Curious fact: The New Years Eve countdown to midnight, second-by-second, is the most precise time-reckoning of a Holiday on the calendar. Meanwhile, the celebration scatters across 24 time zones, requiring a full Earth rotation to complete for everyone.

In case you ever wondered, New Years Day on the Gregorian Calendar is cosmically arbitrary, carrying no Astronomical significance at all. Just Saying. Meanwhile, the dates of Chinese New Year, Lent, Easter, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Christmas, & Ramadan, all index to Astronomical events.

Just Posted… My StarTalk co-host Chuck Nice's Comedy Special: “Just Smart Enough” [Video: 57min] www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSAx...

Not that anybody asked, but If you accumulated all the flora, fauna, and metal that your True Love gives you each day in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, you would own 12 Trees, 40 Gold Rings, 140 Humans, and 185 Birds of 6 different species.

Not that anybody asked, but the Northern Arctic is just Ocean. So Santa’s North Pole Workshop has only ever existed on a floating sheet of ice. No fur trees. No hills. Occasional seals. And polar bears — for now.

Santa's pale because he visits in the middle of six months of darkness on Earth’s North Pole. And for the other six months, the Sun ascends no more than 23.5 degrees above the horizon. And he delivers gifts only at night. All combined, Santa might be the whitest person on Earth.

Famous people actually born on Christmas Day… Gregorian Calendar: Clara Barton, Conrad Hilton, Humphrey Bogart, Rod Serling, Jimmy Buffett, Barbara Mandrell, Sissy Spacek, Annie Lennox, Ricky Henderson, Justin Trudeau Julian Calendar: Sir Isaac Newton

Merry Christmas to everyone in the world who is Christian, and to others who celebrate it — just for the heaven of it. As for the rest of everybody, including Muslims, Atheists, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists, & Jews, Happy Thursday!

In case you didn't know... Both male & female Reindeer grow antlers, but males lose them in late Autumn. All Santa’s reindeer are therefore female, which means Rudolph is persistently misgendered.

If people left Hot Tea, Carrots, and Celery for Santa on the table Christmas Eve, rather than Milk & Cookies, I bet he’d be much, much, thinner.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Santa knows Physics… ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Of all colors, Red Light penetrates fog best. That's why Benny the Blue-nosed reindeer never got the gig.

Northern Hemisphere Reasoning: December Solstice has the least daylight, so for every day of Winter & Spring, daylight increases, up to the Summer Solstice. June Solstice has the most daylight, so for every day of Summer & Autumn, daylight decreases, up to the Winter Solstice.

**Solstice** 10:03am ET — Dec 21, 2025 On this day, Earth's North Pole tips away from the Sun, while the South Pole tips towards it, bringing the first day of Winter to the Northern Hemisphere with increasing daylight, and the first day of Summer to the Southern Hemisphere with decreasing daylight

Blue Lives Matter.

In a world where fewer and fewer people concern themselves with the plight of others, the loss of Rob Reiner, who cared deeply about humanitarian causes, feels that much more devastating. RIP: 1947-1925. [Selfie: July 2022, NYC]

**Free-Range Physics** An unbound conversation about cosmology and the nature of reality with UK’s @ProfBrianCox. A @StarTalk Original [Video: 1h 45m] www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpWa...

When I served on the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Board (under part of Obama-2 and all of Trump-1), what impressed me most about the commitment of Military Officers was their sworn allegiance — not to a leader or commander or a king, but to the US Constitution.

Objective truths are still out there. It’s just harder than ever to know what they look like. What’s Up With That? [StarTalk video: 15min] www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4I_...

The plots of disaster movies that portray the end of civilization often begin with high-level Government Officials ignoring the warning of scientists. One of several lesson learned from the 2.5 hour Netflix Documentary — Don’t Look Up (2021).

An author-signed book is one of the most affordable gifts you can give a friend or loved one. The American Museum of Natural History shop stocks a dozen of my books, pre-signed by me. You’ll pay near-list price or a Black-Friday price, but proceeds go to the Museum. shop.amnh.org/catalogsearc...

My annual advice on how to navigate angry arguments during holiday dinners. [4-min Read] neildegrassetyson.com/commentary/2...

If a foreign adversary snuck into our Federal budget and cut Education and Science Research the way we’re cutting it ourselves — strategically undermining America’s long-term health, wealth, and security — we would likely consider it an act of war.

Every machine in a Hospital that diagnoses your body without cutting you open is based on a principle of Physics, discovered by a Physicist who had no interest in Medicine. If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again. #sciencematters

Not that anyone asked, but the country with the World's lowest life expectancy (Chad) has a higher life expectancy than the country with the highest life expectancy 120 yrs ago (Sweden). Think Science and especially Medicine has somehow failed you? Think again. #ScienceMatters

The way things are going lately, looks like I may need to re-post some of my societal observations from earlier this year. Stay tuned for their reprise...

