Ann Finkbeiner
@annfinkbeiner.bsky.social
Freelance science writer, mostly astro, some natsec sci, some women-in-astro, some grief psych, otherwise whatever I can get paid to write about. I love Baltimore, I do.
I blow the doors off the widespread misconceptions of why cats are the way they are: I just needed a little archeology and genetics. I mean, they might as well be little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...
December 3, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I blow the doors off the widespread misconceptions of why cats are the way they are: I just needed a little archeology and genetics. I mean, they might as well be little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...
I had an epiphany about why cats are the way they are; I just needed a little archeology and genetics. And we might as well be living with little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...
December 3, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I had an epiphany about why cats are the way they are; I just needed a little archeology and genetics. And we might as well be living with little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...
When you're on your own in the outback in the wind and dark and cold, counting on your own skin -- and when aren't you -- you might remember the wings that fold around you. Sarah's art poems generally make me cry a bit. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/01/w...
December 1, 2025 at 3:28 PM
When you're on your own in the outback in the wind and dark and cold, counting on your own skin -- and when aren't you -- you might remember the wings that fold around you. Sarah's art poems generally make me cry a bit. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/01/w...
Neil's poem about the difference between him and squirrels, come autumn. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/28/a...
November 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Neil's poem about the difference between him and squirrels, come autumn. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/28/a...
Margaret Atwood didn't want to write her memoir because her life hasn't been that interesting. She wrote it anyway. She'd been right, and besides writers' lives usually aren't. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/26/n...
November 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Margaret Atwood didn't want to write her memoir because her life hasn't been that interesting. She wrote it anyway. She'd been right, and besides writers' lives usually aren't. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/26/n...
I read Laura here and then went out and thanked the heat pad and the slice of sunlight on the oak floor, and of course Laura whom humankind should thank because she's part of it. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/24/h...
November 24, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I read Laura here and then went out and thanked the heat pad and the slice of sunlight on the oak floor, and of course Laura whom humankind should thank because she's part of it. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/24/h...
Cassie visited the International Museum of Surgical Science and honestly, I'm not sure I wanted to know about their various collections. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/19/b...
November 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Cassie visited the International Museum of Surgical Science and honestly, I'm not sure I wanted to know about their various collections. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/19/b...
Eric and his wife and kid go to their first star party and see the Orion nebula. Eric makes it all about him. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/17/r...
November 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Eric and his wife and kid go to their first star party and see the Orion nebula. Eric makes it all about him. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/17/r...
That narrow little trail through the mountains is a single track: go fast, plan ahead, no room for error, concentrate on now/this minute. Christie says it's flow and that's an antidote. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/14/s...
November 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
That narrow little trail through the mountains is a single track: go fast, plan ahead, no room for error, concentrate on now/this minute. Christie says it's flow and that's an antidote. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/14/s...
Really, if you're a writer why would you even consider AI, given that it doesn't know whether it's making shit up or not and neither do you? Like, who wants a crutch with a crack in it? Not Christie. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/10/a...
November 10, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Really, if you're a writer why would you even consider AI, given that it doesn't know whether it's making shit up or not and neither do you? Like, who wants a crutch with a crack in it? Not Christie. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/10/a...
Last Wednesday, Jenny said some hurtful things about small dogs and their yippiness and bad breath. Today, Eliot, a small dog who owns his yippiness and would like to have worse breath yet, responds. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/07/g...
November 7, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Last Wednesday, Jenny said some hurtful things about small dogs and their yippiness and bad breath. Today, Eliot, a small dog who owns his yippiness and would like to have worse breath yet, responds. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/07/g...
Jenny always likes big dogs, not those little yappy, nippy, territorial ones with bad breath. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/05/l...
November 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Jenny always likes big dogs, not those little yappy, nippy, territorial ones with bad breath. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/05/l...
We've stopped doing the science of, say, infectious diseases or, say, cancer, & one thing we lose is the scientists who keep an eye out & give us a call when things start going wrong. Craig teaches a workshop in which the unexpected gets written about. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/03/i...
November 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
We've stopped doing the science of, say, infectious diseases or, say, cancer, & one thing we lose is the scientists who keep an eye out & give us a call when things start going wrong. Craig teaches a workshop in which the unexpected gets written about. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/03/i...
Cameron takes her kids trick or treating, has to be careful about certain houses, not because of bad people or bad treats, but because of the kind of decorations with things you'd usually see in war zones. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/31/n...
