Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Another arresting formation on a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid duo of alanine and glutamine. The actual area shown here could fit on a bell pepper seed.

My last article of the year, this time with the partnership of bold and consequential @quantamagazine.bsky.social

I am thrilled to finish out my writing year with a feature article in Quanta Magazine about how a dad-to-be's behavior and environmental circumstances might get molecularly encoded within his sperm cells and thereby affect the genetic program of his offspring. www.quantamagazine.org/how-dads-fit...

On a microscope slide, alanine and glutamine (two of the amino acids that build into your body's proteins) danced with a choreographed crystallization as graceful and ebullient as a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers performance on the dance floor. Shown here is a sesame-seed-sized patch of the slide.

Some time ago, I made quite the brew: taurine and alanine (both of them amino acids), citric acid (a sour chemical in your pantry and your cells), and table salt (NaCl) all dissolved in MezcaI. The chemicals recyrstallized, including into this formation. It's the size of a printed letter.

High Winds Before Dawn. Another result from a recrystallizing run with salicylic acid (C₇H₆O₃), a staple for wart medicine and a chemical precursor to aspirin. The area shown could probably fit inside this letter O.

ICYMI, an article I wrote for the fantastic online magazine Knowable earlier this year.

Salicylic acid, again. This recrystallized formation of the chemical, which can be converted into aspirin and prepared into a wart-removal application, is the size of a housefly's head.

An experiment (this time with ketone as a helper solvent) in recrystallizing salicylic acid (C₇H₆O₃), a staple for wart medicine (think Dr. Scholl's) and a chemical precursor to aspirin, yielded a variety of formations, including this one. The area shown could probably fit inside this letter O.

An experiment in recrystallizing salicylic acid (C₇H₆O₃), a staple for wart medicine (think Dr. Scholl's) and a chemical precursor to aspirin, yielded a variety of formations, including this one. The area shown could probably fit inside this letter O.

Another beauty from a recrystallization of vanillin, the primary flavor chemical in the otherwise chemically complex flavor cocktail we know as vanilla. The area covered by these crystal formations could fit on a lentil.

Vanilla Reef. I recrystallized onto a microscope slide the primary flavor note of vanilla, known as vanillin (aka C8H8O3). It was first isolated and crystallized in 1858, just before Darwin’s Origin of Species was published. The area covered by these formations could fit on a ladybug's underbelly.

Hidden Flame. Another eye-catcher from the bottom of a plastic shot glass, in which I had prepared a solution of something I cannot remember. Here's a detail, viewed through my microscope, of one of the crystals that grew there. This tiny faux fire is the size of a gnat.

Vitamin C Sunrise. Here, I recrystallized ascorbic acid, aka vitamin C, aka C6H8O6 onto a microscope slide and viewed the formations with polarized light and a "retarder," both of which bring out detail and color from the crystal formations. This one would fit on the compound eye of a bee.

Torchlight. I am still mining a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid due of alanine and glycine, which I had dissolved in whiskey (a handy ethanol solvent). The area depicted might fit on a ladybug's underside.

Eye on. Here's another looker, almost literally, from a glass microscope slide onto which I recrystallized the amino acid due of alanine and glycine. I see one eye open and one shut. The area depicted might fit on a ladybug's underside.

My gratitude goes to to Optics & Photonics News for choosing one of my photomicrographs, a tiny crystalline formation of vitamin C and the sweetener stevia, for an Honorable Mention in OPN’s 20th annual After Image photo contest. Check out the winning images. www.optica-opn.org/.../2025_pho...

UNDERNEATH. I recrystallized alanine and glycine, a pair of amino acids (building blocks of proteins) on a microscope slide. This layered formation caught my eye. The area depicted might fit on a ladybug's underside.

Two amino acids, threonine (one of the 20 amino acids that build into your body's proteins) and taurine (an amino acid in your cells and in energy drinks like Red Bull) recrystallized on a microscope slide into many astonishing forms. Like this one, whose actual size might fit into this printed O.

Scenes from Analgesia. Recrystallized onto a microscope slide from a solution in ethanol, aspirin (aka acetylsalicylic acid, aka C9H8O4) assumed many arresting forms. Here's one scene from the slide that caught my eye. It covers an area the size of a teeny pill suitable for a chipmunk.

Amino Acid Thicketry. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal, a worthy spirit, into a composition of embellished stalks. The area shown is the size of a bee's eye.

Nothing like a godawful gastro prep for a routine medical screening with an oral solution of sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate. I saved enough to run some crystallization experiments. Here are two of the results. The area of each image is comparable in size to this letter O.

Citric acid (a chemical in your cells & perhaps among your cooking supplies) along with the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized from a solution in mezcal (a handy alcohol solvent) into some arresting forms onto one of my microscope slides. This butterfly-esque beauty could fit within a printed U.

Crystal Leaves. A combination of citric acid (a player in the metabolic process in your cells and a kitchen ingredient) and the sugar substitute stevia recrystallized together (from a solution in Mezcal!) onto a microscope slide into a leafy microscape that would fit on the underbelly of a ladybug.

As the leafy signs of Autumn fall from the sky, I am reminded of this series of crystal photomicrographs that I gathered from a slide on which I recrystallized sugar (sucrose) and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). The area in each image would just about fit within a printed O.

