It’s very disappointing to hear news people trying to describe the candidates who think people should be able to afford food and healthcare as extreme.
Phil Plait
@philplait.bsky.social
Bad Astronomer (formerly @BadAstronomer), SciCommer, Dork. Crash Course Astronomy guy. He/him. Newsletter: badastronomy.beehiiv.com I'm self-employed so my opinions do in fact represent my company's.
Oh wow: ESA announces it has a positive detection of the SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage booster impacting the moon! I still haven't seen any images of a flash, but that's not surprising. It was faint. Here, they saw evidence of gas (vaporized material) in the impact plume by taking spectra.
ESO@eso.org · 4h agoEarlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact. 🔭 🧪 📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al. 1/4
DO IT Seriously. DO IT. Trump and Vought are actively and viciously trying to turn US science into what it was in 1950s USSR. DO IT
Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net · 23h agoBREAKING NEWS! The Senate has paused the OMB rule that would put Trump appointees in charge of federal spending. Next step - Contact your MoC and tell them to permanently REVOKE THE RULE: zurl.co/1SXEN Article: zurl.co/23mF8
Again: RFK is an utter crackpot. Just brains leaking out his ears.
Karly Kingsley@karlykingsley.bsky.social · yesterdayRFKJr claims Lyme disease was created by scientists,which is the closest he’s come to admitting that science exists. Meanwhile, Ötzi the Iceman, who died more than 5.3K years ago, had Lyme disease. Apparently prehistoric humans are part of the conspiracy. Get me off this timeline
Why is so little of the universe antimatter? We don't know. Scientists keep looking for ANY differences (besides the obvious) between matter and antimatter, but keep coming up empty. A new experiment… again shows no difference. It's weird. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/psyche-s-m... 🔭 🧪
Psyche’s Mars, and another test to see why antimatter is different than matter
Very cool animations of Mars as the spacecraft flew by. Plus, antimatter is still baffling.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
I have been facing down *six* deadlines for today. The weekend was BUSY. Two were related, and two were pretty easy, but now I'm down to one. After that, three more for the week! [I'm not complaining: deadlines = work = getting paid. But this confluence has kept me hopping]
Folks, start your telescopes: A SpaceX upper stage booster will impact the moon on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning! It *might* be visible from Earth via telescopes, though it's not clear how bright it will be. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/spacex-roc... 🔭 🧪
SpaceX rocket booster will hit the moon on Wednesday
The impact flash might — might — be visible to telescopes on Earth
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
This is a great flick; think of it like a space doco crossed with dramatic scifi. Lots of spacecraft nerd stuff. I hosted a panel on the movie at SDCC in 2013! movieviral.com/2013/07/19/c...
The Spaceshipper 🚀@thespaceshipper.com · 3d agoEuropa Report was released 13 years ago today. "An international crew of astronauts undertakes a privately funded mission to search for life on Jupiter's fourth largest moon."
I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.
I wonder who first thought of putting up scrolling scores as classical music plays on YouTube. My hat is very much off to them. I'm watching Resphighi's Botticelli Triptych with its intensely lush harmonies, but watching the notes go by adds significant depth to it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFG5...
Ottorino Respighi - Trittico Botticelliano
YouTube video by invertedninthchord
youtube.com
The difference between RFK Jr. and a tin-foil-hat-wearing moon-landing-denying chemtrail-believing spittle-flecked 5G-controls-your-brain-claiming flat earther is that he's in charge of the most powerful health agency in the US government. And oh, he believes in chemtrails, too.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3d agoRFK Jr: Trump wanted to end lockdowns. In Fauci's diary, he talks about how the president was calling him trying to get him to reopen the country BASH: The lockdowns were down by governors K: They cited Fauci B: Govs were hearing from hospitals that their ICUs were overrun K: That's not true
I took this photo to make a *very* "you had to be there" pun to a friend, but it's cute so I'm posting it.
I was pretty pissed when Isaacman bypassed FAA safety laws recently, and this kind of shit does nothing to change my attitude. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatch_Act
Jeff Foust@jfoust.bsky.social · 4d agoOver on Twitter, the NASA administrator is using his official government account (not his personal one) to endorse the White House's nominee to be attorney general. x.com/NASAAdmin/st...
If you're in the Charlottesville area go to the Tavern and Grocery on Main street. I just had the best burger since we moved here 3 years ago. Dang.
Protest going on in Charlottesville in front of the Federal Building!
Moonabunga! www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-... [This was super fun to research and write] 🔭 🧪
Can you surf on Titan? Science has the answer
Lakes of liquid methane on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, could offer exhilarating—and terrifying—opportunities for otherworldly surfing
scientificamerican.com
The amount I won't be buying anything like this is all of it
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d agoCompanies are all in on selling folks the idea that it’s in your best interest for your products to “know you” as if you are getting a dedicated servant but what you are really getting is a spy.
This article is great, and really spells out the insanity we are soaking in.
Rex Huppke@rexhuppke.bsky.social · 6d agoThis is a factual sentence: Amid an outbreak of explosive diarrhea and with measles cases at a 35-year high, America’s top health official, who has an affinity for roadkill and guzzling raw milk, will soon start hosting a cooking show. My column, tragically: www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
We live in absolutely terrifying times. This will not help US scientific research; it will destroy it. Follow @standupforscience.net and make your voice heard. We cannot let MAGA's anti-science apparatchiks decide what to fund!
Dan Vergano@danvergano.bsky.social · 6d agoWhite House Calls for Science Funding Shake-Up www.aip.org/fyi/white-ho...
If you're wondering about the "spurious signal from observatory kitchen" thing (also mentioned in the mouseover text), that's based on an actual event! badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/ban-60-nas...
BAN #60: NASA in 8k, Climate hope, Peryton place
November 8, 2018 Issue #60
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
Phil Plait@philplait.bsky.social · 6d ago"One millionth Starlink detected" isn't listed, because it would be like the free space. xkcd.com/3278/
"One millionth Starlink detected" isn't listed, because it would be like the free space. xkcd.com/3278/
Vera Rubin Observatory
xkcd.com
Astronomers have almost certainly directly seen a smaller (but still massive!) companion star to Betelgeuse, making Big B a binary system! This is A Big Deal, and premium subscribers to my newsletter can read all about it: badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/astronomer... 🔭 🧪
Astronomers (almost certainly) find a companion star of Betelgeuse!
If confirmed it proves the bloated gasbag of a star is actually a binary system
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
Cooool. The full sized version of this at that link is gorgeous!
HiRISE Beautiful Mars (NASA)@uahirise.bsky.social · last wk.HiRISE 4K: Russell Crater Sand Dunes Channels down the face of the largest dune show dark spots where the sublimation of the seasonal carbon dioxide ice cap has begun. Full cutout on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2ss1KXC NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona #Mars #NASA #science
