Yup. Tis I.

I have always hated writing. As a dyslexic it's not just the spelling or the grammar, but it has also been difficult to figure out how to organize concepts so that others can understand and take something away from my writing...

@swri.org just posted this fun interview I did a few days ago, talking about the PUNCH mission (@punch-mission.bsky.social). More PUNCH results coming soon! ☀️🛰️🔭⚛️

SwRI-led study shows promise for space weather forecasting with NASA’s PUNCH

YouTube video by Southwest Research Institute

youtube.com

When I became a civil servant, taking the oath of office felt like a promise to the American people. I valued their trust and worked every day to uphold that promise. Here, I try to convey what the oath meant to me. open.substack.com/pub/plasmane...

The Oath Ep 3: I take this obligation freely

The Promise to uphold Public Service

open.substack.com

The Challenger disaster was a horrible tragedy, but I remember it was so shocking because catastrophe under NASA was so rare. This never-ending procession of privatised space rockets exploding every other week is making it mundane. Privatisation is shit.

Domingo Geronimo Mattle / @realurbanartistry paints subjects as if they’re turned around in famous paintings: #AGoodPlace

NPR asked an aspiring scientist in Philadelphia to interview an adult who is living his dream about his career in conservation science. n.pr/3TtUaeQ

We asked a first grader to interview his hero: A bird scientist

NPR asked an aspiring scientist in Philadelphia to interview an adult who is living his dream about his career in conservation science.

n.pr

Part two of working through my decision to leave NASA. Here, I take a quick look at how I found my place at NASA Goddard and what led me to the decision to become a civil servant in the first place. open.substack.com/pub/plasmane...

The Oath Ep. 2: Home

How I found where I belonged.

open.substack.com

This mural titled "Global Warming" was created by the artist BLU and was located in Berlin, Germany from 2010 to 2014. photographer unknown. #streetart #art #mural #berlin #germany #climatechange #sealevelrise

If Elon Musk (or any other corporate entity) ran the GPS system, you'd have to have a subscription service that was at least $20/month/device to use.

Steve Randy Waldman@interfluidity.com · 4d ago

“If Elon Musk ran the GPS system, you’d hear abt it nonstop, valorizing this great man who built something so remarkable and valuable. But since it’s govt invented, owned, and operated, it just works, quietly and without fanfare… that’s…ideology, not so much what you hear about, but what you don’t.”

If this is what happens to a scientific field as a whole when LLMs dominate the workflows of researchers, I can only imagine that the outlook is even worse for any individual researcher who is soldiering on without using them. 😞

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 2w ago

13. Hence our dismal conclusion: rather than finding that LLMs free us to do a better job of what we were doing before they came along, they shift scientific incentives (and the playing field of academic competition) in ways that compel us to do more and more, faster and faster, less and less well.

It's been a week, and it still hasn't really set in. I still think it was the right decision and I'm still excited about the future.

PlasmaNerd@plasmanerd.bsky.social · last wk.

I've decided to take a bit more of a deep dive into what has happened in the last 19 months that led me to the decision to leave NASA. But before I can get to that, I need to explain why I care. open.substack.com/pub/plasmane...

It's time for the Trump Administration to uphold its obligations on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. Illinois has spearheaded this to protect the entire Great Lakes, but they continue to throw up roadblocks. Stop playing political games and move this project forward.

Pentagon weighs eliminating civilian tenure at military academies and reviewing all curriculum

I don't understand why there seems to be no discussion about how and why Dr. Fauci's diary was, what seems to be stolen and then leaked. That feels like such an invasion of privacy.

Just a step forward in ensuring that ChatGPT or your favorite AI is going to tell you that chickens are larger than cars. Well at least roosters are larger than cars.

Alt: What looks like a yellow taxi with a rooster head and tail attached to it is being driven by Howie Mandel

media.tenor.com

localswampgay@localswampgay.bsky.social · 5mo ago

I think about this tweet every time I feel something online start to curl its annoying little grip into my head

starting to warm up to this whole ai autocorrect thing tbh

Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · 7d ago

I was searching for a public domain clip of the wildfires in France for a livestream earlier today, and this is what AI autocorrect on a Google Video search defaulted to. I was actually unable get Google to un-default to "aerial views of french fries" after several attempts:

I've decided to take a bit more of a deep dive into what has happened in the last 19 months that led me to the decision to leave NASA. But before I can get to that, I need to explain why I care. open.substack.com/pub/plasmane...

The Oath Ep. 1: My Foundation

The Decisions Before the Decision

open.substack.com

If you’re watching Fauci’s testimony remember that science isn’t an ideology. It doesn’t lie. It evolves. COVID-19 was a once-in-a-century pandemic caused by a brand-new virus, recommendations changed because the evidence changed. That’s not deception. That’s how it works.

I feel like there was a book on this... Something like it was titles something like... The pungle... The Fungle... The Jungle! That was it.

Jon of The North@krauza.bsky.social · last wk.

Turns out that food companies were only checking their food because the government told them to, which is exactly why we need government regulations.

I do exactly this. Once back I have a new automatic reply saying that I just got back so I may be slow to respond... Sometimes I leave it there for a week if the influx of emails was really heavy.

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · last wk.

When you set an Out of Office e-mail message there should be an option to set an additional message that goes out for two or three days afterward reminding people to be gentle with you while you try to claw your way out of the mountain of suddenly urgent tasks that descends on you upon your return 😓

I have rarely felt more seen...

Rich N@fantana275.bsky.social · last wk.

I *might* have more toast later…

Please take a moment out of your day to marvel at the balletic poise, calm elegance and graceful athleticism of the panda.

Replacing evidence-based scholarship with government-approved narratives isn't patriotism, it's propaganda. History should be written by historians, not politicians trying to reshape the past to fit an ideological agenda.

Admirable clarity @science.org

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Whew, the editors of @science.org are getting real.

From NASA's press secretary, an update on the Madrid DSN site. Wildfire damage is "primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, with no significant structural damage observed to antennas or buildings." x.com/NASASpox/sta...

Bethany Stevens (@NASASpox) on X

On July 25, an initial onsite inspection by the NASA Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) emergency response team found wildfire damage primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, wi...

x.com

A second round of cyclospora and a new egg recall for salmonella. Weird how this suddenly starts happening when we roll back safety regulations and put idiots in charge.

Today was my last day at NASA. It wasn't an easy decision to leave, but it was the right decision for me. open.substack.com/pub/plasmane...

Red Lines

Reflections on leaving NASA, professional integrity, and knowing when it's time to step away.

open.substack.com