Charlie Wood
@walkingthedot.bsky.social
Physics staff writer @QuantaMagazine, R(ecovering)PCV, exJET, language enthusiast. SHERP36. formerly @PopSci, @csmonitor
He/him
He/him
Reposted by Charlie Wood
Americans, you could have this.
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Americans, you could have this.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
🎃 The carved pumpkins that we call “Jack-o’-lanterns” get their name from 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘶𝘴, a natural phenomenon that many cultures have associated with the paranormal.
Last month, a group of chemists published a study that offers one explanation for how these faint orbs illuminate.
Last month, a group of chemists published a study that offers one explanation for how these faint orbs illuminate.
October 31, 2025 at 5:58 PM
🎃 The carved pumpkins that we call “Jack-o’-lanterns” get their name from 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘶𝘴, a natural phenomenon that many cultures have associated with the paranormal.
Last month, a group of chemists published a study that offers one explanation for how these faint orbs illuminate.
Last month, a group of chemists published a study that offers one explanation for how these faint orbs illuminate.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
LEGAL RELEASE FORM: You agree to let us film you
ME: Seems OK
FORM: We own your face forever
ME: Ummm
FORM: We own your face via technologies that haven’t been invented yet
ME:
FORM: in other galaxies
ME: OK hold on
FORM: If we kill you during filming you’re not allowed to scream
ME: Seems OK
FORM: We own your face forever
ME: Ummm
FORM: We own your face via technologies that haven’t been invented yet
ME:
FORM: in other galaxies
ME: OK hold on
FORM: If we kill you during filming you’re not allowed to scream
October 22, 2025 at 5:24 PM
LEGAL RELEASE FORM: You agree to let us film you
ME: Seems OK
FORM: We own your face forever
ME: Ummm
FORM: We own your face via technologies that haven’t been invented yet
ME:
FORM: in other galaxies
ME: OK hold on
FORM: If we kill you during filming you’re not allowed to scream
ME: Seems OK
FORM: We own your face forever
ME: Ummm
FORM: We own your face via technologies that haven’t been invented yet
ME:
FORM: in other galaxies
ME: OK hold on
FORM: If we kill you during filming you’re not allowed to scream
Reposted by Charlie Wood
Solar & wind met 109% of new electricity demand, globally, in the first half of 2025.
Renewables are handling all new demand & are inexorably moving beyond, to chip away at the FF foundation.
Renewables are handling all new demand & are inexorably moving beyond, to chip away at the FF foundation.
Global Electricity Mid-Year Insights 2025 | Ember
Solar and wind outpaced demand growth in the first half of 2025, as renewables overtook coal’s share in the global electricity mix.
ember-energy.org
October 8, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Solar & wind met 109% of new electricity demand, globally, in the first half of 2025.
Renewables are handling all new demand & are inexorably moving beyond, to chip away at the FF foundation.
Renewables are handling all new demand & are inexorably moving beyond, to chip away at the FF foundation.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
"Energy dominance," you say?
As of this year, *China is exporting more clean-energy technology than the US is exporting the dirty stuff*.
The future is green energy & China, not the US, is set to dominate it.
As of this year, *China is exporting more clean-energy technology than the US is exporting the dirty stuff*.
The future is green energy & China, not the US, is set to dominate it.
China Is Beating the US in the Battle for Energy Export Dominance
China’s exports of clean energy technology hit a record in August, with $20 billion shipped globally.
www.bloomberg.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
"Energy dominance," you say?
As of this year, *China is exporting more clean-energy technology than the US is exporting the dirty stuff*.
The future is green energy & China, not the US, is set to dominate it.
As of this year, *China is exporting more clean-energy technology than the US is exporting the dirty stuff*.
The future is green energy & China, not the US, is set to dominate it.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis have won the Nobel Prize in physics for showing that quantum mechanics describes the behavior of objects much larger than atoms.
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...
Nobel Prize in Physics 2025
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 was awarded jointly to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an...
www.nobelprize.org
October 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis have won the Nobel Prize in physics for showing that quantum mechanics describes the behavior of objects much larger than atoms.
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physi...
Reposted by Charlie Wood
The world: 🔥🔥🔥
Scientists, in the background:
Scientists, in the background:
Wonderful news. A salutary reminder of the absolute benefits of scientific progress, and the absolute evil of conspiracist bollocks.
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time www.bbc.com/news/article...
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time www.bbc.com/news/article...
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that could transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC
www.bbc.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The world: 🔥🔥🔥
Scientists, in the background:
Scientists, in the background:
Reposted by Charlie Wood
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history, and its lessons are a massive human achievement. “How We Came To Know Earth,” our new series, is a guide to the modern understanding of fundamental climate science. www.quantamagazine.org/series/clima...
