Leonie Mercedes
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leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Leonie Mercedes
@leoniemercedes.bsky.social
160 followers 340 following 84 posts
Science writer, doodler, nerd. she/her.

Get a weekly drop of science and silliness, every Friday: https://kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com
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leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Your regular reminder to rinse and give your cavolo nero a little shake before you cook it, in case it’s harbouring one of these

@royentsoc.bsky.social, what is this guy?
October 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Was delighted to discover this titbit about Tom Lehrer, the mathematician who put the chemical elements to music:

(Original article here: www.economist.com/prospero/201...)
A screenshotted part of an article that reads: When 2 Chainz, a rapper, asked to sample “The Old Dope Peddler” in one of his tracks, Mr Lehrer was keen to help. “I grant you motherfuckers permission to do this,” he supposedly answered. “Please give my regards to Mr Chainz, or may I call him 2?”
October 13, 2025 at 9:45 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Asian elephants work out we’re paying attention to them by observing how our face and body are oriented: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#scicomm 🧪
Two images sit side by side: one shows a TV screen with the word “Netflix” on it with a male viewer in the foreground and a brick wall in the background, while the other shows an advancing Asian elephant with vegetation in the background. Each has the caption: “big, long memory, knows when you’re watching”.
October 5, 2025 at 8:02 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
This week's newsletter lands in about 5 minutes! This week's edition features:

✂️ A couple of Galileo's severed fingers
📐 That time trigonometry saved farmers' bacon
🌿 The scientific reason why those who like coriander are wrong

Subscribe here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/subscribe

#science 🧪
September 19, 2025 at 2:57 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
#Onthisday in 1888, Bertha Benz took the first ever long-distance car journey.

She solved snags as they arose, using a hat pin to clear a blockage, and replacing the brake blocks with leather, effectively inventing brake pads.

More here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/live-from-...

#histsci
A crudely assembled image of an old motor car, which looks like little more than two bicycles with a seat in the middle, upon a background of a rolling German countryside with different trees. In the foreground is an autobahn sign along with another sign that reads “Nope no autobahn yet. Come back in 40+ years. Danke.”
August 5, 2025 at 9:27 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
The teaser from last week's newsletter.

Get the answer here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/neurotic-r...
The following text on a purple background: Under what system does mathematics = DX, logic = CLX, and medicine = DCX?
August 1, 2025 at 9:54 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
In this week's newsletter, why some astronomers thought there were canals on Mars as late as the 1950s: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/neurotic-r... #histsci #mars
Crudely assembled image of a magnifying glass hovering over the planet Mars showing a Venetian vista complete with canals and gondolas through the lens
July 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
In 1955, a researcher flew bees from a lab in Paris to an identical lab in New York to test their sense of time.

Find out what happened when they arrived: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/space-rice...

#histsci #bees #scienceexperiments
A crudely assembled image of nine flying bees in the foreground, each with a tiny yellow alarm clock hovering over its head, and an out-of-focus New York skyline in the background
July 25, 2025 at 9:31 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Here’s the brainteaser from last week’s newsletter. It was teamed with the 1930 Times #crossword clue:

Sounds like a curious song (6)

Answer here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/dog-tv-dri...
The following text, on a purple background: "A 1969 song soundtracked the first music video shot in space. What is the second word in its title?"
July 24, 2025 at 9:03 AM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Here's a little brainteaser from the newsletter archive.

Find the answer here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/cosplaying...
White text on a deep purple background, reading: "What vehicle, unveiled in 1976, would have been named "Constitution" if it weren't for a campaign by Star Trek fans?"
July 2, 2025 at 4:48 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Discover…

🦄 how a “unicorn” was made on a farm in 1936
✈️ the 10-month, 15,000-mile journey of a swift compressed into 48 seconds
🍫 the median survival time of a chocolate on a hospital ward...

…in this week’s newsletter, now live! Find it here: kicksfromscience.beehiiv.com/p/unicorns-q...
A black cow with a fake green horn turns toward the camera from the left, in front of about a dozen cows in the background, a Maine farm with farmhouse and wind turbines in the distance.
May 12, 2025 at 2:33 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
One line stuck out in @theguardian.com's write-up of John Prescott's funeral
A screenshot of an article that reads: "What a guy," said Robert Blurton, known as Bobster, a retired floor fitter. "When he twatted that guy who threw the egg at him, that was demon."
January 30, 2025 at 7:18 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
Here is this week's brainteaser (first clue incoming):
A screenshot of a newsletter reads: *thinking face emoji* until next week... How did a machine designed to get people drunk become an engine for mass communication?
November 25, 2024 at 4:20 PM
leoniemercedes.bsky.social
That felt good
A screenshot of Twitter's settings screen, reading: Deactivated. Your account is deactivated. Sorry to see you go. #GoodBye
November 20, 2024 at 9:17 PM