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Dan Falk

@danfalk.bsky.social
5.2K followers 1.6K following 1.9K posts

Hi! I write about #science for Smithsonian, Discover, Quanta, Nautilus, Undark, National Geographic, CBC Radio, & many other outlets. Books include The Science of Shakespeare and In Search of Time. Co-host of BookLab podcast. 🔭🪐⭐️⚛️

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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 1h
Neutrino research scores (another) Nobel! #physics #science
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 14h
Many congrats!!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 16h
Four from Cambridge day 1: #cambridge #england
A view across “the backs” to the Kings College chapel. The Mathematical Bridge Punts on the Cam A Cambridge street scene, with a cyclist in the foreground
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 16h
! ⬇️
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
A few iPhone pix from St. Paul’s and surrounding area, from last night: #london #londonbynight
A view of St Paul’s at night A view of St Paul’s at night A view of St Paul’s from the Millennium Bridge at night A colourful Shakespeare mural, near Southwark Bridge
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Orange Penguins and old timey maps at Skoob Books: 📚 #books #bookstores #london
Old orange PenguinsOld orange PenguinsOld timey maps
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some Greenwich photos from today… #greenwich #london
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This planet is an intriguing mix of “Sorry, card only” and “Sorry, cash only.”
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I’m delighted to have contributed to the new issue of @spacing.bsky.social! (And when I get back to TO, I look forward to seeing it!)
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Greetings from Greenwich! #greenwich #london
A panoramic view of the old Royal Naval College
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some photos from Southwark Cathedral, the London Bridge / Tower Bridge area, HMS Belfast, etc., from Thursday: #London #Southwark @southwarkcathedral.bsky.social
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Just letting @rovelli.bsky.social know that he’s got a whole table at @waterstones.bsky.social Piccadilly:
A table displaying several books by Carlo Rovelli
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Earlier this year was the tenth anniversary of me snapping this photo -- a pic from July of 2016, when I encountered the world's happiest pile of garbage! #pareidolia
A pile of garbage on a wheeled cart, which, thanks to pareidolia, looks like it's very, very happy!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
September Wordle average = 3.42 (but, n was only 19, as I missed a bunch).
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I fear we’re running out of book titles! :0 #books
In a bookstore we see Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything” and Tim Coulson’s “A Little History of Everything.”
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I’m starting to understand why there’s so much lore surrounding the BBC Radio marine forecast — it goes on and on and on! 📻🌥️🌧️
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I never get tired of riding the Southeast rail network train as it passes by Southwark Cathedral (13-15C), burial place of Shakespeare’s brother Edmund, playwright John Fletcher, and many other theatre folks. ⛪️🎭 #London #trains
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Indeed! (And sadly my last trip to Ireland was 19 years ago — and I didn’t make it to Birr — next time!)
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trivia: The screenplay for Braveheart, about William Wallace, was written by Randall Wallace.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Solid gold rom-com plot: Person goes on blind date, gets London Liverpool Street mixed up with Liverpool Lime Street; meets the wrong (perhaps better-in-the-long-run) person; hilarity ensues! 🚉👩‍❤️‍👨🎬📽️
Departures board at Norwich station, listing various destinations
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
An afternoon in Southwold:
A view of Southwold with the lighthouse in the background Beach huts Gelato stand by the beach A view of Southwold beach with the lighthouse in the background
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For realz — if you squint, this bus map looks like a person waiting impatiently for the bus 🙃
A Norwich area bus map, in a bus shelter.
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Reposted by Dan Falk
Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A few pix from Westminster Abbey, from yesterday (obv I took a zillion, but this is a representative sample :) )
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
For realz, the Elizabeth Line is a game changer — Paddington to Liverpool Street (the full width of central London) in ten minutes (I timed it). 🚊⚡️
A scene at the Elizabeth Line — Liverpool Street station A scene at the Elizabeth Line — Liverpool Street station
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
No — they told me about it but I didn’t actually see it, d’oh!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A very full afternoon at Down House, southeast of London, where Charles Darwin lived for the final decades of his life — and where he wrote “On the Origin of Species” (and more). Also fun to hang out with @evaamsen.com and Sam! #science #history
A view of Down House from the rearThe greenhouse at Down HouseInside the greenhouse Darwin’s writing desk
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Greetings from Slough! One of its most famous residents was astronomer Sir William Herschel, whose tomb is at St. Laurence Church (which also has a little model of his 40-foot reflecting telescope):
