Andrew Higgins
@a-j-higgins.bsky.social
Prof. of Mechanical Eng., @mcgillu Interstellar Flight Group, @mcgill-adastra.bsky.social. #GoingInterstellar. #UrbanCyclist.
Pinned
Andrew Higgins
@a-j-higgins.bsky.social
· Oct 22
Welcome to General Fusion, Dr. Andrew Higgins!
General Fusion and McGill University have collaborated for over a decade, and we’re thrilled to welcome McGill Professor Andrew Higgins to our team… |...
Welcome to General Fusion, Dr. Andrew Higgins!
General Fusion and McGill University have collaborated for over a decade, and we’re thrilled to welcome McGill Professor Andrew Higgins to our team du...
www.linkedin.com
Big new (at least for me): I’m on sabbatical leave from McGill this year and working full-time with General Fusion in Vancouver. With 2026 shaping up to be a pivot year for commercial fusion, I’m excited to be on-site and contributing directly to the effort.
Mount Baker and Lions Gate Bridge, viewed from Cypress Mountain, Vancouver.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Mount Baker and Lions Gate Bridge, viewed from Cypress Mountain, Vancouver.
The magic of leaving Vancouver Island at sunset on @bcferries.bsky.social.
October 27, 2025 at 5:01 AM
The magic of leaving Vancouver Island at sunset on @bcferries.bsky.social.
Props to Long Beach Surf Shop for the expert kit and local wisdom. Every session was saltwater joy. Until next time, Tofino.
October 27, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Props to Long Beach Surf Shop for the expert kit and local wisdom. Every session was saltwater joy. Until next time, Tofino.
Big new (at least for me): I’m on sabbatical leave from McGill this year and working full-time with General Fusion in Vancouver. With 2026 shaping up to be a pivot year for commercial fusion, I’m excited to be on-site and contributing directly to the effort.
Welcome to General Fusion, Dr. Andrew Higgins!
General Fusion and McGill University have collaborated for over a decade, and we’re thrilled to welcome McGill Professor Andrew Higgins to our team… |...
Welcome to General Fusion, Dr. Andrew Higgins!
General Fusion and McGill University have collaborated for over a decade, and we’re thrilled to welcome McGill Professor Andrew Higgins to our team du...
www.linkedin.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Big new (at least for me): I’m on sabbatical leave from McGill this year and working full-time with General Fusion in Vancouver. With 2026 shaping up to be a pivot year for commercial fusion, I’m excited to be on-site and contributing directly to the effort.
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
Unfiltered glimpses of our solar system revealed through raw, breathtaking images. Our group works with one goal in mind: to someday capture such images from other solar systems.
"Outer Space" by Sander van den Berg is a magical experience.
The original (vimeo.com/40234826) is gone but the NASA version remains (youtu.be/vBe-onc4aic).
The original (vimeo.com/40234826) is gone but the NASA version remains (youtu.be/vBe-onc4aic).
October 11, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Unfiltered glimpses of our solar system revealed through raw, breathtaking images. Our group works with one goal in mind: to someday capture such images from other solar systems.
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
“How a Billionaire’s Plan to Reach Another Star Fell Apart”
Our group is still at it, stubbornly in the trenches, steadily chipping away at the key problems that must be solved to reach the nearest stars. The work continues. Onward!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Our group is still at it, stubbornly in the trenches, steadily chipping away at the key problems that must be solved to reach the nearest stars. The work continues. Onward!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
A $100-Million Mission to Another Star Just Disappeared
An abandoned plan to visit another star highlights the perils of billionaire-funded science
www.scientificamerican.com
September 17, 2025 at 3:14 AM
“How a Billionaire’s Plan to Reach Another Star Fell Apart”
Our group is still at it, stubbornly in the trenches, steadily chipping away at the key problems that must be solved to reach the nearest stars. The work continues. Onward!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Our group is still at it, stubbornly in the trenches, steadily chipping away at the key problems that must be solved to reach the nearest stars. The work continues. Onward!
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Forty-two years ago, “The Day After” reshaped public discourse around the possibility of nuclear war, even profoundly influencing the sitting U.S. President. Can we hope that, in the hands of a gifted director like Bigelow, such impact might be felt again?
youtu.be/0w6wUqWU3yU?...
youtu.be/0w6wUqWU3yU?...
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE | Official Teaser | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
youtu.be
September 3, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Forty-two years ago, “The Day After” reshaped public discourse around the possibility of nuclear war, even profoundly influencing the sitting U.S. President. Can we hope that, in the hands of a gifted director like Bigelow, such impact might be felt again?
youtu.be/0w6wUqWU3yU?...
youtu.be/0w6wUqWU3yU?...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
I wrote an op-ed on the world-class STEM research ecosystem in the United States, and how this ecosystem is now under attack on multiple fronts by the current administration: newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-an-awar...
I’m an award-winning mathematician. Trump just cut my funding.
The “Mozart of Math” tried to stay out of politics. Then it came for his research.
newsletter.ofthebrave.org
August 18, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I wrote an op-ed on the world-class STEM research ecosystem in the United States, and how this ecosystem is now under attack on multiple fronts by the current administration: newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-an-awar...
Congratulations to Space Concordia Rocketry Division on the successful launch of Starsailor, featuring the largest student-built bipropellant rocket engine ever flown (35 kN thrust). The launch occurred approximately 1 hr 16 mins into the livestream linked below.
www.youtube.com/live/610YciE...
www.youtube.com/live/610YciE...
l.facebook.com
August 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Congratulations to Space Concordia Rocketry Division on the successful launch of Starsailor, featuring the largest student-built bipropellant rocket engine ever flown (35 kN thrust). The launch occurred approximately 1 hr 16 mins into the livestream linked below.
www.youtube.com/live/610YciE...
www.youtube.com/live/610YciE...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
We're reading (and hoping for a successful flyby target🤞🤞):
"An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons" by @megschwamb.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3847/1538...
"An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons" by @megschwamb.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3847/1538...
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doi.org
August 15, 2025 at 2:48 PM
We're reading (and hoping for a successful flyby target🤞🤞):
"An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons" by @megschwamb.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3847/1538...
"An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons" by @megschwamb.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3847/1538...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
Why were we able to see the spiral rocket plume last night, but not during other rocket launches?
The time of day, the Sun’s light, and the direction the rocket heads into space causes this effect…
The time of day, the Sun’s light, and the direction the rocket heads into space causes this effect…
August 13, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Why were we able to see the spiral rocket plume last night, but not during other rocket launches?
The time of day, the Sun’s light, and the direction the rocket heads into space causes this effect…
The time of day, the Sun’s light, and the direction the rocket heads into space causes this effect…
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
This is not the quality of pseudoscience infotainment to which I have grown accustomed
Teasing the public with fraudulent or self-deluded promises of aliens used to mean something. It took work. It meant slapping together…
medium.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
A Saturn mass gas giant may be orbiting Alpha Centauri A, based on solid JWST infrared results and exhaustive simulations of its orbit. It's still a candidate rather than a confirmed world, but follow-up work will tell us soon. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/08/a...
A Candidate Gas Giant at Alpha Centauri A | Centauri Dreams
www.centauri-dreams.org
August 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
A Saturn mass gas giant may be orbiting Alpha Centauri A, based on solid JWST infrared results and exhaustive simulations of its orbit. It's still a candidate rather than a confirmed world, but follow-up work will tell us soon. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/08/08/a...
If the sole purpose of attending the conference in person is to catch up with your former PhD students, it would still be worth it. #ICDERS2025
July 31, 2025 at 4:10 PM
If the sole purpose of attending the conference in person is to catch up with your former PhD students, it would still be worth it. #ICDERS2025
The infamous lecture hall at the University of Ottawa that requires every answer to be in the form of a question.
July 29, 2025 at 2:21 AM
The infamous lecture hall at the University of Ottawa that requires every answer to be in the form of a question.
34 years ago this month, I arrived in graduate school to join a gas dynamics lab. On my very first day, I was handed a pair of scissors and a roll of Mylar and told to start cutting diaphragms. 34 years later, I’m still at it.
July 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
34 years ago this month, I arrived in graduate school to join a gas dynamics lab. On my very first day, I was handed a pair of scissors and a roll of Mylar and told to start cutting diaphragms. 34 years later, I’m still at it.
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
Our group focuses on near-term technologies for the first robotic forays beyond our solar system. But it’s worth addressing the oft-repeated claim: “The speed of light is a hard limit: You can’t travel to the stars in a lifetime, so it won’t happen. [1/9]
July 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Our group focuses on near-term technologies for the first robotic forays beyond our solar system. But it’s worth addressing the oft-repeated claim: “The speed of light is a hard limit: You can’t travel to the stars in a lifetime, so it won’t happen. [1/9]
Our students achieved another successful high-altitude balloon flight last night in collaboration with @uvic.ca and with support from the CSA’s FAST program. Onward and upward!
Our high-altitude balloon launches have been on hold for months as we worked around a fault in our once-trusty Globalstar-based tracker (which recently proved far from trusty). Having resolved the issue, we’re ready to fly high again tonight from a remote site north of Montreal.
July 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Our students achieved another successful high-altitude balloon flight last night in collaboration with @uvic.ca and with support from the CSA’s FAST program. Onward and upward!
Reminder: At any time, dozens of comets cross into our inner solar system. The discovery of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS deservedly excites us, but I'm seeing the tropes of “nature’s wake-up call” or “the dinosaurs didn’t have a space program.” Comets are *always* zipping in. /1
July 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reminder: At any time, dozens of comets cross into our inner solar system. The discovery of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS deservedly excites us, but I'm seeing the tropes of “nature’s wake-up call” or “the dinosaurs didn’t have a space program.” Comets are *always* zipping in. /1
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
And my latest paper has finally been published! This was based on an INFUSE grant from the DOE to investigate powerful THz sources with TAE Technologies. pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
Directional, joule per steradian THz pulses from multi-joule laser irradiation of wires
We report on THz pulses with energy flux exceeding 2.5 J/sr and high directionality, generated from picosecond, joule laser irradiation of microwires. The impac
pubs.aip.org
July 2, 2025 at 12:52 PM
And my latest paper has finally been published! This was based on an INFUSE grant from the DOE to investigate powerful THz sources with TAE Technologies. pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
Using a direct fusion drive as being designed at Princeton for a Sedna orbiter. Interesting conceptual analysis & feasibility study, contrasting this option with a solar sail using desorption, blowing off embedded elements at perihelion. Hint: sail is faster. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/07/01/a...
A Sedna Orbiter via Nuclear Propulsion | Centauri Dreams
www.centauri-dreams.org
July 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Using a direct fusion drive as being designed at Princeton for a Sedna orbiter. Interesting conceptual analysis & feasibility study, contrasting this option with a solar sail using desorption, blowing off embedded elements at perihelion. Hint: sail is faster. www.centauri-dreams.org/2025/07/01/a...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
This was fun to write! www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-so...
A Sodom and Gomorrah Story Shows Scientific Facts Aren’t Settled by Public Opinion
Claims that an asteroid or comet airburst destroyed the biblical Sodom captured the public’s imagination. Its retraction shows that scientific conclusions aren’t decided by majority rule in the public...
www.scientificamerican.com
June 26, 2025 at 5:12 AM
This was fun to write! www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-so...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
We’re reading: “Measurements of the force produced by a negatively charged electric sail in a pulsed cathodic arc plasma”
pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
Measurements of the force produced by a negatively charged electric sail in a pulsed cathodic arc plasma
Electric sails are a propellant-less spacecraft propulsion method that uses charged wires to deflect a flowing plasma in an environment such as the solar wind o
pubs.aip.org
June 23, 2025 at 5:25 PM
We’re reading: “Measurements of the force produced by a negatively charged electric sail in a pulsed cathodic arc plasma”
pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/arti...
Reposted by Andrew Higgins
Astronautics propulsion often comes down to plumbing, and interstellar propulsion will be no exception. So we had Swagelok Québec bring their training trailer to campus and put our personnel through a valve & fitting bootcamp.
June 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Astronautics propulsion often comes down to plumbing, and interstellar propulsion will be no exception. So we had Swagelok Québec bring their training trailer to campus and put our personnel through a valve & fitting bootcamp.