Mark Popinchalk
@markpopinchalk.bsky.social
Astrophysics postdoc at AMNH | writer for @astrobites.bsky.social | planetarium presenter | Likes ultimate frisbee, volleyball, and all kinds of games. He/Him
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
One court decision, two different headlines.
Guardian on the left, NY Times on the right. Which one more directly conveys information and the stakes to the reader?
Guardian on the left, NY Times on the right. Which one more directly conveys information and the stakes to the reader?
January 22, 2026 at 3:30 AM
One court decision, two different headlines.
Guardian on the left, NY Times on the right. Which one more directly conveys information and the stakes to the reader?
Guardian on the left, NY Times on the right. Which one more directly conveys information and the stakes to the reader?
The climactic conclusion of Science Tonight Episode 1! 🧪🔭
January 15, 2026 at 7:00 PM
The climactic conclusion of Science Tonight Episode 1! 🧪🔭
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
This is your chance to tell the NSF how to fix itself.
Say no to the grift of AI datacenters. Say no to putting "quantum" where it has no business. Say no to false metrics. Say no to biotech scams.
Say yes to sustained investments. To fundamental science. To flagship facilities. To STEM education.
Say no to the grift of AI datacenters. Say no to putting "quantum" where it has no business. Say no to false metrics. Say no to biotech scams.
Say yes to sustained investments. To fundamental science. To flagship facilities. To STEM education.
Do you care about the future of the US NSF and science in general? The agency is seeking feedback on the draft Strategic Plan. www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...
NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan
www.nsf.gov
January 13, 2026 at 9:00 PM
This is your chance to tell the NSF how to fix itself.
Say no to the grift of AI datacenters. Say no to putting "quantum" where it has no business. Say no to false metrics. Say no to biotech scams.
Say yes to sustained investments. To fundamental science. To flagship facilities. To STEM education.
Say no to the grift of AI datacenters. Say no to putting "quantum" where it has no business. Say no to false metrics. Say no to biotech scams.
Say yes to sustained investments. To fundamental science. To flagship facilities. To STEM education.
The next episode of science comedy talk show is about "De-Extinction", and some how we've settled on doing a Frankenstein parody with Furbys
🧪
🧪
January 7, 2026 at 3:37 PM
The next episode of science comedy talk show is about "De-Extinction", and some how we've settled on doing a Frankenstein parody with Furbys
🧪
🧪
The Season 2 Premiere of my late-night science comedy talkshow, Science Tonight! is next week!
Tickets for IRL and livestream here, 5$ off with "SCITONIS2"
www.caveat.nyc/events/scien...
Tickets for IRL and livestream here, 5$ off with "SCITONIS2"
www.caveat.nyc/events/scien...
Science, Tonight! - A peer-reviewed comedy talkshow
The peer-reviewed comedy talkshow where science comes to life!
www.caveat.nyc
January 3, 2026 at 9:10 PM
The Season 2 Premiere of my late-night science comedy talkshow, Science Tonight! is next week!
Tickets for IRL and livestream here, 5$ off with "SCITONIS2"
www.caveat.nyc/events/scien...
Tickets for IRL and livestream here, 5$ off with "SCITONIS2"
www.caveat.nyc/events/scien...
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
Not to be controversial but I think we should use tools and resources to make people's lives less miserable instead of more
December 27, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Not to be controversial but I think we should use tools and resources to make people's lives less miserable instead of more
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”
December 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I just wish someone would be honest and say “we are ending civilian science in favor of science that is focused on serving national security and war”
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
By 2040, ~40% of the images from Hubble Space Telescope, and more than 96% from new and future space telescopes like SPHEREx, ARRAKIHS, and Xuntian will be contaminated by internet satellite constellations.
Read our new NASA article in Nature:
nature.com/articles/s4158…
Read our new NASA article in Nature:
nature.com/articles/s4158…
December 3, 2025 at 6:55 PM
By 2040, ~40% of the images from Hubble Space Telescope, and more than 96% from new and future space telescopes like SPHEREx, ARRAKIHS, and Xuntian will be contaminated by internet satellite constellations.
Read our new NASA article in Nature:
nature.com/articles/s4158…
Read our new NASA article in Nature:
nature.com/articles/s4158…
Horseshoe Crabs are a Galactic Species! 🧪🔭
November 24, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Horseshoe Crabs are a Galactic Species! 🧪🔭
*this paper slaps* i think to myself, before looking at the author list and realizing I'm on it 😅
November 19, 2025 at 7:03 PM
*this paper slaps* i think to myself, before looking at the author list and realizing I'm on it 😅
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
Bitcoin now consuming as much energy as the entire country of Pakistan.
That seems bad.
That seems bad.
The people at CBECI were kind enough to send me a copy of their updated Bitcoin power consumption data
At the end of 2024, Bitcoin's total consumption for 2024 *did* end up matching that of Pakistan. 2024 saw the biggest jump in power consumption ever. Absolutely wild stuff ->
ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci
At the end of 2024, Bitcoin's total consumption for 2024 *did* end up matching that of Pakistan. 2024 saw the biggest jump in power consumption ever. Absolutely wild stuff ->
ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci
November 17, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Bitcoin now consuming as much energy as the entire country of Pakistan.
That seems bad.
That seems bad.
For the second time this season, the Betelgeuse system has thrown me through my desk.
Very proud of Season 1 of Science Tonight! 🧪🔭
Very proud of Season 1 of Science Tonight! 🧪🔭
November 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
For the second time this season, the Betelgeuse system has thrown me through my desk.
Very proud of Season 1 of Science Tonight! 🧪🔭
Very proud of Season 1 of Science Tonight! 🧪🔭
My late night science comedy talkshow has its Season 1 Finale tonight! Tickets for livestream or IRL available below! 🧪🔭
www.caveat.nyc/events/nycf-...
www.caveat.nyc/events/nycf-...
