'MONKEY, n. An arboreal animal which makes itself at home in genealogical trees.' - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)
@drspacejunk.bsky.social
Space archaeologist | Global Expert Group for Sustainable Lunar Activity | Asteroid 551014 Gorman | Dr Space Junk vs the Universe. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262539654/dr-space-junk-vs-the-universe/ | Blog https://zoharesque.blogspot.com/
At Newcastle my HOD once invited me to a meeting with various senior Professors. Apparently my "input" as a postdoc was urgently needed. When I arrived I was given everyone's order for tea and coffee. 3 of the people in the room were on hiring panels I was seeing soon, so I did not tell HOD to FO.
I went to grad school in that dept. Men who couldn’t be bothered to learn how to type, who thought computers the devil’s evil, would write their essays in long form and hand them to the female secretaries to type up unless of course they were dating a grad student, and then she could have the honor.
During one of my postdocs, most of the male medics relied on the predominantly female lab techs to do their research for them while they were off playing golf, then used that research to get their MDs. This also guaranteed the techs couldn't publish or use their work for their own qualifications
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 23h agoBecause admin staff were mostly women, female academics were considered equivalent. There to perform service, not to undertake intellectual work. Of course it was more complex than this, but that's the broad picture. #AcademicSky
The head of research at a place I worked had her office 3 or 4 doors from the entrance to the building. She said visitors would routinely walk past open-doored offices with men at desks until they reached her room, where they would ask her to do secretary-ish things such as directions, taking a msg
Cool terms and/or writing prompts from the latest issue of Advances in Space Research: - clock offset products - vertical total electron - shocklet formation - unscented transform - intention recognition - missed thrust events - error fusion - gravity offloading 🧪 🔭 @cospar.bsky.social
Students would come into my room without knocking and ask me questions that could only be answered by the departmental secretary. When I pointed out the office was just there, they would say oh but your door was open so I thought I’d ask you instead.
When I started my first role after my PhD (in about 2003), I was immediately asked to organise the washing up after the group meetings. My supervisor also used to ask either me or a female PhD student to do his typing if his secretary was away. Never asked a male student or postdoc...
Geostationary orbit will be abandoned for Low Earth Orbit .... 🧪 🔭
Hughes files for bankruptcy after GEO business loses ground to Starlink
EchoStar’s Hughes geostationary satellite broadband business has filed for bankruptcy in the United States after years of mounting competition from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
spacenews.com
Autonomous aircraft, hypersonic weapons and high-energy lasers are among six priorities of Australia's new 10-year defence strategy. #Auspol
minister.defence.gov.au
I am not that old. In the early years of my career before i comprehensively put my foot down i would regularly find books in my work mailbox with notes from male colleagues instructing me to copy this chapter or that for them
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 23h agoBecause admin staff were mostly women, female academics were considered equivalent. There to perform service, not to undertake intellectual work. Of course it was more complex than this, but that's the broad picture. #AcademicSky
By the way, I've been battling internet connection problems for the last five days, so have not been posting my daily definition from Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary. Did you miss them?
How fast is the universe expanding? The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope can help find an answer. 🧪 🔭
NASA’s Roman telescope could help solve this cosmic mystery
aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org
Name]" on the door, students just assumed the woman whose work space was right next to the copy room must be a secretary.
An undergrad professor once shared that at one of her previous offices, she'd often have students asking her to make copies. Initially, she thought they just wanted help working the copier but eventually realized that, despite her having her own office filled with books and it saying "Prof. [Last
A good observation on LLM/AI interaction.
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 23h agoIn my observation of AI chatbots: women are not used to being validated. We also have the bullshit radars of an oppressed class. Sycophancy is annoying but a refreshing change. For men, sycophancy builds the validation of the patriarchy to dizzying heights.
The Falcon 9 stage has now impacted the lunar surface. Astronomers followed its approach until last night; haven't yet seen any reports of anyone detecting the impact flash itself.
Jules Verne’s Empty Dream of Spaceflight In “From the Earth to the Moon,” scientific advancement is treated as destiny — but no one quite asks why. By: Malka Older thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/jules-vernes... From the Earth to the Moon at PG: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/83 #books #literature
Here's the moon crash story if you're not familiar with it
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 2d agoOn August 5, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is predicted to crash onto the Moon. What has crashed on the Moon before? The very first human object to touch the Moon - Luna 2 in 1959. A probe, 3 bombs, and a rocket body! 🧪 🔭
The Falcon upper stage was apparently in ~200,000 x 600,000 km unstable orbit around earth, crossing the Moon's orbit at 384,000 km. It was a matter of time before the paths crossed. Of course, it should have been guided into a heliocentric graveyard orbit, but ... www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
End-of-life disposal of satellites
The awareness of the risk of the accumulation of man-made objects became significant in the late 1970s and since then, a number of space debris mitigation guidelines have been published by various org...
esa.int
On August 5, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is predicted to crash onto the Moon. What has crashed on the Moon before? The very first human object to touch the Moon - Luna 2 in 1959. A probe, 3 bombs, and a rocket body! 🧪 🔭
1959: Luna 2 (USSR)
YouTube video by International Astronautical Federation
m.youtube.com
Enamel pin fans, do not miss the link in this post!!
Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)@drspacejunk.bsky.social · 2d ago3 bombs, I hear you ask? The first was a cloud of sodium vapour released the day before so the rocket could be seen, as it was by several observatories. The other two were exploding balls made of silver medallions with Soviet emblems. 🧪 🔭
A retired friend was remembering when there were departmental secretaries at universities who basically project managed the departments. You could give them handwritten documents, and they would type them up. He was shocked when I said it didn't work like that for female academics.
Kate Manne@katemanne.bsky.social · yesterdayGenerative AI is catnip to the men who miss female sycophants katemanne.substack.com/p/a-culture-...
"In short they miss female subordinates who seamlessly do their bidding. It’s a reason many have missed as to why generative AI is a pressing feminist issue...Dawkins recently beclowned himself by opining...that Anthropic’s LLM“Claudia”is conscious after spending a mere 3 days enjoying its flattery"
Kate Manne@katemanne.bsky.social · yesterdayGenerative AI is catnip to the men who miss female sycophants katemanne.substack.com/p/a-culture-...