Marta Zaraska


Marta Zaraska is a freelance science journalist whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Scientific American and The Boston Globe, among other publications. She has written two literary novels and contributed to two travel books published by National Geographic. Her nonfiction book “Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession With Meat,” was published in 2016 by Basic Books and chosen by Nature as one of “the best science picks” in March 2016.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

A blue comment bubble is pinned down by crisscrossing red threads and pins.

Neuroscience conference policy draws confusion, apology

NeurIPS organizers apologized and altered course after issuing a policy that barred submissions from researchers at U.S.-government-sanctioned institutions.

By Dalmeet Singh Chawla
27 March 2026 | 5 min read
Assembloids in a petri dish.

Funding for animal research alternatives reaches ‘inflection point’

The United States and Europe are dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to advance novel alternative methods, but not all neuroscientists see this as a positive step.

By Claudia López Lloreda
26 March 2026 | 4 min read
Illustration of a laptop computer superimposed over a scroll.

‘Friction-maxxing’ in school: Students should read primary literature, not AI summaries

Trainees need to learn how to identify a neuroscience paper’s major takeaways and integrate them into their understanding. This skill doesn’t come from outsourcing the work to large language models.

By Nora Bradford
26 March 2026 | 5 min read