A bumble bee on top of a pink flower.

A new declaration spotlights animal consciousness

A new declaration, signed by dozens of biologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers, points to a “realistic possibility” of consciousness in reptiles, amphibians, fishes, certain mollusks, crustaceans, and insects. The New York Declaration …

A partial solar eclipse, with the moon partially covering the sun.

The comfort of solar eclipses

Bus and train schedules can disappoint, but eclipses always happen right on time. They offer a glimpse into the great celestial clockwork that ticks away day by day, century by …

An artist's rendering of an exoplanet, with stars visible in the background.

The search for another Earth

Astronomers are excited about the Habitable Worlds Observatory — a new telescope that may finally reveal whether life exists on worlds beyond our solar system. The Habitable Worlds Observatory won’t …

A double-page spread from Sky & Telescope magazine, with a headline reading "A New 3D Atlas of Cosmic History"

Mapping the universe in 3D

In the February issue of Sky & Telescope, I have a feature story on DESI, an ambitious project that’s mapping the universe in three dimensions and producing our clearest picture …

Do We Have Free Will?

Robert Sapolsky has just written a book arguing that free will is an illusion. Kevin Mitchell has just written a book arguing that free will is absolutely real. In this …

Asteroid 20039 Danfalk!

I’m honoured to have an asteroid named after me! Thanks to the efforts of Peter Jedicke and others at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, a small asteroid orbiting the …

Astronomers are setting up the Einstein camera in preparation for the 1922 solar eclipse.

The Einstein Camera

A century ago, a U of T astronomer led a small group of Canadians on a daring expedition to Australia to test Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Read my feature …