NYCF: Science, Tonight - A peer-reviewed comedy talkshow
The peer-reviewed comedy talkshow where science comes to life!
www.caveat.nyc
November 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
My late night science comedy talkshow has its Season 1 Finale tonight! Tickets for livestream or IRL available below! 🧪🔭
www.caveat.nyc/events/nycf-...
www.caveat.nyc/events/nycf-...
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
Apply to Write for Astrobites 2025!
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th.
astrobites.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
I used astronomy to explain how impressive the Horseshoe Crab fossil record is! 🧪🔭
youtu.be/TWNM-XZ1bes
youtu.be/TWNM-XZ1bes
Galactic Species?! - The Horseshoe Crab Fossil Record 🏆
YouTube video by Mark Popinchalk
youtu.be
November 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I used astronomy to explain how impressive the Horseshoe Crab fossil record is! 🧪🔭
youtu.be/TWNM-XZ1bes
youtu.be/TWNM-XZ1bes
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
“The human body is able to do some incredible things if you consume enough lead,” said the secretary of health and human services
Gray-Lipped RFK Jr. Touts Body’s Natural Ability To Transmute Lead Into Gold
WASHINGTON—Praising the process as yet another miracle of biology that modern medicine chooses to ignore, a gray-lipped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at a press conference Wednesday during which he tout...
theonion.com
October 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
“The human body is able to do some incredible things if you consume enough lead,” said the secretary of health and human services
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
“any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from nature.”
My heart and mind leans absolutely to the same conclusions. A great article that I wish all Human Earthlings could have the opportunity to read and understand 💚 Thanks @miquai.bsky.social.
My heart and mind leans absolutely to the same conclusions. A great article that I wish all Human Earthlings could have the opportunity to read and understand 💚 Thanks @miquai.bsky.social.
“Conflating intelligence & technology is an assumption worth challenging. True intelligence may know not to use the technologies we so dearly cling to as we plumb our planet’s riches to exhaustion.”
— @miquai.bsky.social
— @miquai.bsky.social
What Searching For Aliens Reveals About Ourselves | NOEMA
Looking for life beyond Earth changes the way we perceive life right here at home.
www.noemamag.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:53 AM
“any sufficiently advanced civilization is indistinguishable from nature.”
My heart and mind leans absolutely to the same conclusions. A great article that I wish all Human Earthlings could have the opportunity to read and understand 💚 Thanks @miquai.bsky.social.
My heart and mind leans absolutely to the same conclusions. A great article that I wish all Human Earthlings could have the opportunity to read and understand 💚 Thanks @miquai.bsky.social.
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
A brown dwarf that made headlines for showing signs of auroral activity is back in JWST’s sights — and it’s now doubly interesting. aasnova.org/2025/10/17/a... 🔭🧪
A Strange Brown Dwarf Gets Stranger
A brown dwarf that made headlines for showing signs of auroral activity is back in JWST's sights — and it's now doubly interesting.
aasnova.org
October 17, 2025 at 4:11 PM
A brown dwarf that made headlines for showing signs of auroral activity is back in JWST’s sights — and it’s now doubly interesting. aasnova.org/2025/10/17/a... 🔭🧪
gonna drag my butt on everything now
A 126,000-year-old butt-drag just made fossil history.
A tiny rock hyrax scooted across the sand of ancient South Africa, and that moment was preserved in stone.
Even the smallest acts can echo through time.
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/dcGWTR4
A tiny rock hyrax scooted across the sand of ancient South Africa, and that moment was preserved in stone.
Even the smallest acts can echo through time.
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/dcGWTR4
The 126,000-Year-Old Butt-Drag That Rewrote What Counts as a Fossil
How a small animal’s odd habit turned into one of the most unexpected stories ever preserved in stone Some discoveries make headlines because they’re dramatic: new...
climateages.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:56 PM
gonna drag my butt on everything now
Oops! My science comedy talkshow got political! 🧪
October 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Oops! My science comedy talkshow got political! 🧪
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
To be clear, they will 'make the proof' that Tylenol causes autism by controlling who does the studies and who reports the results.
They have built a mechanism to 'make the proof' for whatever they want so say. About protestors, about elections, about immigrants.
We have to keep speaking truth.
They have built a mechanism to 'make the proof' for whatever they want so say. About protestors, about elections, about immigrants.
We have to keep speaking truth.
RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."
October 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
To be clear, they will 'make the proof' that Tylenol causes autism by controlling who does the studies and who reports the results.
They have built a mechanism to 'make the proof' for whatever they want so say. About protestors, about elections, about immigrants.
We have to keep speaking truth.
They have built a mechanism to 'make the proof' for whatever they want so say. About protestors, about elections, about immigrants.
We have to keep speaking truth.
My high school student tried to sneak in a 6-7 joke into our programming 101, and when I did the hand gestures he declared "He's locked in!"
😎😎😎
😎😎😎
October 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
My high school student tried to sneak in a 6-7 joke into our programming 101, and when I did the hand gestures he declared "He's locked in!"
😎😎😎
😎😎😎
The AI reporter finally reveals why they are drinking so much water! 🧪
October 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
The AI reporter finally reveals why they are drinking so much water! 🧪
Reposted by Mark Popinchalk
None of us should feel exempt or invulnerable, because if they can do this to our neighbors, they can come for us, too. That said, those of us who are not presently among those being targeted should not focus on our own fear and vulnerability. We should support those in the immediate path of harm.
October 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM
None of us should feel exempt or invulnerable, because if they can do this to our neighbors, they can come for us, too. That said, those of us who are not presently among those being targeted should not focus on our own fear and vulnerability. We should support those in the immediate path of harm.