Mike Sowden
@mikeachim.bsky.social
Writer (on science, travel & curiosity), Yorkshireman, tedious enthusiast, professional overthinker, Megathreader. Now: Scotland.
Writes Everything Is Amazing: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/
Writes Everything Is Amazing: https://everythingisamazing.substack.com/
Pinned
Mike Sowden
@mikeachim.bsky.social
· Nov 11
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
Okay, time for a much-requested thing: a THREAD OF THREADS. I've now written dozens of these sciencey threads now, and it's increasingly easy to lose them in the scrum of new stuff on here, so - here's a roundup.
First: the mystery of the BONG BONG BONG: bsky.app/profile/mike...
1/
First: the mystery of the BONG BONG BONG: bsky.app/profile/mike...
1/
A tale of two Yorkshires, just 30 miles apart. Crazy weather today.
January 3, 2026 at 11:26 AM
A tale of two Yorkshires, just 30 miles apart. Crazy weather today.
Reposted by Mike Sowden
Every time someone says "I can't write X, editors will never buy it" an angel loses its wings
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
January 1, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Every time someone says "I can't write X, editors will never buy it" an angel loses its wings
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Those shining adamantine feathers, sharper than death, slice all creatures in their path to molecule-thin ribbons, blood raining down onto acres of land rendered poisonous for decades.
So maybe reconsider
Reposted by Mike Sowden
“I like this feeling: to put on a warm coat and hat and gloves, and go for a walk somewhere cold & quiet, feeling the vastness of everything around me and then imagining all of it stretching backwards in time, far beyond my shrinking-to-nothing lifespan, so far that I completely vanish”
DEEP TIME is horrifyingly vast & will make you feel like a vanishing tiny flicker of nothingness but in an oddly comforting (and scientifically accurate!) way, and this is unfortunately how I write HAPPY NEW YEAR essays so here you go & also Sorry:
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
There's Still Time Enough
"It's wrong to think that the past is something that’s just gone. It’s still there. It’s just that *you’ve* gone past." - Terry Pratchett
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 9:14 AM
“I like this feeling: to put on a warm coat and hat and gloves, and go for a walk somewhere cold & quiet, feeling the vastness of everything around me and then imagining all of it stretching backwards in time, far beyond my shrinking-to-nothing lifespan, so far that I completely vanish”
DEEP TIME is horrifyingly vast & will make you feel like a vanishing tiny flicker of nothingness but in an oddly comforting (and scientifically accurate!) way, and this is unfortunately how I write HAPPY NEW YEAR essays so here you go & also Sorry:
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
There's Still Time Enough
"It's wrong to think that the past is something that’s just gone. It’s still there. It’s just that *you’ve* gone past." - Terry Pratchett
open.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 11:16 PM
DEEP TIME is horrifyingly vast & will make you feel like a vanishing tiny flicker of nothingness but in an oddly comforting (and scientifically accurate!) way, and this is unfortunately how I write HAPPY NEW YEAR essays so here you go & also Sorry:
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
open.substack.com/pub/everythi...
Reposted by Mike Sowden
According to Carl Sagan's famous analogy:
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
December 31, 2025 at 12:38 PM
According to Carl Sagan's famous analogy:
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
Reposted by Mike Sowden
Also you are currently nearer in time to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the laying-down of the first stone of the Great Pyramid of Giza, so even human time is completely unfathomable to us, let alone the vastly deeper variety.
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
December 31, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Also you are currently nearer in time to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the laying-down of the first stone of the Great Pyramid of Giza, so even human time is completely unfathomable to us, let alone the vastly deeper variety.
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
Also you are currently nearer in time to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the laying-down of the first stone of the Great Pyramid of Giza, so even human time is completely unfathomable to us, let alone the vastly deeper variety.
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
December 31, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Also you are currently nearer in time to Cleopatra than Cleopatra was to the laying-down of the first stone of the Great Pyramid of Giza, so even human time is completely unfathomable to us, let alone the vastly deeper variety.
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
Follow me for more science-based existential horror in 2026. 👍
According to Carl Sagan's famous analogy:
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
December 31, 2025 at 12:38 PM
According to Carl Sagan's famous analogy:
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
If you think of the history of the universe being the whole of the last year, it'll be at 10.30pm this evening when human beings first arrive.
