Matt Bothwell
@mattbothwell.com
Astrophysicist, science communicator, author, human person
🪐 Public Astronomer at the University of Cambridge 🏛️ Bye-fellow at Girton College, Cambridge 📚 Author of The Invisible Universe, Astrophysics for Supervillains, & more
www.mattbothwell.com
🪐 Public Astronomer at the University of Cambridge 🏛️ Bye-fellow at Girton College, Cambridge 📚 Author of The Invisible Universe, Astrophysics for Supervillains, & more
www.mattbothwell.com
Woke up to an unsolicited email laying out a radical new theory that explains why quantum mechanics, relativity, and LCDM are all wrong.
It started "I know this sounds like an email you'd get from a nutcase. But I'm actually a 75 year old electrical engineer!"
What is it about retired engineers?
It started "I know this sounds like an email you'd get from a nutcase. But I'm actually a 75 year old electrical engineer!"
What is it about retired engineers?
November 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Woke up to an unsolicited email laying out a radical new theory that explains why quantum mechanics, relativity, and LCDM are all wrong.
It started "I know this sounds like an email you'd get from a nutcase. But I'm actually a 75 year old electrical engineer!"
What is it about retired engineers?
It started "I know this sounds like an email you'd get from a nutcase. But I'm actually a 75 year old electrical engineer!"
What is it about retired engineers?
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
I may have to form a rock band, so I can use this as the cover of our first cd.
www.livescience.com/space/the-su...
www.livescience.com/space/the-su...
Astrophotographer snaps 'absolutely preposterous' photo of skydiver 'falling' past the sun's surface
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has snapped a striking shot of a skydiving YouTuber perfectly aligned with the fiery surface of the sun. The unlikely image, dubbed "The Fall of Icarus," required met...
www.livescience.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I may have to form a rock band, so I can use this as the cover of our first cd.
www.livescience.com/space/the-su...
www.livescience.com/space/the-su...
So cool! A great fact to pull out for stargazing events.
Pleiades: The “Seven Sisters” Just Found Thousands of Long-Lost Siblings 🔭🧪
uncnews.unc.edu/2025/11/12/t...
uncnews.unc.edu/2025/11/12/t...
November 13, 2025 at 7:21 AM
So cool! A great fact to pull out for stargazing events.
This also totally fails to account for different fields having different norms. In astronomy, the last author slot is meaningless (and is almost certainly someone who didn’t contribute all that much). 🔭🧪
🧪For those of us who do complex collaborations with multiple corresponding authors this is terrible . I suspect it will also hit female authors disproportionately as they tend to have more collaborations across fields…https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03281-4
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
This also totally fails to account for different fields having different norms. In astronomy, the last author slot is meaningless (and is almost certainly someone who didn’t contribute all that much). 🔭🧪
By popular demand, a side-on view of the glass gravitational lens! Now with extra autumnal-ness. 🧪🔭
October 21, 2025 at 2:45 PM
By popular demand, a side-on view of the glass gravitational lens! Now with extra autumnal-ness. 🧪🔭
Gravitationally lensed autumn colours! 🔭🧪
October 20, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Gravitationally lensed autumn colours! 🔭🧪
I'm delighted that my first children's book, Astrophysics for Supervillains, is featured in BookTrust’s Great Books Guide 2025, chosen as one of their top recommended children’s books of the year 😀🔭
www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recomme...
www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recomme...
October 10, 2025 at 8:04 AM
I'm delighted that my first children's book, Astrophysics for Supervillains, is featured in BookTrust’s Great Books Guide 2025, chosen as one of their top recommended children’s books of the year 😀🔭
www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recomme...
www.booktrust.org.uk/book-recomme...
Oh to be a cat in a drawer
October 5, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Oh to be a cat in a drawer
Back at the Royal Institution, as part of the book tour 😀
October 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Back at the Royal Institution, as part of the book tour 😀
On the contrary, Cornell et al. (1994) was way ahead of its time, positing the existence of quasi-stars (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-s...) which mainstream astrophysics didn’t predict until 2006.
If I learned anything from the song Black Hole Sun it's that Chris Cornell didn't know shit about astrophysics
September 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
On the contrary, Cornell et al. (1994) was way ahead of its time, positing the existence of quasi-stars (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasi-s...) which mainstream astrophysics didn’t predict until 2006.
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
She basically invented astrophysics.
She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally.
She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe.
She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.
She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally.
She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe.
She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
September 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
She basically invented astrophysics.
She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally.
She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe.
She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.
She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally.
She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe.
She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.
