Phil Plait
@philplait.bsky.social
Bad Astronomer (formerly @BadAstronomer), SciCommer, Dork. Crash Course Astronomy guy. He/him. Newsletter: badastronomy.beehiiv.com
I'm self-employed so my opinions do in fact represent my company's.
I'm self-employed so my opinions do in fact represent my company's.
Pinned
Phil Plait
@philplait.bsky.social
· Oct 10
Pinned post:
Wanna know where all my stuff is? about.me/philplait
My book Under Alien Skies: underalienskies.com
My newsletter (Monday issues are free!): badastronomy.beehiiv.com
My fave post here on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/phil...
Wanna know where all my stuff is? about.me/philplait
My book Under Alien Skies: underalienskies.com
My newsletter (Monday issues are free!): badastronomy.beehiiv.com
My fave post here on BlueSky: bsky.app/profile/phil...
I read the first chapter and, unsurprisingly, it's wonderful.
ICYMI
I wrote a funny book to trick children into reading literature!
I wrote a funny book to trick children into reading literature!
After generations of family adventures, Sawyer Lee is determined to sink in the couch! The problem is that it will take a regrettable amount of energy for him to escape the mysteries, conspiracies, and gourd-based festivities the whole town throws his way.
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
us.macmillan.com/books/978037...
November 10, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I read the first chapter and, unsurprisingly, it's wonderful.
Reposted by Phil Plait
Once again, Jason shows that Loeb is full of crap.
I've summarized the truth about Loeb's 10 "anomalies" about 3I/ATLAS in one post.
Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft. He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Once again, Jason shows that Loeb is full of crap.
I know we feel hopeless and helpless, but there are things we can do. We can help our fellow humans who need to eat! Donating to a food bank is a great way to do this, and Charlotte is nearly halfway to her new goal of $5000, which will buy *50,000* meals.
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
I'm supporting Feeding America!
To feed America’s hungry through food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger
teamfeed.feedingamerica.org
November 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I know we feel hopeless and helpless, but there are things we can do. We can help our fellow humans who need to eat! Donating to a food bank is a great way to do this, and Charlotte is nearly halfway to her new goal of $5000, which will buy *50,000* meals.
If you need a break from Earthly bullshit may I present to you some cosmic gloriousness? I suspect it may help.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ngc-3370-s...
🧪🔭
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ngc-3370-s...
🧪🔭
NGC 3370: Stepladder to the Universe
Also, it’s a very pretty spiral galaxy
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If you need a break from Earthly bullshit may I present to you some cosmic gloriousness? I suspect it may help.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ngc-3370-s...
🧪🔭
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ngc-3370-s...
🧪🔭
Reposted by Phil Plait
Trump is 30 points underwater. Dems swept the special elections. People know the GOP is responsible for the shutdown. So the Dem Senators pulled out their big guns... and shot themselves in the foot.
November 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Trump is 30 points underwater. Dems swept the special elections. People know the GOP is responsible for the shutdown. So the Dem Senators pulled out their big guns... and shot themselves in the foot.
Dear Senator Schumer-
Go fuck yourself.
Go fuck yourself.
Democrats have been fighting for months to address America's healthcare crisis
For the millions who will lose coverage
For people with cancer who won't get the care they need
For working families who can't afford to pay $25K more a year for healthcare
We will keep fighting
For the millions who will lose coverage
For people with cancer who won't get the care they need
For working families who can't afford to pay $25K more a year for healthcare
We will keep fighting
November 10, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Dear Senator Schumer-
Go fuck yourself.
Go fuck yourself.
Reposted by Phil Plait
Reposted by Phil Plait
This looks awfully intentional.
None can be primaried in the next cycle, Shaheen & Durbin retiring.
Hassan, Masto, Fetterman up for reelection in 2028.
Rosen, Kaine, King up for reelection in 2030.
Hassan, Masto, Fetterman up for reelection in 2028.
Rosen, Kaine, King up for reelection in 2030.
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 AM
This looks awfully intentional.
Note them well
Dems who voted with GOP on ending shutdown:
DURBIN
SHAHEEN
HASSAN
FETTERMAN
ROSEN
CORTEZ MASTO
KAINE
And KING (I)
On track for 60-40 vote
DURBIN
SHAHEEN
HASSAN
FETTERMAN
ROSEN
CORTEZ MASTO
KAINE
And KING (I)
On track for 60-40 vote
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Note them well
JFC we're stuck with Tim Kaine until 2031
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 AM
JFC we're stuck with Tim Kaine until 2031
Trump is 30 points underwater. Dems swept the special elections. People know the GOP is responsible for the shutdown. So the Dem Senators pulled out their big guns... and shot themselves in the foot.
