From Kaz Gary: Today’s bite explores how we may need a cosmic duster to see life on other worlds. ⚛️ 🔭 ☄️ 🧪 astrobites.org/2026/07/28/hwo-exozodi/

Dust Deal with It

Today's bite explores how we may need a cosmic duster to see life on other worlds.

astrobites.org

A corporate fad of “tokenmaxxing” on artificial intelligence technology is hitting its limits as workplaces throwing AI at everything are seeing the costs rise without a similar spike in productivity.

A flex in corporate America, AI ‘tokenmaxxing’ fades as workplaces look to cut tech spending

A corporate fad of “tokenmaxxing” on artificial intelligence technology is hitting its limits as workplaces throwing AI at everything are seeing the costs rise without a similar spike in productivity.

bit.ly

To those at the #NAM2026 plenary hearing things like “and that’s when I knew we were going to win [over other survey teams]”, know that you can do brilliant science in a collaborative and mutually encouraging way, rather than treating everyone else as a competitor. We decide/set our culture. 🔭

Great interview with Laura Grego of @ucs.org - she gets into Elon Musk and space colonialism, which is 100% a conversation we should be having www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘Most people don’t know we’ve set up a doomsday system’: physicist Laura Grego on satellites, nuclear weapons and the battle for our skies

Elon Musk is trying to own it, competing powers are trying to fight in it and nobody seems to be regulating it. So who does space really belong to?

theguardian.com

It’s rare to see an article with so many supportive comments and other active military members and veterans sharing similar stories to this one. www.military.com/air-force-gu...

Air Force Guardsman Allegedly Fired by Employer Due to Being Deployed: Lawsuit

Christopher Jones, a cybersecurity engineer, claims that his former employer terminated him weeks before deployment, skirting federal USERRA laws.

military.com

Congrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...

Trump administration limits student visas to four years, changing longstanding policy - The Boston Globe

The new rule, which also restricts the international students’ ability to transfer schools or change majors without approval in their first year, will go into effect in mid-September.

bostonglobe.com

Clara Ester, a civil rights activist who was one of the last remaining witnesses to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, has died

Clara Ester, activist who rushed to Martin Luther King Jr. after he was shot, dies at 78

Clara Ester, an activist and minister who rushed to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s side when he was shot, has died at 78.

apnews.com

A reminder that adoption is frequently a colonial tool of genocide. And that part of understanding reproductive justice is understanding that people withhold birth control and health care to create a stream of adoptable babies.

regular meghan 나영지 🇵🇸@ruemcclammyhand.bsky.social · 3w ago

children of deported migrants are being stolen from their parents this is child trafficking apnews.com/article/97b0...

Many areas including NY, WI and MI have extremely poor air quality due to wildfire smoke. While public health agencies advise people to stay indoors and avoid strenuous activity, farm workers are out working in these conditions. 1/

This is super helpful and detailed information!

âpihtawikosisân@apihtawikosisan.bsky.social · 3w ago

For folks struggling to figure out how to deal with wildfire smoke, I put together some information a few years ago: apihtawikosisan.com/2023/09/miti...

An ACLU report looks at the widespread use of force in immigration enforcement in the first year of President Trump's return to office. Recent fatal shootings in Texas and Maine have brought renewed scrutiny to the agency's tactics. n.pr/4w6xy2b

The use of force has become a 'default tool' for ICE officers, a new report finds

An ACLU report looks at the widespread use of force in immigration enforcement in the first year of President Trump's return to office. Recent fatal shootings in Texas and Maine have brought renewed scrutiny to the agency's tactics.

n.pr

Deadly fact: The smaller the particle, the easier it is to get across cellular barriers and do damage. PM2.5 (particulate matter < 2.5 micron) is fhe most hazardous. ISM dust is ~< 0.1 micron, and not something I would like to breathe in in real life.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson.bsky.social · 3w ago

U-M Astro interns covered interstellar dust and reddening with analogies to wildfire smoke and car exhaust yesterday… real life demo not appreciated.

Good thing we have that stockpile of N95s from the pandemic, right? …. RIGHT?!?

Mike Wiser@drmikewiser.bsky.social · 3w ago

Let's check in on some Great Lakes air quality...