October 31, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Cameron takes her kids trick or treating, has to be careful about certain houses, not because of bad people or bad treats, but because of the kind of decorations with things you'd usually see in war zones. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/31/n...
Back on my addiction: the outfit that launches spy satellites, NRO, makes a new mission patch for each one that kind of gives away the secret. The patch in the picture is for Starshield, the spy version of Starilinks. Who knew? who's surprised? www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/29/a...
October 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Back on my addiction: the outfit that launches spy satellites, NRO, makes a new mission patch for each one that kind of gives away the secret. The patch in the picture is for Starshield, the spy version of Starilinks. Who knew? who's surprised? www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/29/a...
Jenny whips right past the the crisscross shapewear and European hair clips and spinning toilet brushes and just keeps going until a perfume ad says it smells like grasses waving in the springtime. Stops her cold. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/27/w...
October 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Jenny whips right past the the crisscross shapewear and European hair clips and spinning toilet brushes and just keeps going until a perfume ad says it smells like grasses waving in the springtime. Stops her cold. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/27/w...
Caribou, easily spooked, stop at lines of things, also roads. A road to minerals, pushed by Trump & profits going to other countries, means Neil is worried about caribou. TBH, he's less worried than mad. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/24/t...
October 24, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Caribou, easily spooked, stop at lines of things, also roads. A road to minerals, pushed by Trump & profits going to other countries, means Neil is worried about caribou. TBH, he's less worried than mad. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/24/t...
Update: the foxes, which seem to have been gone, are back. And they're still saying whatever it is that foxes say. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/22/i...
October 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Update: the foxes, which seem to have been gone, are back. And they're still saying whatever it is that foxes say. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/22/i...
There you are, a couple weeks off work with pay, and where do you go? How about some place unimaginably distant in time, some place where you'd recognize almost nothing, some place that was once somebody's reality? Laura's got you. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/20/s...
October 20, 2025 at 2:58 PM
There you are, a couple weeks off work with pay, and where do you go? How about some place unimaginably distant in time, some place where you'd recognize almost nothing, some place that was once somebody's reality? Laura's got you. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/20/s...
Part review of Helen MacDonald's writing, part pure love of swifts, this is one of Ben's last posts on LWON. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/17/r...
October 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Part review of Helen MacDonald's writing, part pure love of swifts, this is one of Ben's last posts on LWON. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/17/r...
Cameron talks to Hilary Rosner whose book is about animals moving the way they should through a landscape, every landscape. Meaning Rosner had to figure out seeing from the animals' point of view. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/15/r...
October 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Cameron talks to Hilary Rosner whose book is about animals moving the way they should through a landscape, every landscape. Meaning Rosner had to figure out seeing from the animals' point of view. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/15/r...
Eric's black locust tree shades his neighbor's tomatoes. This situation often doesn't end well but in Eric's case, everybody kind of forgot about it and the neighbor moved away so fine. But not before Eric and trees have to come to terms. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/13/t...
October 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Eric's black locust tree shades his neighbor's tomatoes. This situation often doesn't end well but in Eric's case, everybody kind of forgot about it and the neighbor moved away so fine. But not before Eric and trees have to come to terms. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/13/t...
Becky lists things you might like to know. I have a feeling the list comes from her personal experience. Based on my own personal experience, it's a good list. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/10/d...
October 10, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Becky lists things you might like to know. I have a feeling the list comes from her personal experience. Based on my own personal experience, it's a good list. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/10/d...
Emily, newly pregnant, reads Montaigne and writes me letters about him. The combination of his mind and Emily's -- you'll just have to read this for yourself. If for nothing else than the phrase "triturated rat-shit." www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/08/t...
October 8, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Emily, newly pregnant, reads Montaigne and writes me letters about him. The combination of his mind and Emily's -- you'll just have to read this for yourself. If for nothing else than the phrase "triturated rat-shit." www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/08/t...
Where Christie lives, her neighbors are wild, like feral, like guys the game cam picks up, even a little tiny tiger. (If you've ever tried to pick up a feral cat, "tiger" is the right word) www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/06/l...
October 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Where Christie lives, her neighbors are wild, like feral, like guys the game cam picks up, even a little tiny tiger. (If you've ever tried to pick up a feral cat, "tiger" is the right word) www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/06/l...