Paul McAuley
@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social
Scribble scribble scribble
Latest novel: Beyond the Burn Line
Incoming (12th Feb 2026): Loss Protocol
Working on: Heaven's Grand Design
Website: https://www.unlikelyworlds.co.uk
Agent: Oliver Cheetham at Mic Cheetham Agency
Latest novel: Beyond the Burn Line
Incoming (12th Feb 2026): Loss Protocol
Working on: Heaven's Grand Design
Website: https://www.unlikelyworlds.co.uk
Agent: Oliver Cheetham at Mic Cheetham Agency
Reposted by Paul McAuley
"All this foolishness
About moons and blossoms
Pricked by the cold’s needle."
(Basho)
🎨 Shoun Yamamoto
#wintersky
About moons and blossoms
Pricked by the cold’s needle."
(Basho)
🎨 Shoun Yamamoto
#wintersky
January 6, 2026 at 9:09 PM
"All this foolishness
About moons and blossoms
Pricked by the cold’s needle."
(Basho)
🎨 Shoun Yamamoto
#wintersky
About moons and blossoms
Pricked by the cold’s needle."
(Basho)
🎨 Shoun Yamamoto
#wintersky
Hypervelocity stellar winds create firework filaments around a zombie star.
phys.org/news/2026-01...
phys.org/news/2026-01...
Rare 'firework morphology' of supernova remnant Pa 30 may be due to white dwarf wind
In 1181 AD, a bright "guest star" was observed to linger in the sky for around six months. Nearly 850 years later, the likely remnants of this event were rediscovered and tentatively linked to the 118...
phys.org
January 7, 2026 at 8:42 AM
Hypervelocity stellar winds create firework filaments around a zombie star.
phys.org/news/2026-01...
phys.org/news/2026-01...
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Reposted by Paul McAuley
London Zoo are doing their annual stock take and it is a thing of joy (pics from Getty Images)
www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-im...
www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-im...
January 6, 2026 at 4:46 PM
London Zoo are doing their annual stock take and it is a thing of joy (pics from Getty Images)
www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-im...
www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-im...
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Peru 🇵🇪 has given legal rights to 175 native bee 🐝 species:
"...stingless bees now have the fundamental right to exist and flourish in a healthy environment, without pollution, habitat loss, climate change, human activity or other threats..."
🪲🪳🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/h...
"...stingless bees now have the fundamental right to exist and flourish in a healthy environment, without pollution, habitat loss, climate change, human activity or other threats..."
🪲🪳🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/h...
Honey-Making Stingless Bees in the Peruvian Amazon Become the First Insects to Gain Legal Rights
Two local ordinances granted rights to at least 175 stingless bee species in Peru, which are culturally and spiritually significant to Indigenous peoples and help maintain a healthy rainforest ecosyst...
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 5, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Peru 🇵🇪 has given legal rights to 175 native bee 🐝 species:
"...stingless bees now have the fundamental right to exist and flourish in a healthy environment, without pollution, habitat loss, climate change, human activity or other threats..."
🪲🪳🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/h...
"...stingless bees now have the fundamental right to exist and flourish in a healthy environment, without pollution, habitat loss, climate change, human activity or other threats..."
🪲🪳🌎
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/h...
Reposted by Paul McAuley
This is what it would look like to fly over the Martian North Pole aboard @esa.int's Mars Express orbiter.
This sequence of 117 images was captured by the VMC camera on June 14th, 2019 over the course of 3 hours and is played a 1200x speed. #planetsci
Credit: ESA/Simeon Schmauß
flic.kr/p/2rQAPdw
This sequence of 117 images was captured by the VMC camera on June 14th, 2019 over the course of 3 hours and is played a 1200x speed. #planetsci
Credit: ESA/Simeon Schmauß
flic.kr/p/2rQAPdw
January 6, 2026 at 7:00 PM
This is what it would look like to fly over the Martian North Pole aboard @esa.int's Mars Express orbiter.
