Driving through Värmland, Dalarna, Härjedaland, Jämtland on the way to still greater adventures. Seen: 1 moose, 2 ptarmigans, 27 reindeer, the only identified post-glacial meteorite crater in Sweden (Torkratern; 2000 years old; there should be 40-50), and beautiful landscape.

More support for Jodrell and an end to the STFC cuts www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Artists, writers and scientists urge UK government to save Jodrell Bank Observatory

New Order and Simon Armitage among more than 100 signatories to criticise ‘foolish and shortsighted’ cuts

theguardian.com

We have a new Dr! Last week Dr Clara C. de la Casa defended her PhD thesis, Environmentally-Driven Galaxy Evolution and Cluster Assembly from a Multi-Phase View of the Bayronic Cycle in the Hydra I Cluster. The committee also awarded her a Cum Laude distinction. I’m a very proud supervisor! 🧪🔭📡

I think this is a great point. Debugging is an important skill with lots of applications and you don’t develop it as well if you are always asking someone or something else to find the solution for you. I tell students struggling up to but not over the point of frustration is part of learning.

The narrow streets of Granada, Spain were as enchanting as always this week.

. @ryanairofficial.bsky.social, where the “express bag drop” is a 45 minute queue and the employees are ruder than the passengers waiting in it.

Job alert: the Spanish SKA Regional Center (espSRC) is looking for a System/IT engineer with experience in computer system administration and cloud services to be the sysadmin of the espSRC computing cluster. Deadline Sept 20: amiga.iaa.csic.es/job-offers/s... 🧪 🔭 📡 Can confirm: Granada is amazing.

Think of all the awesome science-ing we could do with an extra £20M......🧪

Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · last wk.

Earlier this year UKRI launched a funding call to invest £40M in ONE AI lab. www.ukri.org/opportunity/... For some unknown reason they decided to fund TWO AI labs at the cost of £60M. An extra £20M. Just found. That's the equivalent of 7 more years of Jodrell Bank. www.ukri.org/news/ukri-la...

Just heard UKRI is cutting all funding to eMERLIN array, Jodrell Bank & the historic UNESCO Lovell Telescope (pictured) in addition to other cuts in radio... This just as radio astro around the world is growing! Shockingly shortsighted to harm the UK’s own community. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 😤

I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands

Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.

bbc.co.uk

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 3w ago

“What will the Lovell Telescope discover/enable 20 yrs from now? I can’t tell you, and that’s the point. It will either be something extraordinary that none of us can yet predict, or we will defund it and leave Cheshire with a rusting monument to unfulfilled potential and discoveries never made.” 🔭🧪

Based on current information, the Cebreros station appears to have remained unharmed. My deepest thanks go to the Spanish emergency services whose efforts helped protect the site as wildfires approached. Left: 24 July 19:57, Right: 25 July 07:54

I’d like to make it clear for all the people following me what the sheer gravity of the news is. Without this facility we can’t ensure constant communication with spacecraft beyond Earth orbit. If this facility is off-line, the Artemis program cannot send a crew to the Moon.

Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex at Robledo de Chavela municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain on fire. Burgohondo wildfire. 📷 via Infues Avila

Two years ago, we made a clip about the Geology of Alpe d'Huez! Enjoy today's climb!

Geology of the Tour de France@geotdf.bsky.social · 2w ago

Alpe d'Huez day! Two years ago, Marjolein made this clip for the @le-tourdefrance.bsky.social Femmes about how the Alpe is folding without breaking! Enjoy the climb! And the spectacular folds...

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

9. By supporting universities, they support the human capital development that flows into the commercial sector and generates the growth and innovation that has been a massive boon for US commerce. This plan undercuts that role, with disastrous consequences that will ricochet for years to come.

Bet the WRU are furious 😁

CNN@cnn.com · 2w ago

The first LGBTQ+ rugby team and a cabaret club in Cardiff, Wales have paired together for Drag Rugby, an event where Wale’s most fabulous drag queens show of their skills on the field.

I’m headed to Granada for my student’s PhD thesis defense on Monday (yay!), but I might be flying into the Sahara desert today. 😳 😷

Shout out to @wisespace.bsky.social who gave me an invite to bluer skies.

Jake_Vig@jakevig.bsky.social · 2w ago

Tomorrow is "Shoutout the Person Who Gave You a Bluesky Invite Code" Day. It was a cool time for cool people to drag other cool people here.

The anti trans crowd was outraged by this study because it included clinicians who actually practice gender affirming care. Yet another systematic review that follows Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Utah, and Louisiana that finds this care is safe and effective with rare regret.

Erin Reed@erininthemorning.com · 2w ago

1. In an incredible new landmark review, the Health Council of the Netherlands has declared that gender-affirming care for trans youth works, reducing wait times is "morally urgent," and regret is rare. It is the latest of many Euro countries to advance care. Subscribe to support our journalism.

The size of the HI disk across different environments: isolated, compact groups, clusters, and pairs. R. Ianjamasimanana et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.16467

In February, USA Rugby banned trans women from all levels of one of the world’s most inclusive sports. What happened next was telling. Across the country, teams refused to comply. The story of the Baltimore Ferals, who are pushing back: www.thebanner.com/sports/rugby...

Status: recovering from vacation.

I’ve been less excited for bonus soccer. But not often.

Look, it's been a while since I wrote thousands of words on some dumb American soccer thing. So I decided to research & write the definitive story of Striker, the most beloved mascot in World Cup history. Not that anybody asked for it. On @us.theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Move over Soccerey Bally: how Striker the dog became a 1994 World Cup hero

The tournament’s mascot came to herald the ubiquitous, commercial aims of a growing international spectacle

theguardian.com

Oh you do NOT mess with Chaco Canyon!

Kelly Lynne D’Angelo ✨@kellylynnedang.bsky.social · 3w ago

Please blow up the public comment (included below): BREAKING NEWS (7/15) — The administration wants to destroy Chaco Canyon without consulting Tribal Nations. It’s an irreplaceable historic & cultural site with 4,700 archeological sites that could be lost to the bulldozers of oil & gas development

England putting on a clinic for what happens when you don’t defend anywhere on the field.

Okay, incredible. Such a clean goal!

This whole game is just going to be England and Argentina taking turns falling down. Regardless of contact.

That call is BS and it was a handball!

Have I mentioned recently that you can join SatHub at the IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky? We absolutely need your help: cps.iau.org (Regrettably not on BlueSky, but we are on LinkedIn, and the bad place, because, you know, guess where all the sat bros hang out) 🔭