November 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Trump is 30 points underwater. Dems swept the special elections. People know the GOP is responsible for the shutdown. So the Dem Senators pulled out their big guns... and shot themselves in the foot.
November 9, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I don't think MacReady will need to stick a hot wire in her blood sample
November 9, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I don't think MacReady will need to stick a hot wire in her blood sample
I just called Senator Mark Warner and urged him to vote no. I called Senator Tim Kaine but his office is closed on Sunday and they don't take messages. America!
Any “deal” that ends with Dems just getting a pinky promise in return is a mistake.
The American people are suffering because Republicans refuse to stop healthcare costs from skyrocketing. An agreement that doesn’t fix that reality falls massively short.
The American people are suffering because Republicans refuse to stop healthcare costs from skyrocketing. An agreement that doesn’t fix that reality falls massively short.
November 9, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I just called Senator Mark Warner and urged him to vote no. I called Senator Tim Kaine but his office is closed on Sunday and they don't take messages. America!
One of my all-time time favorite movies. I love it.
Roy Ward Baker's Quatermass and the Pit - the Hammer Film production - was released 58 years ago today.
"A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people."
"A mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people."
November 9, 2025 at 8:02 PM
One of my all-time time favorite movies. I love it.
She's pretty close to the new goal of $2,000. Who will get her to the point where she can fund *20,000* meals?
Charlotte is good people and she's doing a good thing. I threw some cash their way, and if you can too, please do.
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
November 9, 2025 at 7:20 PM
She's pretty close to the new goal of $2,000. Who will get her to the point where she can fund *20,000* meals?
Reposted by Phil Plait
I am once again saying that we saw what wall to wall, panic coverage of a crisis looked like after the Biden debate and there’s no reason Trump isn’t getting that kind of coverage except for class solidarity.
So the oldest person ever to become president keeps falling asleep in his office during public events and there’s no big public discussion on how this is a coverup or how republicans are lying to us about how this government is running?
November 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I am once again saying that we saw what wall to wall, panic coverage of a crisis looked like after the Biden debate and there’s no reason Trump isn’t getting that kind of coverage except for class solidarity.
Deep cut. So to speak.
November 9, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Deep cut. So to speak.
Can some planetary scientist please teach Avi the most fundamental basics of comets? Like how tails work, and what previous comets look and act like? Because holy moly, this is embarrassing.
New image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS by M. Jäger, G. Rhemann & E. Prosperi.
Avi Loeb's: "Is the network of jets associated with pockets of ice on the surface of a natural cometary nucleus or are they coming from a set of jet thrusters used for navigation of a spacecraft? We do not know."
Avi Loeb's: "Is the network of jets associated with pockets of ice on the surface of a natural cometary nucleus or are they coming from a set of jet thrusters used for navigation of a spacecraft? We do not know."
November 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Can some planetary scientist please teach Avi the most fundamental basics of comets? Like how tails work, and what previous comets look and act like? Because holy moly, this is embarrassing.
This is great. Now we just need a hundred other Dem politicians to speak this bluntly.
November 8, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This is great. Now we just need a hundred other Dem politicians to speak this bluntly.
Halfway to the goal! Thanks, nerds!
Charlotte is good people and she's doing a good thing. I threw some cash their way, and if you can too, please do.
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
November 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Halfway to the goal! Thanks, nerds!
Charlotte is good people and she's doing a good thing. I threw some cash their way, and if you can too, please do.
hey friends. I’ve joined over 60 other content creators on a team for @feedingamerica.org. $1 = 10 meals, meaning even a single dollar donation will help de-enshittify the holidays for hungry families. give if you can, boost if you can’t. thank you! ❤️💪 teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants...
I'm supporting Feeding America!
To feed America’s hungry through food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger
teamfeed.feedingamerica.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Charlotte is good people and she's doing a good thing. I threw some cash their way, and if you can too, please do.
Reposted by Phil Plait
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).
Rosalind Franklin and the damage of gender harassment
Spurred by a recent report on sexual harassment in academia, our columnist revisits a historical case and reflects on what has changed—and what hasn’t
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Thinking only of Rosalind Franklin today, and what was stolen from her (and so many other female scientists alongside her).