Astrophysicist. Author of The Little Book of Aliens. Stuff shows up at The Atlantic, NYTimes, Big Think, etc. The Ramones, the Mets and lots of video games.https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mkkrsvrgck2dScientist shocks world demanding everyone just shut up about Pluto! 😀 Actually, there's a VERY cool science reason why Pluto was kicked out of the planet club. It's all about the rest of the solar system. Today's @forbes.com column https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/04/28/quit-whining-plutos-not-a-planet-an-astrophysicist-explains/28 Apr 2026 14:21 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkkrsvrgck2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mk6ahl3h4k27One purpose of science is to blow your mind. That's what happened to me when I visited @KalteneggerLisa at @Cornell and learned more about worlds bathed in oceans of magma. Today on Everyman's Universe. https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/aliens-lava-worlds-and-the-levitation-furnace23 Apr 2026 14:38 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk6ahl3h4k27https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mjkadavsck22"So, with all the other news, especially the war in the Middle East, why did people care [about the Artemis astronauts]? I think the answer can be summed up in four words: bravery, sacrifice, compassion and hope." Todays Everyman's Universe post https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/why-artemis-astronauts-risked-everything15 Apr 2026 15:43 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjkadavsck22https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mjhpnpsjm22gThe outpouring of interest in Artemis II is something worth considering. Today in my @Forbes column, I look at one aspect of its promise. The space economy is already in past 500 billion. Space is not just about exploration. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/04/14/artemis-ii-was-a-giant-leap-toward-the-1-trillion-space-economy/14 Apr 2026 15:39 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhpnpsjm22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mioxtbkrn22tWe don't fly through space, we surf it. The video from my conversation this morning with Sara Sidner on @cnn.com04 Apr 2026 19:29 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mioxtbkrn22thttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3milrwo4ulc2just got had a lovely discussion with Sara Sidner on @CNN about the successful Translunar Injection Burn and the amazing math behind it all. Go science!03 Apr 2026 13:05 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3milrwo4ulc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3miheohu4fk2jAbout to be on CNN to discuss the Artemis II launch!01 Apr 2026 18:57 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3miheohu4fk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3migvrkalq22xI am deeply honored to be giving the Edwin Salpeter Lecture at Cornell next week. Salpeter was truly one of the great astronomers of the 20th century and, of course, Cornell was the home of Carl Sagan.01 Apr 2026 14:31 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3migvrkalq22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mibsknsy7k2yWith this week's Artemis II mission we stand on the brink of returning to solar system for good and becoming a true space-faring species. This weeks @forbes.com column https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/03/30/historys-on-the-launch-pad-as-we-go-back-to-the-moon/30 Mar 2026 13:50 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mibsknsy7k2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mibpp35x2c2e1) Just starting "The Abstraction Fallacy: Why AI Can Simulate But Not Instantiate Consciousness" by AlexLerchner This is, so far, a deeply insightful paper about mistaking computation for consciousness.30 Mar 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mibpp35x2c2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mhstjmldrs22The world is, without doubt, on fire. We all need to respond. But after you have done what you can, then what? “You’re not helping the future by being freaked out 99.9 percent of the time.” Today in Everyman's Universe @Revkin https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/what-you-can-do-in-a-world-on-fire24 Mar 2026 14:57 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhstjmldrs22https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mhsoa2mszk22But it's got nothing to with climate change. Nope, nothing to see here folks. Let's just keep dismantling NCAR and other premier atmospheric physics centers because we aren't gonna need those silly institutions of excellence anymore. https://www.sciencealert.com/gigantic-heat-dome-baking-the-whole-us-may-be-historic-scientists-say?utm_source=news.sciencealert.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=today-s-top-science-news24 Mar 2026 13:22 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsoa2mszk22https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mhdrxhmczs2qThe conspiratorial science-denial folks talk about consensus like it’s just a vote taken at latest meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Vaccines? Yes! Climate Change? Yes! UFOs are Aliens? No! A'la @ccolose.bsky.social https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/science-consensus-and-the-big-lie18 Mar 2026 15:19 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhdrxhmczs2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mhdohdgecc2q@evanthompson.bsky.social and his elegant IAI piece on the nature of Mind. "Thinking that perception happens inside the brain is like thinking that flying happens inside the bird’s wings or that dancing happens inside the dancer’s nervous and musculoskeletal systems" https://iai.tv/articles/reality-is-not-a-controlled-hallucination-auid-351718 Mar 2026 14:16 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhdohdgecc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mhbosq4wzk2vScientists know the consensus because they live it. They read hundreds of papers, attend hundreds of meetings, talk with hundreds