Knowable Magazine

Sound science, smart stories. Knowable Magazine is a nonprofit, mission-driven publication that seeks to make scientific knowledge accessible to all. Free to read, republish and share. An editorially independent journalistic endeavor published by Annual Reviews (npub1qmk…jye6)

Website: https://knowablemagazine.org/
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Last Notes

2025-12-07 16:00:46 UTC

Early in evolution, we animals lost the ability to manufacture nine of the 20 building blocks needed to make proteins. Herbivores evolved an impressive array of tricks to ensure their dietary needs are met.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2025/how-herbivores-get-their-essential-amino-acids
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2025-08-23 13:18:07 UTC

How the cavefish lost its eyes — again and again 👀
Although eye development commences in cavefish embryos, the process ultimately stalls.
Early on, there are clear differences in the activity patterns of genes (top image) involved in eye development.
As a result, in cavefish embryos, the optic vesicle from which the eye develops is always smaller.
Some 24 hours into development, the cells in the eye lens and the optic cup that usually becomes the rest of the eye start to die.
(🧵 1/2)
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2025-08-21 00:00:10 UTC

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech.
✍️ Betsy Mason
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2022/do-birds-have-language
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2025-07-16 00:34:08 UTC

A better understanding of human smell is emerging as scientists interrogate its fundamental elements: the odor molecules that enter your nose and the individual neurons that translate them into perception in your brain 🧠
✍️ Yasemin Saplakoglu, @npub10v3…3j5v
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-smell-guides-our-inner-world-20250703/
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2025-05-24 17:00:58 UTC

A rift in thinking about who should control powerful new technologies sent the brothers on diverging paths. For one, the story ended with a mission to bring science to the public.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/atomic-bomb-tested-brotherly-bonds-oppenheimer
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2025-05-21 16:05:59 UTC

👀 On our radar: $1,000-a-day cancer drug costs 25 cents to make
💬 “That steep tab has put the drug’s lifesaving potential out of reach for some cancer patients, who have been forced into debt or simply stopped taking the drug. The price also helps fuel our ballooning insurance premiums.”
✍️ David Armstrong, @npub1qmg…s6k5
🔗 https://www.propublica.org/article/revlimid-price-cancer-celgene-drugs-fda-multiple-myeloma

2025-04-26 01:00:35 UTC

As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning.
📝 Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Ars Technica.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/ghost-forests-are-growing-as-sea-levels-rise/
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2025-04-26 00:34:05 UTC

Most amphibians aren’t exactly doting parents. Yet in as many as one in five amphibian species, one or both parents stick around to care for their offspring, using a staggering variety of strategies.
So — what makes an exemplary amphibian parent?
Much remains to be discovered, but some common principles have emerged.
👉 https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/the-amphibians-that-evolved-parental-care

2025-04-16 16:01:59 UTC

Over the last couple of hundred years, linguists have figured out a lot about the first Indo-European language, including many of the words it used and some of the grammatical rules that governed it.
Along the way, they’ve come up with theories about who its original speakers were, where and how they lived, and how their language spread so widely.
🔗: https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/origin-spread-indo-european-languages
#KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon #LInguistics

2025-04-16 14:05:31 UTC

In a world where misinformation spreads like weeds, our skilled science journalists counter lies with carefully reported and thoroughly fact-checked stories, backed by expert sources.
At Knowable Magazine, we depend on steady, recurring donations to keep our operations hardy and resilient. We’re aiming for 50 new monthly donors.
Will you help us build a better future for science journalism by becoming a sustaining member?
👉 https://knowablemagazine.org/support-knowable-magazine
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2025-04-16 00:34:11 UTC

Some linguists who analyze spoken language say interjections like “hmm,” “pff,” and “ach” offer insights into what makes complex language possible.
📝 Learn more about this in our recent article republished by SAPIENS.
https://www.sapiens.org/language/linguistics-interjections-conversation-flow/
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2025-04-15 15:01:24 UTC

