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jimkakalios.bsky.social
@jimkakalios.bsky.social
160 followers 94 following 230 posts
Your Friendly Neighborhood Physics Professor. Condensed Matter Experimentalist and author of THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES, THE AMAZING STORY OF QUANTUM MECHANICS and THE PHYSICS OF EVERYDAY THINGS.
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jimkakalios.bsky.social
jimkakalios.bsky.social @jimkakalios.bsky.social · Sep 16
MY NEW BOOK IS NOW OUT! WITH COVER AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY GENIAL GENE HA! @geneha.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
kakalios.com/books/the-ph...
The Physics of Superheroes Goes Hollywood | James Kakalios
What if science-fiction was actually science-fact? My first book The Physics of Superheroes, was published in 2005, three years before Iron Man and The Dark Knight lit the match that ignited the super...
kakalios.com
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Circulatory System in the Kitchen.

YES, CHEF!
ianzpotter.bsky.social Ian Potter @ianzpotter.bsky.social · 1d
Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
It's an artistic representation of a circulatory system walking through a kitchen, as drawn by Dave Gibbons and written about by Alan Moore. It happens a lot 'round here.
November 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Someone at US Consumer Product Safety is a Jon Osterman fan.

I notice she's wearing her watch.
November 10, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted
jmelville.science
please don't @ me like "actually cerium is unique among the lanthanides for its +4 oxidation state"

⚗️🧪 #chemsky
A simplified, stylized periodic table of elements where large groups of elements are color-coded. Hydrogen (H) is isolated. Group 1 (alkali metals) is labeled "BOOM!". Group 2 (alkaline earth metals) is "rocks & sand & glass & stuff". The transition metals are split into sections: "the foundations of human civilization," "catalysts & superalloys," "ooh, shiny!," "expensive," and "heavy metal poisoning." Technetium (Tc) is boxed separately. The p-block is also grouped: "chips (not tasty kind)," "organic chemistry," and "useful for poisoning your husband." The noble gases are labeled "n o p e." The heaviest elements in the s-block and p-block are labeled "cancer 2" and "cancer alley," with the exception of Bismuth. The transactinides are labeled "more physics than chemistry." The bottom f-block (lanthanides and actinides) is also labeled. The lanthanides are "except for Pm these are all basically the same element," with Promethium (Pm) boxed. The actinides are labeled "rxtors & bombs" and "you probably work at Los Alamos."
November 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Reposted
pwnallthethings.bsky.social
Special congrats to my microwave who has been wrong for six months but is now back to actually telling the time
November 3, 2025 at 4:22 AM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
"who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds"

That's the face you make when you realize that the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics is the correct one.
silverpebble2.bsky.social Emma Mitchell @silverpebble2.bsky.social · 11d
A reminder that the original Hallowe'en jack o' lanterns date back to 18th century Ireland if not earlier, were based on a shady boozy blacksmith called Stingy Jack who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds, were carved from turnips and looked like this:
A preserved carved turnip jack o'lantern from the 19th century A preserved carved turnip jack o'lantern from the 19th century
October 31, 2025 at 10:25 AM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Last night I saw the Misel lecture at the Univ. of MN by Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, who gave a beautiful talk about black holes, warped spacetime, and gravitational waves.

I'm reminded of an old piece I wrote about LIGO and what happens after we die.

kakalios.com/black-holes-...
Black Holes and Exits | James Kakalios
This past October I attended the Twin Cities Book Festival, an annual convention that brings together readers and authors with recently published books. I was invited for The Physics of Everyday Thing...
kakalios.com
October 30, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Reposted
rodger.bsky.social
This has to be one of the greatest gags in schism history
dicknixon.bsky.social Richard M. Nixon @dicknixon.bsky.social · 14d
Mar Awa III, patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East, also born in Chicago, gave Pope Leo a Cubs jersey.
Mar Awa III, in red cassock, smiles as he gives the jersey to Leo, who looks as though he's been given a bomb to hold
October 28, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted
zachweinersmith.bsky.social
Full solution to all of ethics here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/ethics-8
#smbc
October 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Crocodile Dundee voice: That's not a giant computer. THIS is a giant computer.
October 22, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted
andydiggle.bsky.social
Define “Perfect Ending”?
October 19, 2025 at 1:16 AM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
At the St. Louis Park, MN rally, where there are > 1000 Americans. And two T-Rexs, a Portland Frog, a Tweety Bird, a squirrel and raccoon. And #CaptainAmerica. I had to ask:

me: What would Captain America do?
Cap: He would hold the line.
me: And he'd say - no, you move!
October 18, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Reposted
tedmccormick.bsky.social
Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans
Image: A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s “Join, or Die” engraving, originally published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Each segment of the snake has the name of a university sent Trump’s “compact”: Texas, AZ, Vanderbilt, USC, Dartmouth, UVA, Brown, Penn, MIT.
October 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
A lot of folks here at the Bakken. My panel on Science in Pop Culture starts in 30 min. If you're around, swing by. (No Spider-Pun intended).
jimkakalios.bsky.social jimkakalios.bsky.social @jimkakalios.bsky.social · Oct 10
This Sunday I'll be at the MN STEM Book Festival at the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis on a panel discussing - what else - science and pop culture. Just saw that @mtosterholm.bsky.social and Ben Orlin will also be there. Should be fun.
www.thethinkingspot.us/event-detail...
MN STEM Book Festival | The Thinking Spot
Minnesota's First Annual STEM Book Festival!
www.thethinkingspot.us
October 12, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted
josephscrimshaw.bsky.social
Do you live in Minnesota? Are you a fan of horror? Are you a fan of physical media? Do you love intergenerational trauma and gothic folklore monsters?