of colleagues. So, yes, consensus itself isn’t science. It’s the result of science. Today's Everyman's Universe post. https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/science-consensus-and-the-big-lie17 Mar 2026 19:17 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhbosq4wzk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mg3q65trg22m"Around the beginning of the 2010’s, however, I noticed something changing for those of us trying to bring science and its results to the public." Some history & thinking about how we got here and what to do about it. This week's Everyman's Universe. https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/is-it-time-for-scientists-to-stop-being-polite02 Mar 2026 17:01 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg3q65trg22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mfmzefywec23I had a lovely conversation with the great Alan Alda about life in the Universe. What a joy! Find his Clear + Vivid podcast on your favorite podcast delivery system.24 Feb 2026 20:35 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfmzefywec23https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mfjvqfpygs2t"That is what disclosure needs to deliver. Not stories... but physical evidence that independent laboratories and independent scientists all over the world can verify. Only then will it live up to its hype." Today's Forbes Column. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/02/23/what-we-could-learn--from-trumps-ufo-disclosure/23 Feb 2026 14:52 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfjvqfpygs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mfhssk37u226"Life is Different". Science needs a new vision of nature when it comes to living systems and philosopher Hans Jonas was the first to articulate the contours of that new perspective. Also "K-Pop Demon Hunters" is great. https://bigthink.com/13-8/nature-of-life-hans-jonas/22 Feb 2026 18:55 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfhssk37u226https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mfb4ybcvus2qOn Trump / Alien Files. I'm ALL for disclosure. If it leads to quality, verifiable data like every other scientific discovery required then...holy crap! But, if it's more of what we've seen in congressional testimony so far, we'll still be arguing 'bout this 10 years from now.20 Feb 2026 03:08 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfb4ybcvus2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mf7tryiuu22j"Only life knows Life". My @bigthink.com piece on Hans Jonas the most important philosopher you've never heard of. Jonas saw why life is different and why reductionist models of it will fail. A physics of life must go further. https://bigthink.com/13-8/nature-of-life-hans-jonas/19 Feb 2026 14:51 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf7tryiuu22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mezathkmcs2uOh my god. He’s right! It’s all connected [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Feb 2026 23:56 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mezathkmcs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3meyqt2r2zk2mThank you, thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week and don't forget to tip your server. [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Feb 2026 19:09 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3meyqt2r2zk2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3meymwkquxc2eWhat actually happened with the Obama / Alien kerfuffle and what it tells us about the search for cosmic life. My @forbes.com post this week. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/02/16/did-obama-just-tell-us-aliens-are-real/16 Feb 2026 17:59 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3meymwkquxc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3metb2egxzc2f“AI is more extractive than artificial: it’s dependent on cheap workers, cheap materials, and stolen information.” Luke Kemp look under the hood and you’ll see epic scale human exploitation to make these systems.14 Feb 2026 14:44 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3metb2egxzc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3meqslqypak25Science shows you how to change your mind. That's its superpower as a new paper on Gaia Theory recently showed me. "Without shame and without rancor, science gives you a path to update your beliefs about the world." https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/science-shows-how-to-change-your-mind-the-gaia-hypothesis13 Feb 2026 15:19 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3meqslqypak25https://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3me4rhb35ik2mReally interesting overlap between Art and Science here in the back and forth on Starry Night and Turbulence. This weeks post on my Forbes column. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/02/05/did-van-goghs-starry-night-anticipate-physics-hardest-problem/05 Feb 2026 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3me4rhb35ik2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3me2wbjvxis2w"We love to talk about Nature and its harmony and balance. But the Universe does have this other aspect embodied in volcanoes, exploding stars, and of course the Big Bang itself." This weeks Everyman's Universe post https://www.everymansuniverse.com/p/the-universe-loves-blowing-things-up04 Feb 2026 22:27 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3me2wbjvxis2whttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3mdszvjx4h22y"The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone." @adamserwer.bsky.social01 Feb 2026 19:10 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdszvjx4h22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamfrank4.bsky.social/post/3md6lmatysk2kMy @forbes.com piece on the approaching Winter Superstorm and what it should remind us about the Earth. We don't need to save it, we need to be scared sh&tless of it. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamfrank/2026/01/24/the-winter-superstorm-reminds-us-that-earth-is-a-god/24 Jan 2026 16:01 +0000at://did:plc:q366isdqdgtlcatd6dbqwfqr/app.bsky.feed.post/3md6lmatysk2k