Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Manuela Callari

Manuela Callari

Manuela Callari is a freelance science journalist specializing in human and planetary health. Her work has been published in New Scientist, MIT Technology Review, Mongabay, Medscape, the Guardian and other outlets.

Stories from this author

By studying brain waves, heart rate and shifts in neurotransmitters and hormones, researchers aim to quantify the experiences of beauty and art.

Does the Experience of Beauty Show Up in the Brain? With Electrodes and a Museum Collection of Artifacts, These Neuroscientists Aim to Find Out

Researchers are tracing the brain and body’s response to aesthetic expression in search of a scientific value to art

This portrait of Cristina Roccati (left) is by the contemporary Italian painter and engraver Matteo Massagrande. In the background is the only depiction of Roccati (right) from the 18th century.

How an 18th-Century Female Physicist Broke Boundaries and Inspired the Generations Who Followed

Cristina Roccati graduated from the University of Bologna when few other Italian women earned degrees, and she taught physics for decades