The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

The Guild of Scientific Troubadours

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Articles by grant

Fossil reveals new *kingdom* of life.

30 January 2026 grant 0

Science Adviser reports on the discovery (or rediscovery) of a fossil that is not just a new species, not just a new class, order, nor phylum of life. It’s so different from animals,… Read the rest “Fossil reveals new *kingdom* of life.”

Scientific illustration of... well, it's a diagram of the percentage of people who are "doomed" if they don't get a syphilis test in time. The diagram just happens to look a little like a petri dish, and a little like a centrifuge used in medical testing. It's very Art Deco, with Bauhaus-style faces inside the circle and a very Modernist grotesque typeface.

Science Art: Don’t wait – 70% are doomed, c. 1936

27 January 2026 grant 0

This is a poster from the WPA urging people to save their own lives … by getting tested for a sexually transmitted disease. The geometry of the diagram in the center — the circle… Read the rest “Science Art: Don’t wait – 70% are doomed, c. 1936”

SONG: Social Prosthetic

24 January 2026 grant 0

SONG: “Social Prosthetic”. (OGG version here.)

ARTIST: grant.

SOURCE: Based on “Why Did Jeffrey Epstein Cultivate Famous Scientists?”, Scientific American… Read the rest “SONG: Social Prosthetic”

Why did Jeffrey Epstein “collect” so many scientists?

22 January 2026 grant 0

Scientific American has a rather deeply researched piece on something that feels like it’s about politics at first, since it’s following the donations of a disgraced late… Read the rest “Why did Jeffrey Epstein “collect” so many scientists?”

Scientific illustration of optical equipment studying light in the Early Modern period. Sunlight streams through a window and a board containing a series of lenses or apertures, focusing it on boxes and some sort of cutaway wall.

Science Art: From Les raisons des forces mouuantes, etc., 1615.

19 January 2026 grant 0

This is a light experiment from the 1600s, which I found in the British Library archive over yonder.

The book, Les raisons des forces &c was written by Salomon de Caus. You can find it … Read the rest “Science Art: From Les raisons des forces mouuantes, etc., 1615.”

Wearing octopus camouflage

16 January 2026 grant 0

Nature reports on materials engineers stealing the secrets of octopus skin to create substances that can change color and texture on demand:

Very small sub-micrometre bumps or grooves,

… Read the rest “Wearing octopus camouflage”

Robots the size of microbes.

16 January 2026 grant 0

Science recently covered some breakthroughs in building robots that measure less than a millimeter square, but can sense surroundings, carry out commands, make calculations, and respond… Read the rest “Robots the size of microbes.”

A woman with short, bushy hair holds a cylindrical device and smiles next to a headline shouting VIOLET-RAYS! above a scientific illustration of a case of electric equipment that promises SOOTHING, INVIGORATING, CURATIVE VIOLET-RAYS, which are ABSOLUTELY SAFE and GUARANTEED.

Science Art: Violet-Rays!, 1917

12 January 2026 grant 0

This is an ad from the April 1917 edition of Hugo Gernsback’s The Electrical Experimenter, which you can read on archive.org here.

I can only assume this is an early blacklight bulb… Read the rest “Science Art: Violet-Rays!, 1917”

Caribbean whales have viruses we’ve never heard of.

11 January 2026 grant 0

Science Daily reports on pilot whales and orcas in the Caribbean which DNA analysis has revealed are carrying “invisible” viruses we’ve never detected before:

The

… Read the rest “Caribbean whales have viruses we’ve never heard of.”

Why is your brain so tired?

10 January 2026 grant 0

Nature reports on new findings about the roots of mental fatigue — which has implications not just for generally feeling worn out, but also for conditions like chronic fatigue, surgical… Read the rest “Why is your brain so tired?”

Pink Power Ranger hacker breaks white power websites.

7 January 2026 grant 0

CyberNews reports on Martha Root, a pseudonymous hacker who single-handedly infiltrated and shut down a series of websites dedicated to white power:

The leak affects WhiteDate, a white

… Read the rest “Pink Power Ranger hacker breaks white power websites.”
A scientific illustration of chicken breeds, in the form of an ornate oval frame bursting with proud and colorful domestic birds - 52 of them, to be precise.

Science Art: The Poultry of the World, 1868

5 January 2026 grant 0

Fifty-two breeds of chickens!

This is an educational poster from the 1800s, published by L. Prang & Co., Boston, the makers of “Prang’s American Chromos: FacSimiles… Read the rest “Science Art: The Poultry of the World, 1868”

Deer pee glows during mating season

5 January 2026 grant 0

Science ran a festive piece of research during the longest nights of winter, with biologists who’ve found that male white-tailed deer mark their territory during mating season … Read the rest “Deer pee glows during mating season”

Scientific illustration of planets drawn to scale.

Science Art: Diagram of the Comparative Sizes of the Planets, 1895

29 December 2025 grant 0

This is one of the 10 illustrations by Dan Beard for John Jacob Aster’s book A Journey In Other Worlds. Well, actually it’s the one diagram. The other nine images show things … Read the rest “Science Art: Diagram of the Comparative Sizes of the Planets, 1895”

Reversing Alzheimer’s? In mice at least….

25 December 2025 grant 0

Science Daily shared news from University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center about mice trials that demonstrate memories actually being restored as brain energy levels are brought … Read the rest “Reversing Alzheimer’s? In mice at least….”

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Honorary Troubadours
  • Jonathan Coulton, Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science.
  • Laura Veirs, who knows her way around a polysyllable.
  • Thomas Dolby, godfather of scientific pop.
  • Squeaky, fact-based rock about fusion containment & rocket science.
  • Cosmos II, a.k.a. Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher.
  • Dr. Fiorella Terenzi, astrophysicist who makes music from cosmic radio sources.
  • Dr. Jim Webb, astronomy professor and acoustic guitarist.
  • Artichoke, the band behind 26 Scientists, Vols. I and II.
  • They Might Be Giants, unrelenting proponents of scientific popular song.
  • Symphonies of Science, the people who make Carl Sagan and others sing.
  • Giant Squid, doom metal about the sublime horrors of marine biology.
  • Gethan Dick,6 scientists, 6 musicians, 1 great album
Related Projects
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"Is it a fact—or have I dreamt it—that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?"
— Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, 1851

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