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Michael Greshko

@michaelgreshko.bsky.social
1.9K followers 958 following 502 posts

Associate online news editor @Science. Words at Rolling Stone, NYT, SciAm, WaPo, etc. Ex-staff writer at Nat Geo. Signal: mgreshko.01 linktr.ee/michaelgreshko

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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
BEHOLD: the first-ever glowing cuttlefish! 🧪🦑🧪🦑 It's the first successful insertion of a gene into a cephalopod, opening up new ways of studying them. It took @tessamontague.bsky.social years—and 1000s of tries—to pull it off. @sarareardon.bsky.social has the story: www.science.org/content/arti...
Glowing red cuttlefish on a black background
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026
New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:
science.org
NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding
Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Interjecting here: the way to think about the cipher is as a proof of concept for one way of reconciling the statistics of Voynichese (which are weird!) with those of normal Latin. But there’s quite a bit about the manuscript that the Naibbe cipher as presented in this paper doesn’t replicate.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You’re braver than me.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
And for years, researchers have called folia 75–84 the “biological section” because the pools, tubes, etc. kind of resemble organs. Some folks have interpreted the image on the top of this page as possibly depicting a uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries: www.jasondavies.com/voynich/#f77...
jasondavies.com
Voyage the Voynich Manuscript
Voynich Manuscript Viewer by Jason Davies.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
On top of everything Claire says here, the core idea—that the manuscript’s visuals may connect to matters of sex and women’s health—is not even new! This paper, by Keagan Brewer and Michelle Lewis, came out two years ago: academic.oup.com/shm/article-... theconversation.com/for-600-year...
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Putting on my hobbyist researcher hat for a moment, this thread is everything that needs to be said about the Voynich kerfuffle on TikTok, from a leading expert on the linguistic properties of the manuscript.
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Claire @chirila.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'm not on TikTok or (much) on Instagram so what I've seen about the recent Voynich "solution" comes from comments here. As @lizfischer0.bsky.social and @keptsimple.bsky.social and others have pointed out, women have been studying the MS for ages!
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In today's weird news, the fast food chain Wendy's has released...an emo album, with top-flight songwriters and singers: open.spotify.com/album/4q4KzQ... Remarkably, this is NOT the first hamburger-related food brand to release a surprisingly competent album! soundcloud.com/hamburgerhel...
soundcloud.com
WATCH THE STOVE
Hottest mixtape in the kitchens.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
web.archive.org/web/20220705...
web.archive.org
Wayback Machine
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
An update @koppenburg.ch! A week and a half in, and the arXiv is humming with theoretical takes on LZ230616.
Chart showing cumulative arXiv preprints mentioning "LUX-ZEPLIN," by original submission date. Light blue curve begins in bottom left on October 7, 2013, the first preprint submission date, and curves to the top right to a count of 130 total preprints by July 27, 2026. A solid black diamond at coordinates (9/1/2026, 131) denotes the announcement date of LZ230613, the candidate dark matter detection event. From September 1, 2026, to September 10, 2026 inclusive, an additional 44 preprints mentioning LUX-ZEPLIN have been posted, nearly all of which are dark matter theory papers.
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Joshua Sokol @joshuasokol.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
It was only in April that I covered similar, but less formal conversations happening in astrophysics. It's wild how fast these "why are we even doing this?" discussions are moving. Also wild: the comparative clarity and force of this statement from the Fields Medalists.
science.org
Amid a flood of AI advances, astrophysicists are questioning the soul of their field
Researchers see enormous power in new tools—but also the potential end of astrophysics as a human endeavor
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Science Magazine @science.org · 09/09/2026
OpenAI claims it has solved the Navier-Stokes problem. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s known so far about this apparent breakthrough—and the surrounding controversy: scim.ag/4ytDoM0
How an AI math breakthrough ignited a controversy
OpenAI spent millions to solve Navier-Stokes problem, but who should get credit?
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
So if you were going to do that kind of analysis, you'd want to pair it with paleographic and art-historical analyses, to tease out those distinctions as potentially different phases of the manuscript's production cycle.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Potentially, though that will depend on other constraints. For example, by the late medieval / early modern period, there was enough of a regional trade in certain kinds of parchment that the parchment might be made in one place and written on in another.
