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Ann Finkbeiner

@annfinkbeiner.bsky.social

Freelance science writer, mostly astro, some natsec sci, some women-in-astro, some grief psych, otherwise whatever I can get paid to write about. I love Baltimore, I do.

1624 Posts5592 Follower720 Folgt
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 2h ago

Woo-hoo - go @eso.org! Impact confirmed 💥 "The Very Large Telescope spectra taken with the UVES instrument, show emission lines of sodium & lithium. The sodium likely originated from the lunar soil, whereas the lithium could come from the rocket itself." 🔭🧪

ESO@eso.org · 3h ago

Earlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact. 🔭 🧪 📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al. 1/4

Paul Byrne@theplanetaryguy.com · 53m ago

This is the highest-resolution view of the surface of the Sun. Ever. Taken by the NSF's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, features as small as 19 km across can be resolved. The wispy things are magnetic field boundaries formed by Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. The island of Ireland for scale.

A swirling, complex view of yellow–orange–brown wisp-like features. The dark shape in the middle is a superposed outline of the island of Ireland to show scale.
Noah Shachtman@noahshachtman.bsky.social · 3h ago

Without getting into sourcing, this article is off-base. Some of New York's biggest power players are talking to Mamdani *all the time*. I met with one just the other day who said he's had 10 meetings with Mamdani since he won the primary.

The Wall Street Journal@wsj.com · 17h ago

New York City’s business elites are long accustomed to direct access to City Hall, where even Democratic mayors felt the need to court the city’s wealthiest and most influential corporate leaders. That access is getting shredded by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Lee Billings@leebillings.bsky.social · 4h ago

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Behold! These are the sharpest images of the sun's surface ever obtained, and they reveal something *wild*: never-before-seen whirlpools of plasma called Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities that are fundamental to solar energy flow. www.scientificamerican.com/article/spec...

Spectacular images reveal never-before-seen whirlpools on the sun

Strange whirlpools of plasma seen in the sharpest images ever captured of our star help explain the deep origins of Earth-threatening space weather and more

scientificamerican.com

Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · 4h ago

noted this in morning piece. like any winning candidate in a rough primary, AES needs to coalesce Ds behind him. Involves outreach, etc. But one of the best ways to consolidate Democrats is to land punches against Republicans. Not just going on the attack but showing that your punches are landing.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4h ago

El-Sayed: "If all Mike Rogers got is that 'his name is Abdul, and my name is Mike,' you're gonna be surprised how many people are like, 'Yeah, but that's the Abdul who wants to bring down the price of my groceries and make sure I got healthcare. So yeah, I like Abdul over your Mike from Florida.'"

Dr. Tom Frieden@drtomfrieden.bsky.social · 4h ago

Public health is a great field to work in, and we should encourage the next generation of public health leaders by treating dedicated public servants who do their best to protect people with respect.

Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 8h ago

ICYMI last night, DHS is currently being fined every day for contempt of court until it coughs up the cell phone records of officers involved in immigration stops in L.A. last year that looked like racial profiling rather than reasonable cause. short thread -->

Gabriel Malor@gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 18h ago

Fed. judge holds DHS in civil contempt of court for refusing "intentionally and not in good faith" to provide plaintiffs with phone images they intend to use to prove DHS was racially profiling people arrested in Los Angeles without reasonable suspicion. Order from July 28, unsealed today.

B. Defendants’ Noncompliance Is Intentional And Not In Good Faith. Having found that Defendants are in violation of the January 16 Forensic Imaging Order, the burden now shifts to Defendants to show that they were unable to comply. Affordable Media, 179 F.3d at 1239 (9th Cir. 1999). They fail to make that showing. Upon review of the parties’ submissions and counsel’s representations at the hearing, it does not appear that Defendants’ noncompliance is due to an inability to comply. Instead, the clear and convincing evidence shows that Defendants have acted intentionally and not in good faith.
Your Local Epidemiologist@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 4h ago

8/ What this means for you: Shredded lettuce is likely in the clear now, but if you’re at higher risk and live in one of the 28 states under recall, I’d still stay cautious. Michigan will announce when its outbreak is under control, and that will be your all-clear signal.

Your Local Epidemiologist@ylepidemiologist.bsky.social · 4h ago

1/ It looks like one of the largest Cyclospora outbreaks in U.S. history is slowing. The U.S. has now reported over 17,000 cases. And we are largely flying blind, but one of the only data points— percentage of tests that are positive—is declining, which is a cautiously optimistic sign.

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Bethany Brookshire@beebrookshire.bsky.social · 4h ago

Minor things: Apples! I remember when there were just like, red (cardboard), green (so sour), and yellow (sickeningly sweet) apples. Now?! GLORIOUS. No smoking indoors in most places? Hell yes. Major things: MEDICINE. How many people do you know on their third knee? With controlled blood sugar?

Constantine@ajaxsinger.bsky.social · 17h ago

Food, man. Food is so much better than it was in 1986. All of it. Poor-people food, restaurant food, fresh food, frozen food. Food is just a hell of a lot better.

dorian @doriantaylor.com air travel is one of those experiences that has gotten monotonically worse over my entire lifetime question though: has *anything* in the last 40+ years genuinely gotten *better*? like, there's *more* stuff, sure, but is any of it *better*? 2:58 PM Aug 4, 2026
Ann Finkbeiner@annfinkbeiner.bsky.social · 4h ago

Sarah couldn't see the aurora from where she was so she texted 28 northerly friends & went to bed. Next morning her phone was full of replies, first words ("Wild!") then no words, just pictures. She thinks, why share with other people anyway? why do that? lastwordonnothing.com/2026/08/05/l...

Look up - The Last Word On Nothing

On May 10, I leave my house in northern Washington state just after dawn. I drive alone along a braided river, over sagebrush plateaus, and through fields of golden flowers. Then one plane across the ...

lastwordonnothing.com