This sequence of 117 images was captured by the VMC camera on June 14th, 2019 over the course of 3 hours and is played a 1200x speed. #planetsci
Credit: ESA/Simeon Schmauß
flic.kr/p/2rQAPdw
This sequence of 117 images was captured by the VMC camera on June 14th, 2019 over the course of 3 hours and is played a 1200x speed. #planetsci
Credit: ESA/Simeon Schmauß
flic.kr/p/2rQAPdw
Reposted by Paul McAuley
MODEL ACTRESS WHATEVER by @annodracula.bsky.social is now available on NetGalley! 💋
From the award-winning author of Anno Dracula, a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality.
https://www.netgalley.com/publisher/title/780509
From the award-winning author of Anno Dracula, a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality.
https://www.netgalley.com/publisher/title/780509
January 6, 2026 at 4:20 PM
MODEL ACTRESS WHATEVER by @annodracula.bsky.social is now available on NetGalley! 💋
From the award-winning author of Anno Dracula, a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality.
https://www.netgalley.com/publisher/title/780509
From the award-winning author of Anno Dracula, a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality.
https://www.netgalley.com/publisher/title/780509
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Nature can be wickedly cunning.
Tropical spiders craft giant doppelgängers as decoys
The extraordinary anti-predator strategy of two tiny, orb-weaving spider species has been uncovered by scientists from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Florida.
phys.org
January 6, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Nature can be wickedly cunning.
Reposted by Paul McAuley
New paper alert!
tl;dr: the seafloor of Europa is probably tectonically inert, meaning little to no active fracturing that could expose fresh rock to seawater.
Without such water–rock reactions the prospect for there being life within Europa just took a big hit.
A thread:
tl;dr: the seafloor of Europa is probably tectonically inert, meaning little to no active fracturing that could expose fresh rock to seawater.
Without such water–rock reactions the prospect for there being life within Europa just took a big hit.
A thread:
January 6, 2026 at 5:55 PM
New paper alert!
tl;dr: the seafloor of Europa is probably tectonically inert, meaning little to no active fracturing that could expose fresh rock to seawater.
Without such water–rock reactions the prospect for there being life within Europa just took a big hit.
A thread:
tl;dr: the seafloor of Europa is probably tectonically inert, meaning little to no active fracturing that could expose fresh rock to seawater.
Without such water–rock reactions the prospect for there being life within Europa just took a big hit.
A thread:
Reposted by Paul McAuley
This is high-quality extrapolation, worthy of your attention.
"...a military invasion of Canada would trigger a decades-long violent resistance, which would ultimately destroy the United States."
January 6, 2026 at 6:46 AM
This is high-quality extrapolation, worthy of your attention.
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Coral reefs impose pronounced daily rhythms on nearby microbial communities, reshaping their composition and abundance over the course of a single day.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
A Coral reef’s daily pulse reshapes microbes in surrounding waters
A new study shows that coral reefs don’t just provide a home for ocean life, they also help set the daily “schedule” for tiny microbes living in the water nearby. Over the course of ...
www.eurekalert.org
January 5, 2026 at 8:08 AM
Coral reefs impose pronounced daily rhythms on nearby microbial communities, reshaping their composition and abundance over the course of a single day.
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
Reposted by Paul McAuley
An amazing little bird that hasn't been seen for two centuries...
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/missing-for-...
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/missing-for-...
Missing for 200 Years, the Galapagos Rail Reappears Following Floreana Island Restoration
It's as if the restoration of the balance of nature on the island led to its spontaneous resurrection.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
January 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
An amazing little bird that hasn't been seen for two centuries...
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/missing-for-...
www.goodnewsnetwork.org/missing-for-...
New addition to the franchise just dropped
January 4, 2026 at 2:42 PM
New addition to the franchise just dropped
Reposted by Paul McAuley
A tale of three norths in three photos
1️⃣ The pier at Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the rare triple alignment of the Three Norths (True North, Grid North, Magnetic North) left England in December 2025, drifting out into the North Sea.
📸 Lewis Clarke (CC BY-SA 2.0)
1️⃣ The pier at Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the rare triple alignment of the Three Norths (True North, Grid North, Magnetic North) left England in December 2025, drifting out into the North Sea.
📸 Lewis Clarke (CC BY-SA 2.0)
January 4, 2026 at 9:06 AM
A tale of three norths in three photos
1️⃣ The pier at Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the rare triple alignment of the Three Norths (True North, Grid North, Magnetic North) left England in December 2025, drifting out into the North Sea.
