics and other soluble components of the pill. This is a speck-sized patch of the microscope slide on which I recrystallized the pharma chems. Looks to me like a waterfall lit with dappled sunlight.
Here's my latest for Nature Custom Media, a story about "algorithmic efficiency" and how genomic researchers are embracing it to reduce the energy usage of big computations and because, as one source put it, “the Earth is not the price of innovation.”
www.nature.com/articles/d42...
www.nature.com/articles/d42...
Big data, smaller footprint: sustainability in genomics research
Smart algorithms help researchers unlock more from genomic data, with less environmental cost.
www.nature.com
October 24, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Here's my latest for Nature Custom Media, a story about "algorithmic efficiency" and how genomic researchers are embracing it to reduce the energy usage of big computations and because, as one source put it, “the Earth is not the price of innovation.”
www.nature.com/articles/d42...
www.nature.com/articles/d42...
Reposted by Ivan Amato
Love beautiful science art? Like this? 👇 Be sure to sign up for @knowablemag.bsky.social's newsletter, edited every week by @rachelscience.bsky.social 👉 knowablemagazine.org/newsletter-s...
October 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Love beautiful science art? Like this? 👇 Be sure to sign up for @knowablemag.bsky.social's newsletter, edited every week by @rachelscience.bsky.social 👉 knowablemagazine.org/newsletter-s...
A tad of burning-bush gravitas in this image from a sesame-seed-size patch of a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid pair of taurine and threonine.
October 21, 2025 at 1:54 AM
A tad of burning-bush gravitas in this image from a sesame-seed-size patch of a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid pair of taurine and threonine.
Symmetry B12. A crystallization of Vitamin B12 on a microscope slide delivered a delightful showcase of radial formations, like this one. The area on the slide is about the size of honeybee's eyes. Thank you B12 for all you do for my nerve cells and red blood cells.
October 20, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Symmetry B12. A crystallization of Vitamin B12 on a microscope slide delivered a delightful showcase of radial formations, like this one. The area on the slide is about the size of honeybee's eyes. Thank you B12 for all you do for my nerve cells and red blood cells.
Portrait of Pain Relief 3. The active ingredient in Aleve analgesic pills is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. Here's one of the many microscapes I saw. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a praying mantis with forearm pain.
October 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Portrait of Pain Relief 3. The active ingredient in Aleve analgesic pills is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. Here's one of the many microscapes I saw. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a praying mantis with forearm pain.
Portrait of Pain Relief 2. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide and was treated to many microscape surprises like this one. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a butterfly.
October 15, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Portrait of Pain Relief 2. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide and was treated to many microscape surprises like this one. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a butterfly.
Portrait of Pain Relief. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I tried to recrystallize the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. The result was a thicket of thread-like crystals, sometimes organizing into what looks like bunched stalks of dry grass.
October 13, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Portrait of Pain Relief. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I tried to recrystallize the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. The result was a thicket of thread-like crystals, sometimes organizing into what looks like bunched stalks of dry grass.
The pairing of the amino acids alanine and glutamine, when recrystallized from a solution onto a microscope slide, has knack for solidifying into painterly compositions. Like this. Crystal brushstrokes! The actual area of this micropainting might fit inside of this printed O.
October 11, 2025 at 1:52 PM
The pairing of the amino acids alanine and glutamine, when recrystallized from a solution onto a microscope slide, has knack for solidifying into painterly compositions. Like this. Crystal brushstrokes! The actual area of this micropainting might fit inside of this printed O.
Autumnal Hints. This is an image of a crystalline film that grew on one of my microscope slides after I allowed a solution of the amino acids alanine and glutamine to recrystallize on it. Made me think of autumn leaves on the ground. This scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.
October 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Autumnal Hints. This is an image of a crystalline film that grew on one of my microscope slides after I allowed a solution of the amino acids alanine and glutamine to recrystallize on it. Made me think of autumn leaves on the ground. This scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.
What you see...A recrystallization of the amino acid alanine (a molecular building block of our proteins) and citric acid, which helps drive a lot of cellular business and that also adds a nice tang in some recipes. This pretty patch on my microscope slide could fit on the face of a sesame seed.
October 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
What you see...A recrystallization of the amino acid alanine (a molecular building block of our proteins) and citric acid, which helps drive a lot of cellular business and that also adds a nice tang in some recipes. This pretty patch on my microscope slide could fit on the face of a sesame seed.
ICYMI. Here I take color away from your world and then give it back to you.
Color doesn’t exist outside the brain. 🧠
From fruit flies to humans, perception transforms raw light into hues, even nonspectral ones like purple. New work is mapping the neural circuits that make color possible. 🎨
Learn more about color perception in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
From fruit flies to humans, perception transforms raw light into hues, even nonspectral ones like purple. New work is mapping the neural circuits that make color possible. 🎨
Learn more about color perception in the Sept/Oct issue of #PhotonicsFocus!
A most curious absence of color outside your head
Neuroscientists are still working to unravel how humans perceive color.
spie.org
September 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
ICYMI. Here I take color away from your world and then give it back to you.
I love amino acids. They're the building blocks of the proteins in our bodies. Here the amino acid combo of alanine and glutamine recrystallized on a glass microscope slide into billowing formations. The area in the scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.
September 29, 2025 at 12:03 PM
I love amino acids. They're the building blocks of the proteins in our bodies. Here the amino acid combo of alanine and glutamine recrystallized on a glass microscope slide into billowing formations. The area in the scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.
Dissolve the combo of the amino acid alanine and the sweetener stevia in a strong ethanol solution (75% DIY Everclear will do). Recrystallize the solutes on a heated slide. You might get kelpesque formations like this The area here is the size of a guppy's eye.
September 27, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Dissolve the combo of the amino acid alanine and the sweetener stevia in a strong ethanol solution (75% DIY Everclear will do). Recrystallize the solutes on a heated slide. You might get kelpesque formations like this The area here is the size of a guppy's eye.
Two amino acids, threonine and glycine, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal into a tree-ring formation the size of a sesame seed.
September 23, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Two amino acids, threonine and glycine, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal into a tree-ring formation the size of a sesame seed.
Amino Acid ICE. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution into a composition that serves for me as a crystalline metaphor of current affairs.
September 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Amino Acid ICE. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution into a composition that serves for me as a crystalline metaphor of current affairs.