Eva Amsen
@evaamsen.com
Science writer. 🇳🇱🇪🇺in🇬🇧 I write about science in magazines, in a newsletter, in books, on social media and on loose scraps of paper. Also a violinist. 🔬🧬👩💻🎨🎻 🐈 Fun newsletter: https://mixture.substack.com Portfolio: https://evaamsen.com/writing/
This week I’m finally setting aside some time to look at the story analyses in this book. It’s been on or near my desk for months now! www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci... #scicomm
September 15, 2026 at 1:19 PM
This week I’m finally setting aside some time to look at the story analyses in this book. It’s been on or near my desk for months now! www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci... #scicomm
I also don't understand this. Why don't AI CEOs *do* something to *start* the regulation process? When biologists in the 1970s realised that genetic engineering could be dangerous, they collectively stopped their work and started working on guidelines that have since become regulations. Do that!
I keep reading about how all these CEOs of AI-making companies are like "AI needs guardrails!" "We've got to do something!"
Ok. You are the CEOs, and you all agree so do it. Why are you waiting for government to require you to do it? You could just DO IT.
They will not do it.
Ok. You are the CEOs, and you all agree so do it. Why are you waiting for government to require you to do it? You could just DO IT.
They will not do it.
September 14, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I also don't understand this. Why don't AI CEOs *do* something to *start* the regulation process? When biologists in the 1970s realised that genetic engineering could be dangerous, they collectively stopped their work and started working on guidelines that have since become regulations. Do that!
Reposted by Eva Amsen
Warning: our democracy won’t survive the death of reading. Read on if you still can | John Harris
Warning: our democracy won’t survive the death of reading. Read on if you still can | John Harris
While fascists protest in UK ports and purvey nonsense and poison online, ever fewer people have the perspective or analytical tools to challenge them, says Guardian columnist John Harris
www.theguardian.com
September 13, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Warning: our democracy won’t survive the death of reading. Read on if you still can | John Harris
Reposted by Eva Amsen
If you're after a science writer, the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) has a Bluesky starter pack just for you
go.bsky.app/F6bdkUY
go.bsky.app/F6bdkUY
Association of British Science Writers members
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
September 8, 2026 at 8:09 AM
If you're after a science writer, the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) has a Bluesky starter pack just for you
go.bsky.app/F6bdkUY
go.bsky.app/F6bdkUY
Reposted by Eva Amsen
I have an article in the current issue of Earth Island Journal, about the impact that climate change has on schools. Some are prone to flooding, others to heat or wildfires, and it's only getting worse. Find out what's being done and studied about it: www.earthisland.org/journal/inde... #scicomm
Class Interrupted
From Kenya to California, increasingly severe weather is keeping kids out of school.
www.earthisland.org
September 9, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I have an article in the current issue of Earth Island Journal, about the impact that climate change has on schools. Some are prone to flooding, others to heat or wildfires, and it's only getting worse. Find out what's being done and studied about it: www.earthisland.org/journal/inde... #scicomm
I have an article in the current issue of Earth Island Journal, about the impact that climate change has on schools. Some are prone to flooding, others to heat or wildfires, and it's only getting worse. Find out what's being done and studied about it: www.earthisland.org/journal/inde... #scicomm
Class Interrupted
From Kenya to California, increasingly severe weather is keeping kids out of school.
www.earthisland.org
September 9, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I have an article in the current issue of Earth Island Journal, about the impact that climate change has on schools. Some are prone to flooding, others to heat or wildfires, and it's only getting worse. Find out what's being done and studied about it: www.earthisland.org/journal/inde... #scicomm
Reposted by Eva Amsen
UNICEF estimates that climate events disrupted the schooling of 242 million students across 85 countries in 2024.
How educators, administrators, and policymakers address this urgent threat will determine whether today’s youth receive the education — and preparation — that they deserve.
How educators, administrators, and policymakers address this urgent threat will determine whether today’s youth receive the education — and preparation — that they deserve.
Class Interrupted
From Kenya to California, increasingly severe weather is keeping kids out of school.
www.earthisland.org
September 8, 2026 at 10:17 PM
UNICEF estimates that climate events disrupted the schooling of 242 million students across 85 countries in 2024.