📸 Lewis Clarke (CC BY-SA 2.0)
1️⃣ The pier at Berwick-upon-Tweed, where the rare triple alignment of the Three Norths (True North, Grid North, Magnetic North) left England in December 2025, drifting out into the North Sea.
📸 Lewis Clarke (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Hampstead Heath, 08:27
January 4, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Hampstead Heath, 08:27
Reposted by Paul McAuley
a Quadrantid meteor over the Avebury stones.
#StandingStoneSunday
#StandingStoneSunday
January 4, 2026 at 6:02 AM
a Quadrantid meteor over the Avebury stones.
#StandingStoneSunday
#StandingStoneSunday
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Perfectly normal beginning to every great Dartmoor love story, in my experience.
January 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Perfectly normal beginning to every great Dartmoor love story, in my experience.
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Not much went right this year but to hear of fresh sightings bringing the total to 14 new documented calves for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale is most welcome news in these final days of 2025 (photo credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, NOAA permit #26919)
December 29, 2025 at 5:48 AM
Not much went right this year but to hear of fresh sightings bringing the total to 14 new documented calves for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale is most welcome news in these final days of 2025 (photo credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, NOAA permit #26919)
Reposted by Paul McAuley
This is just such a damned disgrace. A crime against knowledge and humanity itself.
January 1, 2026 at 5:38 AM
This is just such a damned disgrace. A crime against knowledge and humanity itself.
Reposted by Paul McAuley
'Hall of the Golden Hue at Hiraizumi' - Kawase Hasui, 1957. This was Hasui's final work before his death later the same year.
#JapaneseArt #shinhanga
#JapaneseArt #shinhanga
January 1, 2026 at 3:09 AM
'Hall of the Golden Hue at Hiraizumi' - Kawase Hasui, 1957. This was Hasui's final work before his death later the same year.
#JapaneseArt #shinhanga
#JapaneseArt #shinhanga
Reposted by Paul McAuley
Some books I read this year that I’d recommend to anyone. I’m way behind the times on these.
@egangoonsquad.bsky.social A visit from the goon squad.
@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social Austral.
@tadethompson.bsky.social Far from the light of heaven.
@adamroberts.bsky.social The thing itself.
1/2
@egangoonsquad.bsky.social A visit from the goon squad.
@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social Austral.
@tadethompson.bsky.social Far from the light of heaven.
@adamroberts.bsky.social The thing itself.
1/2
December 31, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Some books I read this year that I’d recommend to anyone. I’m way behind the times on these.
@egangoonsquad.bsky.social A visit from the goon squad.
@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social Austral.
@tadethompson.bsky.social Far from the light of heaven.
@adamroberts.bsky.social The thing itself.
1/2
@egangoonsquad.bsky.social A visit from the goon squad.
@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social Austral.
@tadethompson.bsky.social Far from the light of heaven.
@adamroberts.bsky.social The thing itself.
1/2
Reposted by Paul McAuley
‘I always say, the film is the thing. The film is the thing. It’s the film, the language of cinema. You work so hard & the second it’s finished, people want you to change it back into words.’
- David Lynch
- David Lynch
December 31, 2025 at 3:41 PM
‘I always say, the film is the thing. The film is the thing. It’s the film, the language of cinema. You work so hard & the second it’s finished, people want you to change it back into words.’
- David Lynch
- David Lynch
Reposted by Paul McAuley
It's time for a year-end Trilobite Tuesday! Even after decades of exploration, no more than a dozen complete specimens of the genus Breviscutellum have been discovered within Oklahoma's Bois d’Arc Formation.
December 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM
It's time for a year-end Trilobite Tuesday! Even after decades of exploration, no more than a dozen complete specimens of the genus Breviscutellum have been discovered within Oklahoma's Bois d’Arc Formation.
Reposted by Paul McAuley
When he died my hometown, a place with only the very loosest connection to him, decided they must have a statue of David Bowie, and in a remarkable feat of creativity decided to create the single most horrific statue I have ever seen.
December 30, 2025 at 10:15 AM
When he died my hometown, a place with only the very loosest connection to him, decided they must have a statue of David Bowie, and in a remarkable feat of creativity decided to create the single most horrific statue I have ever seen.