Greatest small talker of all time:

"So I hear you live in Minnesota?"
"I live inside my own heart, Matt Damon."

Conversations with colleagues at New Scientist:

"So I was reading this book about Lord Kelvin..."
"Ooh, I've been looking for a book about Lord Kelvin!"

Almost nothing is worth dealing with a website this broken, but this is

"Where are the boys? I am in the town, looking outward. Time is space; the distance between me and the boys unravels the years before me. Come back to us, boys; come back to me."

This reminded me of a thought that crystallised last night while I was struggling to untangle a garden hose: I never want efficiency in things I pursue for joy. I'm sure there was a faster way to fix that hose, but that's not the point. I was spending time gardening, watching the sun set, etc etc

From the chernobyl community on Reddit: I am a reporter for New Scientist who gained exclusive access to Chernobyl. AMA on Thursday 16 April. Explore this post and more from the chernobyl community

I'll be doing a reddit AMA on my recent visit to Chornobyl. Feel free to ping a question on contamination, the exclusion zone, the militarisation of the site - whatever - on the thread.

www.reddit.com/r/chernobyl/...

I play it every time I edit a space story but I've just had it on repeat for everything this week

Indeed, good sir, indeed

I'm picturing you saying this in an oldey timey radio voice, with a pipe

hush, we keep that to ourselves until after the Great Lunar Injury occurs, whoopsie who coulda seen that coming

amazing!

Wow I cannot wait to see that, and also to hear what happens at the meeting. Love some new ctenophore findings!

A shocking turn of events: there is a better meeting name! Ctenopalooza Ctwo!! Incredible.

I once wrote a story about ctenophores (they might be the origins of the anus!) and in the course of reporting it found out there's a scientific meeting called Ctenopalooza, which is the best meeting name by a country mile

Completely coincidentally, I only learned what the Diet of Worms was like a week ago and I'm so happy I read that Wikipedia page now

When I was a kid, my dad's favorite lie about the moon was that it was the size of a quarter. "Hold one up there, it covers the whole thing." This reminded me of that grin he had when he said it

The Moon! The Sun's corona! A crewed spacecraft! Oh my!

HOLY SHIT

"The spacecraft characters are where the heart lies in the story. Yes, they watch football. But they also contemplate the nature of loss in a world where nothing dies. They wrestle with the boredom that comes with immortality. They make jokes and poke fun at the humans below. They ponder what existence means, and the things that matter, even when you’re floating alone through the stars: grief, joy, friendship and the delight of mystery. Overall, 17776 paints a surprisingly hopeful picture of the future, one that is much needed these days. It’s heart-warming and weird and funny enough that it made me laugh out loud."

17776 was my selection for New Scientist's list of the best science fiction of all time, and what I wrote about it then feels like it applies even more now: www.newscientist.com/article/2433...

Today is maybe a good day to spend a while reading the entirety of @jonbois.bsky.social's masterpiece: 17776.

I remember the original link sending you to SB Nation and then the page devolving into something totally strange, but I can't find that. So start here: www.sbnation.com/a/17776-foot...

I believe in you, Paul

THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS BEING READY

I mean, I like Earth so much, and I would like Earth more if it had rings too!

Ella knew all along

The greens! The blues! I never knew they were this...colorful!

This made me surprisingly emotional

It's Jupe, obvs

thanks bob

I love that the headline suggests (accurately) that Waffle House regulars are experts both in the people who were at their local Waffle House and in, perhaps, teleportation

FEMA Official Says He Teleported to Waffle House. Experts Are Dubious.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/03/u...

Indeed, among roughly two dozen workers and regulars interviewed this week at Rome’s three Waffle House locations, none said they were aware of anyone traveling to the 24-hour restaurants by paranormal means, despite their reputation as powerful magnets for the sort of idiosyncratic characters who tend to surf the psychic fringes of the American South.

are you? and are you?