How educators, administrators, and policymakers address this urgent threat will determine whether today’s youth receive the education — and preparation — that they deserve.
How educators, administrators, and policymakers address this urgent threat will determine whether today’s youth receive the education — and preparation — that they deserve.
@bethanyblack.bsky.social I hope you’ve seen this! The first line is one of your posts :) vm.tiktok.com/ZN82Nd9R8/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
September 7, 2026 at 1:51 PM
@bethanyblack.bsky.social I hope you’ve seen this! The first line is one of your posts :) vm.tiktok.com/ZN82Nd9R8/
Whatever happened to flying cars? Well, apparently a Dutch company plans to have them in the air by 2028. That's...soon! nltimes.nl/2026/09/07/d...
Dutch PAL-V gets green light to start producing flying car; Could hit the sky in 2028
Dutch company PAL-V is a significant step closer to selling its flying car, the PAL-V Liberty. The European aviation authority EASA has given the company the green light to start production. If all go...
nltimes.nl
September 7, 2026 at 9:50 AM
Whatever happened to flying cars? Well, apparently a Dutch company plans to have them in the air by 2028. That's...soon! nltimes.nl/2026/09/07/d...
I am back from my holiday! Enjoy four random photos of my first trip back to Canada since 2015. It had been waaaaay too long. (For context: I lived in Canada from 2002 to 2010 and in the winter of 2000/2001 so it's a second home. Third home? I don't know how to rank my countries.)
September 7, 2026 at 8:16 AM
I am back from my holiday! Enjoy four random photos of my first trip back to Canada since 2015. It had been waaaaay too long. (For context: I lived in Canada from 2002 to 2010 and in the winter of 2000/2001 so it's a second home. Third home? I don't know how to rank my countries.)
Reposted by Eva Amsen
How best to blow one's nose? The late professor Tokuji Unno detailed some techniques in a 1977 paper, for which he was awarded the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize on Thursday.
Late Japanese researcher wins Ig Nobel Prize for study on blowing one’s nose
Unno was awarded the prize for his 1977 paper, “How to Blow the Nose – An Aerodynamic Study of the Nose Blowing.”
ebx.sh
September 4, 2026 at 10:16 AM
How best to blow one's nose? The late professor Tokuji Unno detailed some techniques in a 1977 paper, for which he was awarded the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize on Thursday.
I’m briefly back in Toronto and the hotel room comes with a record player!
If I know you and you’re in TO, message me for hangout details for Tuesday. Or email eva.amsen [at] gmail [dot] com
If I know you and you’re in TO, message me for hangout details for Tuesday. Or email eva.amsen [at] gmail [dot] com
August 31, 2026 at 9:00 PM
I’m briefly back in Toronto and the hotel room comes with a record player!
If I know you and you’re in TO, message me for hangout details for Tuesday. Or email eva.amsen [at] gmail [dot] com
If I know you and you’re in TO, message me for hangout details for Tuesday. Or email eva.amsen [at] gmail [dot] com
Hello from the middle of my holiday.
August 30, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Hello from the middle of my holiday.
UK students interested in science writing: this event is for you!
There will be Blood on Bristol's Clocktower!!!
☀️By day, students will meet researchers from the University of Bristol and train on how to conduct interviews and write articles
🌕By night, ABSW is hosting drinks at a nearby pub, followed by a game of Blood on the Clocktower
🎫Book now! zurl.co/UkqW1
☀️By day, students will meet researchers from the University of Bristol and train on how to conduct interviews and write articles
🌕By night, ABSW is hosting drinks at a nearby pub, followed by a game of Blood on the Clocktower
🎫Book now! zurl.co/UkqW1
August 21, 2026 at 1:42 PM
UK students interested in science writing: this event is for you!
