Remembering Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer and the oldest woman to travel into space, who passed away at 87. #aviation

Wally Funk, aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to travel into space, dies at 87

Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer who was the oldest woman to launch into space, has died. She was 87.

phys.org

The current El Niño cycle has officially entered "Super" territory, but the peak impacts are still months away. We'll be discussing updated model forecasts and what this means for the remainder of 2026 at our Monthly Climate Briefing this Thurs at 8amPDT/5pmCET. Join us: tinyurl.com/4nfnh794

Robert Rohde@rarohde.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The seasonal forecast models continue to point towards an end of the year El Niño peak that would be the strongest ever recorded. Even the least extreme models are predicting a top-5 "Super" El Niño event.

If you think 2026 is hot, wait till 2027. El Nino will increase the average Global Temperature by 0.2c, and peak temperatures by 1-1.5c. 2027 will be like 2032.

If we look at RONI – which differences tropical sea surface temperatures from the ENSO3.4 region temperatures – we see an event reaching 3.3C in December, and are about 0.2C warmer than the June forecasts.

Mars as seen from the Psyche spacecraft on its way to the metallic asteroid of the same name.

I've created a new dashboard for The Climate Brink that is updated daily with ERA5 global mean surface temperature data. It includes daily anomalies, monthly and annual forecasts, and a bunch of interactive data visualizations: dashboard.theclimate...

Working the Artemis II launch at KSC. Some fun pics, but it’s been busy with work! And I got to meet @andreabettini.bsky.social from Rai (Italia)! Also, the wind was stupid, and I just finally gave up on my hair as you can tell in my last pic.

George Washington Carver developed 300 derivative products from peanuts among them cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics. #BlackHistoryMonth

Guys! Guys! This is SO cool. This is a time lapse from the Chandra X-ray Observatory of Kepler’s Supernova Remnant over 25 years!

This image is truly stunning. I highly recommend clicking on the "embiggen" link provided.

Phil Plait@philplait.bsky.social · 9mo ago

I gripe a little bit about the ambiguity of the word "day" — astronomically speaking, of course — and also present you with a *gorgeous* Hubble shot of a face-spiral galaxy that turns out to be part of the puzzle that tells us how the universe expands. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/happy-sols... 🔭 🧪

Hell yeah: @science.org's official Breakthrough of the Year for 2025 is ... [drumroll] ... ... the unstoppable rise & spread of renewable energy.

Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy

Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way

science.org

Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.

Menstruation in space is a real thing, and we have to look at other options for astronauts as we look to embark on long-term space missions. www.cbc.ca/news/science...

One small step for periods in space, one giant leap for research in long-term space missions | CBC News

It may still be an uncomfortable subject for some, but periods are a real thing that people need to manage. But what do astronauts do in space? Well, they have some options, but now they may have one ...

cbc.ca

The roughly 15,000 satellites in space are already a nuisance to astronomy research. It could get a LOT worse. www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Launching hundreds of thousands of satellites will threaten space research, scientists warn | CBC News

We've all come to appreciate the beautiful images space telescopes provide us of galaxies, nebulas and more, but they also provide astronomers with important scientific information about our universe....

cbc.ca

It reminds me of a chestburster pre-burst.

Corey S. Powell@coreyspowell.bsky.social · 10mo ago

The sky is a blank slate for us to project images buried deep in our minds. I look at this gorgeous new JWST image & see a human embryo. (It's actually two dying stars circling each other, casting out shells of dust. Which is a pretty cool image, too.) 🧪🔭 science.nasa.gov/missions/web...

🔭

Alan Dyer@amazingskyguy.bsky.social · 10mo ago

My 2026 Amazing Sky Calendar is out and available for downloading at my website. It's a FREE (!) PDF, suitable for local printing. It has lots of sky events listed in the monthly pages and 14 of my favourite astrophotos from 2025. www.amazingsky.com/Books

"In 1921, when the steamship Rotterdam arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, with Einstein on board, it was met by some 5,000 cheering New Yorkers. Reporters in small boats pulled alongside the ship even before it had docked." God, how I wish the public still had that kind of passion for science.

Dan Falk@danfalk.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Albert Einstein's rise to superstardom began 106 years ago today, when the London Times noted the success of his theory of gravity, general relativity. I recently wrote about the public fascination with #Einstein and his theory for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social: www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Carnivorous ‘death ball’ sponge among new species found in depths of Southern Ocean

Carnivorous ‘death ball’ sponge among new species found in depths of Southern Ocean

Researchers previously took first confirmed footage of a juvenile colossal squid in scarcely explored habitat

theguardian.com

Astronomers have discovered a ready-to-image super-Earth candidate less than 20 light-years away. skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne... . . #astronomy #exoplanet #superearth

A Super-Earth Candidate Less Than 20 Light-Years Away

Astronomers have discovered a ready-to-image super-Earth candidate, named GJ 251c, less than 20 light-years away.

skyandtelescope.org

I've been looking forward to this film because, yeah, the threat of nuclear war terrifies me and that fear never left me after I watched The Day After as a child.

Mike H@mjh878.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Thanks Tom. Never thought I’d pine for the “mutually assured destruction” days. Ps, a gift version for those who may need it www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table reading about the first exoplanet discovery in 1992. Will never forget it. And look at us now!

Alexandra Witze@alexwitze.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Thirty years ago Monday, astronomers announced the first planet around a Sunlike star. Since then they have cataloged more than 6,000 alien worlds. I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours? 🧪 #astronomy

Article, please.

Kat Tenbarge@kattenbarge.bsky.social · 11mo ago

The real generational divide is people who refuse to watch a video if it could be an article versus people who refuse to read an article if it could be a video

THIS NEW HUBBLE IMAGE LOOKS LIKE A GALACTIC PORTAL!!! 🌌

"Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact." -Carl Sagan

This fact always amazes me. How new our understanding really is, yet how far we've come to study these galaxies in such remarkable detail.

Universal-Sci@universal-sci.bsky.social · 12mo ago

A detailed image of the galaxy cluster Abell 3827 Gazing at this vast collection of hundreds of galaxies, it’s remarkable to remember that less than a century ago, many astronomers thought the Milky Way was the only galaxy in existence. (Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Massey)

I kinda dig gravitational waves. www.cbc.ca/news/science...

Colliding black holes 'ringing' across space and time prove Hawking, Einstein theories right | CBC News

Two black holes collided 1.3 billion light years from Earth, creating a 'ringing,' which in turn allowed astrophysicists to test some theories. And it turns out, they were all correct.

cbc.ca

T. Ocellus is an agent of chaos.

There's a NASA presser happening now in which acting admin Duffy said "This very well could be the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars." That doesn't mean it is a sign of life. We covered this cool rock in 2024, paper in Nature is out today: 🧪🔭 www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa...

NASA's Perseverance finds its first possible hint of ancient Mars life

The NASA Mars rover examined a rock containing organic compounds and “leopard spots” that, on Earth, are associated with microbial life.

sciencenews.org

Woot! Got my advances! New title but same great content. Use it to plan for your 2026 night sky planning! @fireflybooks.bsky.social

And that’s what I saw last night! Was absolutely amazing! @billlongo.com

Jonathan McDowell@planet4589.bsky.social · last yr.

On the other side of the planet, we see the launch trajectory north from French Guiana over the Atlantic and Labrador, circa 0040 UTC, and then on the second orbit over Colombia, Cuba, the eastern US and Ontario circa 0225-0240 UTC. The deorbit burn was at 0235 UTC, 800 km above Lake Superior