Elon Musk's xAI has installed more than double the number of gas turbines than it has publicly acknowledged to power its Colossus 2 data center project, without federal permits, and the pollution is hitting predominantly Black neighborhoods the hardest reut.rs/4bIghEm

Today I learned that it takes just as long for me to take the bus between campus and Ypsi as it does for me to drive to the Ann Arbor campus from Detroit. 😳

Thousands of Americans are getting sick from a foodborne parasite, and federal regulators have still not publicly identified the source. So what's been happening in the federal government over the past year that might be a factor in this outbreak? 🧵⬇️

I want to go back to joking about planetary science, but even space news is like: - Awful space company approved to try supervillain plan - NASA funding diverted to impossible vanity projects - Look, a cool space rock! - Funding withheld until program officers read your reddit posts

#ICYMI: On this week's #SETILive, @goastromo.bsky.social and her guests discussed the effects of UV radiation on an exoplanet's atmosphere, using both observations and lab testing, and why this work is important for the search for life. Watch the full interview: youtube.com/live/_Rnj_C7... 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

Holy COW. Text analysis of comments on the OMB rule: overwhelming opposition, overwhelmingly not form letters. (But 9 in 10 comments supporting the rule ARE form responses, LOL) Whatever happens next, folks have stepped up.

Karen R. Lips@karenrlips.bsky.social · 3w ago

techpolicy.press/the-public-r...

Huge new class action lawsuit filed by big publishers and authors against Google this week over AI training. It accuses Google of taking millions of books / articles provided to them for use only in Google Books, Google Play Books, and Google Scholar, and secretly using them to train LLMs. 🧵 1/4

Whoa, over a quarter million people (so far!) have left a comment on the egrgious openly fascist takeover attempt of the OMB. You can too! @standupforscience.net has instructions and everything you need. It's not hard, and it's critically important to science. fight2win.standupforscience.net

Stand up for Science

Stand up for Science

fight2win.standupforscience.net

elizabethginexi.bsky.social@elizabethginexi.bsky.social · 4w ago

The comment count as of Sunday July 11, 2026 1:05pm ET.

Elder Chavez was following the required steps to gain permanent legal status when he was detained. He carried his papers everywhere so he wouldn’t be mistaken as undocumented. “I’m legal in this country,” he told officers. It didn’t matter.

These Immigrant Kids Were Once Protected. Under Trump, Their Deportations Have Tripled.

A first-of-its-kind ProPublica analysis found that children who entered the U.S. by themselves are being detained and removed at about three times the rate they were during the final years of the firs...

propublica.org

The Times says federal agents turned up on the doorsteps of several of its journalists to force grand jury testimony next week over their coverage of the Air Force One plane gifted to Trump by Qatar. n.pr/4bwYQ9F

Justice Department subpoenas New York Times reporters over Air Force One reporting

The Times says federal agents turned up on the doorsteps of several of its journalists to force grand jury testimony next week over their coverage of the Air Force One plane gifted to Trump by Qatar.

n.pr

Don't make things easy for Angry Orange Grandpa.

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑@50501movement.bsky.social · 4w ago

Join the ACLU & partners for a virtual Know Your Voting Rights training as part of the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action. This training will break down how to exercise your right to vote, including how to resist voter intimidation efforts & access assistance at the polls. s.50501.io/mccpQD

Thanks, I *do* hate it www.pcmag.com/news/fcc-app...

FCC Approves Reflect Orbital's Space Mirror Satellite That Astronomers Hate

The FCC says the most controversial aspect of Reflect Orbital's Earendil-1 satellite, the giant mirror, falls out of its authority since the regulator mainly focuses on radio spectrum.

pcmag.com

NEW: Detroit's Cadillac Heights used to be a quiet neighborhood. After a historic land swap facilitated by city officials, a billionaire-owned concrete plant moved in. Now residents say they are battling air pollution so thick they can “taste the dust.” with @bridgedet313.bsky.social

Left in the Dust: How a Billionaire-Owned Concrete Plant Took Over a Detroit Community

After a Moroun-owned company erected a concrete plant in a quiet neighborhood with the aid of the city, residents began battling clouds of dust and other problems. They say local and state officials h...

propublica.org

July is #disability Pride Month worldwide. As I progress more into my academic career, I notice time and time again that many institutions usually will only do what is minimally legally required for accessibility, and minimally regard disability in terms of diversity. 1/

🔭 I'm looking for a post-bac to work on opacity models for the ISM and protoplanetary disks. Please spread the word! careers.umich.edu/job_detail/2...

Trans fam: your lives are precious no matter what the fuck these people say translifeline.org/hotline/

Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin@ecmclaughlin.bsky.social · last mo.

First SCOTUS opinion is as bad as it gets: West Virginia law banning trans kids from playing sports consistent with their gender identity is constitutional, according to the fucking fascist six. All three liberal justices dissent.