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 displays spectacular images captured using a microscope. It’s run by Derek Sung, an MD/PhD candidate at the University of Pennsyl ..read more

“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. Through open exchange between disciplines, they have created works that are sensory agents between scientific ideas of dark mat ..read more

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, moss The decision to pursue art professionally came when I was 16. Following a traumatic brain injury, I needed emergency surgery o ..read more

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 is a scientific visualizer and illustrator, which means he uses art and design to render the complex understandable for a casual audience. Under his eye, reams of data become one aestheti ..read more

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 change happen, people must be persuaded, convinced, inspired or captivated.” With his SciArt style, it’s hard not to pay attention. In a single, four-panelled ..read more

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 and elite to an enterprise that is beautiful, clear, and within everyone’s reach. Study of an image of the Geminids meteor shower over Xinglong ..read more

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 interview with Art the Science, Dumitriu discusses how her work has progressed over the l ..read more

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 protected them from invasive plants and animals, the land has steadily been covered in endemic hāpuʻu tree ferns, flowering koa trees, ʻōhiʻa tre ..read more

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