“Books are patient where we are slow to understand, allow us to go over the hard parts as many times as we wish, and are never critical of our lapses. Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.”
— Carl Sagan
![Looking through one of the four windows of the Orion spacecraft, a tiny crescent Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space and grows smaller as the crew journeys closer to the Moon. Part of the window edge is visible; the rest is darkness. [Alt-text slightly revised from ESA/NASA version]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:62gdkmpwa7xme36getyqnem3/bafkreigksp6ynzr4oxga34viyko2fgg47c6262zz7rqj3khvz3y24pz4by)
Looking through one of the four windows of the Orion spacecraft, a tiny crescent Earth is illuminated against the blackness of space and grows smaller as the crew journeys closer to the Moon. Part of the window edge is visible; the rest is darkness. [Alt-text slightly revised from ESA/NASA version]
We are so, so small. #Artemis
Hasn’t read or seen it, but this is why I fell in love with science.
I grew up a perfectionist, always afraid of being wrong. Then I learned that being wrong, in science, is just part of the process. It doesn’t matter if you’re wrong, and admitting it is the right thing to do.
Write them out anyway, because bad writing can usually be fixed through revision and practice. Most of writing well happens through practice. It's a skill as much as if not more than a talent. Most people could write decently well, given time and effort.
Trump wants you to believe he’s more powerful than he is - and that you have less power than you do.
Tomorrow, millions of Americans will gather to remind one another where power actually resides in this democracy: with us, the people.
“It is well within our power to destroy our civilization, and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidity, we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet, to enhance enormously our understanding of the universe and to carry us to the stars.”
A Reminder from Carl
“...Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives ... on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam...”
- Carl Sagan, ‘Pale Blue Dot’
Mara Wilson ( the kid actress in Matilda!) at the @standupforscience.bsky.social rally in LA quoting Carl Sagan 🧪🌎🪸🌊🦠🧬
It was an honor and delight to see the Voyager Golden Record make it to a Pixar movie but this cowardly flattening of Elio is shameful.
A fifth grader's letter to my dad...
“Many persons have inquired: Where is the goal of mankind? [...] Past thinking and methods did not prevent world wars. Future thinking must prevent wars. [...] A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels.”
— Albert Einstein
“Science and democracy have very consonant values and approaches, and I don't think you can have one without the other.”
— Carl Sagan
"He taught us to persevere, to look for the hope running beneath the surface of terrible events...even when hope seemed preposterous."
"Lessons Rod Serling Taught Us"
~Steve Trimm
Red protest-style graphic with bold white text reading “Scientists Against ICE.” Below, rows of black human silhouettes stand holding hands. Centered is the Stand Up for Science logo, followed by text: “Calls for a General Strike Jan 23, 2026, Minnesota.” Black starburst shapes frame the sides. Bottom text reads: “Mobilize the fight for science and democracy.”
ICE’s actions tear families apart, intimidate communities, & undermine the conditions that make education, research, healthcare, & public trust possible.
We’re calling on scientists to join the general anti-ICE strike in Minnesota on January 23rd.
“The many sorrows of our recent history suggest that we humans have a learning disability. We might have thought that the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust were enough to inoculate us against the toxins there revealed and unleashed. But our resistance quickly fades. A new generation gladly abandons its critical and skeptical faculties. Old slogans and hatreds are dusted off. What was only recently muttered guiltily is now offered as political axiom and agenda. There are renewed appeals to ethnocentrism, xenophobia, homophobia, racism, sexism, and territoriality. And with a sigh of relief we are apt to surrender to the will of the alpha, or long for an alpha we can surrender to.” — Carl Sagan
"Human beings must involve themselves in the anguish of other human beings. This, I submit to you, is not a political thesis at all. It is simply an expression of what I would hope might be ultimately a simple humanity for humanity's sake."
~ Rod Serling
“Even a casual scrutiny of history reveals that we humans have a sad tendency to make the same mistakes again and again. We're afraid of strangers or anybody who's a little different from us. When we get scared, we start pushing people around. We have readily accessible buttons that release powerful emotions when pressed. We can be manipulated into utter senselessness by clever politicians. Give us the right kind of leader and, like the most suggestible subjects of the hypnotherapists we'll gladly do just about anything he wants — even things we know to be wrong. The framers of the Constitution were students of history. In recognition of the human condition, they sought to invent a means that would keep us free in spite of ourselves.” — Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
The first time Charlie Chaplin spoke onscreen, he implored the people of the world to resist the rising tide of fascism.
Nearly 90 years later, it remains a timely message.
A shot of deep space, streaked by stray light beams inside the camera. In the middle of the right-hand sunbeam is a pale blue dot.
On 13 February 1990, from a distance of 6.4 billion km, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft turned around and photographed our homeworld.
About halfway up on the right side is a tiny speck of light, about one pixel across.
"That's home. That's us.
A mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam."
—Carl Sagan
"...No matter what the future brings, man's capacity to rise to the occasion will remain unaltered. Our potential for tenacity and optimism continues..." ~ Rod Serling
Deeply appreciated and I’m so happy the trilogy stays with you. Wishing all the best for you and yours.
A picture of the Voyager Golden Record with the symbols and meanings under it.
what the symbols on the voyager golden record mean ✨
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
Carl Sagan on star wars in 1978.
Appreciation for our favorite science communicator, Carl Sagan.
"For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love."
Happy 91st Birthday to Carl Sagan – a true pioneer of science who ignited our cosmic curiosity. ❤️
Carl Sagan’s Demon Haunted World
Still slaps, though I’m utterly heartbroken by its prescience.
"Thomas Jefferson taught that a democracy was impractical unless the people were educated."
-Carl Sagan, Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life & Death at the Brink of the Millennium
"For all our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness."
-Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
