Prof Heino Falcke
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hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Prof Heino Falcke
@hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
340 followers 24 following 310 posts
Prof. Astrophysics, columnist D/NL, bestseller author “Licht im Dunkeln/Light in the Darkness/Licht in de duisternis” about the first ever image of a black […]

[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@hfalcke on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
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hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I keep being confused looking at the little arrow in front of the train sign. Why would the train go exactly at a right angle to the tracks😱.

Maybe some native Dutch Fedizens can help me to read this sign. (There are usually only two options for a train to […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
November 19, 2025 at 6:47 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Ich war heute 2 Stunden bei “Leute” live im #swr und habe über die Geschichte des Universums und mein neues Buch “Zwischen Urknall und Apokalypse” geredet. Am Ende habe ich nochmal ein Plädoyer für ein freies Internet und das #fediverse gehalten. Zum ersten […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Heino Falcke links und Nicole Köster rechts vor dem gelben Logo SWR1 Leute
November 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Bin heute beim Kölner Recherchepreis für Nachwuchsjournalisten. NRW Medien-Minister Liminski hält ein starkes Plädoyer für die Pressefreiheit die uns was kosten muss und meint damit die Auseinandersetzung mit amerikanischen sozialen Medien. Über Zölle kann […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
November 10, 2025 at 6:10 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Switched on TV for my traditional Sunday evening entertainment watching #terrax and saw a familiar face: Eske Willerslev my fellow Balzan price winner. He found the oldest DNA from more than 2 Million years ago. His story is quite amazing, starting as a […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
November 2, 2025 at 7:19 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Today I was guest on the late breakfast show on national television #zdf „Volle Kanne“ with my new book. We talked about almost everything: the Big Bang, quantum physics, God, meteorite impacts, black holes, alien life - you name it! It was fun and they threw […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
October 31, 2025 at 3:04 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Es gibt eine Fortsetzung der „Kekskrümel im All“. Diesmal geht es um die Entstehung der Erde. Sieben spannende Kapitel erwarten euch ab 11. März 2026. Mit dem 2. Buch ist das nun offiziell eine Kinderbuchreihe!

Eigentlich ist das eine Single-Auskoppelung aus […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Das Buchcover zeigt ein farbenfrohes und fantasievolles Kinderbuchcover. Der Titel lautet „Kekskrümel unterm Himmelszelt – Wie entstand unsere Erde?“, geschrieben von Dagmar Falcke und Spiegel-Bestsellerautor Heino Falcke. Die Illustrationen stammen von Gareth Ryans stammen. Im Zentrum des Covers liegt ein Kind in einem roten Schlafsack, das friedlich schläft und träumt. Der Hintergrund ist ein dunkler Nachthimmel mit Sternen. Über dem Kind sieht man bunte kosmische Linien, Sterne und Planeten, die den Eindruck einer Reise durchs Weltall vermitteln. Links unten ist ein Vulkan zu sehen, der Lava spuckt, daneben ein Bild der Erde. Oben rechts fliegt ein Komet vorbei, und oben links gleitet ein Flugsaurier durchs All – eine spielerische Mischung aus Wissenschaft und Fantasie.
October 27, 2025 at 7:08 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Can you produce something out of nothing? Can you make particles out of the vacuum? Yes, you can do it if you have a strong electric field (Schwinger effect) or an expanding or contracting universe (similar to Hawking radiation of black holes). In our new […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
October 16, 2025 at 11:20 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Ein Podcast mit Chrismon über Glauben, Tod, das Ende des Universum und warum es Grund zur Hoffnung gibt.

