Behind the popular Instagram that’s making science too lit to quit There’s a certain cell in the testes that looks like a black hole in outer space. I’ll give you time to read that again. The Sertoli cell in the testes, when illuminated under a microscope, does indeed resemble the Event Horizon Telescope’s internet-breaking black hole photo. You’ll find this and other light-up delights on @Immunofluorescence, an Instagram account with over 25 thousand followers that…

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You and I are utterly reliant on muscle cells. Every movement, every breath, every heartbeat can only happen because of the exquisite coordination of millions of microscopic, twitching machines. Did you know that heart muscle cells, given the right conditions, will continue to beat even outside of your body? If you get a chance to look at them under a microscope, to see them up close, separated from the human body but still twitching away,…

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“Some kind of invisible matter is having a gravitational effect on everything. Without the gravity of this dark matter, galaxies would fly apart. Observational data in astroparticle physics indicate that it exists, but so far dark matter hasn’t been directly detected. Given the contours of such an unknown, artists Nadia Lichtig, Josèfa Ntjam, Anne Riley and Jol Thoms reflect on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of physics and art as diverse and interrelating practices of knowledge.…

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Name: Lukas Milanak Which came first in your life, the science or the art? I think my interest in the natural sciences stems from early experiences exploring the overgrown fields and forests near my home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I grew up reading National Geographic and watching Bill Nye after school. I want a similar, childlike sense of discovery present in my work and practice today. Firefly Lantern (2020) by Lukas Milanak, handblown glass, electronics, wood,…

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Welcome to the field the world doesn’t know it needs Imagine, if you will, a humungous jumble of puzzle pieces. There are no corners in sight, you don’t know how many you’re supposed to have, plus, you’re missing the picture on the box, so you can’t even tell what’s meant to emerge from this chaos. Enter Shehryar (“Shay”) Saharan. Not only will he solve the puzzle for you, but he’ll make it look easy. Saharan…

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We all know about the birds and the bees…and how they pollinate flowers! But what about flies? What about the tricks they all play? There’s a ton of research flying to the surface about various pollinators and their relationships with plants, and Loy Xingwen is spreading the word through comics. “Science seeks to provide us with the information we need to make good decisions. But you can’t ‘inform’ people into action,” says Loy. “To make…

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Name: Thomas Feuerstein Which came first in your life, the science or the art? Art and science ultimately ask the same questions: What is life? What determines our life socially, biologically, technically, and economically? However, the methods of art and science differ significantly in their implementation. Art is allowed to bring threads of different disciplines together in a transdisciplinary way and to explore stories speculatively, beyond the present, into a possible future. I am interested…

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Can’t Picture the Future? Sofie Shen Can Help. Here’s something you might not think to do with your spare time: give NASA a hand by teaching a computer how to find Swiss cheese on Mars. For Sofie Shen, a visual development artist from Pasadena, California, this and other space-related pursuits come naturally. Shen is on a mission to bridge the gap between science and art. Her illustrations and designs transform space exploration from something abstract…

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The world is a very different place than it was in 2016 when we last caught up with Anna Dumitriu, an internationally renowned bioartist whose expansive portfolio touches on issues surrounding infectious disease, synthetic biology, and robotics. Dumitriu’s exploration of these topics is especially poignant today as the world continues to grapple with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the unexpected knock-on effects on other diseases like tuberculosis and cholera, and an increasingly uncertain future. In this…

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Marney McDiarmid is a ceramic artist based in Kingston, Ontario who takes inspiration from the natural environment. Last year, she traveled to Hawaii to learn about the different islands’ threatened endemic plant species. On the island of Oahu, she met a group of environmentalists who, on a six-acre plot of land in the Manoa Valley, work tirelessly to preserve some of Hawaii’s native plants. In the six years that they have cultivated these plants and…

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