What a blast connecting with 6th graders yesterday for solar observing at the Robert Ferguson observatory. Bright kids: one wanted to know if 1 million Earths would fit into the Sun as a total volume or just by packing in spheres!
Richard Gerber
@gerberrichard.bsky.social
Physics, astronomy, science in general, and high performance computing geek. See my astronomy images at https://app.astrobin.com/u/ragerber
A nice article on Little Red Dots: A Black Hole Egg That Forgot to Hatch - aasnova.org/2026/01/13/a...
A Black Hole Egg That Forgot to Hatch
Astrobites reports on how astronomers got a closer view of the distant and mysterious little red dots.
aasnova.org
Fascinating talk from Daniella DellaGiustina at #AAS247. If you missed it, you should read about asteroid Bennu science.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Bennu
Bennu is a small, near-Earth asteroid that passes relatively close to Earth about every six years. It was the target of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission.
science.nasa.gov
I attended a great Astro data science tutorial at #AAS247 and learned a lot about querying and working with Astro data sources. Kudos to Azalee Bostroem and her team for creating a great experience.
I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of UCSC cosmologist and astrophysicist Joel Primack. I enjoyed working with him in my role at NERSC, and he was also very kind to me, allowing me to listen in on discussions associated with the AGORA galaxy simulations comparison project.
Joel Primack - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Must reading for my racquetball friends: pubs.aip.org/physicstoday...
The ingredients for an unbeatable squash shot
In four-walled racket sports such as squash, one type of shot reigns supreme: the nick. It occurs when a player hits the 4-centimeter ball to the right-angled spot where the wall of the court meets th...
pubs.aip.org
So very sad :-( U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation
Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt
science.org
At Amazon’s Biggest Data Center, Everything Is Supersized for A.I. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/t...
At Amazon’s Biggest Data Center, Everything Is Supersized for A.I.
nytimes.com
physics.aps.org/articles/v18... Great accomplishments by experimental teams and Lattice QCD calculations.
Muon Experiment Calls It a Wrap
The final results from the Muon g − 2 experiment agree with the latest predictions of the muon’s magnetic properties—letting down hopes that the particle would upset the standard model’s applecart.
physics.aps.org
Science @nersc.bsky.social : scitechdaily.com/cosmic-ct-sc...
Cosmic CT Scan Uncovers a Surprising Twist in the Universe’s Evolution
Over billions of years, the universe has transformed from a simpler state into an intricate cosmic web, but new research hints that the growth of cosmic structures may not have unfolded exactly as pre...
scitechdaily.com
Science @nersc.bsky.social : news.umich.edu/advanced-mic...
Advanced microelectronics: Why a next-gen semiconductor doesn't fall to pieces
A new class of semiconductors that can store information in electric fields could enable computers that run on less power, sensors with quantum precision, and the conversion of signals between electri...
news.umich.edu
Science @nersc.bsky.social : Imaging Nuclear Shapes by Smashing them to Smithereens url:https://www.newswise.com/doescience/imaging-nuclear-shapes-by-smashing-them-to-smithereens2/?article_id=826415
Science @nersc.bsky.social A New Way to Engineer Composite Materials: The innovative polymer design combines strength with reversibility newscenter.lbl.gov/2025/03/06/a...
A new way to engineer composite materials
newscenter.lbl.gov
Brilliant! Science Magazine - Assessing soil health with underpants www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - Assessing soil health with underpants
We watched as the two young boys stuck their shovels in the ground and painstakingly dug up the remains of the underpants.
sciencemagazinedigital.org
The winner will be: whatever makes the college football athletic programs the most money: sports.yahoo.com/college-foot...
College Football Playoff format for next season still in limbo as commissioners punt on making seeding changes
Playoff executives explored changes to the 2025 postseason Tuesday but came to no decision on a proposal from the Big Ten and SEC to alter the playoff seeding.
sports.yahoo.com
Ugh: Science Magazine - U.S. cuts support for IPCC report www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - U.S. cuts support for IPCC report
The world’s nations convened this week in Hangzhou, China, to plan the next major international assessment of climate science—but without the United States.
sciencemagazinedigital.org
Science @NERSC: DESI uncovers 300 intermediate-mass black holes plus 2,500 active black holes in dwarf galaxies phys.org/news/2025-02...
DESI uncovers 300 intermediate-mass black holes plus 2,500 active black holes in dwarf galaxies
Using early data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a team of scientists have compiled the largest sample ever of dwarf galaxies that host an actively feeding black hole, as well as...
phys.org
The Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program is now accepting applications. science.osti.gov/wdts/scgsr/
DOE Office of Science Graduate S... | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)
The SCGSR program provides supplemental awards to outstanding U.S. graduate students to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory/facility in areas that address scientific chal...
science.osti.gov
NIH proposes cutting overhead rate. On the other hand, once a few small states realize they will lose $100s of millions, this might not happen. www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH slashes overhead payments for research, sparking outrage and lawsuit
Move to cut indirect cost rate to 15% could cost universities billions of dollars
science.org
DOE’s Office of Science is now Accepting Applications for Office of Science Graduate Student Research Awards content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USD...
DOE’s Office of Science is now Accepting Applications for Office of Science Graduate Student Research Awards
content.govdelivery.com
NERSC Collaborates with PPPL to Optimize Fusion Energy via Simulation www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire...
NERSC Collaborates with PPPL to Optimize Fusion Energy via Simulation
Jan. 31, 2025 — With the help of supercomputers at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have confirmed throug...
hpcwire.com
A non-tradition Fusion reactor design is getting some press: spectrum.ieee.org/dipole-fusio...
A New Fusion Prototype Floats Into Action
OpenStar’s levitating dipole device ditches the traditional doughnut-shaped design
spectrum.ieee.org
Science @nersc.bsky.social : AI Uncovers Potentially Hazardous, Forgotten Oil and Gas Wells | NVIDIA Technical Blog developer.nvidia.com/blog/ai-unco...
AI Uncovers Potentially Hazardous, Forgotten Oil and Gas Wells | NVIDIA Technical Blog
With as many as 800,000 forgotten oil and gas wells scattered across the US, researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), have developed an AI model capable of accurately locating…
developer.nvidia.com