Massive explosions on the Sun leading to Aurora on Earth. Hayden Planetarium Associate Joe Rao has the latest... www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=...

What's your relationship to the "Super Moon"? [Video: 3 min] www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj2N...

Notice to flat-Earthers in Earth's Eastern Hemisphere witnessing a Total Lunar Eclipse right now Once again, please alert the authorities if your eclipse tonight looks like this:

Dear Everyone in the Earth’s Eastern Hemisphere: If you can see the Moon at all, you are witnessing a total lunar eclipse over the next few hours. The Full Moon is passing into and out of Earth’s conical shadow in space. This event is long and boring and resembles the Moon going through phases.

In case anybody needs reminding... "Science in Health, Wealth, and War" A Social Media OpEd. [Video: 7m 30s] www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gsf...

August 22, 2025; 4:00pm ET The Stock Market (DJIA) closed at a record high today for the first time in eight months. FYI: The long-term average for it to do that is sixteen times per year.

Early Riser, might you be? Want a spectacle for free? Before sunrise you will see Two bright stars — planets they be. The brightest one is Venus. Outshining Jupiter’s light. Catch both before they’re consumed By all of morning twilight.

Fires & Floods & Heat Waves? How I think about Climate Change. [Video. 9 mins. 45 sec. ] www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRA2...

July 4, 1776: Wondering whether the USA is the only country to celebrate its independence on the anniversary of simply declaring it, rather than on the anniversary of winning it. In our case, the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia: October 19, 1781. If so, that’s badass.

Nothing wrong with expecting people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, until you realize that some people have no boots.

June 20, 2025 — Summer Solstice, Northern Hemisphere A few years ago, I took my StarTalk production crew to visit London, and Stonehenge -- a monument to the Summer Solstice. [Video: 13m] www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjZH...

Every machine in a Hospital that diagnoses your body without cutting you open is based on a principle of Physics, discovered by a Physicist who had no interest in Medicine. If you think the world doesn’t need Basic Science, or that somehow Science has failed you, think again.

What we value in CIVILIZATION: Agriculture, Architecture, the Arts, Transportation, Communication, Health, Wealth, Security. All pivot on enlightened investments in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, & Mathematics. "STEAM". Without them, we descend into the Dark Ages.

** Evidence You Might Be In A Cult ** You follow one charismatic Leader. In your Leader’s mind, your Leader can do no wrong. In your mind, your Leader can do no wrong. Your Leader demonizes dissidents & outsiders. Loyalty's the ultimate measure of your devotion. You don't know you're in a Cult

My life’s wisdom. Inspired by & dedicated to the memory of my father, Cyril DeGrasse Tyson - Civil Rights era sociologist. It's what conflicts & disagreements among us look like when you’re scientifically literate — sprinkled with a dose of Cosmic Perspective. neildegrassetyson.com/books/2022-0...

Memorial Day 2025 Freedom isn’t free.

Since 1975 (the past fifty years) global vaccination efforts have saved the lives of 154 million people, especially reducing infant deaths — by 40%. That’s greater than the total population of France + Germany. #ScienceMatters

When a Government is scientifically illiterate, but doesn’t know it, then its actions (or inactions) can be a recipe for the dismantling of an informed and enlightened Democracy. #ScienceMatters

Unfamiliar with the role of science in America’s national defense, or the history of science innovation in the defense of sovereign nations? I invite you to start with, Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics & the Military. neildegrassetyson.com/books/2018-09-accessory-to-war/

Not that anyone asked, but during my tenure on the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Board, under part of Obama-2 and all of Trump-1, we visited Military Bases domestically & abroad. At no time did any member of the Armed Forces I met say to me: “America needs less science funding.”

If a foreign adversary snuck into our Federal budget and cut science research and education the way we’re cutting it ourselves — strategically undermining America’s long-term health, wealth, and security — we would likely consider it an act of war.

Dear Republicans, Cutting science budgets has not historically been a Republican thing. For example, Lincoln created the National Academy of Sciences. Eisenhower's term increased the science budget 366%. Gerald Ford, +15%; George H. W. Bush, +30%; George W. Bush, +54%. Just sayin’.

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity: 1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas… 2) enabled by Engineering Innovations… 3) based on Science Research in Universities… 4) funded by Grants from the US Government. It’s time more people understood this.

If Rational Arguments no longer work in US governance, it’s evidence of a deeper problem in our educational system, which favors what to know over how to think — how to critically analyze, process, & verify information. Seems like a bad time to reduce funding for Public Education.

John Mulaney on @Netflix “There’s a Horse in the Hospital” My sister, who owns horses, peed her pants when she saw this. [Video: 4 minutes] www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhkZ...