New Zealand Declares Emergency in Capital After It Was Battered by Torrential Rain There were landslides, flash floods and the closure of more than 100 schools in Wellington and the surrounding region.

New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, and the surrounding region were under a state of emergency on Tuesday, after heavy rains triggered flash flooding and landslides that swept away cars, forced more than 100 schools to close, and buried roads and homes.

Special Earth Day Citizen Science SETI Session Help Search for Extraterrestrial Technosignatures, open as an intergenerational meeting for the curious - students, teachers, researchers and the wider public

We’re looking forward to a special Earth Day meeting on citizen science w. Megan Li from UCLA SETI and our colleagues in Aotearoa New Zealand, Hari Mogoșanu astrobiology.nz & @kategenevieve.bsky.social.
All welcome, esp. curious students. 22 April, 8.30pm UK/BST
events.humanitix.com/earth-day-se...

An ‘ordinary’ storm with extraordinary impacts: what made Wellington’s deluge so intense? Analysis: The storm is part of an increasingly familiar pattern reminding us that our communities and infrastructure aren't yet prepared to cope with what a warmer, wilder future holds.

New article from @cubaraglanguy.bsky.social with some background to these Wellington floods:
www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather...

Dozens evacuated as torrential rain floods Wellington suburbs, more downpours expected Residents fled rising floodwaters as torrential rain inundated homes, cut roads and left communities bracing for more downpours expected.

Just also thinking of everyone in the Wellington region today - this is really tough www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather...

PRESS RELEASE: www.seti.org/news/seti-in...

The SETI Institute announced today that Dr. Lori Marino will receive the 2026 Drake Award, continuing its tradition of celebrating contributions to the search for life and intelligence beyond Earth. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🐋

@bettinaforget.bsky.social of the @setiinstitute.bsky.social Artist-in-Residence program gave an excellent presentation called "Making Contact: A Life Converging Art and Science" as part of the Tuscon Hard-Science SF Writers Readers Artists Zoom Group speaker series.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znxa...

Can confirm outskirts of Birmingham 1980s loved that style of wools, prints & knits.

woah what a difference - a whole other vision of politics right there!

felt so good to watch 3 candidates from diff parties respect one another fully, listen intently and share spontaneous laughter. harmonies are also ON omg ❤️‍🔥 when tūpuna & moko are what guides all 3 of them, the absence of competitiveness, blame, bullshit spin & one-liner jabs is 😌 dats #Wahine #Māori

Three mini prints of rock drawings. The bottom one is new in my store

Rocks are memories of the land. 🩶

#art #sciart #rocks #earth #drawing

Also available as video on PeerTube:

peertube.dair-institute.org/w/wj7Grbrxg6...

Special Earth Day Citizen Science SETI Session Help Search for Extraterrestrial Technosignatures, open as an intergenerational meeting for the curious - students, teachers, researchers and the wider public

For the science-loving, early-rising secondary school student in your life: a special Earth Day citizen science session w. Megan Li (UCLA SETI), Hari Mogoșanu astrobiology.nz & the Hub.

Aimed at students. Curious others welcome. 23rd April NZ Aotearoa breakfast! events.humanitix.com/earth-day-se...

Open Letter: Free Public Transport for ALL Students under 25 to keep every young person in education This is an equity issue The fuel crisis does not impact all New Zealanders equally. Low-income families are the least able to absorb rising transport costs. The Spinoff has reported that the Governmen...

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/fr...

dair_institute - Twitch Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR).

On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000:

@emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be speaking to author Carmen Maria Machado about the use of LLMs in writing, from language arts classes to the publishing industry.

Listen live:
Monday, April 13, noon PT,
twitch.tv/dair_institute

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a vintage car with red and yellow striped wings from the 1960s film, flies through a bright blue sky carrying four smiling passengers.

This might be niche, but struck by how the whole aesthetic of the landing has some funny correspondences to the classic kids' film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. imaginaries becoming realities in circuitous ways.

