Jonathan O'Callaghan

Madani is mayor of my heart

This news conference keeps on giving

It’s me, chatting about many satellites. Enjoy!

There's exactly one normal man left on planet Earth.

Argh yes. I would kill for the ability to search only for hotels with adjoining rooms in a given area.

Hotel booking websites are so poorly designed for people travelling with kids.

I just want to be able to search for places where there will be enough beds for 4 of us, without having to book two separate rooms. Why is that so hard to search for!

If you read down in that article it tells you how to do it, you have to register an account on the FCC website.

FCC Fast-Tracks SpaceX's Plan for 1M Satellites. And It Wants Your Thoughts Usually, the commission takes weeks or months to respond to a filing, but it kicked off a public comment period for SpaceX's orbital data center plan in just a few days.

You can already comment on SpaceX's application for one million satellites

www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-fas...

Why did SpaceX just apply to launch 1 million satellites? SpaceX says it wants to deploy an astronomical number of data centres in orbit to supply power for artificial intelligence, but the proposal might not be entirely serious

SpaceX just applied to launch a million satellites, but why?

The satellites are intended for vast orbital data centres in orbit. But is it a serious proposal, a land grab, a joke – or all of the above?

Story by me in @newscientist.com

www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

Mega constellation news so far in 2026:

- China applies for 200,000 satellites
- SpaceX dodged 300,000 Starlink collisions in 2025
- FCC approves 7,500 new Starlink satellites
- Blue Origin announces 5,000-satellite constellation
- SpaceX applies for one million satellites

Why did SpaceX just apply to launch 1 million satellites? SpaceX says it wants to deploy an astronomical number of data centres in orbit to supply power for artificial intelligence, but the proposal might not be entirely serious

SpaceX just applied to launch a million satellites, but why?

The satellites are intended for vast orbital data centres in orbit. But is it a serious proposal, a land grab, a joke – or all of the above?

Story by me in @newscientist.com

www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

Can anyone confirm - was the previous largest FCC filing for satellites, before SpaceX's one million satellite application, SpaceX's 2019 Starlink application (30,000 + 12,000)?

Bump on this - looking for an expert specifically on orbital data centres available in the next few hours. If that's you let me know!

Presumably yes but they're not required to publish their maneuvers like SpaceX (for reasons not entirely clear set by the FCC).

Ooh thanks

Hey space people, another request.

I'm looking for experts to talk to this week about in-space manufacturing for a feature I'm writing.

If that's you, or you have people you'd recommend, do let me know. Thanks!

jdaoca[at]gmail[dot]com

Monster Neutrino Could Be a Messenger of Ancient Black Holes | Quanta Magazine Primordial black holes could rewrite our understanding of dark matter and the early universe. A record-breaking detection at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has some physicists wondering if we jus...

Three years ago, a monster neutrino crashed into to an unfinished detector off the coast of Italy.

The event has remained unexplained until now. Could an exploding primordial black hole be the answer?

Super fun to write this for @quantamagazine.bsky.social

www.quantamagazine.org/monster-neut...

Hey space people, I’m looking for experts to comment and provide some insight on SpaceX’s application for a million satellites.

If that’s you drop me a line. Thanks!

jdaoca[at]gmail[dot]com

SpaceX files plans for million-satellite orbital data center constellation SpaceX is seeking FCC approval for a satellite constellation of unprecedented scale intended to function as an orbital data center.

uhh

spacenews.com/spacex-files...

Picture of Artemis 2 rocket on launch pad

Wow, Artemis 2 could launch next weekend on Sunday 8 Feb. Didn’t realise the first launch opportunity was so soon!

www.nasa.gov/blogs/missio...

Monster Neutrino Could Be a Messenger of Ancient Black Holes | Quanta Magazine Primordial black holes could rewrite our understanding of dark matter and the early universe. A record-breaking detection at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea has some physicists wondering if we…

It started as a half-joke, but the math worked out. MIT physicists wonder if a powerful neutrino was a sign of an exploding black hole formed in the first split second of the universe.

STONKS

Early contender for best astronomy acronym of 2026:

Search for Transient Object in New observations using Known Sources (STONKS)

arxiv.org/abs/2601.19328

SpaceX’s Starlink dodged 300,000 satellite collisions in 2025 The company’s mega-constellation is having to perform a huge number of manoeuvres to prevent a collision in Earth orbit

SpaceX's Starlink dodged 300,000 collisions in 2025.

That's nearly 40 maneuvers per satellite, and it's rising fast – possibly hitting 1 million maneuvers in 2027.

"If they make a mistake, we’re in really big trouble.”

Story by me in @newscientist.com

www.newscientist.com/article/2512...

Or very efficient?

My latest, for Quanta!

SpaceX’s Starlink dodged 300,000 satellite collisions in 2025 The company’s mega-constellation is having to perform a huge number of manoeuvres to prevent a collision in Earth orbit

SpaceX's Starlink dodged 300,000 collisions in 2025.

That's nearly 40 maneuvers per satellite, and it's rising fast – possibly hitting 1 million maneuvers in 2027.

"If they make a mistake, we’re in really big trouble.”

Story by me in @newscientist.com

www.newscientist.com/article/2512...

The giant reptiles reclaiming the world's most visited city Once driven to the city's edges, Bangkok's giant monitor lizards are now thriving in parks and canals – and becoming an unexpected part of the visitor experience.

This is cool, and very true. We even have a few monitor lizards that live in our kids' school in Bangkok!

www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

Dr Kareem Carr man: i wish to publish @kareem_carr Jan 21 reviewer 2: your paper is no good man: i'll do anything to improve reviewer 2: it's simple. you must read the work of the great scientist Pagliarini man: *bursts into tears* but i am Pagliarini Andre Pagliarini @apagliar Jan 21 a first: in rejecting an article I submitted to a journal, reviewer 2 noted I failed to engage the work of one Andre Pagliarini Jan 21, 2026 • 3:47 PM UTC

I just thought everyone should see this

A title card showing a post about sonic booms tracking space junk

Scientists have come up with an amazing way to monitor falling space junk – by tracking sonic booms it produces like a mexican wave as it tears through the atmosphere.

Really cool paper, and my first weekly post on Extraordinary Claims, my new Substack.

Enjoy!

open.substack.com/pub/xclaims/...

A title card showing a post about sonic booms tracking space junk

Scientists have come up with an amazing way to monitor falling space junk – by tracking sonic booms it produces like a mexican wave as it tears through the atmosphere.

Really cool paper, and my first weekly post on Extraordinary Claims, my new Substack.

Enjoy!

open.substack.com/pub/xclaims/...