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The Xylom @thexylom.com · 03/09/2026
BREAKING: The Xylom's @alexip718.com, in collaboration with @floodlightnews.org @drilledmedia.bsky.social @deceleration.news has won an Online Journalism Award for Excellence in Science Reporting (Small/Medium Newsroom) with the series, ‘All Hell Breaks Loose’: How Big Oil Ruined a Small Texas Town
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
🧪 Very cool. Sheeppox is a gnarly virus for sheep, and thanks to a new study of the virus's DNA, we know more about when and how it emerged. How do we know this? Researchers isolated sheeppox from *medieval sheepskin parchment.* A fun one from @andrewcurry.com. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Ancient sheep virus found hiding in medieval parchment
Newly recovered sheeppox sequences reveal when and how the virus emerged
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
So far, so good. The real test will be what happens over the next week, as Week 1 seems to have been when the LHC diphoton excess in 2015 accumulated a lot of preprints quickly. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/750_GeV...
en.wikipedia.org
750 GeV diphoton excess - Wikipedia
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Patrick Koppenburg 🐧 @koppenburg.ch · 02/09/2026
hep-ph is quite @lzdarkmatter.bsky.social heavy today 🚑⚛️
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
You're very welcome!
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This type of dark matter (DM) detector is premised on a DM particle making itself known by *rarely* colliding with an atomic nucleus. So this class of detector carefully monitors a target with lots of big nuclei in it: a tank of super-chilled liquid xenon. This one has the most xenon (7 tonnes).
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Amazing. I mean, when inspiration strikes, it strikes
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
As for this one, my understanding is there are many WIMP models in which low-energy recoils would be suppressed but recoils of ~250 keV would not be. So it wouldn't surprise me if people speedily plugged this point into their existing models and cranked out a bunch of short papers.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
For the diphoton excess? My memory is too fuzzy to say for certain; I just remember there being an awful lot of papers in short order, helpfully confirmed by an intrepid Wikipedia contributor who charted the relevant arXiv submissions: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/750_GeV...
en.wikipedia.org
750 GeV diphoton excess - Wikipedia
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
🧪 I cannot wait to see what happens on the arXiv in the next 24 hours, in light of the LZ announcement today. I remember the LHC diphoton excess well; many an ambulance was chased.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Well, that was quick! Not on the arXiv quite yet, but you can see the preprint here: lz.lbl.gov/wp-content/u...
lz.lbl.gov
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The preprint version of the paper can be viewed here: lz.lbl.gov/wp-content/u...
lz.lbl.gov
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
It's my understanding that a preprint version of the paper itself will be hitting the arXiv soon, as prepared for submission to PRL.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
BREAKING: The world's most sensitive dark matter detector has announced it has spotted something it can't easily explain: a single event that's tantalizingly consistent with a type of theorized dark matter particle. Very early days yet, but pretty wild. 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
World’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle
It’s far too early to declare a discovery, physicists with the LZ detector say
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
BREAKING: The world's most sensitive dark matter detector has announced it has spotted something it can't easily explain: a single event that's tantalizingly consistent with a type of theorized dark matter particle. Very early days yet, but pretty wild. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
World’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle
It’s far too early to declare a discovery, physicists with the LZ detector say
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Arun Sharma @arunsharmaphd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
In today’s edition of @science.org Magazine, @michaelgreshko.bsky.social expertly highlights the potential of in-space biomanufacturing.🚀 Some (entertaining!) quotes from our team at Cedars-Sinai and from friends and colleagues working in this rapidly growing field. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Dreams of making drugs and tissues in space get closer to reality
Maturing techniques and cheaper launches fuel microgravity research—and hopes of orbital manufacturing
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The Open Notebook @theopennotebook.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Subrahmanyam gets perspectives from @janeqiu.bsky.social, @katarinazimmer.bsky.social, @michaelgreshko.bsky.social, Bianca Bosker, @leahc.bsky.social, Paulina Rowińska, @walkingthedot.bsky.social, and @vcallier.bsky.social. Read here: www.theopennotebook.com/2026/08/18/h...
theopennotebook.com
https://www.theopennotebook.com/2026/08/18/how-to-write-about-scientific-debates/
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The Egyptian: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egy... Like Camelot, it'd be structured in flashback.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
My strong hunch is, Lane wrote it with considerable help from an AI chatbot. Take a spin through the website: www.soundofamericamusical.com
soundofamericamusical.com
The Sound of America — A New Ben Franklin Rock Musical
FringeArts, Philadelphia. July 1 – August 1, 2026. Part of Philly250.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
It was 545 views when I stumbled upon this last night. I probably account for a healthy fraction of the extra 21 views. As a working journalist and longtime musical theatre fan, I'd love to write several thousand words on "The Sound of America." It says so much about the whole situation.
