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Alom Shaha

@alomshaha.bsky.social

7.2K followers 1.3K following 6K posts

Dad. Science Teacher. Author of books including “Why Don’t Things Fall Up?”, "Mr Shaha's Recipes for Wonder" and “How to Find a Rainbow”. Lots of free stuff and more about me at alomshaha.com

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · Oct 12

I’ve spent 25+ years teaching and “ communicating” science. As well as being a schoolteacher, I’ve worked with scientists and science institutions to help them explain their work to the public. This book is the culmination of all that work. Out in paperback Nov. 7th www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1529...

A sky blue book with a big upside down apple with white text on it saying “ALOM SHAHA
WHY DON'T THINGS
FALL UP?”
'A joyful exploration ... proving that science is for everyone'
ROMA AGRAWAL
A brilliant book'
CHARLIE HIGSON
Seven fundamental science questions explored and explained

Book is on green background which has text saying:
'A great idea, beautifully executed.' - Brian Clegg, science writer
'It's one of the friendliest science books I've read. I'm sure many other people will agree. I have learnt (and remembered) so much, and so easily. It's the mango ice cream of science books.' - Hilary Mckay, Costa Prize winning novelist
'Shaha's many years of experience as a science teacher shine through every page. Not only is he such a natural 'explainer', but he has that rare gift of putting readers at ease without ever talking down to them. If you ever felt that science was not for you or too complicated to grasp then here is the teacher you'll wish you had at school' - Jim Al-Khalili, scientist, broadcaster, author
Patient, clear, never patronizing, and constantly warm and humane, Why Don't Things Fall Up? presents the key concepts of science with infectious energy and enthusiasm. If you never got on with science, you've nothing to fear here, and everything to gain.' - Philip Ball, science writer and broadcaster
"A gentle and reassuring journey through school science, perfect for polishing up both long-forgotten knowledge and confidence, and helping everyone to make science a part of their world. "- Helen Czerski, scientist, broadcaster, author
'Brings together science and storytelling in a joyful guide to life's big answers.
With warmth, humour and humanity, Alom Shaha takes complex concepts and distils them into simple language...it's a vital corrective for anyone who has ever struggled with science.' - Kia Abdullah, author

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 23h

Publishers of (particularly children’s) non-fiction and science communicators should take note:

Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 23h

Just seen a Physics teacher comment on a R4 science programme with some shoddy explanation delivered by a knowledgeable, prominent scientist. Easy to be overconfident in your explanations if you’re an “expert” but there’s a difference between an expert explaning something and an *expert* explainer.

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Dr Neutopia @oceanclub.bsky.social · 15h

People have forgotten how the algorithm on Twitter was changed so the most stupid, boring, venal, and fascist people - that is, the one who bought blue ticks - were the first you saw on the timeline and in replies.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 19h

This is it. I didn’t find it at all difficult to leave Twitter in the end: it stopped being fun and became boring and depressing. Whenever I opened it I’d see things that were obnoxious or upsetting. It was a relief not to do that.

Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 21h

This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.

No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.

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Iach Bodb @iachbodb.bsky.social · 14h

They grow up in a bubble of self-importance and financial freedom, nobody around them tells them to chill the fuck out, and they end up in positions of authority where their underdeveloped concept of the human experience leads to... all this.

There but for the 'grace' of luck go we.

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ValC NSFW @valc-6.bsky.social · 14h

A side effect of content culture is that everyone's stupidity is on full display now, even the worlds most powerful people. There's a reason Musk and co. all try to portray themselves as le epic science guys, it's to counteract all the bad press.

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Patrick K Mills @pkernaghan.bsky.social · 15h

That theil thing has got me thinking about how the last 25ish years or so have so thoroughly exposed so many of the powerful as utterly deranged weirdos with the intellect of a 14 year old boy

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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 19h

Dental Phantom, c.1898. Or, what it feels like to live in 2025.

