Not that anybody asked, but…
The first 13 months of Biden’s term, the stock market rose 12%, setting a record high closing of 11 times.
The first 13 months of Trump’s second term, the market rose 10%, setting a record high closing of 10 times.
February 17, 2026
Today begins the Chinese New Year - year of the Horse. It’s also the first day of Ramadan on the Islamic Calendar. It’s also Mardi Gras for partying Christians (mostly Catholics), signalling the first day of Lent.
All derived from Lunar cycles.
New Moon Today — 7:00am ET
One more:
I shat with William Shatner for 5hrs in conversation in his LA backyard.
We shared personal stories of our lives & careers that we’ve never before shared publicly.
"Cosmos Confidential: Bill & Neil’s Excellent Bromance”
neildegrassetyson.com/books/2026-02-cosmos-confidential/
I think I’ll end with a @SuperBowl Sunday dad-joke thought…
Would be cool if, at the end of the season, they corralled all @NFL players who are vegetarian, and allow them to play in their own Salad Bowl.
A @SuperBowl Sunday Fact…
In a North-South oriented football Stadium, the rotating Earth forces a kicked field goal to deflect to the right. Depending on the hang-time and distance, it can be as much as 1/3 of an inch.
A @SuperBowl Sunday Fact…
If a football field were a timeline of cosmic history, cavemen to now spans the thickness of a blade of grass in the end zone.
A personal @SuperBowl Sunday revelation…
I only just figured this out
Many people who watch Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl" would rather see dogs play football than humans.
A WTF @SuperBowl Sunday Fact…
In a perfect spiral with high arc, aerodynamics keeps the football’s spin axis angled upward on the way up & but tips it downward on the way down.
A Super Sunday fact…
There's a small but real chance that a flipped coin will land on its edge. But sixty @SuperBowls is not enough to reveal it.
A @SuperBowl Sunday Fact…
Examples of Elastic Collisions: Two bouncy balls. Two helmets.
Inelastic collisions: Two pillows. Two marshmallows. A successful tackle.
Some @SuperBowl Sunday Science…
Kinetic & Potential Energy. Friction. Momentum Transfer. Elastic & Inelastic Collisions. Spin-stabilized projectiles under Gravity.
The greatest displays of classical physics anywhere in the Universe occur not in the Lab but during a game of American Football.
From the Archives….Lindsey Vonn
On @StarTalk Sports Edition — “Pain & Gain”
[Video: 51 min]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEC2...
A Super Sunday Audio offering…
Get ready for the @SuperBowl….
From the @StarTalk archives — on the Physics of Football, featuring three @NFL players as guests.
[Audio: 45 min]
startalkmedia.com/show/the-phy...
Super Sunday
I'm busting at the seams with sciencey Football posts. Half will spill out over the next five hours. The other half during the @SuperBowl itself. Just a head's up.
William Shat-ner. The one and only.
An Audio Original — Just Published.
“Cosmos Confidential”
Bill & Neil’s Excellent Bromance
neildegrassetyson.com/books/2026-0...
Video trailer [80 sec] of the Audio Original
Wanna see Jupiter in the sky tonight? It’s the bright “star” near the almost-full Moon. Both Jupiter & Earth are currently on the same side of the Sun, so we’re close to each other. Even so, due to light travel time, you see Jupiter only as it once was, 36 mins ago.
NASA: Among the most storied & respected jewels in the crown of America — Domestically & Internationally.
Congress has finally figured that out and is standing up for it, in a bipartisan vote, against proposed cuts from the White House.
www.commerce.senate.gov/2026/1/ves-e...
Curious fact: The New Years Eve countdown to midnight, second-by-second, is the most precise time-reckoning of a Holiday on the calendar.
Meanwhile, the celebration scatters across 24 time zones, requiring a full Earth rotation to complete for everyone.
In case you ever wondered, New Years Day on the Gregorian Calendar is cosmically arbitrary, carrying no Astronomical significance at all. Just Saying.
Meanwhile, the dates of Chinese New Year, Lent, Easter, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Saturnalia, Christmas, & Ramadan, all index to Astronomical events.
Just Posted…
My StarTalk co-host Chuck Nice's Comedy Special:
“Just Smart Enough”
[Video: 57min]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSAx...
Not that anybody asked, but If you accumulated all the flora, fauna, and metal that your True Love gives you each day in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” song, you would own 12 Trees, 40 Gold Rings, 140 Humans, and 185 Birds of 6 different species.
Not that anybody asked, but the Northern Arctic is just Ocean. So Santa’s North Pole Workshop has only ever existed on a floating sheet of ice.
No fur trees.
No hills.
Occasional seals.
And polar bears — for now.
Santa's pale because he visits in the middle of six months of darkness on Earth’s North Pole. And for the other six months, the Sun ascends no more than 23.5 degrees above the horizon. And he delivers gifts only at night.
All combined, Santa might be the whitest person on Earth.
Famous people actually born on Christmas Day…
Gregorian Calendar: Clara Barton, Conrad Hilton, Humphrey Bogart, Rod Serling, Jimmy Buffett, Barbara Mandrell, Sissy Spacek, Annie Lennox, Ricky Henderson, Justin Trudeau
Julian Calendar: Sir Isaac Newton
Merry Christmas to everyone in the world who is Christian, and to others who celebrate it — just for the heaven of it.
As for the rest of everybody, including Muslims, Atheists, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists, & Jews, Happy Thursday!
In case you didn't know...
Both male & female Reindeer grow antlers, but males lose them in late Autumn. All Santa’s reindeer are therefore female, which means Rudolph is persistently misgendered.
If people left Hot Tea, Carrots, and Celery for Santa on the table Christmas Eve, rather than Milk & Cookies, I bet he’d be much, much, thinner.
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Santa knows Physics…
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Of all colors, Red Light penetrates fog best. That's why Benny the Blue-nosed reindeer never got the gig.
Northern Hemisphere Reasoning:
December Solstice has the least daylight, so for every day of Winter & Spring, daylight increases, up to the Summer Solstice.
June Solstice has the most daylight, so for every day of Summer & Autumn, daylight decreases, up to the Winter Solstice.
**Solstice**
10:03am ET — Dec 21, 2025
On this day, Earth's North Pole tips away from the Sun, while the South Pole tips towards it, bringing the first day of Winter to the Northern Hemisphere with increasing daylight, and the first day of Summer to the Southern Hemisphere with decreasing daylight
