How can Stars Wars be so bad (The Last Jedi) and so good (Andor) at the same time? This week's @Forbes column. www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

An Astrophysicist Reflects On 'The Mandalorian & Grogu' And 'Star Wars' Today

What can make Star Wars good again?

forbes.com

Get off this platform right now and take a walk in the woods! Seriously... right now. Or later today. Don't wait. Today on Everyman's Universe. Wilderness, Wildness and the great American Poet Gary Snyder on why you need to get outside. www.everymansuniverse.com/p/why-you-ne...

Why You Need Wildness (and Wilderness)

What the great American Poet Gary Snyder understood.

everymansuniverse.com

Or some other country with a better understanding of the link between science and the national fate will take our place.

Joe Broadhurst@hobbydungeon.bsky.social · 2w ago

The inevitable end state is lock in and stagnation. The eventual death of the species.

Some more on what happens when you kill your nation's scientific enterprise. From Everyman's Universe. www.everymansuniverse.com/p/the-conseq...

The Consequences of Science Denial

You can only pretend for a while.

everymansuniverse.com

What happens when citizens of the most scientifically advanced nation on the planet think it's fine to opt out of science. My piece from @bigthink bigthink.com/13-8/who-pay...

Who pays the cost when Americans opt out of science?

Astronomer Adam Frank used to think the consequences would play out on the individual level. Today, he's changed his mind.

bigthink.com

Young researchers, apply for our post-docs! The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester invites applications positions in theoretical and computational approaches to complex systems, information theory, and the emergence of autonomous agency. apply.interfolio.com/189157

@philipcball.bsky.social would like to get in touch. What is best way.

Of course I read it. Dawkins was all about the biochemical machine metaphor. That was the killer app. He is a beautiful writer and a deeply coherent thinker but that does save that key conception of life from being wrong.

Aylwyn Scally@aylwyn-scally.bsky.social · last mo.

I can understand why you think that's what The Selfish Gene said, if you've read Ball's book. But it's worth actually reading it, because it says none of what you've written here.

@philipcball.bsky.social "How Life Works" is an amazing MUST READ for anyone who wants to understand where biology is right now. It's a masterpiece. Dawkins was wrong. Genes are not selfish and not the deterministic blueprint for life. Just as important, the machine metaphor fails.

To understand life and consciousness you first have to understand Agency. Here is the press release for our new big @templeton_fdn program to do just that. www.rochester.edu/newscenter/t...

Can AI want something? URochester awarded Templeton Foundation grant to find out

The $4.2 million Templeton Foundation grant launches a new institute to investigate one of science’s biggest mysteries.

rochester.edu

Thrilled, ecstatic & over-the-moon excited. We just found out that the Templeton Foundation has accepted our very big grant to study the most important, most amazing, most freaky-deaky question anyone can ask. What is Life? Todays Everyman's Universe www.everymansuniverse.com/p/is-life-di...

Is Life Different? We're About to Find Out

A three-year journey into the unknown begins.

everymansuniverse.com

1) Last week I got to see Steven Spielberg's long awaited Disclosure Day. As an astrophysicist/Astrobiologist who often pokes the UFO bear what did I think? Todays Forbes Column www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

Does Disclosure Day Deliver? An Astrobiologist’s Take

An astrophysicist who searches for life in the Universe unpacks Steven Spielberg's UFO blockbuster Disclosure Day

forbes.com

Robert Thurman was force of nature bringing Buddhism to mainstream US culture. Also Uma Thurman's dad - "Kill Bill" awesomeness - so we can thank him for that too. Some thoughts on his passing in this weeks' Everyman's Universe post www.everymansuniverse.com/p/robert-thu...

Robert Thurmon Has Died.  What Happens to Buddhism to America Now?

He was a force of Nature (and Uma Thurman's dad)

everymansuniverse.com

"Why do so many people happily parade around their ignorance about things which actually require a fair amount of expertise. Why do so many people happily embrace insane ideas that have no basis in reality." Today's Everyman's Universe post www.everymansuniverse.com/p/aliens-and...

Aliens and Demons and Science, Oh My!

A brief explanation on how we got here.

everymansuniverse.com

One Giant Conflict For Mankind. Last week I participated on a panel on this topic at @HTLGIFestival. My take @Forbes : Space Warfare is here and it's profoundly stupid because of the Kessler Syndrome. www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

Space Warfare Is Almost Here — And Could Have Disastrous Consequences.

