Hundreds of scientists are running for office. We see the damage and danger to our democracy.
Me: “I am deeply unhappy with how unequally power is divided in our society. I have used my abilities to level one part of democracy’s playing field: by repairing unfair elections.”
eos.org/research-and...
Please don't use speaker phone while in library. Ask for headphones at the front desk.
Only a fallen society needs this sign
Received an email inviting me to submit a “virtual feature” for a writers’ convention.
After MANY messages, I realised that I’d be paying to be the content which seems… bold… and opposite to most events.
I guess this is a paid advert but DUDE! Next time lead with “surprise, you’re the sponsor.”
I see Avi Loeb is in favour of these "viewpoint diversity" professorships. Big surprise. He'd no doubt like to not be the only one on campus that thinks Ouamuamua is an alien starship. Maybe they'll also hire a Professor of Phlogiston while they're at it.
Someone gets it. There is no net science done by this dog and pony show, because the opportunity cost is the (greater) number of robotic missions that could have been done with that money instead.
www.investopedia.com/terms/o/oppo...
From Tori Bonidie and Skylar Grayson: The president’s budget requests for NASA and the NSF were released last week. We summarizes the major cuts and their impacts while providing resources to help fight back against this attack on science. ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪
astrobites.org/2026/04/16/budget-request-fy2027/
This administration really hates Goddard Space Flight Center.
I hope we can save it.
🧪 #planetsci
49197025.hs-sites.com/assessing-th...
Ah, authenticity... a neverending quest since puberty
New from me: Tech bros have launched a campaign to convince Christians that AI is godly: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Happy 1 year anniversary to @vrubinobs.bsky.social having taken the first on-sky image with its LSSTCamera. It's been 1 year of on-sky commissioning and early science optimization. I'm really looking forward to the day the Observatory starts the Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
Look further forward.
false equivalence institutionalized
"Once you start noticing “it’s not X, it’s Y” as you scroll online, you can’t fail to register it"
#English #Language #AI #writing #blogs #essays #GCSE #HigherEd #AcademicSky
Huh. They sent out a "save the date" notice for the 2027 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference that conspicuously lacks a location for that conference. Wonder if they're finally going to move it out of Texas.
Fun animation showing observatories over the last few nights tracking Near-Earth Asteroids, mostly new discoveries. You can see when the sky is clear in AZ, we are very busy.
#astronomy #planetarydefense #asteroids #neos 🔭
🔭 I have a good problem for the Astro hive mind. I now have several “for funsies” undergrad projects that are turning into publishable work. With the cost of publishing being so high these days — can anyone recommend a reasonably reputable, refereed, free open source journal? Pros and cons?
Older person in a gray sweater and glasses writing on a board with a marker. A red border around the edges has text reading "TIME100, 2026"
🚨 Big news!
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's first director and visionary, Tony Tyson, has been named to TIME's 2026 TIME100 list of the most influential people in the world! 🔭🧪
🔗: time.com/collection/1...
If you want your day to get better, read this wonderful piece! Voyager 2 is my favourite spacecraft, there is something so appealing about this lonely sentinel of humanity, drifting in space.
If this is not a warning shot across the bow.
Glad to see the Australian government on board. Massive milestone today with Bowen acknowledging EV growth is already offsetting the oil crisis. Increasing reserves while demand falls makes no sense.
Now for a solar carport mandate!
Charge baby charge. ☀️⚡ #Bettrification #EVs
Why do so many Americans die while walking?
To find out, I spoke with University of New Mexico’s Nick Ferenchak, who leads the only US research center focused specifically on pedestrians and cyclists.
TL;DR: Fast urban roads are a huge factor, and car bloat amplifies risk.
It take weapons grade arrogance to invent popesplaining.
Presolar grains (mineral particles, predating the birth of our Solar System) are found in primitive (never melted) meteorites... and the Ryugu/Bennu samples. PSGs are clearly explained in this talk by Dr. Larry Nittler. And yes, everything's in plain English.
cphlo.net/abc/index.ph...
AAS and AAPT members gather near the US Capitol to advocate for STEM funding.
Members of the AAS & the American Association of Physics Teachers are on the Hill today to advocate for science and STEM education funding! Join them by requesting a meeting with your local congressional office: aas.org/posts/news/2... #WeekofAction #SaveScience 🔭
we are designing AtLAST to be able to observe the Sun.. imagine fast scans with FoV covering the full disk of the Sun in multiple submm bands with time resolution of seconds! 🔭🧪
The display stand at the London Science Museum. Two information boards describe the importance of asteroid samples and highlight the work of Professor Sara Russell, who is a British researcher studying the Ryugu samples.
A close up of the display. The asteroid grain is sealed in a resin disc and a sliding magnifying glass can be used to take a closer look.
The same scene but with the magnfiying glass slid up over the resin disc containing the grain.
The new display of a grain from asteroid Ryugu, returned by the JAXA Hayabusa2 mission 🛰️, has opened at the London Science Museum! 🧪 The display has a sliding magnifying glass to easily zoom up on the grain 🔭. I felt it works better than with the grain permenantly under a magnifying camera or lens.
🧪 🛰️ 🔭
Why is this in the Astronomy feed? Because it sounds 'spacey'?
On this day 45 years ago, the Dark Age of Solar System exploration was well underway. Only to end when launches were moved back to Delta, Titan, etc.
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Hayabusa2# will fly by asteroid (98943) Torifune on the 5th of July. All details in a new paper by Masatoshi Hirabayashi. Exciting !
arxiv.org/pdf/2604.08832
#planetaryscience #planetarydefense #hayabusa2
So... what you're saying is that the same results can be obtained from the ground (or low Earth orbit), at a fraction of the cost, anytime, by anyone diligent enough?
Spectacle trumps science (again).
