X-ray and γ-ray beam interstellar communication and implications for SETI - Scientific Reports The possibility of detecting artificial signals transmitted by alien civilizations via collimated X-ray or gamma-ray beams is investigated. The prospect of using such beams for human communication within the solar system and beyond is also discussed. Detector responses were simulated for input signals and analyzed using relative entropy. For simplicity, all signals were assumed to use on-off keying (OOK) modulation. “Real” signals were generated by taking digital files and sequentially feeding their raw binary data to the detector simulator, the resulting normalized information content of the detector signals was plotted and compared to random noise signals. Since jpeg files contain compressed information, these served as a proxy for artificial alien signals. This showed that there is a clear difference in measured information content between natural and artificial signals, even with relatively poor time resolution in the detector causing the signals to be smeared (dead-time/rise-time intervals many times longer than the duration between signal pulses). It was found that so long as the signal lasts for at least several rise-time/dead-time intervals, the distinction between random and artificial signals is obvious. A space-telescope with high time resolution for searching for such signals is briefly described and its basic requirements are outlined.

A paper I am coauthor on, which is the result of a fun idea from almost 4 years ago by @nuke-luke.bsky.social, just was published! It dives into the idea that current SETI searches are missing the best part of the EM spectrum for messages, x-rays! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Space people of Bluesky, what do we think?

🤣🤣

Kinda sounds like the hiring of prohibition agents in the 1920s. Although they weren't paid very well, but they still recruited a lot of people that supported the policies. Of course, they were out of a job once political winds changed...

GOOD NEWS! Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a UNIVERSAL vaccine that dramatically BOOSTS the immune system’s ability to fight tumors- even WITHOUT targeting a SPECIFIC cancer type. It has the potential to do away with chemotherapy, surgery AND radiation treatment.

Episode 2: Why We Need Nuclear Power in Space YouTube video by Lucas Beveridge

I made another episode in my YouTube series on the history of nuclear power in space, in which I try to illustrate power density: youtu.be/P2AzSeTUCts?...

Thinking right now about that period 14 months ago when lefties were portraying Joe Biden as something akin to a fascist dictator. I took a lot of heat for saying people were being ridiculous and that those attacks on Biden would age extremely poorly if Trump won. And now here we are.

This is remarkable. New Quinnipiac poll finds support for path to legalization for most undocumented immigrants has risen to 64%. Only 31% want most of them deported.

That's a 14 point net swing for legalization since Trump took office.

On immigration generally, he's at 41-57!

Episode 1: We Lost the Future YouTube video by Lucas Beveridge

I'm trying my hand at making educational YouTube videos for fun. I'm starting with a series about the history of space nuclear power. I think I know some folks on here that might enjoy this: youtu.be/LjViTsIK1uQ?...

Opinion | How to lose the 21st century, in three easy steps Trump is throwing away what could have been the next great American century.

As I wrote earlier: slaughtering your golden goose (science & research, by gutting government research agencies and kneecapping non-government research institutions) is a good way to lose the 21st century
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

THIS IS HUGE! Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center say results of a Phase I trial of an mRNA vaccine aimed at preventing pancreatic cancer show promise. The vaccine PREVENTED the cancer from coming back in patients who had already received treatment for MORE THAN three years. 🧪🧵⬇️

Energy-ordered resource stratification as an agnostic signature of life - Nature Communications Biosignatures based on Earth-like metabolism might miss alien life. The authors’ minimal model shows that self-replication with ecological competition naturally produces spatially ordered energy gradi...

👽 Could alien life leave energy fingerprints?

Life tends to form ecosystems that compete for energy. When that happens, high-energy chemicals get used up first – leaving a clear energy-based pattern.

Could that be a universal sign of life?

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

#Astrobiology #SciComm 🔭 🧪

White House budget cuts could eliminate most weather and climate research The budget cuts could force closure of NOAA’s severe weather and climate research labs.

Unthinkable news. ⚡️
NOAA's budget ROI is calculated from 9 to 100 to 1.
The insurance industry relies heavily on NOAA research to mitigate insurance price increases.
This will hit home, and we'll all be paying more if it happens. 💰
#mnwx
www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0...

Tariffs xkcd.com/3073

I'm really sorry, it seems like nobody is safe. I went through that recently too. At least nuclear engineers are still in high demand if it doesn't work out

Tariffs like these raise prices and don't work.

But if you skipped class the day we all learned that – here's a refresher:

I may be tired and a little hoarse, but as I said again and again on the Senate floor, this is a moment where we cannot afford to be silent, when we must speak up.

relatedly: bsky.app/profile/code...

Pentagonal photonic crystal mirrors: scalable lightsails with enhanced acceleration via neural topology optimization - Nature Communications Here the authors develop large-scale nanomaterials to improve the performances of laser propulsion using an easily scalable structure, thus bringing us closer to relativistic travel to our closest sta...

We're reading: “Pentagonal photonic crystal mirrors: scalable lightsails with enhanced acceleration via neural topology optimization” #OpenAccess
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Out of this world footage captured from the Moon by the #BlueGhost lander during the solar eclipse.

Credit: @firefly-aerospace.bsky.social
📷 flic.kr/p/2qRZAUk 🧪🔭 #BGM1

Actually, looking at it again it seems they are relying on semiconductors to improve efficiency. Those might work well for a while, but they'd degrade over time with radiation

Not really, afaik it was all done in the 50s-70s, with the exception of TOPAZ I and II. I don't see anything in the design that looks very sensitive to radiation though, unless they're relying on semiconductors

Typically they handle it fine. The radiation ionizes the plasma between the electrodes which decreases space charge effects, and increase emission. The biggest issue is changes in gap distance, but thermal expansion is a greater contributor to that. TOPAZ flew with thermionics in the fuel assemblies

"Londoners keep dying because Churchill refuses to make peace.

If he stopped asking for aid and stopped insulting Hitler, the bombs would stop falling."

— Elon Musk, 1940 (probably)

Four Digital Rights For Protecting Memory Institutions Online : Lila Bailey : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Download a PDF of the statement.The rights and responsibilities that memory institutions have always enjoyed offline must also be protected online. To...

The shift from ownership to perpetual leasing threatens our long-term access to knowledge & culture. 💾 Libraries must have the right to collect, preserve & provide access to digital materials—just as they’ve done for print for centuries. archive.org/details/four...

Bill defining nuclear energy as ‘clean’ clears first vote at Colorado Capitol A bill that would add nuclear to the definition of “clean energy” under Colorado’s renewable energy standard cleared its first House committee Thursday at the Capitol.  Proponents of House Bill 1040 h...

Colorado bill defining nuclear energy as 'clean' clears first vote

- Passed on a 8-5 vote in committee
- 4 republicans and 4 democrats voted yes, 5 democrats voted no

🔌💡 www.aspentimes.com/news/bill-de...

Officials with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) attempted to notify some probationary employees who had been let go that they are due to be reinstated – but they struggled to find them because their contact information was missing.

Oops we can't quickly reverse the NNSA firings because no one assembled their personal contact details before unceremoniously locking them out of government devices
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Dismissed Nuclear Bomb Specialists Recalled by Energy Department The Energy Department is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly telling hundreds of workers that their jobs were eliminated, according to two people familiar with the matter.

New: The Energy Department is seeking to bring back nuclear energy specialists after abruptly telling hundreds of workers that their jobs were eliminated, according to two people familiar with the matter

It's happening...
"According to an NNSA employee, roughly 300 of the agency's 1,800 staff are expected to be fired after the agency was denied a national security exemption."
#NukeSky
www.npr.org/2025/02/13/n...