NASA footage: Parachutes open above the Orion capsule slowing descent over the ocean.

NASA footage: Three red and white striped parachutes fully open, slowing the Orion capsule against a dark blue sky.

NASA footage: The Orion capsule splashes down in the ocean, creating a burst of white spray.

NASA footage: The Orion capsule floats in the ocean after a successful splashdown.

Incredible images. A "perfect bullseye splashdown" with four crew members. What a journey around the moon.

In the words of Carl Sagan

From Earthrise to Artemis II: new ways of seeing the Moon The Apollo 8 mission in 1968, the first time humans had orbited the Moon, is most famous for producing the Earthrise photo credited with ki...

Many have compared the Artemis II lunar mission to Apollo 8 in 1968. Will there be a new 'Earthrise'? 🧪

Tree moon

full moon at dusk. pink skies over Te Whanganui a Tara. birds flying over the sea.

The full moon over Te Whanganui a Tara tonight.
Still, peaceful, much more than a stepping stone on the journey to Mars.

Artemis II climbing in the sky after lift off. The rocket’s bright exhaust flame creating a long white plume against the blue sky.

The audience at the launch site looking up

People sitting and standing on a shoreline watching the winding, beanstalk-like smoke trail of Artemis II rising from the launch site across the water.

Camera view from the rocket pointed toward the upper stage and spacecraft after separation.

Moments of launch...
Watched the livestream w. colleagues in Pōneke today - the first crewed mission to the Moon in half a century.

NASA's Artemis II Live Mission Coverage (Official Broadcast) YouTube video by NASA

Earth’s moon mission begins again in just a few minutes.

Plenty of v. valid reasons to critique the Artemis programme, & yet also the event marks a new phase of the second space age… m.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kR...

'I got goosebumps' - Te reo Māori song in new Ryan Gosling blockbuster One viewer says she got goosebumps when she learned the box-office topping film features the iconic song Pō Atarau - known as the farewell song.

Okay I've just seen this story on RNZ about the new movie "Project Hail Mary". I was going to see the movie anyway but this just makes me want to see it even more!

www.rnz.co.nz/life/screens...

And as I haven't done it for a while maybe I should talk about the science of the book/movie...?

You can read an excerpt here!
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817...

"If you can dial in your feeds’ algorithms just right, maybe you can bear a type of witness so complete it feels like participation, or maybe even control."

There's a long history of dashboards offering a semblance of control, but ubiquitous speculation makes "monitoring" an existential operation.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Theory and practice The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: Theory and practice, Wright, Jason T

My textbook on SETI is published!

I hope you like it!

Please see if your libraries offer a free download—mine does!

iopscience.iop.org/book/mono/97...

🧪🔭

Planetary communication: Listening to animals in the Second Space Age | Arik Kershenbaum YouTube video by Cosmoimaginaries

We hosted a fascinating conversation with zoologist Arik Kershenbaum during last year’s Reveil weekend: a generous deep dive into animal communication, from wolf howls to whale song.

Planetary communication: Listening to animals in the Second Space Age | www.youtube.com/watch?v=50d1...

Front cover of Studies in Comics Volume 16 Number 2 featuring a black and white comic strip with four panels depicting a man and a woman in conversation.

Intellect is pleased to present Studies in Comics 16.2!

Including ‘Postfeminist revision and otherworlds in Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps’ by Miriam Kent.

Access the issue via Discover 👉
intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/stic/16...

Live: Israel says it launched a 'preventive strike' against Iran, declares state of emergency ⁠Israel ⁠has ​launched ​a preventative missile attack against Iran and declared a state of emergency, according to the country's ⁠defence ‌minister on Saturday. This comes as witnesses say they heard…

www.france24.com/en/asia-paci...
フランス24によるイスラエルのイラン攻撃に関する状況更新型ニュースです。