Google AI doesn’t understand how borders work
September 23, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Google AI doesn’t understand how borders work
I’ll be back at the Ri on October 4th, talking about all things dark matter-y. Come along!
Dark Matter appears to have shaped the cosmos from its earliest moments. Yet despite its profound influence, Dark Matter has never been directly detected.
Join astronomer @mattbothwell.com as he explores the evidence leading scientists to this astonishing conclusion.
Join astronomer @mattbothwell.com as he explores the evidence leading scientists to this astonishing conclusion.
Searching for the invisible universe
Explore the mysteries of Dark Matter with Matt Bothwell
www.rigb.org
September 12, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I’ll be back at the Ri on October 4th, talking about all things dark matter-y. Come along!
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
Somehow seems right the best appreciation of In Our Time - and Bragg - is in the New Yorker. Captures the hunour if it - especially thosr abrupt intros. www.newyorker.com/culture/podc...
Escape the News with the British Podcast “In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg”
“In Our Time” feels aligned with the eternal rather than the temporal, and is therefore escapist without being junk.
www.newyorker.com
September 3, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Somehow seems right the best appreciation of In Our Time - and Bragg - is in the New Yorker. Captures the hunour if it - especially thosr abrupt intros. www.newyorker.com/culture/podc...
Exciting news! I'm going to be giving TWO talks at the Royal Institution on 4th October: an afternoon talk for children about my latest book (The Great Alien Hunt), and an evening talk for adults about the mysteries of Dark Matter. 🔭🧪👽
www.rigb.org/whats-on/gre...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/sea...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/gre...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/sea...
The great alien hunt (family)
Join astronomer Matt Bothwell for a journey for life across the Universe
www.rigb.org
September 2, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Exciting news! I'm going to be giving TWO talks at the Royal Institution on 4th October: an afternoon talk for children about my latest book (The Great Alien Hunt), and an evening talk for adults about the mysteries of Dark Matter. 🔭🧪👽
www.rigb.org/whats-on/gre...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/sea...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/gre...
www.rigb.org/whats-on/sea...
Major discovery
I note that 'alien observations' is an anagram of 'Avi Loeb's insane rot'
August 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Major discovery
Absolutely incredible post on the latest piece of silliness produced by the Florida Man of astronomy
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
This is not the quality of pseudoscience infotainment to which I have grown accustomed
Teasing the public with fraudulent or self-deluded promises of aliens used to mean something. It took work. It meant slapping together…
medium.com
August 9, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Absolutely incredible post on the latest piece of silliness produced by the Florida Man of astronomy
GPT5 now knows how many 'r's are in the word strawberry. But this seems like a one-off, and fails on similar words.
Has the 'how many 'r's in strawberry' question become easy just because it's now part of the training data?
Has the 'how many 'r's in strawberry' question become easy just because it's now part of the training data?
August 8, 2025 at 9:25 AM
GPT5 now knows how many 'r's are in the word strawberry. But this seems like a one-off, and fails on similar words.
Has the 'how many 'r's in strawberry' question become easy just because it's now part of the training data?
Has the 'how many 'r's in strawberry' question become easy just because it's now part of the training data?
The colour-coordinated flowers are on point at Peterhouse College!
August 5, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The colour-coordinated flowers are on point at Peterhouse College!
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
Big day for the matriarchy! 🥳 Huge congrats to the awesome Prof. Doughtery, lead on the Jupiter-bound ESA JUICE mission & STFC Exec Chair.
If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴Holyrood 🤗
ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩🔬🔭🧪
If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴Holyrood 🤗
ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩🔬🔭🧪
UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years
Prof Michele Dougherty is the first woman to be appointed to the influential post.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 30, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Big day for the matriarchy! 🥳 Huge congrats to the awesome Prof. Doughtery, lead on the Jupiter-bound ESA JUICE mission & STFC Exec Chair.
If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴Holyrood 🤗
ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩🔬🔭🧪
If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴Holyrood 🤗
ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩🔬🔭🧪
Reposted by Matt Bothwell
It's official: A new interstellar object is currently flying through our solar system at 61 km/sec.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it's now known, is only the 3rd known interstellar visitor, but the new Rubin Observatory is likely to find dozens more in the coming years. 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it's now known, is only the 3rd known interstellar visitor, but the new Rubin Observatory is likely to find dozens more in the coming years. 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
July 4, 2025 at 6:25 PM
It's official: A new interstellar object is currently flying through our solar system at 61 km/sec.
Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it's now known, is only the 3rd known interstellar visitor, but the new Rubin Observatory is likely to find dozens more in the coming years. 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it's now known, is only the 3rd known interstellar visitor, but the new Rubin Observatory is likely to find dozens more in the coming years. 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/solar-system...