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Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“The investigation suggests the group embraced a dubious approach to identifying protective mutations, improperly changed patient data to tease provocative findings from Christchurch carriers, and published multiple papers containing suspect or copied images.” More trouble in Alzheimer research…🧪
science.org
Science investigation casts doubt on genes hailed for warding off Alzheimer’s disease
Mutations found in Colombian families raised hopes for treatments. Altered patient data and suspect images call their benefits into question
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
BREAKING: Mutations found in Colombian families raised hopes for new Alzheimer's treatments. Altered patient data and suspect images call these mutations' benefits into question, a major new @science.org investigation reveals. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Science investigation casts doubt on genes hailed for warding off Alzheimer’s disease
Mutations found in Colombian families raised hopes for treatments. Altered patient data and suspect images call their benefits into question
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
In case you'd like to learn more about "The Sound of America," the Benjamin Franklin rock musical written by Forbes's ex-chief content officer, wonder no more! Forbes staged a multi-song preview of the show last month: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceGr...
youtube.com
Forbes Self-Made 250 Exclusive Preview: Sound of America
YouTube video by Forbes
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
A wild, unfortunate story. As a magazine journalist with a soft spot for musical theatre, I simply must listen to "The Sound of America."
Mr. Lane is now focusing on his own projects. In 2023, he co-founded the National Thoroughbred League, a competitive horseracing association. And this summer, he mounted a rock musical he wrote about Benjamin Franklin titled “The Sound of America” in Philadelphia that cast the founding father as “America’s first rock star.” It finished its debut run this month.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
It was a pleasure to edit this story from @andrewcurry.com on a remarkable archaeological find in Scotland.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
As insightful as I found this piece, it was genuinely jarring to see no mention of climate change anywhere in it, even though EV policy is *climate* policy. Passenger vehicles account for ~16% of US energy consumption (see pg 51 here): tedb.ornl.gov/wp-content/u... www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/m...
nytimes.com
The American E.V. Has Been Crushed. Will It Take the U.S. Auto Industry With It?
The largest U.S. automakers have backed away from electric vehicles, even as global sales are booming. The decision may make them obsolete.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Broadening to “movies about recent zoo acquisitions,” there is another: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fierce_...
en.wikipedia.org
Fierce Creatures - Wikipedia
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
It would be a fun exercise to calculate the clustering of aphelia and the implied mass and orbit of the Planet Nine-like perturber. Presumably a smallish black hole?
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is a really stark, and smart, framing of how much Americans now bet on sports. And as the article elaborates on, this headline actually *undersells* it. Movies, art, museums, and music now combine for $70 billion/yr—which is *less than half* of US sports bets (>$166 billion in 2025).
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I keep drafting a post, backspacing it, and re-drafting it. The industry feels more and more like a nightmarish game of musical chairs. In NatGeo’s case, I know the layoffs are in the dozens across TV, editorial & operations. Some probably will get rehired into altered roles post-reorg. Many won’t.
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
That’s a fair point. Even so, I consider it to be the most interesting recent work on the Rohonc Codex, and again, I don’t think it’s settled enough to consider it “solved.”
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
I agree that what they have published to date is insufficient to consider the Rohonc Codex “solved.” I am also grouping in Rafał Miazga’s work, which by his own telling has converged with theirs. zenodo.org/records/1836...
zenodo.org
Proposed Reading of The Rohonc Codex
The text presents my solution of the Rohonc Codex - an old manuscript written in an unknown script. It included analysis of the used script and language and proposed reading of 99% of pages in the Cod...
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Michael Greshko @michaelgreshko.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
To chime in here, one decent analogue is the Rohonc Codex, found in Hungary in the 19th century. There is credible, ongoing research suggesting it is a Catholic breviary written in an idiosyncratic code system. But I don’t think that’s settled enough to say it’s definitively “solved.”
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 23/07/2026
A couple paid more than $800,000 for a gene-editing therapy for their daughter. She died, and it wasn’t made public. An exclusive from us and @science.org.
science.org
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
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Reposted by Michael Greshko
John Travis @john-travis.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
@science.org and @retractionwatch.com partner on a feature today on a clinical trial death that's the saddest, and longest, science story I've edited. But it's also one of the best IMO. Beautifully written and reported by @bborrell.bsky.social We’re grateful to the parents of "Mei" 1/
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