The American Chemical Society and the (UK) Vegan Society both changed their logo this month. These organisations are very different from each other, and also both very different from a generic tech company, but you wouldn't know it from the logos... (Expand them to see the full effect)
August 20, 2026 at 1:06 PM
The American Chemical Society and the (UK) Vegan Society both changed their logo this month. These organisations are very different from each other, and also both very different from a generic tech company, but you wouldn't know it from the logos... (Expand them to see the full effect)
Reposted by Eva Amsen
#OnThisDay, we celebrate World Photography Day! On 19 August 1839, the French government announced Louis Daguerre's photographic process as a gift "free to the world," helping make photography accessible and forever changing how we capture and share our lives. 📸
August 19, 2026 at 9:04 AM
#OnThisDay, we celebrate World Photography Day! On 19 August 1839, the French government announced Louis Daguerre's photographic process as a gift "free to the world," helping make photography accessible and forever changing how we capture and share our lives. 📸
Reposted by Eva Amsen
"Guardian analysis finds one section of report includes links to academic articles that do not exist, but authors deny the references were made up by AI"
So you just lied then? Or were you incompetent?
Which is worse?
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
So you just lied then? Or were you incompetent?
Which is worse?
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
August 17, 2026 at 8:09 AM
"Guardian analysis finds one section of report includes links to academic articles that do not exist, but authors deny the references were made up by AI"
So you just lied then? Or were you incompetent?
Which is worse?
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
So you just lied then? Or were you incompetent?
Which is worse?
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
New Mixture about the sense of community from eclipse watching, with this photo I took that looks like that Seurat painting from Ferris Bueller, and with Google Trends for a very predictable search term. mixture.substack.com/p/staring-at...
August 14, 2026 at 9:57 PM
New Mixture about the sense of community from eclipse watching, with this photo I took that looks like that Seurat painting from Ferris Bueller, and with Google Trends for a very predictable search term. mixture.substack.com/p/staring-at...
Reposted by Eva Amsen
EVERY STORY ABOUT BEAVERS FOR THE LAST DECADE READS LIKE: WE RELEASED A DOZEN PADDLE TAILED LITTLE FREAKS AND THEY IMMEDIATELY BEGAN A TERRAFORMING PROJECT THAT REVERSED A CENTURY OF ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE IN THREE WEEKS.
August 14, 2026 at 4:47 PM
EVERY STORY ABOUT BEAVERS FOR THE LAST DECADE READS LIKE: WE RELEASED A DOZEN PADDLE TAILED LITTLE FREAKS AND THEY IMMEDIATELY BEGAN A TERRAFORMING PROJECT THAT REVERSED A CENTURY OF ECOLOGICAL DAMAGE IN THREE WEEKS.
I wrote an article about heatwaves during one of the previous heatwaves and it came back for edits a few days ago, so I got to work on it again during London Heatwave number 5. (Not to be confused with Mambo Number 5)
August 14, 2026 at 4:32 PM
I wrote an article about heatwaves during one of the previous heatwaves and it came back for edits a few days ago, so I got to work on it again during London Heatwave number 5. (Not to be confused with Mambo Number 5)
Once in a while I accidentally Google otters instead of opening Otter (the transcription software) and it's always a delightful mistake.
August 13, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Once in a while I accidentally Google otters instead of opening Otter (the transcription software) and it's always a delightful mistake.
Come watch the eclipse with me! (Also on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. I'm trying to get back into making videos and this was good motivation to get one done quickly without too much effort.
August 12, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Come watch the eclipse with me! (Also on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. I'm trying to get back into making videos and this was good motivation to get one done quickly without too much effort.
I've discovered that I cannot type "flavivirus" correctly on the first try, ever. Just typing it here took me three tries. "Falv...Flavivu...Flavivirus"
August 12, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I've discovered that I cannot type "flavivirus" correctly on the first try, ever. Just typing it here took me three tries. "Falv...Flavivu...Flavivirus"
I kind of get why people left buying eclipse glasses until the very last moment. There really wasn't any buzz about it until the last few days so some people simply didn't know about it. I was briefly outside of my scicomm bubble last weekend and met so many people who had no idea!
August 12, 2026 at 8:27 AM
I kind of get why people left buying eclipse glasses until the very last moment. There really wasn't any buzz about it until the last few days so some people simply didn't know about it. I was briefly outside of my scicomm bubble last weekend and met so many people who had no idea!