How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...
www.quantamagazine.org
September 15, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history, and its lessons are a massive human achievement. “How We Came To Know Earth,” our new series, is a guide to the modern understanding of fundamental climate science. www.quantamagazine.org/series/clima...
huh. along with abundant clean energy, fusion reactors might also be able to make *tons* of gold.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.13461
arxiv.org/abs/2507.13461
Scalable Chrysopoeia via $(n, 2n)$ Reactions Driven by Deuterium-Tritium Fusion Neutrons
A scalable approach for chrysopoeia - the transmutation of base metals into gold - has been pursued for millennia. While there have been small-scale demonstrations in particle accelerators and proposa...
arxiv.org
July 29, 2025 at 6:52 PM
huh. along with abundant clean energy, fusion reactors might also be able to make *tons* of gold.
arxiv.org/abs/2507.13461
arxiv.org/abs/2507.13461
Reposted by Charlie Wood
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
This is absurd.
The red supergiant Betelgeuse is the bright feature in this image.
But that darker blue splotch is a *companion star* that's just been discovered—and it orbits so close to Betelgeuse that it's inside the larger star's outer atmosphere.
The red supergiant Betelgeuse is the bright feature in this image.
But that darker blue splotch is a *companion star* that's just been discovered—and it orbits so close to Betelgeuse that it's inside the larger star's outer atmosphere.
July 21, 2025 at 9:07 PM
This is absurd.
The red supergiant Betelgeuse is the bright feature in this image.
But that darker blue splotch is a *companion star* that's just been discovered—and it orbits so close to Betelgeuse that it's inside the larger star's outer atmosphere.
The red supergiant Betelgeuse is the bright feature in this image.
But that darker blue splotch is a *companion star* that's just been discovered—and it orbits so close to Betelgeuse that it's inside the larger star's outer atmosphere.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
150 years ago you could get published in Nature by just describing how cute your pets are.
www.nature.com/articles/012...
www.nature.com/articles/012...
July 18, 2025 at 1:24 PM
150 years ago you could get published in Nature by just describing how cute your pets are.
www.nature.com/articles/012...
www.nature.com/articles/012...
Reposted by Charlie Wood
This year it is 10 years since the discovery of #GravitationalWaves in 2015!
www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20...
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
#GW150914
#GR24Amaldi16
www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20...
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
#GW150914
#GR24Amaldi16
July 16, 2025 at 7:32 PM
This year it is 10 years since the discovery of #GravitationalWaves in 2015!
www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20...
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
#GW150914
#GR24Amaldi16
www.ligo.caltech.edu/video/ligo20...
@ligo.org @egovirgo.bsky.social
#GW150914
#GR24Amaldi16
Reposted by Charlie Wood
"The Chipotle where Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense" encapsulates so much American history
What'd you do over the weekend? Public Works began resurfacing the street in front of the Chipotle where Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense
July 15, 2025 at 12:55 PM
"The Chipotle where Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense" encapsulates so much American history
Oh no
Awful news: CMB-S4 is cancelled.
This experiment was massively exciting for the cosmology community. It would have told us about the state of the universe some 400,000 years after the big bang, at a level of precision we can now only dream about
⚛️🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...
This experiment was massively exciting for the cosmology community. It would have told us about the state of the universe some 400,000 years after the big bang, at a level of precision we can now only dream about
⚛️🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation
Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt
www.science.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Oh no
Reposted by Charlie Wood
NSF budget would close down one of LIGO's sites. This would be, to put it lightly, a catastrophe for gravitational wave astronomy.
"In FY 2026 NSF will operate only one of the two sites
and will support a reduced level for technology development."
bsky.app/profile/hast...
"In FY 2026 NSF will operate only one of the two sites
and will support a reduced level for technology development."
bsky.app/profile/hast...
May 30, 2025 at 8:47 PM
NSF budget would close down one of LIGO's sites. This would be, to put it lightly, a catastrophe for gravitational wave astronomy.
"In FY 2026 NSF will operate only one of the two sites
and will support a reduced level for technology development."
bsky.app/profile/hast...
"In FY 2026 NSF will operate only one of the two sites
and will support a reduced level for technology development."
bsky.app/profile/hast...
First sigma-eight. Now g-2. Anomalies are dropping like flies this year.
💣 The Muon g-2 theory initiative dropped their update. Bottom line: the g-2 anomaly is gone. arxiv.org/abs/2505.21476
🧪⚛️
🧪⚛️
May 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM
First sigma-eight. Now g-2. Anomalies are dropping like flies this year.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
Absolutely delighted by this Andalite balloon animal—the work of Josh Steinhouse, The Geek Balloonist: thegeekballoonist.com/home
He does a mean E.T., too.