👀 On our radar: Great coffee with fewer beans ☕
💬 “Physicists have discovered a technique that can produce the perfect cup of coffee with up to 10 percent fewer beans.”
✍️ @npub1r3t…9t86, @npub1rx2…kamt
🔗 https://www.newscientist.com/article/2475363-how-to-make-great-coffee-with-fewer-beans-according-to-science/
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2025-04-07 15:00:15 UTC

Of the roughly 1 million named insect species on Earth, about 400,000 are beetles.
And that’s just the beetles described so far. Scientists typically describe thousands of new species each year.
So — why so many beetle species?
Entomologist Caroline Chaboo: “We don’t know the precise answer.”
But clues are emerging.
🔗 "Why are there so many beetle species?" https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/why-are-there-so-many-types-of-beetles
#KnowableMagazine #ScienceMastodon #entomology

2025-03-22 17:00:05 UTC

As glacial cliffs break off and destabilize frozen landscapes, glaciologist Richard Alley focuses on the fractures. The work could improve predictions about future sea-level rise. #WorldWaterDay 💧
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2023/race-to-understand-polar-ice-sheets
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2025-01-27 03:00:02 UTC

Our collective arachnid aversion could be causing us to overlook something even scarier: Spiders may be disappearing.
#WorldEnvironmentalEducationDay
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2023/everyone-should-start-counting-spiders
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2024-12-04 00:59:52 UTC

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Thank you so much for the shoutout! Our goal this year is to raise $20,000, which is enough to cover half a year of fact-checking. We're already off to a great start, and you can contribute here: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/knowable-magazine-2024/

2024-11-28 11:00:13 UTC

The same taste receptors found on the tongue are in the stomach, intestines and elsewhere, too. What are they doing there? Well, a lot.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2018/gut-feelings
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2024-11-08 12:00:02 UTC

A parasitic fungus takes over the brains of flies and controls them for its own sinister ends. Here’s the science behind the horror. Learn more about this in our recent article republished by Popular Science.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/zombie-insect-fungus/
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2024-11-06 23:00:26 UTC

#COMIC: Using tools from fields like fluid dynamics to better understand how groups of people move around can improve flow and make large gatherings safer.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/using-physics-to-understand-behavior-of-human-crowds
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2024-11-03 20:00:11 UTC

Scientists are scouring garbage sites around the world for bacteria, fungi and even insects that harbor enzymes that could be harnessed for breaking down various polymers. It’s early days, but if the efforts can be efficiently scaled-up, such biological recycling could put a dent in the plastic waste problem.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/food-environment/2023/how-to-recycle-plastic-with-enzymes
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2024-10-25 12:00:06 UTC

In promising experiments, phage therapy forces bacteria into a no-win dilemma that lowers their defenses against drugs they’d evolved to withstand.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/health-disease/2024/phage-therapy-helps-to-fight-antibiotic-resistance
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2024-10-24 02:00:09 UTC

Specialized glass that keeps heat in during winter and lets it out during summer could make buildings much more efficient — if costs and complexities don’t get in the way.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/technology/2022/how-smart-windows-save-energy
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2024-10-17 22:00:01 UTC

In the upcoming international competition, people with physical disabilities put state-of-the-art devices to the test as they race to complete the tasks of everyday life.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/technology/2024/cybathlon-competition-bionic-athletes-use-assistive-tech
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2024-09-25 21:16:33 UTC

Soldiering through nightly suspended animation, a (nearly) all-sugar diet, backwards flight and long migrations, the birds’ tiny physiques prove mighty
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2024/how-hummingbirds-adapt-to-an-extreme-lifestyle
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2024-09-21 15:00:04 UTC

Most of today’s psychotherapies are grounded in Western values. Researchers hope that tailoring treatments to patients’ cultural backgrounds will improve mental health outcomes.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/mind/2023/better-therapy-asian-americans
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2024-09-18 13:00:03 UTC

The first tests of optical communications far from Earth will take place aboard the asteroid-bound 'Psyche' spacecraft.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/physical-world/2023/why-nasa-is-turning-to-lasers-next-gen-space-comms
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2024-08-27 16:00:23 UTC

We need new fuels to transport people and goods around the globe as society moves away from coal, natural gas and oil. Here’s how things are shaping up.
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/technology/2024/decarbonization-of-transportation-predictions
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