Dr. Kelly Weinersmith

Howdy! The paperback for A City on Mars comes out on July 29th. We're doing some in-person signings at Barnes and Nobel to celebrate! We'll be in Fairfax VA on Aug 5 and Charlottesville VA on Aug 23. Hope to see you there!

Statistical Rethinking 2026 is done: 20 new lectures emphasizing logical & critical statistical workflow, from basics of probability to causal inference to reliable computation to sensitivity. It's all free, made just for you. Lecture list & links: #calendar--topical-outline" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">github.com/rmcelreath/sta…

@stargazingdad @DandKUniverse @DanielWhiteson Thanks, Eric! :)

A great discussion on @DandKUniverse. What I appreciate about @DanielWhiteson and @FuSchmu is how honestly they weigh every pro and con. The more “feasible” an idea sounds at first, the less realistic it often turns out to be once you dig in. I admire that they’re transparent about what they’d personally be willing (or unwilling) to do and what actually scares them. At first, I thought, “We can’t listen to a guy who sits on his couch inside a mosquito net and dislikes traveling, or a woman who sees danger everywhere and whose favorite blanket is a wet one, talk about space exploration. They would veto everything.” At least Kelly might. Daniel would probably sign off on whatever as long as he didn't have to go anywhere. Then I realized: we need voices like theirs to balance the fearless risk-takers. Those of us who don't look before jumping. If Elon called me tonight and said, "We need a guinea pig to test Starship." I would do it. No questions asked. Both sides are essential if we want to explore, do real science, and become an interplanetary species without all of us dying in the process. After all… we can’t explore space if we’re all dead. We need the risk takers AND the wet blankets, or as I call them, bubble poppers! It will be the biggest human endeavor ever attempted. We need each other to pull this off. I'm hopeful that despite all the challenges, we will become a space-faring species. So, which are you: Team Bold Explorer, Team Cautious Reality-Check, or Team I'm cool with whatever, just don't make me leave SoCal? 🚀 Check out their episode on settling the moon. You won't regret it. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dan…

Daniel and Kelly answer questions about sharing DNA, why black holes don't have color charges, and whether or not you should treat a fever or let it ride. iheart.com/podcast/105-da…

When Soonish hit shelves, its premise felt electric. A wave of emerging technologies, from ultra-cheap space access to asteroid mining, could fundamentally reshape life on Earth and beyond. Nearly a decade later, co-author Kelly Weinersmith says the biggest lesson wasn’t that the future would arrive fast. It was that it would arrive unevenly. While writing, Weinersmith and her husband were framing reusability as an emerging breakthrough. Then reality outran their manuscript. Companies like SpaceX normalized the concept, dramatically lowering the cost of sending satellites into orbit. Other players, including Rocket Lab and Blue Origin, have further expanded the commercial space ecosystem, including into tourism. “That happened way faster than we thought,” she said. “Now people don’t even think twice about reusable rockets.” If reusable rockets overperformed, asteroid mining did the opposite. Under the Outer Space Treaty, nations cannot claim sovereignty over celestial bodies. While companies may be able to extract resources without claiming territory, the legal framework remains largely untested. The book closes with what Weinersmith calls a “graveyard of lost topics.” If there’s a throughline in her work, it’s this: Technological optimism is powerful but incomplete. Engineering feats can arrive shockingly fast. Legal systems, social norms, and biological realities rarely move at the same speed. @FuSchmu @ZachWeiner Read more: fastcompanyme.com/impact/reusabl…

Are aliens real? Do they speak physics? Will we become aliens? @DanielWhiteson and I are on the case!

@VeryBannable @ZachWeiner @DandKUniverse Thanks for reading to the end despite hating us in the preface! :)

@FuSchmu @ZachWeiner @DandKUniverse Well done. You wrote a good book, btw. Hated you in the Preface of it for crapping all over our dreams then read the book and was like ... dang ... she/they are kind of right. Dream killers!!! 😂😂😂❤️❤️

Hey @FuSchmu and @ZachWeiner ... are ya'll seeing this? Any comment?

.@ZachWeiner and I are SO EXCITED to share that A City on Mars has been nominated for the Smart Book of the Year 2025 Award! This competition is organized by the Smart Books website and the Jagiellonian University and is part of the Copernicus Festival!

Thanks to Kelly Weinersmith (@FuSchmu) for this very generous endorsement of my new book #BecomingMartian from @mitpress! 🚀 on 2.17.26 and available now for pre-order!

For those curious about how traveling in deep space affects the body and mind— and what would happen if plans to establish a base on the moon and eventually Mars are successful— I wrote this book!

@paradigm333 @ZachWeiner So glad you enjoyed it!! :D

@ZachWeiner @FuSchmu ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic book! If you like science and love humor, or even humour, this book is for you. Even though it is a few years old, the book holds up. The Audible version was great with the authors reading it, and I had to pause to laugh too many times to count. Read it!

@ZachWeiner @FuSchmu gotta love the astringent taste of batteries... Big fan of A City on Mars, and currently reading Soonish

@hawks_principal @ZachWeiner So glad you enjoyed it! :)

Recently finished these two as well. @FuSchmu @ZachWeiner put together an informative and entertaining insight into the ins and outs of colonizing space. Spoiler: we shouldn’t do it. It was the perfect follow up to the Sagan classic!

I am thrilled that my new book, "Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds," will officially be published on Feb 17th! I would like to invite those in the Houston area to join me at the launch event that evening at Brazos Bookstore! 🚀

Come hang out with me at this upcoming in person events! On Jan 25th I'll be at @EmiratesLitFest in Dubai. On Feb 17th I'll be in Houston celebrating the release of @ScottESolomon 's new book, Becoming Martian! On April 11th I'll be at the @YpsiLibrary in Michigan!

Join the conversation, find the link at danielandkelly.org

MicroCT scan of crypt galls induced by the cynipid wasp Bassettia pallida within branches of the southern live oak, Quercus virginiana. Hiding in the crypts are a second parasitoid wasp, the crypt-keeper - Euderus set! #biodiversity

🪐 @DandKUniverse: @DanielWhiteson & @FuSchmu are supporting @Society4Science, @aaas, @ProjScientist, and @MSF_USA. ➡️ daffy.org/campaigns/supp…

🎧 ICYMI, I recently had the chance to talk with A City on Mars co-author @FuSchmu about one of our favorite topics: space! From biological unknowns to bold opportunities, this conversation digs into what it really takes to imagine life beyond Earth. undark.org/2025/09/24/pod…