https://chrismon.de/podcast/57451/astrophysiker-ueber-den-ursprung-und-das-ende-des-universums
October 2, 2025 at 4:28 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
In conjunction with some strategy discussions I checked which are the top 10 science results of the past ten year in astrophysics, according to citations. And they are coming from Planck (cosmology), Ligo/Virgo (gravitational waves), Gaia (astrometry) and the […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
October 2, 2025 at 3:55 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
In Frechen hat nach 26 Jahren CDU ein SPD-Kandidat das Bürgermeisteramt übernommen. Herzlichen Glückwunsch an Kai-Uwe Tietz. Dank auch an die alte Bürgermeisterin, die diesmal nicht angetreten ist. #komunalwahl
September 28, 2025 at 6:16 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Yesterday a nice crowd at the impressive #planetarium in Hamburg and a long line at the book table. Great conversation with @sianderl from Germans leading weekly newspaper „Die Zeit“ who led us eloquently and thoughtfully through the evening. We are all […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 25, 2025 at 7:53 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Am Mittwochabend den 24.9.2025 bin ich im
Planetarium Hamburg zu einer Lesung meines neuen Buches „Zwischen Urknall und Apokalypse - die große Geschichte unseres Planeten“ und im Gespräch mit meiner geschätzten Kollegin Dr. Sibylle Anderl - Resortleitern […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 20, 2025 at 9:05 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
My first solo book presentation at a packed #planetarium in #bochum. Honestly, I was a bit nervous at first, since you never know how people react, but it went very well. I had a great time, got wonderful feedback and all available books were sold. Lots of […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 18, 2025 at 5:29 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
You remember the iconic picture of a black hole from the @ehtelescope? Now there are three - a mini-movie so to speak. The structure of magnetic fields changes, the brightness wobbles, but the ring remains rock solid. That seals the case for it being a black […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 16, 2025 at 7:23 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Für die Spontanen: heute am 11.9. um 20:00 ist meine Buchpremiere „Zwischen Urknall und Apokalypse“ in der Kulturkirche Köln - mit dem vielfach ausgezeichneten Chefkorrespondenten des Kölner Stadtanzeigers, Joachim Frank, dem Sprecher und Schauspieler und […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
September 11, 2025 at 6:59 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
#Odonien #Köln #koln
An industrial sculpture made from repurposed metal and machinery parts, featuring a large structure resembling a bird's head with colorful elements. It includes an old crane, various mechanical components, and some fabric hanging in the foreground. The sky is partly cloudy. A large, metal sculpture resembling a humanoid figure stands amidst greenery. The figure is constructed from various metal parts, including pipes and a barrel, and features a whimsical face with spiky hair. It has outstretched arms An outdoor scene featuring a rusty sculpture of a woman, a colorful art piece on the side of a truck, and various plants and foliage surrounding them. The artwork on the truck depicts mechanical elements. Trees and blue sky are visible in the background.
August 24, 2025 at 2:11 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Morgen ben ik Spraakmaker op NPO Radio 1 - 9:30- 11:30 - wij praten over de apocalyps en waarom er reden is voor hoop

Tomorrow on public radio in NL talking about the apocalypse and why there is reason for hope. 😉👍
August 21, 2025 at 5:39 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Die Vorfreude steigt. Am 11.9.2025 ist die Premiere meines neuen Buches „Zwischen Urknall und Apokalypse - die große Geschichte unseres Planeten“ in der Kulturkirche Köln. Das Schreiben war auch für mich eine packende Reise durch die Weltgeschichte mit vielen […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Event poster for a book premiere titled "Zwischen Urknall und Apocalypse" by Heino Falcke, featuring a reading, music, and discussion. Date and location: September 11, 20:00, Kulturkirche, Köln
August 21, 2025 at 8:07 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Wie eine Megakatastrophe unseren Sommer schuf und was der Mond damit zu tun hat. Meine Ferienkolumne für den Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger … (gerade noch rechtzeitig bevor das stabile Hoch kommt). #kolumne #mond #astronomie #wetter #sommer #sommer25
August 5, 2025 at 5:26 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
[Indecent language]

There are corona deniers, but there are also Einstein haters - as those of us working on black holes know only too well. This one uses particularly ugly language (German). Had anyone contact with that person before? It came with this […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
August 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Lese gerade in unserer Zeitung, dass Frauen sich 1,76 Kinder wünschen. Wer will denn so was???😮
July 31, 2025 at 11:51 AM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Next example, same book. Charismatic scientist publishes important work, but fails to cite previous pioneering work, giving the appearance as if she was first to find it. Also unethical (and a “please cite my work” email would have actually been appropriate here … 😉)
Her article, which appeared in Nature in 1993, was received with great acclaim. In addition to her meteoric academic career and scientific prowess, Kenyon was also an astute, charismatic character, and as a result she was highly praised by the press. However, there was one unfortunate omission: neither Kenyon's article nor the accompanying commentary mentioned Johnson's earlier work with age-i, and many reports of Kenyon's work gave the impression that this was the first time a mutation had been discovered that provided a longer lifespan.
July 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Excerpt from the book „Why we die“ from Venki Ramakrishnan. Group in Europe discovers an important protein, gives it a name (TOR1&2). American group finds the same and gives it a different name to claim superiority. (Re)naming things is a sign of power. I […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
The research groups in the United States realized that they had discovered a version of the protein in mammals that Hall and his colleagues had already identified in almost the same form. Nevertheless, some of them gave it completely different names. In the end, they all agreed to call it "mTOR".
July 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
This evening, 56 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, Pope Leo spoke with the astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Together they shared the memory of a historic feat, a testimony to human ingenuity, and reflected on the mystery and greatness of Creation.

(Next step - join the Fediverse please 😉)
July 20, 2025 at 9:27 PM
hfalcke.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Just learned via Mastodon that Netherland considered annexing parts of Germany, including Cologne after WWII. So, I almost would have been Dutch from birth… 🤔

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_annexation_of_German_territory_after_the_Second_World_War
July 20, 2025 at 12:05 PM