Dan Falk
@danfalk.bsky.social
Hi! I write about #science for Smithsonian, Discover, Quanta, Nautilus, Undark, National Geographic, CBC Radio, & many other outlets. Books include The Science of Shakespeare and In Search of Time. Co-host of BookLab podcast. 🔭🪐⭐️⚛️
Pinned
Episode 40 of BookLab is now up! It's a roundup of Dan and Amanda's picks for the top science books of the past year, featuring new books by Sam Kean, Dagomar Degroot, Lynn Gamwell, Pria Anand, David Baron, and many more!
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
Anyone else feel like we’re maybe two data centres away from people believing that Rodney Dangerfield was president in-between Eisenhower and Kennedy?
December 27, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Anyone else feel like we’re maybe two data centres away from people believing that Rodney Dangerfield was president in-between Eisenhower and Kennedy?
Happy Birthday to Johannes Kepler, born #OTD in 1571. Among other achievements, Kepler determined the true shape of planetary orbits (they're ellipses, not circles, as had long been assumed). 🪐
www.astronomy.com/today-in-the...
www.astronomy.com/today-in-the...
Dec. 27, 1571: The birth of Johannes Kepler
Today in the history of astronomy, the astronomer responsible for the laws of planetary motion is born.
www.astronomy.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Happy Birthday to Johannes Kepler, born #OTD in 1571. Among other achievements, Kepler determined the true shape of planetary orbits (they're ellipses, not circles, as had long been assumed). 🪐
www.astronomy.com/today-in-the...
www.astronomy.com/today-in-the...
I wonder what a typical day is like for a Sarlacc. Like, do they just sit around, hoping that something will fall in?
December 27, 2025 at 4:06 AM
I wonder what a typical day is like for a Sarlacc. Like, do they just sit around, hoping that something will fall in?
Toronto scene (a few days ago). #Toronto #photography
December 27, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Toronto scene (a few days ago). #Toronto #photography
Life has been evolving for 4 billion(ish) years here on Earth -- so far, confined to the planet itself. But Caleb Scharf argues that space is life's next logical, perhaps inevitable, frontier. I review his new book, "The Giant Leap," for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/12/26/b... #space #science
undark.org/2025/12/26/b... #space #science
Book Review: How Evolution Is Driving Us Further Into Space
"The Giant Leap," by astrobiologist Caleb Scharf, is an optimistic account of our widening journey into the cosmos.
undark.org
December 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Life has been evolving for 4 billion(ish) years here on Earth -- so far, confined to the planet itself. But Caleb Scharf argues that space is life's next logical, perhaps inevitable, frontier. I review his new book, "The Giant Leap," for @undark.org:
undark.org/2025/12/26/b... #space #science
undark.org/2025/12/26/b... #space #science
🙃 Last year, Christmas was on the 24th of Kislev; this years it’s on the 5th of Tevet — so confusing to have it jump around like that! 😉
December 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
🙃 Last year, Christmas was on the 24th of Kislev; this years it’s on the 5th of Tevet — so confusing to have it jump around like that! 😉
FB keeps “suggesting” posts from the Babylon Bee — but I say no thanks to their anti-trans, pro-Bari-Weiss “humour.”
December 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM
FB keeps “suggesting” posts from the Babylon Bee — but I say no thanks to their anti-trans, pro-Bari-Weiss “humour.”
Revolution number 9; Love Potion number 9; and
December 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Revolution number 9; Love Potion number 9; and
Reposted by Dan Falk
A new national park is coming together in Chile. It would create an unbroken 2,800-mile wildlife corridor and help to preserve Indigenous culture and history as well as a magnificent environment.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
‘It’s the wildest place I have walked’: new national park will join up Chile’s 2,800km wildlife corridor
Government poised to officially protect 200,000 hectares of remote Patagonian coastline and forest
www.theguardian.com
December 25, 2025 at 12:17 PM
A new national park is coming together in Chile. It would create an unbroken 2,800-mile wildlife corridor and help to preserve Indigenous culture and history as well as a magnificent environment.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Merry Christmas and Happy Isaac Newton's Birthday! :)
December 25, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Merry Christmas and Happy Isaac Newton's Birthday! :)
December 25, 2025 at 3:51 AM
"When you pass of fiction as nonfiction, it sets an impossible bar for writers of actual nonfiction to follow... Oliver Sacks, you broke my heart." Here's @mkonnikova.bsky.social on finding out that Oliver Sacks made stuff up: mariakonnikova.substack.com/p/the-man-wh...
The man who mistook his imagination for the truth
The disappointing reality of one of my (ex-)heroes, Oliver Sacks
mariakonnikova.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
"When you pass of fiction as nonfiction, it sets an impossible bar for writers of actual nonfiction to follow... Oliver Sacks, you broke my heart." Here's @mkonnikova.bsky.social on finding out that Oliver Sacks made stuff up: mariakonnikova.substack.com/p/the-man-wh...
