A Thanksgiving message for us all.

Noah Hawley's stand alone script for Dr. Doom. (Jeremy - this should have been my answer to your question at Magers and Quinn).

"The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics," my lecture series for the Great Courses (24 half-hour lectures), is still available on Prime video for a few days! Tell your family that watching football on Thanksgiving is hopelessly uncool. www.amazon.com/gp/video/det...

Really? Joe vs. the Volcano was right there!

i’m not crying you’re crying xkcd: Fifteen Years

The US ice core research community, with international partners, has recovered valuable records of past climate from the Arctic & Antarctic since the 1950s. Here is a sampling of cores—including 6,000,000 year old ice via NSF Center for Oldest Ice Exploration—at the NSF Ice Core Facility.

Have they, though, Phil? Have they?

“You are witnessing, almost live, the formation of a crater on the Moon, with an impact filmed this morning!”

Doing activities together is the key to a long-lasting relationship.

Here's Prof. Lindsay Glesener ( @linering.bsky.social ) of the UMN School of Physics and Astronomy, in a one-minute video about solar flares, that give rise to auroras. www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdVN...

‪ Want to learn how the sun produces the spectacular auroras that we saw last night? UMN Prof. Lindsay Glesener @linering.bsky.social gave a great talk as part of our Summer of Astounding Astrophysics this July. Skip the annoying guy at the beginning. www.youtube.com/watch?v=joUc...

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The urgent care who treat the wounded and the veterinarians who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories." So begins another episode of Claw and Shoulder

Not only are the faculty sharing their aurora photos - but the explanations of what we saw! "The reason that the red line is seen at high altitudes is that it has a long lifetime (the order of 100 s), so it is collisionally de-excited at low altitudes where the atmosphere is more dense. 1/2

It's not a rogue planet. Just misunderstood.

In an age where we have fewer and fewer collective cultural experiences that everyone is in on, it’s so special to come online and just scream, “omg omg omg” with strangers from across the country.

This. If you want an efficient, effective way to travel using pedal power, choose a recumbent, laid-back bicycle. The standard, conventional bicycle form is best if you want a mechanical horse. I'm not sure the bipedal robots are a "carny gimmick," as much as a lack of imagination.

The atmosphere of Jupiter has a temperature of 700K. Based on solar illumination, temp should be 150K. The heating of Jupiter's atmosphere is due to impacting charged particles deflected by its large magnetic field. Jupiter's aurora keeps it warm day and night!

Received this email from a faculty member and I must share it: Warning! This email is only for people who appreciate beautiful colors in the sky! Solar activity is REALLY high, with many recent X class flares, including an X5 today that is among the largest flares of this solar cycle so far. 1/N

Circulatory System in the Kitchen. YES, CHEF!

Someone at US Consumer Product Safety is a Jon Osterman fan. I notice she's wearing her watch.

please don't @ me like "actually cerium is unique among the lanthanides for its +4 oxidation state" ⚗️🧪 #chemsky

Special congrats to my microwave who has been wrong for six months but is now back to actually telling the time

"who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds" That's the face you make when you realize that the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is the correct one.

Last night I saw the Misel lecture at the Univ. of MN by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, who gave a beautiful talk about black holes, warped spacetime, and gravitational waves. I'm reminded of an old piece I wrote about LIGO and what happens after we die. kakalios.com/black-holes-...

This has to be one of the greatest gags in schism history

Full solution to all of ethics here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/ethics-8 #smbc

Crocodile Dundee voice: That's not a giant computer. THIS is a giant computer.

Define “Perfect Ending”?

At the St. Louis Park, MN rally, where there are > 1000 Americans. And two T-Rexs, a Portland Frog, a Tweety Bird, a squirrel and raccoon. And #CaptainAmerica. I had to ask: me: What would Captain America do? Cap: He would hold the line. me: And he'd say - no, you move!

Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans

A lot of folks here at the Bakken. My panel on Science in Pop Culture starts in 30 min. If you're around, swing by. (No Spider-Pun intended).

Do you live in Minnesota? Are you a fan of horror? Are you a fan of physical media? Do you love intergenerational trauma and gothic folklore monsters? If so, check out the new indie horror film, DEAD MEDIA, on Oct 20th at The Parkway Theater: deadmediamoviempls102025.eventbrite.com

For those who prefer to read books with their ears, the audio version of my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD is also available. Here's a preview. Warning - contains Kakalios voice! www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFdE...

This Sunday I'll be at the MN STEM Book Festival at the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis on a panel discussing - what else - science and pop culture. Just saw that @mtosterholm.bsky.social and Ben Orlin will also be there. Should be fun. www.thethinkingspot.us/event-detail...

Jacob Kurtzberg, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

a good list. However, if were toI bet you a cocktail, I would say Allan MacDonald, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero for Twisted BiLayer Graphene

chef's kiss. No notes.

In Northfield MN tonight (and I know the Carlton and St. Olaf folks will be!)? I'll be there too, at the Content Bookstore. I'll explain how Superman reverses time (consistent with General Relativity!) and other movie physics facts! Lights! Camera!...Physics! www.contentbookstore.com/events/32406...

The rest of the page: Superman: We need information...about Black Holes Batman: And what happens when one collides with a White Hole Professor: It's a grey area.

In Northfield, MN this Thursday evening? Stop by the Content Bookstore and here me talk about my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD. Carlton and St. Olaf folks alert! contentbookstore.com/events/32406...

Indeed, it is a lot. It's even more than 40 cakes. (IYKYK). All seriousness aside, a truly impressive achievement.

Sorry @gailsimone.bsky.social , there wasn't enough space in my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD to discuss Cyclops' heat vision or Superman's force beams. Maybe in the sequel?🤔

Batman always has a plan. Can't wait to see what this one is!

Want. No, scratch that. Need.

It's possible the planet has a large magnetic field, and auroras are heating the atmosphere. Jupiter's atm. has a temp of 700K, but based on solar flux, it should by 150K. Extra heat provided by charged particles impacting planet. physics.aps.org/articles/v18...

[new Isaac Chotiner interview]

Thanks to @athenascalzi.com and scalzi.com) for letting me post a Big Idea about my new book. Always using your powers for good! whatever.scalzi.com/2025/09/22/t...

Both physics profs who consult for superhero movies and writers of superhero comic books who know their physics enjoy my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD. Bringing people together - it's what I do!😉

My book launch last night at the fantastic Magers & Quinn went great last night. Full house and they even laughed at (some) of the jokes. My new book covers a broad range of physics - from the very big (as in the universe) to the very small (the Higgs boson) and the human scale where we all live.

“Imagine the day the aliens arrive.” So begins Do Aliens Speak Physics? by the US particle physicist Daniel Whiteson and the cartoonist and author Andy Warner. They ask if we could communicate with aliens, and ask whether we would be able to understand alien science? ⚛️🧪 ow.ly/XeUF50WYEKS