Monisha Ravisetti
@monisharavis.bsky.social
Astronomy Editor @ Space.com 🪐 I like thought experiments just as much as physical experiments mravisetti@space.com monisha.ravisetti@protonmail.com https://earthlingnews.substack.com
Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.) RTs appreciated.
tl;dr can everyone just take a sec before adding to all the comet 3I/ATLAS misinformation plz www.space.com/astronomy/co...
No, interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS hasn't 'changed color', scientists say
"We don't have any evidence for the gas coma changing colors."
space.com
If anyone asks me how I feel about SpaceX I'll just be sending them this story from @emilycarney.bsky.social spacenews.com/the-grief-of... Alsoooo Radiohead mentioned
The grief of a fandom: on Starship, Musk and losing the spark
Why do people defend someone who has done things that are frankly terrible?
spacenews.com
The huge elephant in the room at AAS this month was that NASA dropped out last minute — especially because this was the first of these huge astronomy meetings to take place since Trump took office. “Honestly, it’s been a little devastating,” one scientist told me. www.space.com/astronomy/na...
NASA's been pulling out of major astronomy meetings — and scientists are feeling the effects
"We are given rules by our own institutions about what we can and cannot say."
space.com
More than 200 climate and weather scientists from across the U.S. are taking part in a marathon livestream on YouTube www.space.com/science/clim...
Climate scientists are hosting a 100-hour YouTube livestream in response to Trump's research funding cuts
"We really felt like the American public deserves to know what we do."
space.com
Did a little in-person reporting yesterday as NASA’s GISS lab in Manhattan was cleared out following DOGE cuts. 🧪🌏
'This is an attack on NASA.' Space agency's largest union speaks out as DOGE cuts shutter science institute located above 'Seinfeld' diner in NYC
The Trump administration is closing a historic NASA science office in the name of efficiency, but critics point out that the move won't actually save much money.
space.com
If you're a current/former NASA employee interested in discussing workplace events following recent agency policy changes, my dms are open. You can also reach me at the emails in my bio. Comments can remain anonymous; I absolutely won't identify you unless you're okay with it. Signal: mravisetti.32
Must-read article from @joshdinner.bsky.social today that magnifies the injustice of Trump's DEI purge by chronicling the story of one NASA employee who was impacted: www.space.com/space-explor...
NASA celebrated this employee's story of resilience, then tried to scrub it from the internet. Then fired her.
"It feels like everything that I worked for has been taken down little by little."
space.com
"Dr. Yasmine Shnina, a Doctors Without Borders supervisor of midwives at Nasser Hospital, documented 40 miscarriages a week in recent weeks. She has recorded five women a month dying in childbirth, compared with around two a year before the war." apnews.com/article/isra...
A pregnant woman in Gaza’s ruins fears for her baby under Israel’s blockade
Israel’s military campaign decimating the Gaza Strip has made pregnancy and childbirth more dangerous for Palestinian women and their babies.
apnews.com
An excellent article with many voices discussing why we should be super careful when talking about those newly announced possible signs of alien life: www.space.com/space-explor... @skuthunur.bsky.social
Did we actually find signs of alien life on K2-18b? 'We should expect some false alarms and this may be one'
"A needle in the haystack, or just a sharp piece of hay?"
space.com
An astonishing headline reporting on new observations from a team led to Nikku Madhusudhan claims they’ve found ‘hints of life’ on a planet orbiting a dwarf star some 124 light years away. What’s going on? (1/n) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🔭 🧪
Promising hints of life found on distant planet K2-18b
Scientists find new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.
bbc.co.uk
"We would see, in this case, the majority of active science missions and in-development science missions completely wiped out," Casey Dreier, Chief of Space Policy at The Planetary Society, tells me. www.space.com/space-explor...
Trump administration could slash NASA science budget by 50%, reports suggest
Budget passback documents reportedly suggest the White House wants to cut NASA's budget by half — possibly closing down Goddard Space Flight Center.
space.com
House Democrats say DOGE staffers have been given “unrestricted physical access” to NASA facilities: www.space.com/the-universe...