A sign marks Herschel StreetAn exterior view of St. Laurence ChurchA model of Herschel’s giant 40-foot telescope A sign at the entrance to Herschel Park
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Reposted by Dan Falk
CNN @cnn.com · 19/09/2026
CNN reporter denied access to White House and press pass seized as Trump appears to implement ban against the network. cnn.it/4ixu6tH
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Arguments about free will can have a a bottomless-pit flavour; it often feels like people are arguing past each other, and no one ever concedes any ground. But this essay by Albert Yuan in @noemamag.com is on the right track, IMHO: www.noemamag.com/the-nature-o... #freewill #philosophy
noemamag.com
The Nature Of Free Will In The Age Of AI | NOEMA
AI puts a new spin on old questions about free will: Is an actor the genuine author of their actions? Are they responsible for their choices? Can they be held accountable for them?
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's that time of year: We're near the autumnal equinox; and also, the moon is close to first quarter. That means folks in the northern hemisphere who spy the moon around sunset will notice that it's really *low* in the sky. Why is it so low?? My recent video explains it: youtu.be/UlWiIuJlqOQ?...
youtu.be
Why is the moon so low -- especially in the fall?
YouTube video by danfalkscience
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
😡
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Fab pic!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I’ve always seen a face (and a grumpy one at that!) in Turner’s Fighting Temeraire, and surely I’m not alone. The eyeball is distinct; and even though one can debate where, exactly, the mouth is, I’m sure we can agree it’s frowning!
A part of JMW Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire” (1838).
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Christopher Columbus and Bugs Bunny
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Full house for Rob Spekkens’ talk, “On achieving realism in quantum theory.” #physics
Rob Spekkens stands in front of a full classroom at U of T
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Maybe the AI only wants to cook for humans, not cook humans.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Trivia! What term from the world of dancing is used both by John Herschel in his Treatise on Astronomy (1833) and also by Jagger/Richards in “Rocks Off” (1972)? ➡️ The word is “pirouette” (google the lyrics to Rocks Off if you wish; see verse four):
A few sentences on planetary motion from John Herschel’s Treatise on Astronomy from 1833.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Writer and illustrator H.A. Rey -- co-creator of Curious George 🐵 with Margret Rey -- was born #OTD in 1898. He also made an enormous contribution to amateur astronomy, bringing the joy of the night sky to countless readers, as I wrote for @nautil.us a while back: nautil.us/readers-love...
nautil.us
Readers Love Curious George. I Fell in Love with the Author’s Astronomy Books. - Nautilus
H.A. Rey recreated star maps with wit, grace, and accuracy.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Worst timeline
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Exoplanets : That star wobbles in a periodic fashion, suggesting the tug of an unseen planet :: Entomology : Those people with their take-out lunches are suddenly running away from a park bench, suggesting the presence of unseen wasps
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The Langlands program has been called a 'grand unified theory of mathematics,' seeming to hint at deep unseen mathematical structures. Yet even most mathematicians don’t quite know what to make of it, writes @nattyover.bsky.social in @quantamagazine.org: www.quantamagazine.org/what-is-math...
quantamagazine.org
What Is Math’s Mysterious Langlands Program Really About? | Quanta Magazine
Hidden correspondences hint at a deeper structure to the mathematical universe. Our columnist unpacks one of those connections and asks mathematicians what they might mean.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I dunno — is this accurate-ish?
A flow chart enumerating the dangers of AI. According to the chart, whatever one thinks of the idea of AI being an existential threat, better regulation is warranted.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Always great to attend a @robertjsawyer.com book launch! This time it was his new nonfiction collection, “Sawyer on Science Fiction,” which I look forward to diving into! #books #scifi #toronto
We see Rob at the front of the room, speaking to an enthusiastic audience. The cover of Rob’s book, “Sawyer on Science Fiction.”
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Many congrats!!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
And War Games, I think.
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Reposted by Dan Falk
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Help! Parton Community Council has 60 days to raise £70k to buy Parton Kirk (resting place of James Clerk Maxwell). They plan to turn it into a visitor centre celebrating our great hero! The other buyers could turn it into long-term storage 😬 Even £5 would help 🙏🧪⚛️ www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
justgiving.com
Help raise £70000 to Save Parton Kirk – JustGiving Crowdfunding
Iʼm raising money to Save Parton Kirk. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Thanks for this!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Ha — good point!
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Dan Falk @danfalk.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
How does it rank against space mirrors, in terms of bad ideas?
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