Andy Rivkin
@asrivkin.bsky.social
Planetary Astronomer on #TeamAsteroid; Gedankenband member/guitarist; “Surprisingly nonchalant” according to Wired. He/him הנני 🌻 Work Output: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aGVsk3IAAAAJ Play output: https://andyrivkin.bandcamp.com
Me working on JWST proposal: "I will draw on all my experience, exercise long-dormant memories of ideas, and weave strands of cutting-edge research and fundamental physics into a program only I can lead." Also me working on JWST proposal: "Given signal and noise, how do I figure out the SNR again?"
bluesky does not seem to really be talking about this but today Stevie Wonder unleased 4 songs that didn't make "Songs in the Key of Life." music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Songs In The Key Of Life - The EP
EP • Stevie Wonder
music.youtube.com
“Ceaușescu spoke before an energetic crowd today, announcing several popular policy changes aimed at helping blue-collar Romanian families and successfully changing the narrative away from Timișoara.”
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · last yr.Planes roared over D.C. on Saturday, tanks rolled along the National Mall, brass bands resounded and thousands of soldiers marched past cheering crowds, as the Army put on the largest show of military might in the capital in more than three decades. wapo.st/4dYFOck
Spend the day working on a JWST proposal to improve it from "unworkable" to "bad". Tomorrow I'll do it again to try to get a draft out to co-Is, plus incorporate comments from co-Is on a different JWST proposal to try to improve it from "bad" to at least "meh".
Happy anniversary to our dear Abbey Road LP, 57 years young today and sounding as magnificent as it did on its first needle-drop Sept. 26, 1969. Usual shameless promo: Catch up on Abbey Road’s extensive roots in the Beatles’ Get Back sessions here: theymaybeparted.com/tag/abbey-road/
I've been fortunate enough to spend time in Uruguay on and off, and I'll tell you what--it's a proud democracy with relatively low inequality and liberal values. If they're hoping for a barely-functioning developing nation to run amok in, Uruguay ain't gonna be it.
Jenny Cohn@jennycohn.bsky.social · 4d agoA Thiel-Altman-&-Andreessen backed “network state” called Praxis is planning a tech colony in Uruguay & has a nonbinding deal w/ a development led by a former advisor to Javier Milei. Located a short ferry ride from Argentina, the move aligns w/ the “Tech Bros”’ increasing interest in the region. 1/
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day He passed in 2017. As Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, “He is survived by his two children, two grandchildren, and the entire human race.” If you don't know his story, please take 3 minutes now to learn it. @gchalliance.bsky.social @docsforclimate.bsky.social
Happy Stanislav Petrov Day
Take five minutes to not destroy civilization
sammatey.substack.com
So, um, he's giving back that tainted 2017 World Series ring and pretending that he didn't know those guys, I guess?
MLB@mlbbot.bsky.social · 3d ago"I am, and always will be, a Detroit Tiger." Justin Verlander addresses Tigers fans prior to tonight's game 🥹
I joined _just_ before The Hellthread started which was, as I understood it, a bug magnified by a collective sense of defiant oppositional disorder (the hellthread, not me joining). I managed to avoid getting pulled in, which in retrospect may or may not be too bad.
TwoSense@twosense.bsky.social · 4d agoDear Bluesky Elders, Tell us stories of the days when Bluesky was fun.
If you had told me these were done as spoofs and credited to The Thamesmen or Dukes of Stratosphear, I would 100% have believed you.
Andrew Hickey@andrewhickey.500songs.com · 3d agoI've been talking about how the difference between Barry and Robin Gibb's songs is quite easy to tell once you realise that Barry's are all "I love you and want to dance" and Robin's are "I want to die". Exhibit a. Both Coke jingles are *credited* to both brothers, but...
Genghis Khan, eyes narrowing after doing a search on his own name: "Introduce me to this Bill and Ted".
軽laura@keilaura.bsky.social · 3d agoJK Rowling's Classical Mongolian interpreter: now that you're up to date with history, how would you define "woman"? Genghis Khan, distractedly scrolling Wikipedia: "battlefield management system"? i must know more. summon the scholars who devised this marvel immediately
Was one of the words "fluffer", or have we collectively moved on from that?
Page Six@pagesix.com · 3d agoGisele Bündchen ended Tom Brady marriage with brutal 3-words that left NFL star heartbroken
dammit not now john calvin i'm trying to get psyched up to work on things this weekend
So in other words, "MLB.TV subscriptions are 100% worthless in the post-season."
Not even a Mars-crosser, so no worries about hitting any planets. Looks like a couple of kilometers in size, part of the Nysa-Polana complex which is a real mess in terms of sorting out histories, so tough to make an educated guess about composition.
Al Yankovic@alyankovic.bsky.social · 4d ago
The EPEC network is organised by early career researchers, for early career researchers, and includes volunteers from across the global Europlanet community. 🪐 Call Opens – 28th September 2026 Deadline for Applications – 31st October 2026 👉 www.europlanet.org/call-for-eur...
I feel like a whole lot of terrible, terrible ideas recently originate with mediocre thinkers in positions of great power realizing they're getting old and not wanting to die before X happens. X can be the Singularity, or toppling Iran/Cuba/Venezuela, or making a Mars base, or...you get the drift.
Matthew Gertz@mattgertz.bsky.social · 4d agoI don't think the United States should invade Cuba. This, to me, sounds like a bad idea. www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-gro...
ugh ok fine. i can resist posting this after one day of Venus moon but not once the second day has started... here's a relevant poem from NaPoWriMo 2012 that i wrote.
Solar System Poems 11: Proceedings of the LNPSC
DIY music, originals and covers. Making up with moxie what's missing in skill. Maybe. Also, poems each April!
imperturbable-music.blogspot.com
WIRED@wired.com · 5d agoOne of the great mysteries in astronomy has been why Venus has no moon. Now a new theory provides a simple answer: It might have been eaten. www.wired.com/story/venus-...
If you're in Bath next week, I'll be talking on Wednesday night about Rubin Observatory and some early planetary astronomy discoveries from the Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time. bathastronomers.org.uk/2026/07/24/3...
30th September: Unveiling the Solar System in the Rubin Observatory Era – Bath Astronomers
bathastronomers.org.uk
If you're in Belfast on October 7th, I'll be giving a public talk to the Irish Astronomical Association irishastro.org/category/iaa/
New Lecture season begins Weds 23rd September 2026
The 2026/27 Programme - all are welcome The Lecture Programme is held in association with the School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast. It runs from September until the end...
irishastro.org
Pour yourself a cup of ambition: it’s Dolly Parton Day (US date notation)!
Evan McMullin '16 --> Howie Hawkins '20 --> Afroman '24 voter, but open-minded about Mindy Finn in '28
Nick Kodama@nickkodama.bsky.social · 4d agoHey. If the nyt invited you to be part of a focus group what would you do as a bit?
Dripping cheese sauce all over, wiping his hands on some Swiss Guard who looks like John Belushi sitting next to him? Eating ice cream out of a souvenir White Sox miter? Yelling at the ump to get his head out of his ass or he’d see to it he goes to Hell? The screenplay is practically written.
And if he were to sit back there all Poped up making those wiggly hand gestures like he’s hexing the opposing pitcher? Good heavens, I’d sign up for that in a heartbeat.