Elon Musk's DOGE team given 'alarming degree' of access to NASA systems, House Democrats say
"None of these three individuals possess the slightest background or experience in space policy or government service."
space.com
Spoke with climate experts and sources at (or recently let go from) NOAA about what Trump's massive, abrupt federal layoffs specifically mean for our safety. "It's a lot of expertise lost across the board, and it makes our country less safe." www.space.com/the-universe...
'Their loss diminishes us all': Scientists emphasize how Trump's mass NOAA layoffs endanger the world
"From our perspective down in the trenches actually working for the government, it feels like the people up top just have no clue about anything."
space.com
‘NO OTHER LAND’ doesn’t have a U.S. distributor yet. It just won the #Oscar for Best Documentary See the full winners list: bit.ly/OscarWins25
Over the weekend, the odds of asteroid 2024 YR4 impacting the Earth in 2032 went to zero. Its Torino Scale number is now zero. gg everyone.
Eric Holthaus@ericholthaus.com · last yr.Now up to 3.1% — once again this is the highest odds of a relatively near-term city-destroying (or larger) asteroid since we've been keeping track of such things. This particular asteroid should be relatively straightforwardly deflectable were odds to increase to ~100%. (Assuming NASA still exists)
thorough rundown of what's been going on regarding possible nasa layoffs from @skuthunur.bsky.social www.space.com/the-universe...
Over 1,000 NASA employees saved from dismissal as Trump downsizes federal workforce
"These public servants — many of whom are just starting their careers— represent the future of NASA."
space.com
If you're a current/former NASA employee and would like to discuss your workplace experience following recent policy changes, my dms are open. You can also contact me at the emails in my bio. Comments can remain anonymous if preferred; I will absolutely not identify you unless you're okay with it.
the story of pluto needs a netflix series pls www.space.com/the-universe...
Is Pluto a planet or not? Who cares! Our love for the King of the Kuiper Belt is stronger than ever 95 years later
The controversy endures over Pluto's true status, but the solar system underdog continues to capture hearts across the globe.
space.com
This morning, the US National Science Foundation fired 168 employees, approximately 10% of its workforce, for no cause other than they were the agency's most recent hires. 🧪 Co-workers are leaving supportive messages before they have to clear out of the building at 5 p.m. Sent to me by a source ⬇️
The main takeaways from NASA's most tragic failures over the past 50 years – the loss of the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles – was an overreliance on siloed thinking. NASA's purge of DEI may be putting its crews in jeopardy once again. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders could jeopardize safety of Nasa crews
Cuts to federal workforce due to Trump’s orders are further compounding pre-existing staffing concerns, sources say
theguardian.com
"This is a ridiculous overstep and direct assault on NASA HQ employees' free speech and humanity." update by @joshdinner.bsky.social www.space.com/space-explor...
NASA HQ verbally orders employees to purge workspaces of LGBTQI+ symbols
"This is a ridiculous overstep and direct assault on NASA HQ employees' free speech and humanity."
space.com
"She was a huge champion for women in science in particular because she faced things that were discriminatory for women — diminishing those stories is pretty disturbing, frankly." Must read by @skuthunur.bsky.social www.space.com/the-universe...
Scientists alarmed as Rubin Observatory changes biography of astronomer Vera Rubin amid Trump's push to end DEI efforts
"The idea that they can somehow obliterate these sources is dead wrong — scientists in general and astronomers in particular are not going to take these threats lying down."
space.com
When Scientific American endorsed Harris, many scientists and science-friendly people were supportive and grateful, but some said: stick to science, science isn’t political, etc. But reality-denying right-wing fanatics will absolutely come for the scientists www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Trump policies sow chaos, confusion across scientific community
U.S. scientists, unaccustomed to shock-and-awe political assaults, are reeling from President Donald Trump’s executive orders on DEI, gender and other subjects.
washingtonpost.com
If you're a current/former NASA employee and would like to discuss your workplace experience following recent policy changes, my dms are open. You can also contact me at the emails in my bio. Comments can remain anonymous if preferred; I will absolutely not identify you unless you're okay with it.
just learned about this; simply can't move on with my day: noirlab.edu/public/news/...
Gemini North Teams Up With LOFAR to Reveal Largest Radio Jet Ever Seen in the Early Universe - The monster jet spans at least 200,000 light-years and formed when the Universe was less than 10% of its ...
Making use of the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have charact...
noirlab.edu
