Extreme close up of Erin's kitten's face. She is a tortie that is mostly black with a few orange speckles around her hed, and a brown chin. Her little black nose is centered in the frame. She is make a classic surprised cat face.
Kitten Tax:
The half painted wall has a reason, though! The whole first floor is getting a fresh coat of paint and I wanted to make sure we liked it before continuing, plus I needed a taller ladder to get above cabinets.
Then we got the Kitten™️ and how am I supposed to paint with that wonderful menace around??
Never let a knitter take up house projects.
Signed, a knitter stuck on sleeve island with perpetual second sock syndrome, who has taken up house projects.
(if you come to my house, just ignore the half painted wall or half-finished flower bed, please 🙈)
Getting real tired of "AI will revolutionize your workflow!" I am a scientist! I do what I do because I want to dig into things myself. I don't want offload that labor onto a computer, and I don't need to accelerate the rate at which I work, because the point of the work is to learn.
Two large screens at the front of a ballroom. The left has images of the panelists for the astrobiology panel, and the right has the Space Symposium logo
At Space Symposium today for the Space Science Track. We'll discuss current and future efforts towards biosignature detections with JWST and HWO -- both science considerations and engineering hurdles 🪐🔭🧪
#SpaceSymposium #41Space #SpaceFoundation
A WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT My son needs lunch, and I have to put his backpack together, but a whole civilization will die tonight, so I'm wondering if they've closed their schools. Like, a snow day, maybe, except instead of snow it's "keep your children home so if you die, you die together" — instead of "well open back up once the plows have cleared" it's "we don't know if we'll be here tomorrow, hold your babies tight." It's just "talk" I'm told, which I've been told before. "It's how the president makes his deals." But I've never heard anyone talk about other human beings this way, and I'm not certain I can look my son in the eyes if we all agree to stomach it one more time. A civilization will die tonight, but as I zip up his backpack and kiss him off to school I think: if this is what we call leadership then I'm not entirely sure ours isn't already dead. @michaelfdubois Mukad A QuBoy @michacifdubois
Brutal.
🥹🥹🥹🥹
Erin's daughter is bent down examining a rock.
Erin's daughter is standing, her arms are reached towards the camera and she is the processing of dropping three large rocks she had acquired. Her face is obscured by the rocks.
Given her love for rocks on Earth and desire to fly to the moon, maybe a career in lunar geology is in her future.
However, this career path may conflict with her burgeoning musical theater talents. Perhaps she can also perform the first musical in space?
A few months ago my toddler decided she wanted to fly on an airplane to the Moon.
During the Artemis launch last week she was VERY excited to hear that people were going to the moon.
Today I told her that they were on their way back home from the moon and she goes "Oh! Is it my turn now?" ❤️🌔
I'M SORRY FOR DM'ING YOU AND MAKING YOU CHECK YOUR PHONE ❤️
We were planning on and expecting the AO this month.
After planning on and expecting the AO in April of *last* year, which was delayed because of the 2026 PBR.
NASA 2027 budget based on the PBR is available:
www.nasa.gov/fiscal-year-...
🧪🔭🪐
Screenshot from the NASA FY2027 budget request, based on the 2027 PBR. Text reads: "Astrophysics Explorer Future Missions funding supports future Astrophysics Explorer missions and missions of opportunity through concept studies and selections. NASA plans to release the next SMEX AO no earlier than spring 2027. "
Small beans in the grand scheme of the NASA budget request, but this is the line item I'm currently the most excited about because WE HAVE A REALLY COOL CONCEPT WE WANT TO PROPOSE AND I WANT TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT. 🧪🔭🪐
We *just* got it spun back up and I'm not ready to table it for ANOTHER year 🫠
2027 PBR just dropped. 🧪🔭🪐
NASA Science gets a 50% cut, again.
40 missions terminated.
I don't have anything else to say right now. I knew we'd have it again this year, but we *just* finished winning this fight for the 2026 budget.
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
I want to emphasize that AXIS's demise largely arose from Goddard being forced to align with FY26 president's budget request (PBR) which zeroed the Probe program. Goddard lost SO MUCH following the PBR, even though the Congressional budget kept that funding! Remember that as FY27 PBR comes soon. 🔭🧪
(nevermind, just saw she's the author of the article you're covering - makes sense why she's the expert I thought of for the topic!)
Hi friendzos! Anyone out there an expert in the formation of star systems, particularly hot/warm Jupiter systems and/or planetary migration models? Looking for someone to talk to for an article. 🧪🔭
Yes, I'm too atmosphere focused for this. I recommend @jcbecker.bsky.social !
Interesting paper on requirements for undergraduate astronomy degrees and how non-uniform they are, and how this impacts students with these degrees: arxiv.org/abs/2602.03959
Anyways, said toddler is coming along! (plus the spouse)
We're quite excited because the Denver zoo has 2 albino raccoons and she is OBSESSED with raccoons.
Anyone more familiar with Denver and have some good recommendations for activities for the two of them during the day?
Excited to see everyone at the Exoplanet Atmospheres conference in Denver! 🔭🪐🧪
I haven't been to an exoplanet conference since Exoplanets IV in Vegas nearly FOUR YEARS AGO.
Such is the life of toddler parenthood 🙃
GASP.
*supports immediately*
work with Adi! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
I promise you'll love it 🫶
I’m hiring a postdoc to work with me at UMBC on AGN and galaxy mergers 💫
Details: apply.interfolio.com/180085
Please share & feel free to message me with any questions!
Thanks! Just a Spay, everything went well and she's acting like nothing happened (which is great when she's supposed to be on minimal activity 🙄)
So far she's had it on for almost 2 hours with no escapes, so fingers crossed 🤞
This was the only thing I could have delivered same day 😂 I have a few more options coming in the next couple days.
Anything with Velcro is out, she manages to get it undone in under 30 seconds. She had a cone from the vet with Velcro and a surgery suit I quickly went to Petco for that she escaped.
Penny, a long hair tortie kitten, is laying on the ground with her head facing the camera. She's wearing an orange slice patterned donut collar and her pupils are extremely large because of the pain killers she's on.
Also:
Penny, a long hair tortie kitten, is sitting on a windowsill next to closed window blinds. She is wearing a donut collar that looks like an orange slice
Penny, a long hair tortie kitten, is on the ground attacking her orange slice donut collar. She's on her back/side and her back feet are bent up, toes spread wide, attacking the collar. Her front paws are also bent to try to push the collar off
Penny was spayed today. Turns out she's a Houdini and this is the third collar or body suit we've had to try so far today.