Matthew R Francis
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bowlerhatscience.org
Matthew R Francis
@bowlerhatscience.org
3K followers 630 following 21K posts
Science writer, journalist, physicist, hat man, cat man, queer. Pfp by @makinaro.com . Signal: BowlerHatScience.51
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bowlerhatscience.org
thanks for today's "Popeye" throwaway panels, @choochoobear.bsky.social . I think.
comicskingdom.com/popeye/2026-...
panels from "Popeye" by Randy Milholland, where King Blozo is saying "At least I know you'll never abandon me." His courtier asks "Sire, are you talking to your anxiety again?" and Blozo replies "...Maybe."
January 11, 2026 at 1:35 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
though I do love the Jim Davis Squirrel Girl contribution
Galactus as drawn by Jim Davis, eating a planet like a cookie
January 11, 2026 at 1:53 AM
bowlerhatscience.org
we all know what the *real* manly cereal is
unintentionally homoerotic early 20th century ad for Grape-Nuts showing a box of cereal with muscular arms and legs and gladiator sandals, holding the shoulders of a young man in business attire. The copy reads "Grape-Nuts Steadies a Man"
January 9, 2026 at 10:22 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
my officemate
a small gray cat with intense golden eyes sprawled out on a wooden bench in front of a foggy window
January 9, 2026 at 1:46 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
t-shirt saying "Greetings from Ohio! the great potato state" with an outline of Iowa with towns from Idaho, Iowa, and Ohio jumbled randomly inside
January 7, 2026 at 3:55 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
not the *best* duck but the *biggest* duck
a white stucco building on Long Island in New York shaped like a giant duck. It is known simply as The Big Duck.
January 6, 2026 at 5:51 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
I keep forgetting I have a spare tuba mouthpiece so I can fidget *and* keep in practice a little better at my desk
an old bald white man with a gray beard and glasses, playing a tuba mouthpiece. His cats have declined to comment.
January 6, 2026 at 1:45 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
my first @effinbirds.com madlibs of the year feels too apropos
page from the Effin' Birds calendar that lets you create your own. Mine reads "This is like a fucking hemorrhagic shit tornado"
January 5, 2026 at 1:12 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
very appropriate timeline serendipity from @chuckwendig.bsky.social and @infinitescream.bsky.social
screenshot of adjacent skeets from horror novelist Chuck Wendig advertising his spooky book "Staircase in the Woods", immediately followed by Endless Screaming saying "AAAAAAAAAH"
January 4, 2026 at 2:58 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
needy baby
an old white man with glasses and a beard, whose entire lap and chest are covered with a stripey brown white and orange cat, who regards the camera grumpily
January 3, 2026 at 10:24 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
a good goal
screenshot of "my 2026 word" via Merriam-Webster dictionary: kind-hearted
January 1, 2026 at 4:10 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
sun's up, mhm, looks OK
world survived to another day
porg singing Bruce Cockburn
January 1, 2026 at 1:40 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
I have a new tardigrade named Ursula
self-portrait of an old white man with a gray beard, with a plush tardigrade toy on his shoulder
December 28, 2025 at 2:18 AM
bowlerhatscience.org
we're decorating sugar cookies
a blue bell-shaped cookie covered in candies that look like eyeballs niece-decorated cookies (snail, squirrel, and heart) each with eyeball- and mustache-shaped candy decorations sugar cookies shaped like a fox, Grogu, squirrel, and snail
December 26, 2025 at 8:21 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
RED ALERT
a small gray cat intently staring out the window at a squirrel on the bird feeder
December 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
saw the weirdest cat on my walk to the post office today
a reddish brown hen on the edge of an urban street a reddish brown hen drinking from a puddle at the edge of a street
December 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
many people who knew him said "he's the strangest man I've ever met"
photo of pioneering radio astronomer Grote Reber (a young white man with short dark hair). The caption reads "I AM GROTE"
December 22, 2025 at 4:52 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
here's what I say about "heritage"
mural of white radical abolitionist John Brown, depicted as a bearded giant with a rifle in one hand and Bible in the other. The caption reads "Heritage not hate"
December 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
my version is better
mural of white radical abolitionist John Brown, depicted as a bearded giant with a rifle in one hand and a Bible in the other. The caption reads "Heritage not hate"
December 21, 2025 at 3:27 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
Kik has my favorite line in this whole series
Panel from "Drive" by Dave Kellett: Kik (a small green creature) says "Nekkid singularities ain't possible. All my books say if a singularity forms, it 'always gon' be wrapped in a horizon, and ain't nobody in th' external universe gon' see it."
December 21, 2025 at 12:28 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
oh are we bun-posting?
a golden brown rabbit with upright ears and a curious expression (and a molting butt), with a hard-to-see black bunny in the background retreating
December 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
I didn't get to as many as I wanted, but this Chinese ceramic lion makes up for a lot
a ceramic lion with a shiny white glaze, making a very wide fangy grin
December 19, 2025 at 4:23 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
I'm in
Afrofuturist jazz legend Sun Ra wearing a zebra-patterned hat, gold lamé robe, and opaque glasses with a horizontal aperture like Inuit sunshades
December 18, 2025 at 11:33 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
99% sure this is a scam, but it's a weird one:
email text: "I came to your contact from the writers write forum that you are a wonderful writer on science related topics, I would like to engage in your service. I would like to know if you are available to take on jobs at the moment. I need you to help write a book. Please get back if i can engage in your services and how much you charge per word. I have already come up with a title for the article and have created an outline to assist you in the writing process. Please reach out to me for further details."
December 18, 2025 at 2:34 PM
bowlerhatscience.org
Emily from "Questionable Content" by Jeph Jacques, crouched behind a coffeeshop counter saying "crab crab crab crab" and making pincer motions with her fingers
December 18, 2025 at 1:28 PM