As @ironspike.bsky.social just said (I would have quoted, but doesn't seem to be working) - sickle cell disease is a perfect example of how things have leapt forward recently:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
See also the HPV vaccine in Scotland - 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
See also the HPV vaccine in Scotland - 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer.
December 31, 2025 at 12:02 PM
As @ironspike.bsky.social just said (I would have quoted, but doesn't seem to be working) - sickle cell disease is a perfect example of how things have leapt forward recently:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
See also the HPV vaccine in Scotland - 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
See also the HPV vaccine in Scotland - 100% effective in preventing cervical cancer.
Reposted by Mike Sowden
THIS. Did you know sickle cell is curable, now? FULLY curable.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
meanwhile.... medicine has taken INSANE leaps and bounds in the last 2 years.
we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this??
between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright
we're out here curing HIV and leukemia and creating 100% efficacy vaccines against all sorts of cancers, and now this??
between this and renewable energy outstripping fossil fuels in efficiency, the future is bright
Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research.
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
December 31, 2025 at 3:44 AM
THIS. Did you know sickle cell is curable, now? FULLY curable.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
If you're feeling down or despairing about what FEELS like technology/advancement/science "standing still" or being fully malicious, I have great news: You're not paying attention to actual science. Just tech industry marketing.
I just saw @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social quoting someone's description of jellyfish as "organised water", so - a reminder:
- no circulatory system
- no skeleton
- seem to “think” with their nerve-endings
- 95% water, meaning any jellyfish you see almost entirely isn’t one.
The ultimate rebel.
- no circulatory system
- no skeleton
- seem to “think” with their nerve-endings
- 95% water, meaning any jellyfish you see almost entirely isn’t one.
The ultimate rebel.
December 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I just saw @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social quoting someone's description of jellyfish as "organised water", so - a reminder:
- no circulatory system
- no skeleton
- seem to “think” with their nerve-endings
- 95% water, meaning any jellyfish you see almost entirely isn’t one.
The ultimate rebel.
- no circulatory system
- no skeleton
- seem to “think” with their nerve-endings
- 95% water, meaning any jellyfish you see almost entirely isn’t one.
The ultimate rebel.
Reposted by Mike Sowden
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Reposted by Mike Sowden
Here's something that quietly haunts me when I see social media at its angriest:
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
December 29, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Here's something that quietly haunts me when I see social media at its angriest:
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
Here's something that quietly haunts me when I see social media at its angriest:
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
December 29, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Here's something that quietly haunts me when I see social media at its angriest:
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
*When you rage about how stupid a thing is, you also help it reach even more people.*
It’s not a clean, neutral process. It comes with polluting side-effects that need offsetting.
How?
1/
I will never understand how human beings adjust to temperatures like this.
(This is in Celsius, but -40 is also the intersection point with the Fahrenheit scale, so it's both.)
(This is in Celsius, but -40 is also the intersection point with the Fahrenheit scale, so it's both.)
December 28, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I will never understand how human beings adjust to temperatures like this.
(This is in Celsius, but -40 is also the intersection point with the Fahrenheit scale, so it's both.)
(This is in Celsius, but -40 is also the intersection point with the Fahrenheit scale, so it's both.)
I'm back in Yorkshire for the new year, and it's cafe menu items like this that really hammer that fact home. No messin'.
December 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I'm back in Yorkshire for the new year, and it's cafe menu items like this that really hammer that fact home. No messin'.
This is a Genuinely Great Thing (the rollout of a solar-powered blanket for folk sleeping rough, a potential life-saver in winter) & I'm surprised it didn't get more coverage, although maybe that's because other folk have invented stuff like this too, which is my hope because it's about damn time?
Thanks to @mikeachim.bsky.social for highlighting this story. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Scottish pupil named a Time magazine girl of the year for solar-powered blanket design
Rebecca Young, 13, named one of 10 girls of the year for her invention intended to help rough sleepers in winter
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 8:25 PM
This is a Genuinely Great Thing (the rollout of a solar-powered blanket for folk sleeping rough, a potential life-saver in winter) & I'm surprised it didn't get more coverage, although maybe that's because other folk have invented stuff like this too, which is my hope because it's about damn time?
You know what?
You lot are OK*.
Merry Christmas to you.
.....
