How did life begin? Bacteriology’s Betül Kaçar joined Neil deGrasse Tyson on his podcast, @StarTalkRadio, to explore the beginnings of life on Earth and what it might tell us about life elsewhere. 🌎💫 Watch their conversation: youtu.be/72ugdkB7oQ4?si=FPCF…

Everyone knows John Hancock for his giant signature. Almost nobody knows the actual man, and his real life was wilder than the legend. He was an orphan. His father died when he was 7, and he was taken in by his uncle Thomas, the richest merchant in Boston. John was groomed to run the family shipping empire, inherited the whole thing in 1764, and became one of the wealthiest men in all of America before most people his age owned anything at all. He was also, by the crown's definition, a criminal. In 1768 the British seized his ship Liberty for smuggling, and Boston rioted in his defense. The man we now put on patriotic posters was, to London, a wealthy smuggler dodging customs. He didn't just resent the crown quietly. He bankrolled resistance and became such a thorn that the British wanted him gone. On the night of April 18, 1775, when Paul Revere made his famous ride, the warning was not vague. He rode to Lexington specifically to warn two men that the British were coming to arrest them: Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The opening night of the Revolutionary War was, in part, a manhunt for Hancock. Weeks later, General Gage offered a pardon to every rebel in Massachusetts who would lay down arms, with exactly two exceptions: Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Being left off that list was essentially a public death warrant. Here is the part nobody tells you. As president of the Continental Congress, Hancock actually wanted to be named commander of the army himself. He sat in the chair and watched as the Adams cousins instead rose to nominate George Washington. He was reportedly stung by it. Then he did the thing most people never manage. He swallowed his pride, signed Washington's commission, and spent the next eight years pouring his personal fortune into the war he could not lead. So when Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence first, big and bold across the top, it was not a cute flourish. He was already a hunted man with a price on his head, putting his name, his fortune, and his neck on the line before anyone else dared lift a pen. And that famous line about signing large "so King George can read it without his spectacles"? He almost certainly never said it. It is a myth stitched onto him generations later. The real story is better. He just signed first, as president, knowing exactly what it could cost him. The flamboyance was real, though. He lived in princely splendor in a granite mansion on Beacon Hill overlooking the harbor, with imported mahogany furniture and apricot trees shipped from Spain. In 1775 he married Dorothy Quincy, and the two became one of Massachusetts' first political celebrity couples, famous for endless lavish dinners that slowly drained his fortune. He went on to become the first Governor of Massachusetts, serving roughly eleven years, and died in office in 1793. His funeral was one of the grandest ever given to an American up to that point. Samuel Adams declared the day a state holiday. The orphaned smuggler with a target on his back had become the face of American defiance. That is why, 250 years later, we still say "put your John Hancock right here."

It's Wednesday! Take a deep breath and float with Grogu at the edge of space. Baby Yoda flew to 102,900 feet aboard our Away 132 mission. #TheMandalorianAndGrogu

This is indeed a superb letter from The Astronomer Royal of Scotland. “Someone, somewhere, has taken the decision to defund astrophysics research in the UK, but no-one seems quite sure who that was, or why.” I agree - my colleagues in particle physics have also tried, without success, to discover who owns the decision to damage physics research in the UK, perhaps irreparably, at a time when our economy desperately needs the skills and knowledge we develop and teach. @UKRI_News need to get a grip urgently and fix the problem someone, somewhere, has created.

Steven Spielberg was inspired to make Disclosure Day after witnessing UFO whistleblowers and pilots testifying in 2023 “I felt, starting back in, I think 2023, when the New York Times came out with a story,influenced by a whistleblower that released some footage to the New York Times. It was a story written by Helene Cooper and Ralph Blumenthal and Leslie Keane. And it was a story about what Navy pilots had photographed on their FLIR systems, their infrared systems, their forward facing infrared systems of a ufo, now called a uap, which stands for Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon. In a sense it brought a more of a serious, more of an acceptable, sort of lexicon of terms to a world that even now, 50 years after Close Encounters, is more likely to believe that something has been happening for decade upon decade upon decade about, our world being visited. Our movie is about what would happen if all this information was disclosed all at the same time. How would that affect everything? And the story really is about the attempt to stop any disclosure from ever taking place.”

More Martian organics have been found! Still doesn't mean we'll find signs of present or past life at the surface there, but does bolster the potential for life to have happened on the Red Planet at some point.

FINESST - an opportunity for grad students to apply for NASA funding has officially dropped! The deadline is July 14, 2026. Don't miss out! tinyurl.com/FINESST26

scientists just built an RNA molecule that can copy itself. not just make a complement. it makes a full copy of itself. this is the closest we’ve ever gotten to watching the origin of life happen on a bench. nobody is talking about it because it doesn’t have a chatbot interface

What the Artemis II astronauts did over the last 10 days was a testament to their bravery. And the fact that they traveled farther from Earth than anyone ever has, re-entered our atmosphere at more than 24,000 mph, and splashed down safely was a testament to human ingenuity. Thanks to everyone at @NASA for making this mission possible, and for taking us along for the ride.

“We will explore. We will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will inspire—but ultimately, we will always choose Earth. We will always choose each other.” - Christina Koch, Artemis II astronaut

On @CNN a clip was played of @Astro_Christina talking about our home world’s beauty and that she’d like to stay in space longer. @KateBolduan replied that she also had #MoonJoy. It is spreading, folks. #ArtemisII

LIVE: Watch with us as the Artemis II astronauts make their closest approach to the Moon, traveling farther from Earth than ever before. x.com/i/broadcasts/1dGYljDRv…

Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration nature.com/articles/d41586-0… @NASA @NIH @NSF @Energy @NIST @NOAA @EPA

We are about to fly around the Moon! In mere minutes, the crew of Artemis II will travel farther from Earth than any humans in history, breaking the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. They will sail around the far side of the Moon, photographing lunar features never before seen by human eyes. youtube.com/live/z-j1uxBmis0 @NASA #moon #ArtemisII

The Origins of Life is an inspiring field, bringing many disciplines together. We recently wrote a review that aims at promoting #collaboration , or so we hope. Here are some voices behind it his process: cell.com/cell-reports-physic… @oolen_org @CellRepPhysSci

All the negative people in my comments not realising they’re building my reach so I can share my love for mathematics and STEM to even MORE people. Let’s go women in STEM 🥰

The amount of unbridled hate and misogyny in the replies is pretty repulsive. It's a unique photo. I've seen 100 images of Artemis taking off. This is the only one I've seen of Artemis reflected in someone's glasses.

RT @projecthailmary: Sending the biggest congrats and best wishes to the #ArtemisII crew, from everyone at #ProjectHailMary. 🫡 🚀 https://t.…

From all of us at the SETI Institute, we wish godspeed to @astro_reid, @AstroVicGlover, @Astro_Christina, and @Astro_Jeremy for the safe and successful completion of the #ArtemisII mission. This is a profound moment not only for @NASA but for all of humanity, and our thoughts are with you. Congratulations on a successful launch!

For the first time in generations, humans will leave Earth’s cradle and travel once more toward another world. 🚀 #ArtemisII is not just a mission, but a reminder: we are a species that looks up, wonders, and goes. 🔭 We wish you good luck and a safe ride! 🌜 @NASA @esa