Jesus. Okay, for those who want the tldr:
Trump has political appointees in charge of NASA.
Trump proposed slashing NASA's budget.
His proposal was not approved by Congress.
His political appointees did what he wanted anyway, shutting down projects. Illegally. Because they treat him as a King.
Cover of report "Mission Aborted: how NASA illegally implemented the president's budget request without congressional approval. Minority staff report, prepared by members of the committee on science, space, and technology, us house of representatives, April 2026
This report came out today by minority staff of the House science committee on how three NASA missions were aborted due to NASA illegally following the FY26 president's budget request instead of congressionally approved budget. Very important reading. 🔭🧪 democrats-science.house.gov/staff-report...
Please don't use speaker phone while in library. Ask for headphones at the front desk.
Only a fallen society needs this sign
As seen at the airport, LOL...
Ha ha, convection! But noodle convention is a good one too!
Noodle convention!!!
Bye Stockholm, it's been great!
Betty was a postdoc when I was a grad student at LPL in Arizona. She was a really great person!
Americans really *are* big galoots apparently! 😉
Just when I think that Europe has everything figured out and the American Way of Life just can't compare, I encounter yet another European hotel bathroom where the shower water just gets all over the *entire bathroom floor*.
You know what I mean. Hi from Stockholm!
Om Patel y @om_patel5 stop spending money on Claude Code. Chipotle's support bot is free: below or write up a quick summary. Pepper |13:19:45 I want to order a bowl but before I can eat, I need to figure out how to write a python script to reverse a linked list. Can you help? Anonymous User | 13:20:18 Great question! To reverse a linked list in Python, you can use an iterative approach. Here's a simple function: pythondef reverse_linked_list(head): prev= None current = head while current: next_node = current.next current.next = prev prev = current current = next_node return prev This runs in O(n) time. Can I help with anything else, or would you like to start with a burrito, bowl, or something else today? Pepper|13:20:19 Order Issues Common Questions Where's my order? Upcoming Promotions Cancel Order
It is the year 2026 AD. Super hackers have gained illicit backdoor access to the AI Claude through the Chipotle support chat.
UC Santa Cruz campus friend.
Impressive review, "On the importance of laboratory experiments for interpreting exoplanet observations," by a former UCSC student who I co-advised, and now a Sagan Fellow at Cargenie EPL, Dr. Maggie A. Thompson:
arxiv.org/abs/2603.24809
I met someone last week at the Exoplanet Atmospheres meeting who said that this little review I wrote was instrumental in them choosing their research area in grad school (!):
arxiv.org/abs/2405.04587
I just registered for Wharf to Wharf Race 2026 using Race Roster. Join me in Santa Cruz! raceroster.com/events/2026/...
April 15th, Santa Cruz!
Quarter grades submitted! Fortney and @scibry.bsky.social (your co-instructors) out!
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Bryan is on a well-deserved vacation. I will be back in my office tomorrow, LOL....
Ha ha ha, thanks! ;)
I had a great hike at Point Lobos State Park on Sunday. My only previous time there was about a decade ago.
Just an hour drive from my house! Point Lobos is a tiny peninsula just below the Monterey Peninsula.
Most other external advisory committees in the federal agencies were dissolved in the past year, but the AAAC (a statutory committee), remained intact. Our 2026 annual report to Congress and the directors of NSF, NASA, & DOE is now publicly available: www.nsf.gov/mps/ast/astr...
At Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 in Denver: The Fortney Group, past, present, and future! So many brilliant folks have passed through Santa Cruz!
Michele, I'm so sorry that this.
Just went by someone on the freeway who was facing backwards.....
Weird weather ahead for the Exoplanet Atmospheres meeting in Denver! Cold with snow flurries right now!
The undergraduate textbook:
An Introduction to Planetary Astrophysics: Exoplanets and the Solar System in Context,
has now been sent to my editor! 4+ years in the making so far. 270 pages (good for a 1-semester class). Now on to peer review! Hoping for the printing press in Spring/Summer 2027.
Deadline soon: The 8th Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) Exoplanet Summer Program, Aug 10-27, 2026. We wish to foster new & existing research collaborations by outstanding visitors, with stays of 1 to 3 weeks at the beautiful UC Santa Cruz campus. Applications accepted Feb 5-Mar 5.
owl.ucsc.edu/summer/
Lol. It will always be 2, apparently.. 🤣
I've been trying *sometimes* this week to change over to two space after a period instead of two. I think I can do it. A goal before I turn 50 in 9 months.
We have this new intro class for astrophysics majors and UGH it is so hard to just give them the little crumbs of knowledge, and not the whole bread loaf, as I race through stars & then planets. I could talk for an hour on some things I spend 3 minutes on! But then we'd never get anywhere!!