A joyous Halloween to ye all! I am a Golem of sorts, hewn in acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin, that is) dissolved in a most inebriating spirit and resurrected (onto a glass slide no less!) into this ghoulish form, albeit the size of a peppercorn. Don't stare too long lest the bad things will happen.

Mandala in Micro. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid can crystallize into a diversity of fancy forms. A celebration of form and color. Here's one embodiment, which, because I had forgotten about the glass slide I grew these on, had evolved over time. The minuscule mandala would just about fit inside this O.

Imagine my fright when, during a scan of a microscope slide on which I had recrystallized magnesium sulfate (aka Epsom Salt), I happened onto this scary clown masquerading as a Pillsbury Doughboy with a cute hat and big scarf. We might be approaching Halloween, but DO NOT BE FOOLED by this ruse.

Assuaging Pain. An acetaminophen/codeine pill. DIY 75% ethanol as a solvent for the analgesics and other soluble components of the pill. This is a speck-sized patch of the microscope slide on which I recrystallized the pharma chems. Looks to me like a waterfall lit with dappled sunlight.

Here's my latest for Nature Custom Media, a story about "algorithmic efficiency" and how genomic researchers are embracing it to reduce the energy usage of big computations and because, as one source put it, “the Earth is not the price of innovation.” www.nature.com/articles/d42...

Love beautiful science art? Like this? 👇 Be sure to sign up for @knowablemag.bsky.social's newsletter, edited every week by @rachelscience.bsky.social 👉 knowablemagazine.org/newsletter-s...

A tad of burning-bush gravitas in this image from a sesame-seed-size patch of a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid pair of taurine and threonine.

Symmetry B12. A crystallization of Vitamin B12 on a microscope slide delivered a delightful showcase of radial formations, like this one. The area on the slide is about the size of honeybee's eyes. Thank you B12 for all you do for my nerve cells and red blood cells.

Portrait of Pain Relief 3. The active ingredient in Aleve analgesic pills is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. Here's one of the many microscapes I saw. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a praying mantis with forearm pain.

Portrait of Pain Relief 2. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I recrystallized the drug chemical onto a microscope slide and was treated to many microscape surprises like this one. The area shown here would fit on the face of a pill sized right for a butterfly.

Portrait of Pain Relief. The active ingredient in an Aleve analgesic pill is naproxen sodium. I tried to recrystallize the drug chemical onto a microscope slide. The result was a thicket of thread-like crystals, sometimes organizing into what looks like bunched stalks of dry grass.

The pairing of the amino acids alanine and glutamine, when recrystallized from a solution onto a microscope slide, has knack for solidifying into painterly compositions. Like this. Crystal brushstrokes! The actual area of this micropainting might fit inside of this printed O.

Autumnal Hints. This is an image of a crystalline film that grew on one of my microscope slides after I allowed a solution of the amino acids alanine and glutamine to recrystallize on it. Made me think of autumn leaves on the ground. This scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.

What you see...A recrystallization of the amino acid alanine (a molecular building block of our proteins) and citric acid, which helps drive a lot of cellular business and that also adds a nice tang in some recipes. This pretty patch on my microscope slide could fit on the face of a sesame seed.

ICYMI. Here I take color away from your world and then give it back to you.

I love amino acids. They're the building blocks of the proteins in our bodies. Here the amino acid combo of alanine and glutamine recrystallized on a glass microscope slide into billowing formations. The area in the scene would fit within the confines of a bell pepper seed.

Dissolve the combo of the amino acid alanine and the sweetener stevia in a strong ethanol solution (75% DIY Everclear will do). Recrystallize the solutes on a heated slide. You might get kelpesque formations like this The area here is the size of a guppy's eye.

Two amino acids, threonine and glycine, recrystallized from a solution in Mezcal into a tree-ring formation the size of a sesame seed.

Amino Acid ICE. Here, the combo of two amino acids, alanine and glutamine, which are buildings blocks of the proteins underlying life, recrystallized from a solution into a composition that serves for me as a crystalline metaphor of current affairs.

As the combo of alanine and glutamine – two of the 20 amino acids that string together into your proteins – recrystallized from a solution in a wee-bit of whiskey, they assumed plenty of arresting forms. Like these. That blue leaf-mimic would fit readily within the confines of this letter O.

There is no color out there. It's all in your head where you very own master color-maker resides. I am happy to share with you my latest article for Photonics Focus. Gratitude to managing editor William G. Schulz and his editorial team for working with me on this project. spie.org/news/photoni...

Another looker from my keeps-on-giving "Ascorbic on Time" series. Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, C6H8O6, can crystallize into a wondrous diversity of forms. The scene here would just about fit inside this O. Makes me think of an overhead image of mountainous territory that dips to a lakeside.

Percocet = oxycodone + acetaminophen. Here those ingredients – the stuff of pain relief and opioid crises – recrystallized onto a microscope slide. This is one of the more grabbing glitter-speck sized formations I saw through my microscope.

PS- If you’re a #SeattleWorldCon attendee who is not *yet* a Knowable fan, here is a shameless plug: If you’re looking for research-backed, accessibly written, paywall-free science journalism to inform your worldbuilding… we’ve got you. For example, some articles relevant to the Hugo finalists 🧵