*British for “the absolute nicest”.
You lot are OK*.
Merry Christmas to you.
.....
*British for “the absolute nicest”.
December 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
You know what?
You lot are OK*.
Merry Christmas to you.
.....
*British for “the absolute nicest”.
You lot are OK*.
Merry Christmas to you.
.....
*British for “the absolute nicest”.
Reposted by Mike Sowden
Ah, Scotland: where the post-boxes have knitted Christmas cosies. Proper lovely idea.
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
December 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Ah, Scotland: where the post-boxes have knitted Christmas cosies. Proper lovely idea.
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
Update: this is YARN-BOMBING - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bo... - and good grief, what a lovely thing in its cheerful ridiculousness.
December 20, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Update: this is YARN-BOMBING - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yarn_bo... - and good grief, what a lovely thing in its cheerful ridiculousness.
Ah, Scotland: where the post-boxes have knitted Christmas cosies. Proper lovely idea.
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
December 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Ah, Scotland: where the post-boxes have knitted Christmas cosies. Proper lovely idea.
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
(Spotted in Glasgow Central Station, but apparently happening elsewhere across the UK as well.)
Reposted by Mike Sowden
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
April 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
My dream legacy:
"Sowden’s writing blazed a trail with his uncanny eye for the bizarre & profound, attracting fans as diverse as Bill Bryson, King Charles III & all five members of Wet Leg.”
Possible reality:
“Oh, I never knew he had a NEWSLETTER as well.”
Cough. everythingisamazing.substack.com
"Sowden’s writing blazed a trail with his uncanny eye for the bizarre & profound, attracting fans as diverse as Bill Bryson, King Charles III & all five members of Wet Leg.”
Possible reality:
“Oh, I never knew he had a NEWSLETTER as well.”
Cough. everythingisamazing.substack.com
Everything Is Amazing | Mike Sowden | Substack
A newsletter about asking better questions & a romp through science in search of a good "wow!" you can feel down to your boots. Click to read Everything Is Amazing, by Mike Sowden, a Substack publicat...
everythingisamazing.substack.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:23 AM
My dream legacy:
"Sowden’s writing blazed a trail with his uncanny eye for the bizarre & profound, attracting fans as diverse as Bill Bryson, King Charles III & all five members of Wet Leg.”
Possible reality:
“Oh, I never knew he had a NEWSLETTER as well.”
Cough. everythingisamazing.substack.com
"Sowden’s writing blazed a trail with his uncanny eye for the bizarre & profound, attracting fans as diverse as Bill Bryson, King Charles III & all five members of Wet Leg.”
Possible reality:
“Oh, I never knew he had a NEWSLETTER as well.”
Cough. everythingisamazing.substack.com
Thinking is rather fun, isn't it?
Those "aha!" moments. That almost-audible SNICK when 2 half-baked notions fit together & the result unfolds from one horizon of your mind to another. The giddy possibility of bending reality with something as insubstantial as an idea.
Farming that out to AI?
Nah.
Those "aha!" moments. That almost-audible SNICK when 2 half-baked notions fit together & the result unfolds from one horizon of your mind to another. The giddy possibility of bending reality with something as insubstantial as an idea.
Farming that out to AI?
Nah.
December 18, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Thinking is rather fun, isn't it?
Those "aha!" moments. That almost-audible SNICK when 2 half-baked notions fit together & the result unfolds from one horizon of your mind to another. The giddy possibility of bending reality with something as insubstantial as an idea.
Farming that out to AI?
Nah.
Those "aha!" moments. That almost-audible SNICK when 2 half-baked notions fit together & the result unfolds from one horizon of your mind to another. The giddy possibility of bending reality with something as insubstantial as an idea.
Farming that out to AI?
Nah.
Out for a walk for the first time in over 2 days after being clobbered by the flu (possibly That Flu That's Going Around) & my god, it's amazing how fresh air can smell & taste so good, even when the Scottish sky hurls it in your face at 40mph accompanied by half a bucketful of rain. Glorious stuff.
December 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Out for a walk for the first time in over 2 days after being clobbered by the flu (possibly That Flu That's Going Around) & my god, it's amazing how fresh air can smell & taste so good, even when the Scottish sky hurls it in your face at 40mph accompanied by half a bucketful of rain. Glorious stuff.