The dental phantom was first created by the Glaswegian dentist Eduard Oswald Fergus a few years earlier as a tool for students to practice their craft before working on human subjects.

A metal head with a mouth wide open as if it is screaming. Inside are a full set of dentures.

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Bus D. Sinclair 🏳️‍🌈🏴‍☠️ @melbeast.bsky.social · 14h

I literally groaned out loud when he started talking about One Piece. Like no dude you are the bad guy you don’t get to like One Piece D:<

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Leah Shaffer @leahshaffer.bsky.social · 14h

It's always a good day to become an opportunavore, where you gradually change your diet to what is the most affordable, convenient and delicious. If you can greatly reduce beef and pork, the planet and your wallet will thank you.

Solomon @solomonmissouri.bsky.social · 14h

www.newsweek.com/beef-prices-...

Beef prices soar to all-time high

"There is not much relief in sight as long as supplies are tight and consumers keep buying," one expert told Newsweek.

www.newsweek.com

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 14h

Want!

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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 16h

BBC News explain that because of Brexit, Brits will be photographed and have their fingerprints taken when going into the EU, as the UK now is a third country

BBC News forget to explain that the UK helped create these rules when we were part of the EU because we wanted stronger border control

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Aaron Aardvark @laughinglemon.bsky.social · 15h

If this was some drunk on the street, shouting at passers-by, nobody would have paid any attention. Or called the cops. But this is a rich guy so someone has to write an article.

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 15h

In my experience people like this guy create persecution narratives for themselves where white Christian people are being endangered by liberals (and this woman isn’t even liberal) and are dying for the opportunity to harm those people

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 15h

If you’re going to another country and telling people they’re going to suffer eternal damnation if they don’t adopt your beliefs and norms, that is not charity, no matter how you justify it with your religion

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 15h

And the tone is very much, “he was a good guy until someone pushed him over the edge”. I grew up Evangelical and knew people who were missionaries. That is not evidence of their goodness and in many cases it is evidence of their need to impose their beliefs on others and punish deviance from them

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 16h

And she was just on the other side of the issue. But first of all, she expressed an opinion he didn’t like and he went out of his way to harass and put her in danger. At worst she said something rude about a public figure who had dehumanized people like her repeatedly.

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Elizabeth Spiers @espiers.bsky.social · 16h

I was trying to put my finger on what bothered me about this portrayal and I think it’s that it just takes the guy’s words at face value, like he was a nice guy and reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death just pushed him over the edge www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/u...

She Despised Charlie Kirk. He Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay.

www.nytimes.com

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 15h

It’s on my desk… waiting for me as soon as I have a moment…

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Tade Thompson @tadethompson.bsky.social · 15h

Yet there is plentiful evidence that money makes people lose their damned minds.

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Tammi, yeah, that one. 2.1 @tammi.bsky.social · 15h

Yet more proof that money never made anyone clever.

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Tade Thompson @tadethompson.bsky.social · 15h

Literally THE OPPOSITE of what Dr Manhattan said.

Also, Moore didn't see this as an ideal solution. Moore literally negates the plan in the last panel.

This fucking guy....

Why the hell does he get oxygen to spout word salad?

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 18h

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

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Robin Boardman @robinboardman.com · 15h

79 people have been imprisoned in Britain for acts of nonviolent resistance with Just Stop Oil and Palestine Action. Collectively, they have served more than 7,700 days — over 21 years — behind bars. 14 are still inside.

They remind us that truth-telling under tyranny carries a price.

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Gary Panton @garypanton.co.uk · 15h

OK I tasted them and they're a bit meh. World has gone back to being the same.

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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 15h

Have a copy of the Narnia Code - possibly because you mentioned it before! Yet to read it

Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 16h

First featured in Prince Caspian!

Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 16h

Bought this a while ago and haven’t got round to reading

Hand holding a book called “The Narnia Code featuring the face of a lion in a thin strip peeking out from a dark blue background of stars