Ivan Amato

Acid-freedom. I recrystallized Omeprazole, a proton-pump inhibitor sold also as Prilosec, onto a microscope slide It can be a help in tamping down stomach acid, which can cause troubles like heartburn and the discomfort of reflux conditions. The area shown is about the size of printed asterisk.

Amino Acid Amore. Gotto bless amino acids, the building blocks of all of our proteins without which our living tissue would be as inanimate as styrofoam. Here's one crystalline formation, which could fit inside this O, of the amino acids alanine and glutamine. You can see waves of crystal growth.

Ascorbic Prayer Flags. On a slide bearing recrystallized Vitamin C, aka ascorbic acid, this cluster of crystal platelets aligned like Tibetan Prayer Flags. Only the crystal flags are the size of poppy seeds.

Thanks for the heads up!

Just can't get enough Vitamin C, a 20-atom superhero in our cells with a chemical formula of C6H8O6. I recrystallized it using cover slip and ended up with this plate-dominated formation on the microscope slide. If this were a high-fashion scarf, it would be sized right for a mosquito.

I took a look at de-icing salts, which I recrystallized onto a glass slide, under my microscope. This product included three slats" sodium chloride, calcium chloride & magnesium chloride. Each element of the image shown is comparable in size to a bit of fly anatomy, say, an eye or a knee joint.

Points and Lines. 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 microscopic formations, including this one The area here on a microscope slide is the size of a typical freckle.

Acetaminophen (aka C8H9NO2), the active ingredient in TYLENOL, recrystallized from an ethanol solution onto a microscope slide. This formation, about as wide as a mosquito leg and half the length of its body, caught my eye. Brace for the cold and a near infinitude of gorgeous snow crystals!

I recrystallized the combo of vitamin C and the sweetener stevia from a vodka solution onto a microscope slide. This is one of the beautiful formations that took shape as the ethanol solvent evaporated. This fanlike crystal would be about the right size for bee in need of cooling on a hot day.

A combo of the amino acid alanine and the sweetener stevia recrystallized onto a microscope slide from a solution in a 75% grain alcohol. A microscopic kelpscape, which could probably fit within the area of a guppy's eye, emerged along with a couple of half-faces with deep meditative expressions.

A combo of two chemicals found in cells, inositol and alanine, recrystallized from a solution onto a slide into a strange microcrystalline fossil spine. I wonder what kind of full-fleshed creature such a spin might support. This crystallo-skeletal fragment would fit inside of a spineless fruit fly.

Portrait of a Relaxer: First chemically synthesized in 1961, cylcobenzaprine was initially studied as an antidepressant, but now is mostly prescribed as a muscle relaxant. I recrystallized a pill's water-soluble components onto a microscope slide. Here's one formation. It's the size of a fly's eye.

Another from the Aging with Grace series. Here, a pair of amino acids (lysine and glutamine) solidified on the slide. The slide sat for a few days enough time for some slow sublimation that I suspect contributed to the mosaic-like result. The area shown here might cover a pigeon's pupil.

How Dad’s Fitness May Be Packaged and Passed Down in Sperm RNA | Quanta Magazine Research into how a father’s choices — such as diet, exercise, stress, nicotine use — may transfer traits to his children has become impossible to ignore.

Hmmm ... sperm RNAs? Paternal effects? It's like an early Christmas present! Very nice article by Ivan Amato, including quotes and work from some excellent scientists like @colinconine.bsky.social ... and me, as well. ;)

www.quantamagazine.org/how-dads-fit...

Facets of Possibility. The new year brings with it a composition of possibilities, reflected here in the way individual crystalline facets made of the amino acids alanine and glutamine synergize into a composition that is more than a sum of its parts. The area here would fit on ladybug's belly.

2025/2026! This busy crystalscape emerged from a solidification of the amino acids alanine and glutamine from a water solution. This visage would fit on a sunflower seed, a reminder that beauty runs deep and in places and on scales that we cannot usually access. Happy This Year/Next Year!

Aging with Grace. I recrystallized two amino acids, lysine and glutamine, on a microscope slide and then waited a few days before taking this photo. I am taken by the mosaic-like feel, surely based in the formation's crystal facets. The area shown here might cover a pigeon's pupil.

Tiffany Tulip. Another arresting formation on a microscope slide on which I recrystallized the amino acid duo of alanine and glutamine. The formation shown here could easily fit on the back of a small ladybug on an actual tulip.

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

How Dad’s Fitness May Be Packaged and Passed Down in Sperm RNA | Quanta Magazine Research into how a father’s choices — such as diet, exercise, stress, nicotine use — may transfer traits to his children has become impossible to ignore.

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.