Hegseth declares war on … flu vaccines? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that the U.S. military will end its mandatory flu vaccination policy, calling the prior requirements an attack on “medical autonomy.”…

Infection was the major cause of death in the American Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Crowded barracks are the perfect place for disease to spread like wildfire.

After we watched Island of Lost Souls with Gene, he knew all about DEVO and was eager to see the interview with Mark Mothersbaugh.

A cluster of small galaxies. 30 minute exposure with a 50mm f5 250mm focal length quadruplet refractor using a Sony IMX676 (CMOS; Starvis 2) 12.5 megapixel sensor using a broad band filter.

A labeled photo of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.

Backyard #Astrophotography
The Milky Way, along with the Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies, is part of the Local Group, which is, in turn, part of the Virgo Supercluster.
Here is a photo of some of our neighbors in the Virgo Supercluster. I have included a labeled NASA photo for identification.

"Island of Lost Souls" was a favorite of SF and fantasy writer #GeneWolfe.

Opinion | Measles Took My Daughter. This Is What I Want Everyone to Know.

Paging RFK, Jr.

Gift Link 🎁

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/o...

If it is clear tonight, I'm going to try a large field mosaic of the Virgo Supercluster.

Congrats!

Happy Taurus Season ♉️🐂

Plug in the fan.

A PALACE NEAR THE WIND Aurora award nomination graphic

Aurora award best novelette/novella shortlist graphic AURORA AWARDS BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA The First Thousand Trees, Premee Mohamed, ECW Press "In the Gardener's Service", Michèle Laframboise, Asimov's, July/August "The Lure of Stone", Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Uncanny Magazine, Issue Sixty-Six A Palace Near the Wind, Ai Jiang, Titan Books The River Has Roots, Amal El-Mohtar, Tordotcom BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA NOMINEE

excited to announce that 🏰🍃🌬️A PALACE NEAR THE WIND🌬️🍃🏰 is a 2026 Aurora Award nominee for Best Novelette/Novella!! Thank you so much to all those for voted and a big congratulations to all my fellow nominees!! 🥺🙆🏻‍♀️🤍

@titanbooks.bsky.social
@csffa.bsky.social

3-panel comic. (1) (A person with a picture of a spacecraft behind head.] PERSON 1: There are now three spacecraft headed to Europe: NASA’s *Europa Clipper*, which will investigate Europa’s subsurface ocean, (2) [Person is gesturing at a picture of a different spacecraft while talking to a person with a ponytail and a person with short hair.] PERSON 1: ESA’s *Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer*, which will study the topography and chemistry of Europa and the other moons, (3) [Person with a picture behind head of a Zamboni with a rocket launcher underneath] and the NHL’s *Zamboni Voyager*, which plans to resurface Europa. PERSON FROM OFF-PANEL: Oh no. PERSON 1: We tried to stop them, but the league is set on an expansion.

Europa Missions

xkcd.com/3234/

@asimovssfmag.bsky.social #FavoriteStories Mar/Apr 2026 #Asimovs #Fantasy #SF
Unspeakable Knowns by #DonaldMcCarthy
"We create our own reality. While you're studying that reality we'll act again, creating other new realities. We're history's actors."
-Karl Rove, apocryphally
A story for our times.

That looks good!

We have left over pot roast that we will slice thin and mix with peppers, onions, and Velveeta cheese with shells for tonight’s dinner. Kind of a Philly cheesesteak casserole.

A couple of galaxy pics from last night. Bode and Cigar galaxy, and Pinwheel. Shot on Dwarf III astrophotography camera/robot

A face-on spiral galaxy surrounded by several smaller, dimmer galaxies. 60 minute exposure with a 50mm f5 250mm focal length quadruplet refractor using a Sony IMX676 (CMOS; Starvis 2) 12.5 megapixel sensor and a broad band filter.

Backyard #Astrophotography
M100 is the brightest spiral galaxy in the Virgo Supercluster. If you look closely, you can see several of the other galaxies of the cluster surrounding it.
Early astronomers characterized it as a "spiral nebula" before learning that it was actually a galaxy.

@asimovssfmag.bsky.social #FavoriteStories Mar/Apr 2026 #Asimovs #Fantasy #SF
The Sky Above the Earth Below by Steve Rasnic Tem @stevetem.bsky.social
Kenopsia on Planet B; a sad and tragic tale of climate change.

Peoria Activist Challenges Illinois Law on Israel Boycotts YouTube video by Agitation Rising News

youtu.be/5rWddF7TK7g?...

“I’m experiencing a sensation altogether new to me, and frankly I love it!”
--Tom Servo, MST3K

Kinda reminds me of the Artemis II/Orion space craft deploying its solar panels.

National Weather Service summary and map of the location and intensity of 22 tornados in central Illinois.

Here is the National Weather Service's final recap of Friday's tornado fest in central Illinois.*
Fortunately, most of the 22 tornados were weak and short-lasting. From Peoria's standpoint, 21 out of the 22 were south of us.
* Our tax dollars doing the good work.

Mystery Cat Theater 3000

A tightly packed ball of stars. A 45 minute exposure with a 50mm f5 250mm focal length quadruplet refractor using a Sony IMX676 (CMOS; Starvis 2) 12.5 megapixel sensor and a broad band filter.

Backyard #Astrophotography
During the spring and fall, our night skies look away from the disc of the Milky Way, so we can see other galaxies and the many globular clusters that orbit the hub of our galaxy.
With 500K stars, M3 in Canes Venatici is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters.

> What’s your favorite Bible verse? (Wrong answers only)

“He who controls the spice controls the universe.”
― The Book of Dune

@asimovssfmag.bsky.social #FavoriteStories Mar/Apr 2026 #Asimovs #Fantasy #SF
Half Inside the Spirit Box by #StephanieFeldman
An escape artist and debunker of mediums faces off against a disturbing and most unique spiritualist. An homage, of a sorts, to the life of Harry Houdini.

Grand Theft Trellis.

#TheyDontMakeThemLikeThatAnymore #DoubleFeature
#MindBlowers
BOOM! (Joseph Losey, 1968)

ZARDOZ (John Boorman, 1974)