Ann Finkbeiner

@annfinkbeiner

Freelance science writer, mostly astro, some natsec sci, some women-in-astro, some grief psych, otherwise whatever I can get paid to write about. I love Baltimore, I do.

729 Siguiendo5605 Seguidores1636 Publicaciones

Instagram Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y annfinkbeiner.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Jun 26

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· May 6

There you are, stuck in a board meeting half a continent from home and what would ever cheer you up? lastwordonnothing.com/2026/05/06/h...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Apr 20

Neil went to Alaska, found himself a little obsessed with what he wasn't seeing: the caribou, already north of him, going even norther because they need to get as far north as they can. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/04/20/m...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Jan 20

I've still got your graphic of the dark lady with an open trenchcoat labelled "author has underlying feminist agenda." It still makes me laugh.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Jan 7

Yellowknife has a history of mining interesting stuff and as usual with mining, what's left is nothing you want to even think about let alone live around. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/01/07/a...

Yellow sign saying Giant, in front of electric lines, an old mine shaft, and several nondescript buildings, all sitting on gravel.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Jan 5

Move fast, say the tech bros, and break things. BS, says Laura. Move slowly, the best things are built slowly. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/01/05/b...

Grand Canyon stretching away into the distance, the peaks turned burnt orange by the sunset.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Jan 2

In the middle of corn fields, no other species in sight, is a tiny unplowed patch called the Clay Hills Preserve. Ruth Haan has been watching it forever, E.O. Wilson doesn't think much of it, Craig likes it anyway. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/01/02/r...

Patch of green weeds, road in the background, an old lady in a sunhat, sunglasses, and a pink patterned shirt watches it all.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 24

Some holiday gifts are wonderful, right? gifts you remember forever. Other gifts, less so -- though you remember those forever too. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/24/t...

Bad photo of two hands, thumbs touching, rings on each ring finger.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 22

Eric's penguin, Rock, warmed a baby that wasn't even his (Rock's). Penguins don't do this kind of thing. Rock did, at least for a while. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/22/s...

grey & white penguin, looking like a rock itself, warms up a baby penguin on a rocky, woody ground

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 19

Craig's kid goes to school but every now and then bounces out into the world Craig knows about. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/19/t...

Kid photographing a petroglyph on a cliff side, modern city in the background

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 17

Emily used to think Pete was just another overly-focused dirtbag kayaker, until she married him, until Will came along, until she understood what full immersion looked like. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/17/i...

White foamy river, white kayak, kayaker in black with white helmut and focusing like a laser

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 12

Helen's dad died, so what to do about the log jams on the Anacostia river, the log jams that change with time and the river that changes with them? lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/12/a...

Winter river with fallen trees blocking the water until the water finds a way around them.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 10

The next month up is cold, dark January and what with the state of the nation and personal mental health, it helps to be prepared. Jenny suggests rug-cleaning videos. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/10/t...

closeup of blue bubbles on a black background, sudsy water underneath

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 8

You finish a book, turn to the final page, and for some reason, some unknown person is going into insane detail about the book's type font. Why? WHY? lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/08/a...

3 strange guys standing in what looks like a tunnel. One has glasses and a nascent beard. One has white circles around his eyes and a helmut of curly hair. One has a tidy Hitler haircut and disconcerting eyes.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 3

I blow the doors off the widespread misconceptions of why cats are the way they are: I just needed a little archeology and genetics. I mean, they might as well be little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 3

I had an epiphany about why cats are the way they are; I just needed a little archeology and genetics. And we might as well be living with little tiny leopards. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/03/w...

cat lurking behind window shade, waiting for you to weaken

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Dec 1

When you're on your own in the outback in the wind and dark and cold, counting on your own skin -- and when aren't you -- you might remember the wings that fold around you. Sarah's art poems generally make me cry a bit. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/12/01/w...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 28

Neil's poem about the difference between him and squirrels, come autumn. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/28/a...

Painting of a golden hillside in autumn slanting down to green, shadowed fields

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 26

Margaret Atwood didn't want to write her memoir because her life hasn't been that interesting. She wrote it anyway. She'd been right, and besides writers' lives usually aren't. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/26/n...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 24

I read Laura here and then went out and thanked the heat pad and the slice of sunlight on the oak floor, and of course Laura whom humankind should thank because she's part of it. lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/24/h...

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 19

Cassie visited the International Museum of Surgical Science and honestly, I'm not sure I wanted to know about their various collections. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/19/b...

Goldfish bowls full of peoples' gallstones

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 17

Eric and his wife and kid go to their first star party and see the Orion nebula. Eric makes it all about him. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/17/r...

black spangled background, two purple/white/blue nebulous clouds of gas and dust in which new stars are coming out

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 14

That narrow little trail through the mountains is a single track: go fast, plan ahead, no room for error, concentrate on now/this minute. Christie says it's flow and that's an antidote. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/14/s...

Woman on bike on trail running along a mountainside, heading into the distance.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 10

Really, if you're a writer why would you even consider AI, given that it doesn't know whether it's making shit up or not and neither do you? Like, who wants a crutch with a crack in it? Not Christie. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/10/a...

AI test making shit up about what Christie has changed her mind about. She didn't.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 7

Last Wednesday, Jenny said some hurtful things about small dogs and their yippiness and bad breath. Today, Eliot, a small dog who owns his yippiness and would like to have worse breath yet, responds. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/07/g...

Small tan dog sitting on a tan couch, huge eyes, surprised eyebrows, holding a blue dog stuffie.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 5

Jenny always likes big dogs, not those little yappy, nippy, territorial ones with bad breath. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/05/l...

grey and white plush dog bed, inside of which is a tiny white dog, fluffy and all eyes.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Nov 3

We've stopped doing the science of, say, infectious diseases or, say, cancer, & one thing we lose is the scientists who keep an eye out & give us a call when things start going wrong. Craig teaches a workshop in which the unexpected gets written about. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/03/i...

Sky with white clouds, green mountain, wide stream with two writers standing knee deep and writing.

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Oct 31

Cameron takes her kids trick or treating, has to be careful about certain houses, not because of bad people or bad treats, but because of the kind of decorations with things you'd usually see in war zones. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/31/n...

stock photo of a distorted house front with "haunted house" in orange letters

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Oct 29

Back on my addiction: the outfit that launches spy satellites, NRO, makes a new mission patch for each one that kind of gives away the secret. The patch in the picture is for Starshield, the spy version of Starilinks. Who knew? who's surprised? www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/29/a...

black circle patch, words "NRO" and "strength in numbers," a launch sweep of a rocket, and a ton of little blue circle satellites

Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner· Oct 27

Jenny whips right past the the crisscross shapewear and European hair clips and spinning toilet brushes and just keeps going until a perfume ad says it smells like grasses waving in the springtime. Stops her cold. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/10/27/w...