Katie Mack
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astrokatie.com
Katie Mack
@astrokatie.com
260K followers 1.4K following 8.9K posts
Cosmologist, pilot, author, connoisseur of cosmic catastrophes. TEDFellow, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar. Domain verified through my personal astrokatie.com website. She/her. Dr.

Personal account; not speaking for employer or anyone else.
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astrokatie.com
Humans: capable of building entire skyscrapers but still afraid to put the scary number on one of the floors
An elevator button panel with the numbers 12 and 14 next to each other and no number 13
November 10, 2025 at 2:35 AM
astrokatie.com
🇨🇦 Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! 🍁

Sorry I’m not there to celebrate with you! But earlier today I did stop by your sovereign’s house to say hi.
Me wearing sunglasses and smiling in front of Buckingham Palace. The flag is flying on top of it.
October 12, 2025 at 3:15 PM
astrokatie.com
I also appreciated this sign in the Globe gift shop ⚔️🚫
A sign that says “No Sword-Fighting in the Shop” next to a display of toy swords
October 11, 2025 at 10:11 PM
astrokatie.com
I saw Twelfth Night and it was wonderful. And an absolutely glorious night on the Thames when the play was done
Interior of the Globe Theatre — view of the stage from the Middle Gallery, stage left. Some groundlings have gathered by the edge of the stage but the place isn’t full yet (and no actors are out) The Thames on a mostly clear night, with lots of lights reflecting on the water. On the left, St Paul’s Cathedral is glowing white, and the skyscrapers on the right are lit by a waning gibbous moon right over them
October 11, 2025 at 10:09 PM
astrokatie.com
Shakespeare’s Glowbe
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, with bright white lights on either side that makes it look like it’s glowing
October 11, 2025 at 6:28 PM
astrokatie.com
London continues to be a delight
Big Ben (actually Elizabeth Tower) in London at sunset, with crowds and buses A bridge across the Thames with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background The Thames at sunset with the London Eye on the horizon
October 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
astrokatie.com
Update: the podcast recording, with @rowhoop.bsky.social and the @newscientist.com team, went very well! Also the parks are lovely and the weather is great 😊
A garden in Kensington Gardens with a little pond and some nice shrubbery A park walkway with green vine arches covering it. A couple are framed at the end of the path A park path with orange leaves scattered around A pond in a decorative garden in Hyde Park, with partly cloudy blue skies above
October 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
astrokatie.com
That's quite the chart annotation.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A chart of "Major concerns of PhD candidates." The top text says, "Financial pressures top the list of concerns faced by PhD candidates, but concerns differ among the sexes. Those studying in the United States rank the political landscape as their main worry." The chart shows that in the full survey, political landscape is the biggest concern for about 20% of students (a bit higher for women than men) but there's an annotation saying "In US PhD students, this rose to 64%". Overall, the highest-rated concern was financial pressures at around 40%.
September 30, 2025 at 5:24 PM
astrokatie.com
There are many months of edits to come. The draft is... a little on the long side, currently ✂️ (I was aiming for something like 70k 🫠)
A Microsoft Word word count display: Pages 295 Words 102,628 Characters (no spaces) 505,598 Characters (with spaces) 607,753 Paragraphs 1,097 Lines 9,316
September 29, 2025 at 4:30 PM
astrokatie.com
🎉 Update from me: I've just sent my editor the first draft of my second book, "How to Build a Universe"! ⚛️ ➡️ 🌌

It's probably still about a year from publication, but even just getting this draft together has been a journey. Really looking forward to sharing more with you! #HowToBuildAUniverse
🧪🔭🎢
PublishersMarketplace Deal Report, from January 9, 2023, in the Non-Fiction: Science/Technology category: "Theoretical astrophysicist and author of THE END OF EVERYTHING Dr. Katie Mack's HOW TO BUILD A UNIVERSE, an exploration of the quantum realm that explains what the universe is really made of and how physicists have arrived at those discoveries, illuminating the weirdly beautiful workings of the universe and how contemporary scientists are approaching deeply unsettling truths about how it is built, to Christopher Richards at Scribner, by Mollie Glick at CAA (NA)."
September 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
astrokatie.com
I am prepared for the raptor I have my camera and binoculars at the ready
A juvenile red-tail hawk (I think) standing on a lamppost with blue sky behind The same hawk on the lamppost seen from behind, looking over its left shoulder, with a blue sky and some wispy light white clouds behind
September 23, 2025 at 2:44 PM
astrokatie.com
I have a manuscript due, it’s going fine
Text messages. First one says: “Thank you! Good luck with writing today!” The reply is: “Thank you I will try but it is possible that I will fold completely and become a floor-puddle of stress and failure. We'll see!”
September 23, 2025 at 12:47 PM
astrokatie.com
By contrast:

(I guess you’re supposed to get from context of how it’s displayed on the screen that it’s gonna do the squaring first and then take the negative but if you’re just used to using a calculator irl, you won’t expect this.)
September 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
astrokatie.com
For example:
September 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
astrokatie.com
Best glory I’ve ever seen from a plane! It’s an optical phenomenon that occurs when light interacts in and around tiny droplets of water in the clouds, in the direction opposite the sun. More complex than a rainbow. Here’s a link to some more info: www.zmescience.com/science/phys... #optics #physics
September 7, 2025 at 12:53 PM
astrokatie.com
I did not take any pictures (my hands were too full of corgi) but here is my the best I can do with a finger and phone screen and 30 seconds
A really bad line drawing of a happy corgi puppy
September 4, 2025 at 12:59 AM
astrokatie.com
I wear a kind of skull cap to hold my hair down and my headset on, and I wear sunglasses. No scarf though.
A photo of me in the front seat of the Chipmunk, taken by a passenger in the back. The canopy is partway open. I’m wearing a black cap and green headset and aviator sunglasses.
September 1, 2025 at 5:38 PM
astrokatie.com
This plane is such a joy to fly

#aviation #flying #warbirds
Me in the front seat of a yellow 1950s De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk, with partly cloudy skies behind
September 1, 2025 at 5:05 PM
astrokatie.com
National Weather Service meteorologist applicants are now being asked to pledge their support for Trump’s executive orders.

(Image reposted with alt-text)
Merit Hiring Plan The following four narrative questions provide an opportunity for you to highlight your dedication to public service for the hiring manager and agency leadership (or designee(s)). While your responses are not required and will not be scored, we encourage you to thoughtfully address each question. Please provide a response of 200 words or less to each question. You will be asked to certify that you are using your own words and did not use a consultant or artificial intelligence (Al) such as a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Copilot. *1. How has your commitment to the Constitution and the founding principles of the United States inspired you to pursue this role within the Federal government? Provide a concrete example from professional, academic, or personal experience. (limit 1,200 characters) 1200 characters remaining. *2. In this role, how would you use your skills and experience to improve government efficiency and effectiveness? Provide specific examples where you improved processes, reduced costs, or improved outcomes. (limit 1,200 characters) *3. How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired. (limit 1,200 characters) *4. How has a strong work ethic contributed to your professional, academic or personal achievements? Provide one or two specific examples, and explain how those qualities would enable you to serve effectively in this position. (limit 1,200 characters) *5. I certify that the above responses are in my own words and I did not use a consultant or Artificial Intelligence (such as a large language model (LLM)). • A. Yes O B. No
August 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
astrokatie.com
I’m at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton this week, doing research for the particle physics book I’m writing. It’s an amazing place. Today I spent about five straight hours talking about the future of fundamental physics with a colleague and my brain is full but man it was so much fun 🤯
The road signs for Einstein Drive and Olden Lane, with the Institute in the background surrounded by trees Selfie of me wearing a backpack and smiling in front of a sign that says “Institute for Advanced Study, private road, 15 m.p.h.” The main buildings of the Institute at the end of a driveway. There are several stately red brick buildings and a white tower in the middle, with trees all around
August 19, 2025 at 1:40 AM
astrokatie.com
I was in my first formation flight yesterday! The Canadian Aviation Museum fleet (with @flightchops.bsky.social in his RV-14) did a flyover for a charity & I rode in the back of the Chipmunk (@peacewind.aero was in the back of the Harvard). I even got some stick time. More difficult than it looks!
Yellow warbird airplanes in formation over fields on a sunny day. A Stearman biplane is in the lead and the plane opposite in the diamond is a Chipmunk (with me in the back). Photo is from the perspective of Lisa, who is riding in the back of a Harvard The formation flight from my perspective in the back of the Chipmunk. The Harvard is opposite and the Stearman is in front The Harvard and Steve’s yellow RV-14 in formation behind and to the right of the Chipmunk (photo by me in the back of the Chipmunk). A fisheye view of the formation from a camera in the front of the Chipmunk. In the picture (a still from a video) the Stearman, Harvard, and RV-14 are visible in the diamond formation. Todd, who is in the front seat of the Chipmunk, is gesturing and I’m just barely visible in the seat behind him, concentrating on the Stearman while I try to keep us in the formation.
August 4, 2025 at 12:52 AM
astrokatie.com
I wanted some aviation-related things so I commissioned an artist & now I have a new favorite tank top & a safety-enhancing bumper sticker!

You can get your own versions at the Redbubble store linked on my new (very bare-bones so far) website, www.flyingphysics.com, if you like! #aviation #avgeek
Me standing in front of the big show arch at Oshkosh AirVenture wearing a tank top that says “Dog is my co-pilot”. The image on the shirt is a cartoon of a low-wing airplane in which there is a human in the left (pilot) seat and a happy goofy dog in the right (copilot) seat Another view of me standing in front of the AirVenture arch, this time a longer view so you can see the full length of the tank top. I’m wearing shorts and looking to the side. A bumper sticker that says “CAUTION easily distracted by airplanes”. It’s being held up in front of the back of a Ridgeline truck with a bike rack on it. It’s not my truck; it’s a rental.
July 26, 2025 at 1:55 AM
astrokatie.com
Going on Breakfasters on Triple R 102.7FM in about 5 minutes! I’ll be talking a bit about my work and about the art & science event I’m doing tonight at the Wheeler Centre. (You can listen here www.rrr.org.au/explore/prog...)
Me wearing an N95 mask standing in front of a sign with the RRR logo inside the recording studio building
July 15, 2025 at 10:11 PM
astrokatie.com
I really appreciate this green room’s commitment to being green
A selfie of me wearing a black mask standing next to a neon sign that says “ABC Studio Green Room”. Behind me are some chairs and a wall that is covered in wallpaper of a forest
July 14, 2025 at 10:03 PM
astrokatie.com
Going to be on ABC TV News Breakfast in about 45 minutes! Talking cosmology 🌌✨
Me in a big coat smiling next to a bright multicolored wall with little lights and the ABC logo
July 14, 2025 at 9:30 PM