Thanks for the smile, Josh. ❤️
#Animorphs #BalloonArtist
He does a mean E.T., too.
Thanks for the smile, Josh. ❤️
#Animorphs #BalloonArtist
May 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Absolutely delighted by this Andalite balloon animal—the work of Josh Steinhouse, The Geek Balloonist: thegeekballoonist.com/home
He does a mean E.T., too.
Thanks for the smile, Josh. ❤️
#Animorphs #BalloonArtist
He does a mean E.T., too.
Thanks for the smile, Josh. ❤️
#Animorphs #BalloonArtist
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Singularities in Space-Time Prove Hard to Kill | Quanta Magazine
Black hole and Big Bang singularities break our best theory of gravity. A trilogy of theorems hints that physicists will need to go to the ends of space and time to find a fix.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Do singularities exist? I'd always thought they were purely mathematical artifacts, but recent work in mathematical physics work from @bousso.bsky.social and others hint otherwise (for sufficiently broad definitions of "singularities" and "exist").
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
www.quantamagazine.org/singularitie...
Reposted by Charlie Wood
👀 On our radar: Beautiful physics of the ordinary
💬 “My deep and abiding feeling is that if you look at anything closely enough, there will be new riches to be found” —Sidney Nagel
✍️ Charlie Wood, @quantamagazine.bsky.social
🔗 www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
💬 “My deep and abiding feeling is that if you look at anything closely enough, there will be new riches to be found” —Sidney Nagel
✍️ Charlie Wood, @quantamagazine.bsky.social
🔗 www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
Finding Beauty and Truth in Mundane Occurrences | Quanta Magazine
The physicist Sidney Nagel delights in solving mysteries of the universe that are hiding in plain sight.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 24, 2025 at 1:30 PM
👀 On our radar: Beautiful physics of the ordinary
💬 “My deep and abiding feeling is that if you look at anything closely enough, there will be new riches to be found” —Sidney Nagel
✍️ Charlie Wood, @quantamagazine.bsky.social
🔗 www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
💬 “My deep and abiding feeling is that if you look at anything closely enough, there will be new riches to be found” —Sidney Nagel
✍️ Charlie Wood, @quantamagazine.bsky.social
🔗 www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
It is that one glorious week of the year where New York feels like The Room in Community
youtu.be/VxxYqE4Gil8?...
youtu.be/VxxYqE4Gil8?...
the room temperature room
YouTube video by Toran Seru
youtu.be
May 12, 2025 at 9:12 PM
It is that one glorious week of the year where New York feels like The Room in Community
youtu.be/VxxYqE4Gil8?...
youtu.be/VxxYqE4Gil8?...
Love it when my worlds collide
May 10, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Love it when my worlds collide
Why do drops leave ring-shaped stains? Why do splashes splash? Had great fun chatting with Sid Nagel about beautiful, unappreciated physics right under our noses.
www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
Finding Beauty and Truth in Mundane Occurrences | Quanta Magazine
The physicist Sidney Nagel delights in solving mysteries of the universe that are hiding in plain sight.
www.quantamagazine.org
May 9, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Why do drops leave ring-shaped stains? Why do splashes splash? Had great fun chatting with Sid Nagel about beautiful, unappreciated physics right under our noses.
www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
www.quantamagazine.org/finding-beau...
Reposted by Charlie Wood
What a day to have studied Latin in Chicago.
May 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
What a day to have studied Latin in Chicago.
Reposted by Charlie Wood
For #BlackHoleWeek, why not go explore spacetime around a black hole?
Oh... because it'd be incredibly dangerous?
Good point.
Well, how about you use this (nearly*) perfectly safe simulation. testtubegames.com/blackhole.html
*There is always a small risk of collapsing into a simgularity.
Oh... because it'd be incredibly dangerous?
Good point.
Well, how about you use this (nearly*) perfectly safe simulation. testtubegames.com/blackhole.html
*There is always a small risk of collapsing into a simgularity.
May 6, 2025 at 7:05 PM
For #BlackHoleWeek, why not go explore spacetime around a black hole?
Oh... because it'd be incredibly dangerous?
Good point.
Well, how about you use this (nearly*) perfectly safe simulation. testtubegames.com/blackhole.html
*There is always a small risk of collapsing into a simgularity.
Oh... because it'd be incredibly dangerous?
Good point.
Well, how about you use this (nearly*) perfectly safe simulation. testtubegames.com/blackhole.html
*There is always a small risk of collapsing into a simgularity.