Anti satellite weapons are being tested and could soon lead to war in space. Here's why that's a terrible idea.

forbes.com

"This means 21st century physics may look very different from 20th century physics. Different kinds of foundational questions are coming to the fore." The End of String Theory and the Unintelligible Universe Today's Everyman's Universe post www.everymansuniverse.com/p/is-the-uni...

Is The Universe Too Crazy To Understand?

The trouble with String Theory and its ilk.

everymansuniverse.com

Our Podcast has a new season and a new name! "Life, The Universe and All the Rest" First guest of the new season: Michael Pollan Most people listen on Spotify etc open.spotify.com/show/5RWMnV4... YouTube is also possible youtube.com/@LUAR-Podcast

Episode 2: Mysterious Minds: what we know and don't know about consciousness

Spotify video

open.spotify.com

Because we are pushing Earth into new territory, we must understand if cities are our planetary salvation or a planetary infestation. Today's in the Everyman's Universe newsletter www.everymansuniverse.com/p/are-cities...

Are Cities The Problem Or The Solution?

Hu

everymansuniverse.com

ust two weeks until How The Light Gets In festival. I'll be there doing 4 events including a full talk on our book "The Blind Spot. Why Science Cannot Ignore Human Experience". Very excited! howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay

"If disclosure is going to have real teeth for anyone besides true believers, then show us some real alien teeth, or skin, or tentacles. Until then the whole story is just that—a story." My The Atlantic piece on the Disclosure Disappointment www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

Just Show Us the Spaceships Already

Until the U.S. government has data or samples of alien material that can be shared, the story of extraterrestrial visitors is just a story.

theatlantic.com

Scientist shocks world demanding everyone just shut up about Pluto! 😀 Actually, there's a VERY cool science reason why Pluto was kicked out of the planet club. It's all about the rest of the solar system. Today's @forbes.com column www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

Quit Whining. Pluto’s Not A Planet, An Astrophysicist Explains

The head of NASA says maybe Pluto is a planet after all. He is wrong because Pluto is part of the rest of the solar system

forbes.com

One purpose of science is to blow your mind. That's what happened to me when I visited @KalteneggerLisa at @Cornell and learned more about worlds bathed in oceans of magma. Today on Everyman's Universe. www.everymansuniverse.com/p/aliens-lav...

Aliens, Lava Worlds and The Levitation Furnace

Epic ideas in Astrobiology

everymansuniverse.com

"So, with all the other news, especially the war in the Middle East, why did people care [about the Artemis astronauts]? I think the answer can be summed up in four words: bravery, sacrifice, compassion and hope." Todays Everyman's Universe post www.everymansuniverse.com/p/why-artemi...

Why Artemis Astronauts Risked Everything.

The Astr

everymansuniverse.com

The outpouring of interest in Artemis II is something worth considering. Today in my @Forbes column, I look at one aspect of its promise. The space economy is already in past 500 billion. Space is not just about exploration. www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

Artemis II Starts The $1 Trillion Space Economy. An Astrophysicist Explains

Artemis II is the first step in human beings becoming a true space-faring species.

forbes.com

We don't fly through space, we surf it. The video from my conversation this morning with Sara Sidner on @cnn.com

ust got had a lovely discussion with Sara Sidner on @CNN about the successful Translunar Injection Burn and the amazing math behind it all. Go science!

About to be on CNN to discuss the Artemis II launch!

I am deeply honored to be giving the Edwin Salpeter Lecture at Cornell next week. Salpeter was truly one of the great astronomers of the 20th century and, of course, Cornell was the home of Carl Sagan.

With this week's Artemis II mission we stand on the brink of returning to solar system for good and becoming a true space-faring species. This weeks @forbes.com column www.forbes.com/sites/adamfr...

History’s On The Launch Pad As We Go Back To The Moon

This week history, and the future of humanity, take its next step forward as Artemis II launches people to the Moon

forbes.com

1) Just starting "The Abstraction Fallacy: Why AI Can Simulate But Not Instantiate Consciousness" by AlexLerchner This is, so far, a deeply insightful paper about mistaking computation for consciousness.