Kathryn Hulick

Art and science in Costa Rica 5 interesting nature facts and a look at my drawings

Did you know that trapdoor spiders weave secret lairs? Or that mangrove trees build new land? See what I drew and learned on a trip to the rainforest of Costa Rica. 🇨🇷
open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

I created an activity to teach science vocab! 🔬📚
Students pick a tricky science word from my book THE UFO FILES, dig into its meaning, then create a short video, reel, or poster to teach it.
patriciamnewman.com?p=13207
#STEMed #LitLinks #EduSky
@patricianewman.bsky.social

Happy World Read Aloud Day! Try a space quiz and listen to me read from The UFO Files!

Today, I volunteered as a virtual visiting author for #WorldReadAloudDay at six classrooms around the USA. I read from my book THE UFO FILES and talked about becoming an author. But first, I test your wits with a space quiz. Ready? Let's go! 👽 open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

This detached hand robot has a thing for skittering on its fingertips The robot can bend, grasp and carry in ways humans can’t, which could help it navigate spaces too confined for human arms.

I both love and hate this robot hand... the nerd in me thinks it's such a cool idea for a hand to detach and wander around, using its fingers like tentacles. But it also totally creeps me out! Anyone else? #robotics 🧪
www.sciencenews.org/article/deta...

5 things to remember when talking to a chatbot When using ChatGPT or other chatbots, remember your voice matters and watch out for flattery and hallucinations. And for important advice, ask real people.

Hi! I'd like to be on the list. I'm a freelance journalist covering AI and tech mainly for @sciencenews.bsky.social - here are some recent stories:
www.sciencenews.org/article/scie...
www.snexplores.org/article/ai-d...
www.snexplores.org/article/5-th...

Hypnosis isn’t magic. It’s the brain at work While we still don’t know much about how hypnosis works, it appears to help some people conquer pain, anxiety and other problems.

This is such a cool story about the brain science of hypnotism! www.snexplores.org/article/hypn... 🧪

Merry T-ReX-mas! Santa, what big teeth you have...

Merry T-reX-mas! 🦖 As a gift, I'm sharing an excerpt from my book, Welcome to the Future, about whether it might ever be possible to have a pet dinosaur... (because it worked out so well in Jurassic Park, right?) 🦕

Read the book excerpt:
kathrynhulick.substack.com/p/merry-t-re...

Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas? Oceans cover over 70% of the earth’s surface and house a dizzying array of organisms, including five species of the peppercorn-sized ocean-skater Halobates, which live exclusively at the ocean surface...

Why did I only just find out that that there are water striders that live IN (ON!!) THE OPEN OCEAN? 🧪

OCEAN STRIDERS!!

How AI Is Changing Neuroscience Discovery AI is altering how scientists study the brain

AI tools like DeepLabCut and SuperAnimal are changing how scientists study movement, helping them understand how brain activity drives behavior.

Read more: bit.ly/4qnX7JF

@trackingactions.bsky.social @deeplabcut.bsky.social

I spoke about AI at an MIT conference Here's one of the key points I made about young people and AI: The real world and real human voices matter. All AI should be in service to what real people care about learning, expressing, and experie...

So... recently I got to speak on a panel at MIT! The conversation centered on storytelling, ethics, and humanity in AI development. Here are the main points I made: kathrynhulick.substack.com/p/i-spoke-ab...

New Method Is the Fastest Way To Find the Best Routes | Quanta Magazine A canonical problem in computer science is to find the shortest route to every point in a network. A new approach beats the classic algorithm taught in textbooks.

This is a cool computer science story about a new method to find the shortest path between two points. “This thing might as well have been discovered 50 years ago, but it wasn’t” - Mikkel Thorup 🧪
www.quantamagazine.org/new-method-i...

Appreciate Quanta for shining a light on our joint work with Simon Gsell, Sham Tlili (@shamtlili.bsky.social), and Matthias Merkel (@merkellab.bsky.social).

mitochondria from bipolar patients are closer to the nucleus in these images; control patients' are spread out further

15 years in the making, we confirmed that mitochondria - the powerhouse of the cell - have an unusual localization in patients who experience psychosis (including schizophrenia and bipolar disorders). You’ll never guess what kind of patient cells we used to make this discovery… 🧵

Leaves with rounded edges in strong light some Orange some yellow some green

Tall yellow blades of grass in front of a lake in bright sunlight

Autumn trees in strong backlight with long shadows by a lake

Welcome, fall! 🍁🍃

My latest story in Science News. 🧪 “Even when [side effects] can be rare, when they happen to you, it means all the world,” says public health researcher John Ayers.

This is starting in 15 minutes! Listen to me and several other experts tell stories about inventions.

LitLinks: True story or science fiction? How to find the truth! - Patricia Newman An alien spacecraft has arrived on Earth, carrying intelligent beings. Is this a true story or science fiction?

Scientists are using AI to understand animal communication. Fact or fiction?

It's actually true! A new activity I wrote to go along with my new book The UFO Files helps students use critical thinking to check facts:
www.patriciamnewman.com/litlinks-tru...

@patricianewman.bsky.social

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

This experimental computer chip reuses energy A first-of-its-kind test shows that reusing energy within a computer chip can work, thanks to two techy tricks.

My latest story for Science News covers a really interesting experimental computer chip. It reuses energy that typical chips waste as heat:
www.sciencenews.org/article/comp...
If this scales up, it could help make AI cheaper and more efficient. 🧪
@sciencenews.bsky.social

Colored pencil drawing of a tree held in hand

Colored pencil drawing of a misty morning on a lake

Colored pencil drawing of trees in front of a lake with a white dog

Yellow leaf lying on top of a drawing of that leaf

I did a lot of colored pencil drawing this summer. Here are some of my favorites 🍃 open.substack.com/pub/kathrynh...

Thank you @sierramagazine.bsky.social and @kathrynhulick.substack.com for highlighting our work!🐋Read the quote from Daniela Rus (@csail.mit.edu), PI on CETI Machine Learning and Robotics Team and more in the piece “Could AI Help Humanity Understand Whales?” here: bit.ly/45tksRL 📸: Arun Madisetti

Keynote: Inventions | eCornell Be Informed. Be Inspired. Experience the Best of Cornell, Live and On Demand.

"Inventions almost always inspire curiosity since they – by their nature – have never existed before." I'm excited to be on this upcoming panel discussing invention and innovation, hosted by @ecornellonline.bsky.social September 30, 1pm ET, free to attend 🧪
ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/ove...

It wasn’t even on my bucket list… but just checked off “triathlon in the pouring rain” 🌧️ 😅

I’m here at Word on the Street until noon for an author talk and book signing! For my new book The UFO Files. Hope to see you. @quartokids.bsky.social www.quarto.com/books/978071...

Get a sneak peek at the tech you may use in the future Holograms, 3-D printed clothing, personal robots — these technologies and more might one day transform your daily life.

Do you wish we had holograms or helper robots in our daily lives? What might future tech be like? Here’s my latest story for kids and teens, out this week in @snexplores.bsky.social 🧪 www.snexplores.org/article/futu...

Get a sneak peek at the tech you may use in the future Holograms, 3-D printed clothing, personal robots — these technologies and more might one day transform your daily life.

Will we ever have robots doing our laundry or hologram conversations? Will we design and 3D print clothes and shoes at home? Read my new feature for @snexplores.bsky.social about tech that could change our daily lives: www.snexplores.org/article/futu...

Ooh I just found out about #InverteFest - perfect time to share this oddly mutated lady crab we found earlier this summer! Folks on iNaturalist were very excited about it: www.inaturalist.org/observations... 🦀

Hopefully people don’t let that happen! in this case the tech is helping people with disorders that make regular speech difficult or impossible, but they still need privacy controls…

An inner-speech decoder reveals some mental privacy issues Words you’ll never speak still cause activity in the brain’s speech centers.

When tech reads your thoughts, hopefully it won't read out ALL of them! Researchers had subjects imagine the password "Chitty chitty bang bang” to activate a mental speech decoder. 🧪https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/08/an-inner-speech-decoder-reveals-some-mental-privacy-issues/

Wow, my upcoming book From Bam to Burp! was included in this list of recommended titles in yesterday's
@washingtonpost.com book section! Thank you, librarians!
tinyurl.com/yc53ahvf
@charlesbridge.bsky.social @steamteambooks.bsky.social #edusky #kidlit