Part of what we need to solve clouds in brown dwarf atmospheres.
Jonathan Fortney
@jjfplanet.bsky.social
UC Santa Cruz Astronomy Professor, Director of the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL). Planetary Astrophysics: Exoplanets & Solar System. Father, Husband, Minnesotan, Runner. Proud product & employee of the public school system, age 5 to today.
. @sagnikmukherjee.bsky.social gave a copy of his impressive *540-page* PhD thesis! To quote Jackie Faherty: "Sagnick, holy shit!!". 😜
"I did not like that decade. The only good things to come out of the 70's were you and your brother." --my mom
1. The new Trump / Kratsios plan for US science appears explicitly designed to destroy US universities. Diverting money to tech donors is probably just a bonus. Gift link.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)
Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.
nytimes.com
Trump administration admits, in court filings, that it canceled billions in federal grants not for policy or performance reasons, but because recipients lived in blue states. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
18 months in, I thought that I'd made a terrible mistake. I wanted to just take my grant money, move to a soft money institute, and work by myself as long as I could. The first years are hard!
Daniel Bolnick@danielbolnick.bsky.social · 3w agoI often give similar advice to my former postdocs / students as they begin faculty jobs: the first year or two are really really hard. It gets much better and is worth it. The successful senior faculty had shitty first years too.
I find this brand of "alternative" environmentally friendly home products to be really hilarious.
Sheesh, Haaland of Norway is twice the size of these Brazil players.
"The success of the US soccer team comes in spite of Trump, not because of him. Half the roster is made up of dual citizens, foreign-born players, and immigrants... You can’t take credit for the team's success while simultaneously trying to eliminate the conditions necessary for it to exist."
Trump’s Plans for America 250 get Cooked, as the World Cup Shines
While Trump’s long planned propaganda party wilts in the heat, America embraces the World Cup.
plus.briantylercohen.com
Jonathan Fortney@jjfplanet.bsky.social · 2mo agoHello! We have a very-off-cycle postdoc fellowship at UC Santa Cruz. Open to any area of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Applications are due July 15th. It is funded by the Moore Foundation. Looking for someone to start Oct 1, 2026 (!, approx), see details below. aas.org/jobregister/...
Porto restaurants: yet more evidence that American/British 80s music will live on forever and ever....
Help me settled a debate with my spouse: Would you consider an even happening at 5:15 PM to be "afternoon" or "evening." Thanks!! ;)
Good new, everyone! Pirates did not capture Roman. science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/...
NASA’s Next Generation Telescope Arrives in Florida Ahead of Launch - NASA Science
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived June 21, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the start of final prelaunch preparations
science.nasa.gov
🎥 Black Space Week 2026 — Video 3 of the AAS Journals series! Kayla Smith (University of Arizona) discusses new brown dwarf evolution models showing that clouds and deuterium burning can extend habitable conditions for orbiting planets far longer than previously thought. 🔭 📺 youtu.be/yRLSJvFA_5I
AAS Journal Author Series: Kayla Smith and Mark Marley on 2026ApJ..1000..304S
YouTube video by AAS
youtu.be
Ooof, need to call it day. Converting 165 minutes to 2 hr, 45 min, took 2 minutes and also trail and error. Brain turn off now!
Aww, this is sad. In my life, to me, Cheers was the best show. It was something my family shared as I moved from a kid to nearly an adult, from the early 80s to early 90s. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/19/a...
James Burrows, Master of the TV Sitcom, Dies at 85
nytimes.com
Famous #exoplanet K2-18 b: is it a super-Earth, a sub-Neptune, or something else entirely? 🌍🌔☁️🪐 The secret of its interior lies in its exterior... the atmosphere! Hear more from Shang-Min (Shami) Tsai's #RockyWorldsDiscussion on Thu 7 May @ 13:00 UTC! More: www.rockyworlds.org/event-detail... 🧪🔭
Hello! We have a very-off-cycle postdoc fellowship at UC Santa Cruz. Open to any area of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Applications are due July 15th. It is funded by the Moore Foundation. Looking for someone to start Oct 1, 2026 (!, approx), see details below. aas.org/jobregister/...
Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy & Astrophysics, UC Santa Cruz | American Astronomical Society
The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics invites applications for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship position at the University of California, Santa Cruz, funded by the Moore Foundation. The searc...
aas.org
After 3 months, now 2 of 3 reviews are in for the textbook! They are strong! Pfew! Also, I feel like something about me may annoy Reviewer A. That, or they were annoyed that they agreed to review the book. The "flavor" of some of the comments was a little...odd. Time to address the recommendations!
Great news for Dr. Blunt and CU Boulder!
Sarah Blunt, PhD 🇵🇸@blunt-comma-s.bsky.social · 2mo agoI'm thrilled to announce that I'm going to be starting as an assistant professor at CU Boulder this fall! I'm immensely grateful and excited. Please reach out if you're interested in joining my group as a grad student or postdoc. :D
Interesting tidbit from my group meeting, regarding LLMs & astrophysics:"Why is this always cast as AI can replace grad students? I think it just as easily could replace advisors. If a group of young people got together for a few months without supervision I'm sure they could do some great science."
“An air fryer can be a powerful and reliable tool, but it’s no replacement for genuine interactions with other human beings,” said psychiatrist Lisa McDougan
Doctors Warn Air Fryers Not A Substitute For Human Companionship
BALTIMORE—Responding to widespread proliferation of the technology in Americans’ daily lives, doctors at Johns Hopkins University warned Thursday that air fryers should not be considered an adequate s...
theonion.com
As seen in Santa Cruz (I believe ironically?) vol. 156, Bass Pro Shops hats
I saw The Phantom of the Opera up in San Francisco last night. First time for my, 6th time (!) for my wife. Ummm....ok? Gosh, probably my least favorite musical. I did enjoy the set! We look cute though.
The explosion of the New Glenn rocket seriously damaged the launch site as well. The cadence of lunar missions that NASA just announced will be completely scrambled.
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2mo agoYikes… Blue Origin's New Glenn just blew up at LC-36 while attempting to Static Fire ahead of NG-4.
