Maki Naro

A look at Gerard K. O'Neill's work, The High Frontier, and how colonialism continues to shape our vision of the future.

An excerpt from my comic in Rose Eveleth's book, FLASH FORWARD: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO POSSIBLE (AND NOT SO POSSIBLE) TOMORROWS, an anthology of stories that explore emerging technologies and concepts and how they may (or may not) play out in the near future. It joins the esteemed ranks of mysteries that feature a thinly veiled caricature of a certain contemporary billionaire.

Excerpts from Chapter 5 of Sarah Mirk's anthology about Guantanamo Bay. One of NY Times' best graphic novels of 2020

In October 2017, an asteroid from another solar system zipped through our own. What can we learn from such interstellar visitors?

Elon Musk thinks we're probably living in a computer simulation. This comic, written in 2016 by Matthew Francis for The Nib, has gained new relevance in the recent revelations surrounding two of the key figures of the comic. Not to mention providing insight into the mind of the guy who paid 44 billion dollars to be made fun of all day on his own website.

Published in 2014, this educational comic about the efficacy of vaccination and the misinformation campaigns that threatens public health somehow never stops being prescient and necessary.

Advances are being made every year in quantum teleportation. But what does that even mean?

A short comic about Alexander Fleming's observation of antibacterial mold that would later become the life-saving penicillin.

As the pandemic rages on, some individuals argue for letting the virus spread unchecked in the name of "herd immunity". But they're wrong and really are advocating for "acceptable losses."

Spec work is any kind of creative work, either partial or completed, submitted by designers to prospective clients before designers secure both their work and equitable fees. I drew this comic after being approached to enter a creative contest.

Written by Whit Taylor, this comic explores the public safety events that led to the founding of the Food and Drug Administration.

Bite marks, shoe prints, crime-scene fibers: Matches to suspects are often far shakier than courtroom experts claim. Better statistical methods — among them, a little beast known as the “likelihood ratio” — can cut down on wrong convictions.

Scientists are finding new planets every day. Is it possible some of them might hold intelligent life?

Tofu and other meat alternatives are found on store shelves across the country. Learn about where they came from and what the future has in store for meatless diets.

Excerpts from an investigation into psychology's "replication crisis", where an alarming number of studies have failed to stand up to full scientific scrutiny. The comic explores just why this happens and interviews several scientists who are working hard in their field to fix it.

The feisty orange-black butterfly uses a toolbox of biological tricks to find its way down to Mexico for winter and flap north again in spring. Here’s how scientists figured out those tricks — and what they don’t yet understand.

Life is everywhere on Earth. But the rest of the universe seems oddly devoid of it. What gives?

Do forests warm or cool the Earth? What’s their effect on global climate change? A comic narrated by polymath Benjamin Franklin describes the evolution of thought on this issue and what we still don’t know.

Commissioned for Genentech's 40th Anniversary, this comic tells the story of how science and engineering often reward good problem-solving with more problems.

Excerpts from a comic created for Genentech to tell the story of Dr. Fred de Sauvage and his revolutionary work in a curiously-named gene pathway.

The antibody is an important part of the immune system that is unique for its ability to target foreign invaders with pinpoint accuracy. Learn how scientists using this talent to create some fantastic new medicines.

Dr. Siouxsie Wiles, head of the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland, explains how bioluminescent bacteria get their beautiful glow in this booklet created for her educational workshops, where she shows children how to paint with glowing bacteria!

In this comic for The Nib, we learn about the bizarre 18th century practice of keeping garden hermits.

People who often try to defend toxic elements in the science community, often try to do so by removing the human element from science itself.

Scientists from a variety of fields speak up about the current presidential administration, and how it will affect the scientific world in ways most may not realize.

When the internet first became mainstream, it was WEIRD. Take a trip down memory lane with me in this fun send off to AOL Instant Messenger.

Excerpts from a series of comics that explored the facts and fiction behind the popular Fallout games. Guided by radiation safety scientists Phil Broughton and Kathryn Higley, the reader learns how radiation really affects people and the environment.

The biggest delusion in modern day science fandom is that science and culture are unrelated, that science is immune to human faults such as racism and sexism, or that the pursuit of knowledge has always been a good thing for everybody. I drew this comic as a response to the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.

In 1975, paleontologists unearthed the remains of the Triassic Period’s most curious odd couple. The exact details of how these two unlikely creatures came to be entombed in the same burrow were lost to time, but you can read their story today, thanks to the magic of prehistoric fan-fiction. OTP explores the lives of these ancient animals, as they form a bond lasting over 250 million years.