A meteorite's dramatic trek to Earth seems mundane compared to its sordid journey from Somalia to China: 🧪 🔭 www.scientificamerican.com/article/insi...

In the last 6 days, 9 asteroids passed inside the Moon’s orbit. Estimated sizes: ~1–38 m. All were discovered this month, a reminder that countless small, faint NEOs slip by unnoticed until they make a close pass.

NEW: Earth and the Moon have been best mates for over four billion years. But that doesn't mean they don't want new friends! Case in point: we just discovered an asteroid that's following Earth around! It's known as a quasi-moon. And it's adorable. Me @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/s...

We've reached 6,000 confirmed exoplanets! I talked with @aussiastronomer.bsky.social about where things go from here. (A great graphic by @unamandita.bsky.social visualizes the amazing jumps in planet finds since the first ones were confirmed in the 1990s.)

Yo, astronomers. Is the difference between a quasi-moon and a trojan this? - A quasi-moon orbits the Sun in a very similar path to the planet, but is unstable, can shift about, and eventually leaves; - A trojan either leads or trails the planet, has a stable orbit, and sticks to Lagrange points

NEW: It was a delight to contribute to @quantamagazine.bsky.social's stunning new series on climate science! Naturally, my story tended apocalyptic: will Earth ever become a climate hellhole like Venus, the most extreme world in the solar system? www.quantamagazine.org/why-is-venus...

A satellite photo of a volcano taken from space FROM THE SIDE

NEW: It was a delight to contribute to @quantamagazine.bsky.social's stunning new series on climate science! Naturally, my story tended apocalyptic: will Earth ever become a climate hellhole like Venus, the most extreme world in the solar system? www.quantamagazine.org/why-is-venus...

NEW: In July, we discovered the third-known interstellar object. It’s now erupting all sorts of stuff, from cyanide (normal) to nickel (weird). And as one source put it: “If it is an alien spaceship, it’s done a really good job disguising it as a comet.” www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

NEW: In July, we discovered the third-known interstellar object. It’s now erupting all sorts of stuff, from cyanide (normal) to nickel (weird). And as one source put it: “If it is an alien spaceship, it’s done a really good job disguising it as a comet.” www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

NEW: 40 light-years away, seven rocky worlds orbit a cool red star. Three are likely barren rocks exposed to space. But JWST just peeked at the 4th rock from the star—and found hints of a nitrogen-rich sky. Could this be a habitable world? Me @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...

⚒️ 🧪 A magnitude 6 earthquake struck northeastern Afghanistan just before midnight on August 31st. Vulnerable homes built of mud, brick, stone, and wood collapsed; the reported death toll has exceeded 800 people. Why do earthquakes occur here, what happened in this one, and why was it so deadly?

BREAKING: At least 250 people killed in a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.

NEW: The White House wants to kill off Juno, NASA's mission to uncover Jupiter's secrets. Fortunately, its legacy is clear. Juno's a scientist, but also an artist: it revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky. Me @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Is 3I/ATLAS made of cheese? Is cheese made of 3I/ATLAS? Is Avi made of cheese? Who can say?

Juno is an AMAZING mission. The camera onboard was never supposed to last this long (the radiation around Big J should've zapped it a while back) but it just keeps on ticking. Killing this mission while it's still working and producing great science is a crime.

NEW: The White House wants to kill off Juno, NASA's mission to uncover Jupiter's secrets. Fortunately, its legacy is clear. Juno's a scientist, but also an artist: it revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky. Me @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

NEW: Earth is the weirdest planet. Exhibit #491: Primeval matter imprisoned within the planet's innermost sanctum – a metallic iron-nickel core – is leaking up and out of the surface via volcanic eruptions. Um...excuse me? Me @quantamagazine.bsky.social www.quantamagazine.org/earths-core-...

Strong new evidence suggests that liquid metal from the center of the Earth is making its way up to the planet’s surface, potentially ferried through two monster-size blobs sitting at the core-mantle boundary. @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/earths-core-...

Why is every good story about the Earth getting up to shenanigans by @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social?

It's about time I announced a project that I've been working on in the last year... I wrote a book! 'Volcanoes: 10 things you should know' published by @orionbooks.bsky.social Seven Dials will be out in September. It's available to pre-order now. Links: linktr.ee/volcanologist

One Year Ago Today. It was the best.

NEW: A magnitude 8.8 megaquake blasted tsunami waves across the Pacific today. Here's everything you need to know about it, including: -Why it happened -Why it generated a widespread tsunami -Why the timing of this megaquake is a bit weird Me, for NatGeo www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

NEW: You may wonder why Japan’s 2011 mag-9.1 quake created a colossal tsunami that killed 18,000 people, while today’s mag-8.8 quake made a big, but not catastrophic, tsunami. For @sciam.bsky.social, I explore why. (Hint: it’s because the 2011 quake was SO much stronger.)

Another earthquake story from @sciam.bsky.social by the always-excellent @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social explaining why the tsunami from the Russia quake wasn't as huge as the one from the 2011 Japan quake, for example. 🧪

NEW: A magnitude 8.8 megaquake blasted tsunami waves across the Pacific today. Here's everything you need to know about it, including: -Why it happened -Why it generated a widespread tsunami -Why the timing of this megaquake is a bit weird Me, for NatGeo www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Hey volcano-seismo peeps—a question. I've been writing about the Kamchatka quake and tsunami, but it's not escaped my notice that Klyuchevskoy volcano in Russia starts erupting right afterward. Is this a coincidence, or could the changing stress field in the region have set this volcano off? LMK!

Earthquake/tsunami experts: it’s a very tricky time of day but if anyone’s able to answer some quick questions about what’s happening in the Pacific, that would be hugely helpful. Let me know!

Magnitude 8.7 #earthquake in Kamchatka, following a M7.4 last week - may be largest earthquake since 2011, 8th largest on record globally, #tsunami warning in place for US west coast and Canada - the historic 1952 M9 closely caused a destructive tsunami across the Pacific

I wrote about Rubin again, this time about the telescope's capacity to find potentially dozens of interstellar objects. It's going to be wild, as one astronomer put it, "like old-fashioned astronomy: Find the thing, point telescopes at it, argue about it." www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

NEW: Betelgeuse, a big red star, will eventually explode. But despite its self-destructive proclivities, the irritable giant has managed to make, and keep, a friend: a companion star that Betelgeuse will, eventually and rudely, eat up. Me @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/s...

NEW: Betelgeuse, a big red star, will eventually explode. But despite its self-destructive proclivities, the irritable giant has managed to make, and keep, a friend: a companion star that Betelgeuse will, eventually and rudely, eat up. Me @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/s...

Hubble Space Telescope images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS are out! These were taken 5 hours ago. Plenty of cosmic rays peppering the images, but the comet's coma looks very nice and puffy. Best of luck to the researchers trying to write up papers for this... archive.stsci.edu/proposal_sea... 🔭

Very cool update on 3I/ATLAS: the Vera Rubin Observatory (which hasn’t even got its survey going yet) has found images of the interstellar object going back to June 21, clearly showing a coma (that’s also expanding over time). There’s no doubt about it: it’s a comet. arxiv.org/pdf/2507.13409

NEW: We’re all excited about 3I/ATLAS, the third-ever interstellar object to be discovered. But just you wait: Rubin’s probably going to find so many more—and in doing so, it’ll turn astronomers into archaeologists of long-lost worlds. Me @supercluster.com supercluster.com/editorial/th...

NEW: This is the inside story of how astronomers tracked down 2024 YR4, the most dangerous asteroid ever found, in the hope of working out whether it would strike Earth in a few short years. It’s Don’t Look Up, but everyone lives. Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...

NEW: We’re all excited about 3I/ATLAS, the third-ever interstellar object to be discovered. But just you wait: Rubin’s probably going to find so many more—and in doing so, it’ll turn astronomers into archaeologists of long-lost worlds. Me @supercluster.com supercluster.com/editorial/th...

This is the inside story of how, over a span of just two months, a sprawling network of global astronomers found, followed, mapped, planned for, and finally dismissed the most dangerous asteroid ever found—all under the tightest of timelines and, for just a moment, with the highest of stakes.

NEW: Come on, you didn’t think I’d write nothing on that new interstellar comet, even while on holiday, did you? Pfft. Here’s everything we know so far about the solar system’s new gatecrasher, from its size, shape, origins and voyage. ☄️ www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

Well, isn’t that lovely? :)

Everything about this story is *fantastic* but I particularly enjoyed the bonus fun sidebar: astronomers absolutely hate the moon

NEW: This is the inside story of how astronomers tracked down 2024 YR4, the most dangerous asteroid ever found, in the hope of working out whether it would strike Earth in a few short years. It’s Don’t Look Up, but everyone lives. Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...

This story is SO MUCH FUN. A oral history of what happened when scientists around the world spotted an asteroid that was suddenly on a rather worrying trajectory. New today from @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/08/1...

Be sure to check out @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social‬'s deep dive into how "Look Up" played out in reality:

Was able to get my observatory open between clouds in soupy monsoon skies to nab an image of new interstellar object #A11pl3Z discovered by the Atlas team. Exciting times in astronomy. 🔭🧪

Astronomers may have just discovered the third interstellar object passing through the Solar System! ESA’s Planetary Defenders are observing the object, provisionally known as #A11pl3Z, right now using telescopes around the world.

UPDATE on our new interstellar friend #A11pl3Z: Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope! Now with 6 days' worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z's trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1! ... that's undoubtedly interstellar. 🔭☄️

Have astronomers just spotted the third-ever known interstellar object? #A11pl3Z

NEW: The Rubin Observatory is going to spy all that glimmers in the night sky. It just opened its eyes for the very first time, and saw wonders: bridges of light connecting galaxies, and thousands of asteroids once hidden from view. Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/23/1...

NEW: The Rubin Observatory is going to spy all that glimmers in the night sky. It just opened its eyes for the very first time, and saw wonders: bridges of light connecting galaxies, and thousands of asteroids once hidden from view. Me @technologyreview.com www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/23/1...