If so, check out the new indie horror film, DEAD MEDIA, on Oct 20th at The Parkway Theater: deadmediamoviempls102025.eventbrite.com
A promotional teaser image for the new horror film DEAD MEDIA. A young woman peers over an old horror movie DVD. Mysterious blue energy glows out from the DVD. The text reads. You may be done with the DVD, but it's not done with you. Dead Media. A new horror film written and directed by Joseph Scrimshaw. Premiere event in Minneapolis. October 20, 2025. The Parkway Theater. Tickets available now.
October 12, 2025 at 6:57 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
For those who prefer to read books with their ears, the audio version of my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD is also available. Here's a preview. Warning - contains Kakalios voice!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFdE...
The Physics of Superheroes Goes Hollywood: An… by James Kakalios · Audiobook preview
YouTube video by Google Play Books
www.youtube.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
This Sunday I'll be at the MN STEM Book Festival at the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis on a panel discussing - what else - science and pop culture. Just saw that @mtosterholm.bsky.social and Ben Orlin will also be there. Should be fun.
www.thethinkingspot.us/event-detail...
MN STEM Book Festival | The Thinking Spot
Minnesota's First Annual STEM Book Festival!
www.thethinkingspot.us
October 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Jacob Kurtzberg, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
josephscrimshaw.bsky.social JosephScrimshaw @josephscrimshaw.bsky.social · Oct 8
Spotted a member of Antifa out in public. If you see something, say something
A cardboard cut out of a jack Kirby, drawing of the character, Captain America. The cut out is on the side of a comic book store.
October 8, 2025 at 11:33 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
a good list. However, if were toI bet you a cocktail, I would say

Allan MacDonald, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero for Twisted BiLayer Graphene
seanmcarroll.bsky.social Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 6
Since last year Physics swallowed Computer Science whole and the Nobel was given for machine learning, my list of plausible prizes remains unaltered.
seanmcarroll.bsky.social Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · Oct 7
Physics Nobels I would be pleased by:

Quantum info (Bennett, Shor...)

CMB anisotropy measurements (not sure who)

LHC/Higgs discovery (Evans, Giannotti...)

Systems biophysics (West, Bialek...)

Not predictions! And of course many other areas I don't know enough about to guess.
October 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
chef's kiss. No notes.
October 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
In Northfield MN tonight (and I know the Carlton and St. Olaf folks will be!)? I'll be there too, at the Content Bookstore. I'll explain how Superman reverses time (consistent with General Relativity!) and other movie physics facts! Lights! Camera!...Physics!
www.contentbookstore.com/events/32406...
James Kakalios's THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD | Content Bookstore
Content is the independent bookstore in historic downtown Northfield, Minnesota. We offer a lovingly curated selection of books for readers of all ages and tastes, as well as beautiful games, puzzles,...
www.contentbookstore.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:28 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
The rest of the page:

Superman: We need information...about Black Holes

Batman: And what happens when one collides with a White Hole

Professor: It's a grey area.
comicbookphysics.bsky.social Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · Sep 30
Two students go to see the professor — World’s Finest #270 (1981) #blackholes #superman #batman #dccomics
Superman stands, arms outstretched, in front of a window. Batman is beside him, arms crossed. There is a lamp on a table behind them and through the window we can see university buildings. The arm of the professor is visible in the foreground and a voice asks “Now, what is it I can DO for you, gentlemen?” Superman replies “We need INFORMATION — about BLACK HOLES…”
September 30, 2025 at 12:10 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
In Northfield, MN this Thursday evening? Stop by the Content Bookstore and here me talk about my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD. Carlton and St. Olaf folks alert!
contentbookstore.com/events/32406...
James Kakalios's THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD | Content Bookstore
Content is the independent bookstore in historic downtown Northfield, Minnesota. We offer a lovingly curated selection of books for readers of all ages and tastes, as well as beautiful games, puzzles,...
contentbookstore.com
September 29, 2025 at 11:46 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Indeed, it is a lot. It's even more than 40 cakes.

(IYKYK).

All seriousness aside, a truly impressive achievement.
September 27, 2025 at 1:04 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Sorry @gailsimone.bsky.social , there wasn't enough space in my new book THE PHYSICS OF SUPERHEROES GOES HOLLYWOOD to discuss Cyclops' heat vision or Superman's force beams. Maybe in the sequel?🤔
September 26, 2025 at 12:43 PM
jimkakalios.bsky.social
Batman always has a plan.

Can't wait to see what this one is!
comicbookphysics.bsky.social Comic Book Physics @comicbookphysics.bsky.social · Sep 26
The Brave and the Bold #152 (1979) #batman #dccomics
Batman looks out over a balcony and thinks “This computer nonsense is getting out of hand!”
September 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM