Orbital view of a cloud formation over the icy north polar cap of Mars. The main cloud formation sits in the lower part of the ice cap and appears bright white, shifting to a slightly dustier tone closer to the ice cap. It resembles cirrus like clouds, formed in patches and curved bands shaped by wind. The polar cap below shows a spiral like structure, bordered by rust colored terrain with a faint hazy appearance.

CNSA’s Tianwen-1 mission has recently released new images of Mars, including this view of the north polar cap showing a very cool cloud formation.

Full size 4K & more info: flic.kr/p/2s819o9 🔭🧪
Image Processing: Andrea Luck
Raw Images: CNSA/CLEP/PEC/MoRIC

Those are 2 images taken on 2025-08-09

an email found me well today but then it rejected my story so the next email will find me suspicious and guarded against being hurt again

Please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t be shit please don’t b

A movie couple that would definitely have a podcast

Grayscale image of the capsule under the parachutes, which look silvery. The capsule is glowing brilliantly along the bottom where the heat shield took the brunt of the atmospheric beating.

Love this shot. I think this is a thermal infrared camera, showing how the bottom of the capsule is still glowing due to its warmth after hypersonically ramming the atmosphere — compressing a gas heats it up a LOT when you're moving at superorbital speeds.

#ArtemisII

A photo of earthset from the NASA Artemis crew.

A photo of the total solar eclipse from the NASA Artemis crew.

Whiplash waking up to these photos alongside what the President has been saying. Hard to find words to describe the feeling of seeing these photos. I can't imagine what it was like for the crew to see it with their own eyes. Wow.

If you’ve never called your congressional reps before, do it right now.

Called my Congressperson and Senators. Told them I didn't want to hear about them merely "opposing" an "unauthorized" war, and needed to hear them talk about actual accountability and prosecution.

And here’s the eclipse photo from Artemis II. I am in tears.

The Supreme Court did not strike down conversion therapy bans today.

Not nationwide. Not in Colorado. Not anywhere.

Here's what actually happened in Chiles v. Salazar—and why the coverage you're seeing serves the conservative legal movement more than it serves you.

Reading this with my sheltie in the chair next to me. I love seeing people love their animal friends so much. Mine doesn't mind so much when wake up time is but if I am late to start the bedtime routine by more than 5 minutes I get a stare down.
(Thank you for the gift article.)

Okay this is making me want fantasy that actually uses these settings instead of just Earth with different names. Arthurian legends on a tidally locked planet? Chosen one prophecy that only applies to the moon and not the plant it orbits? Give me all of these please!!

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I've never had the chance to play D&D considering how much I love fantasy. Though honestly, I think I'd be the person who gets way too invested in my characters backstory and derails the campaign. But what a cool way to have an entry point into the series!

Currently: sitting with a cup of chai, a Sheltie who has strong opinions about my writing schedule, and a laptop that has approximately 142 open tabs in it. Threadlight, my newsletter, just launched a week ago. I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm doing it anyway.

Oh man the Redwall books defined a chapter of my childhood! I read some of them so much the covers fell off. I wanted to be a badger making pie crusts for a feast so bad when I was like 11. And several people have now mentioned The Dark is Rising. It's going on the TBR.

Those covers are making me so nostalgic! I've never heard of this series before but the wiki page is huge and make these books sound like a fun world to dive into. What do you like best about them?

I hadn't heard of this but this looks like so much fun! Some of the reviews say it has an Arthurian-ish feel to them and I really love British/Welsh folklore so this is added to the TBR list. What specifically do you like about this?

This sounds like so much fun! And I totally get the pipeline of horse to unicorn. I read basically every Saddle Club book as a kid. I was obsessed! But somehow never found this one.

Oh this sounds interesting. What is it in particular you love about it?

I'll have to look into both!

The dream ride would be to do like an immersive hang glider over the forests and oceans and just soar with the pterodactyls all over. (Paleontologists don't come for me I know pterodactyls and dinosaurs are different this is just my dream ride ok)

Oh I love this answer. I've heard of these books individually but I've never looked up the whole series. The King of Elflands Daughter has come up twice in this past week for me now. I think it's time to add it to the TBR.

If you liked the Martian I think you'll really like PHM. I don't know where you are on your TBR (mine is unruly at this point lol) but it is a good one!

What's the fantasy series that made you a fantasy reader? Not your current favorite, not the most prestigious one you've finished. The one that got its hooks in you first and never really let go. For me it was Alanna. You? 📚🪐

I loved this book! It was what got me back into sci fi after a long drought. Have you also read Project Hail Mary? I really liked that one as well, especially the ending.

Giving a man a thousand hugs is a terrible way for 10,000 lightning bugs to teach him to dance.

Unpopular opinion? The slow parts of fantasy no Les are often the best parts. The meals. The traveling. The moments where nothing is happening except for people being people. That’s where you fall in love.

A digital dawn sky (created in Terragen Sky). A caption against the clouds: "A man is not dead while his name is still spoken." And below, the hashtag: #GNU Terry Pratchett.

#GNUTerryPratchett

My theory: Maas builds worlds that feel reachable. Velaris isn't another dimension, it's like ... 7 hours on a plane and you're there. The coffee shops probably take my credit card. You're not visiting somewhere alien. You're visiting somewhere just slightly more magical than here.