(At n=200, Wordle average = 3.865.)
December 24, 2025 at 5:11 AM
(At n=200, Wordle average = 3.865.)
Reposted by Dan Falk
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I count 10 cities in 2025 that are on track to have the fewest murders since at least 1970. Newark is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1956 (though only have data through Oct this year) and San Francisco is on pace to have the fewest murders since 1942.
Astronomy peeps! The Internet says Saturn's average distance from the sun is (approx) 1.4 billion km. Could we say that, by definition, this is also Saturn's average distance from Earth? (I wanna say, "yes, obviously" but...) @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy @astroroyalscot.bsky.social etc.
December 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Astronomy peeps! The Internet says Saturn's average distance from the sun is (approx) 1.4 billion km. Could we say that, by definition, this is also Saturn's average distance from Earth? (I wanna say, "yes, obviously" but...) @sundogplanets.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy @astroroyalscot.bsky.social etc.
57 years ago today -- Dec. 21, 1968 -- Apollo 8 was launched, carrying humans away from Earth's immediate vicinity for the first time. I wrote about the mission's legacy a while back, for @nbcnews.com:
www.nbcnews.com/mach/science... #Apollo #Apollo8 #space
www.nbcnews.com/mach/science... #Apollo #Apollo8 #space
Before 'one small step': How Apollo 8 became our first true moon shot
The historic flight launched 50 years ago this week.
www.nbcnews.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:24 AM
57 years ago today -- Dec. 21, 1968 -- Apollo 8 was launched, carrying humans away from Earth's immediate vicinity for the first time. I wrote about the mission's legacy a while back, for @nbcnews.com:
www.nbcnews.com/mach/science... #Apollo #Apollo8 #space
www.nbcnews.com/mach/science... #Apollo #Apollo8 #space
We’re not told — but, in your imagination, how long did it take Luke to get to Dagobah?
December 21, 2025 at 6:14 PM
We’re not told — but, in your imagination, how long did it take Luke to get to Dagobah?
Episode 40 of BookLab is now up! It's a roundup of Dan and Amanda's picks for the top science books of the past year, featuring new books by Sam Kean, Dagomar Degroot, Lynn Gamwell, Pria Anand, David Baron, and many more!
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
December 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Episode 40 of BookLab is now up! It's a roundup of Dan and Amanda's picks for the top science books of the past year, featuring new books by Sam Kean, Dagomar Degroot, Lynn Gamwell, Pria Anand, David Baron, and many more!
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
booklabpodcast.com/booklab-040-... #science #books
Happy solstice everyone! 🌞
December 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Happy solstice everyone! 🌞
Just by way of a recap, the solution to yesterday's Revealed puzzle was Quentin "Taratino" 🤨🙄😐
December 21, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Just by way of a recap, the solution to yesterday's Revealed puzzle was Quentin "Taratino" 🤨🙄😐
Please enjoy today's Quirks & Quarks, in which you'll hear my "mini book reviews," along with Bob's interviews with authors who wrote science books in 2025. :) (If you're not near your radio... well, you can catch the podcast or just listen anytime at this link: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks... )
December 20, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Please enjoy today's Quirks & Quarks, in which you'll hear my "mini book reviews," along with Bob's interviews with authors who wrote science books in 2025. :) (If you're not near your radio... well, you can catch the podcast or just listen anytime at this link: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks... )
Um... did anyone notice anything wonky with today's "Revealed" puzzle?
December 20, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Um... did anyone notice anything wonky with today's "Revealed" puzzle?
It's been a privilege to be a judge for the PEN America / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for 2025! Our longlist of ten finalists was announced this week: pen.org/announcing-t... (you have to scroll down a bit; PEN has a multitude of categories!) Big winner to be announced in January!
Announcing the 2026 PEN America Literary Awards Longlists
PEN America is honored to announce the Longlists for the 2026 Literary Awards, which will confer nearly $350,000 to writers and translators.
pen.org
December 19, 2025 at 8:29 PM
It's been a privilege to be a judge for the PEN America / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for 2025! Our longlist of ten finalists was announced this week: pen.org/announcing-t... (you have to scroll down a bit; PEN has a multitude of categories!) Big winner to be announced in January!
Now : “I don’t know, I just saw it in my news feed” :: Then : “I don’t know, I just noticed it on the bottom of my shoe.”
December 14, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Now : “I don’t know, I just saw it in my news feed” :: Then : “I don’t know, I just noticed it on the bottom of my shoe.”
Me: "Meteor showers are great!"
People: "Cool, will you be watching for the Geminids?"
Me: "Hahaha no too cold."
People: "Cool, will you be watching for the Geminids?"
Me: "Hahaha no too cold."
December 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Me: "Meteor showers are great!"
People: "Cool, will you be watching for the Geminids?"
Me: "Hahaha no too cold."
People: "Cool, will you be watching for the Geminids?"
Me: "Hahaha no too cold."