Leto Sapunar is a freelance science journalist covering physics, space, climate and science accountability since 2020. He has been writing for Popular Science since early 2021, and his work can also be found in Scientific American, Inside Climate News and Retraction Watch, among other outlets.
Leto Sapunar
From this contributor
Pinning hope to ketamine
Doctors can prescribe it, but evidence that ketamine eases autism traits is still preliminary.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Dimensionality—neuroscience’s red herring?
Placing too much emphasis on a specific interpretation of dimensionality, or treating it as an end-all quantification of some aspect of neural computation, may hinder progress in understanding the brain.
Dimensionality—neuroscience’s red herring?
Placing too much emphasis on a specific interpretation of dimensionality, or treating it as an end-all quantification of some aspect of neural computation, may hinder progress in understanding the brain.
By
Matthew Perich
7 September 2026 | 8 min read
Dutch primate center awaits October animal research debate
Science is forging ahead at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands, following a reversal of last year’s mandate to phase out primate studies. But researchers aren’t sure how long the reprieve will last.
Dutch primate center awaits October animal research debate
Science is forging ahead at the Biomedical Primate Research Centre in the Netherlands, following a reversal of last year’s mandate to phase out primate studies. But researchers aren’t sure how long the reprieve will last.
By
Lauren Schenkman
2 September 2026 | 5 min read
When we sleep, our brain is filled with spontaneous neural activity. What is it doing?
Daniel Levenstein explains how internally generated brain activity during sleep shapes our cognition, and why NeuroAI is such a powerful approach to understanding the brain.
When we sleep, our brain is filled with spontaneous neural activity. What is it doing?
Daniel Levenstein explains how internally generated brain activity during sleep shapes our cognition, and why NeuroAI is such a powerful approach to understanding the brain.
By
Paul Middlebrooks
2 September 2026 | 96 min listen