Do you value science above politics?
Do you hate when people or brands make claims without citing their sources?
Do you want to make improvements in your life based on the latest available research?
So do I. And I want you to join me 🤗
My name is Avisha NessAiver, and I’m a scientist. My primary test subject? Myself.
I don’t mean the “stuck in a lab working with chemicals and microscopes” type of scientist (although that IS a lot of fun). Instead, I view my graduate degree from 10 years ago as just one stop in a lifelong education. A scientist is someone who is constantly curious about life, analyzing the surrounding world through the lens of the scientific method and holding a willingness to update existing beliefs based on new information.
I left academia after being frustrated at how many amazing discoveries were being made and left to gather dust. Research that could help us make incremental improvements in our day to day lives are published and forgotten, while at the same time journalists take exciting findings from mice and Petri dishes and overhype their future ramifications to help sell subscriptions.
Professionally, I help venture capital firms and private investors understand and evaluate the technologies of cool new startups, separating fact from fiction and identifying the ones with the most promising applications. I also have a few early-stage startups of my own.
Privately, I spend my time in a very similar manner. I sift through articles, books, and research publications, covering over half a million words per week, searching for practical takeaways. I then work to apply these to my everyday life, and share the juiciest bits with you—in videos, articles, and my weekly newsletter.
Random Things I Love
- Creating bad digital art that I don’t show anyone
- Successfully executing a new cooking / baking challenge
- Theater- especially of the musical variety. Broadway is my jam.
- Gaming- video+tabletop. Currently in search of a new D&D game.
- Acroyoga. Especially in the sun.
- Reading. And more reading. I try to balance my nonfiction consumption with sci-fi/ fantasy, but the latter often still wins.
- Volleyball - an almost daily activity of past me that really needs to make its way into the present.
- Gadgets that make my life easier. Or healthier. Or more fun.
- Photography. I’m not good at it, but that doesn’t stop me from lugging around my DSLR and spending just enough time fiddling with it to annoy anyone I’m with.
- Music- this is another example of past-me wanting to meet future-me. I used to play the flute way back when, and would love to take up some new instrument.
Here are some descriptions that apply to me:
- constantly curious
- health-focused
- science-obsessed
- rationally-minded
I’m a stickler for things that actually work, and there are only two ways that something can fit into this category.
- It is scientifically validated with large sample sizes
- I’ve tested it myself and seen results
I spend tons of time researching and testing.
Get in Touch
- 🐦 Twitter - If you've got a short question or message (<280 characters), please tweet @DistilldScience and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. I also occasionally reply to Instagram DMs but it's much more cumbersome to do so (for now).
- 📨 Email - If it's a longer message, or one you don't want as a public tweet, feel free to email me. I read 100% of emails eventually, but there's only enough time in the day to reply to ~30%. If you reply to my weekly newsletter with a specific question, the chances I'll reply are much higher, as I have some dedicated time each week set aside for that purpose.
Where you can find me: