Huei Sears, PhD 🌟
@starlights.bsky.social
✨ she/her ✨ astrophysicist studying supernovae + GRBs ✨ @ Rutgers U
Prague Zoo has provided tons of ice to help animals beat the heat as Europe swelters in a summer heat wave.
Prague zoo keeps polar bears cool with ice cubes as European summer heatwave hits
Prague Zoo has provided tons of ice to help animals beat the heat as Europe swelters in a summer heat wave.
bit.ly
This is such an interesting approach to reducing by-catch in bottom-set fishing nets. I usually focus on reducing animal mortality in lost and abandoned gear, but nets pose a threat when they're in use as well.
Evidence of Dolphin Bycatch Reduction With Upcycled Plastic Bottles Acoustic Reflectors Attached to Bottom‐Set Gillnets
Gillnet bycatch is the primary global threat to marine mammals. In this study, the effectiveness of upcycled plastic bottles used as acoustic reflectors to reduce dolphin bycatch and their effect on ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
I do not love being complimented on how strong or inspiring I am for not being broken by this shit. I want a normal life.
Less “why don’t women come forward?” and more “what can we do to support women who have to navigate hostile structures after having been violated?”
If you can donate, please do. If you were previously not eligible to donate, the criteria have been SERIOUSLY revised: you are no longer deferred for spending time in England/the EU and the sexual risk screening has been replaced with a much more evidence based model.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social · last wk."On Monday, the Red Cross declared a national blood crisis for the second time ever in its history."
Down Bad by Taylor Swift...... the txf inspired music video that we could have had www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUtT...
taylor swift - down bad (sped up & reverb)
YouTube video by aiden's aesthetics
youtube.com
Sadly it's not just #JodrellBank losing funding, with deep cuts across the board for UK astronomy. One example is the HiPERCAM project whose funding has been entirely cut to save £50K/yr - peanut-levels of £s. Spectacular fast transient science lost, for what? 🔭😡 www.zmescience.com/science/astr...
One of Astronomy’s Fastest Cameras May Stop Operating Over a $67,000 Funding Gap
The camera that checked JWST’s clock is losing its funding.
zmescience.com
A Polish-born woman in Des Plaines who “had done everything right” has been in ICE custody for the past year. Green Card for 20 years, sought citizenship. “And it didn’t matter.” www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/27/i...
Illinois woman with green card has been detained by ICE for 12 months. Her daughters plead for her release.
ICE arrested Beata Siemionkowicz, a Poland native and green card holder of more than two decades, last year while she was gardening in her daughter’s backyard in Des Plaines.
chicagotribune.com
My teams have completed all necessary checks and testing of the Cebreros station. After careful review, we have declared the antenna GREEN for nominal operations as of 27 July.
Josef Aschbacher@josefaschbacher.esa.int · 2w agoBased 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
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
"likely the country’s biggest peacetime evacuation" wow
AFP News Agency@en.afp.com · 2w agoUnchecked wildfires raging in France's southwest and near Spain's capital Madrid have forced nearly 260,000 to flee. France hustled 197,000 people from around Bordeaux, likely the country’s biggest peacetime evacuation, the government said. u.afp.com/SrXU
No, these images are not AI-generated, not even photoshopped. They do look artificial because there is something artificial about them: the extra 150 ppm of CO2 resulting from human activity, which has irretrievably transformed the world.
Auke-Florian 🪹@aukeflorian.nl · 2w agoWelcome to the Anthropocene 🔥
Alt text for quoted image: A large satellite dish, pointed directly up, is completely engulfed in smoke as flames are visible on the ground. Climate change is coming for all our current and future hopes, dreams, and aspirations. We must stop using fossil fuels. www.wired.com/story/spanis...
One of NASA’s Most Important Deep Space Observatories Hit by Spanish Wildfires
Flames burned through the Deep Space Communications Complex near Madrid, but NASA has been unable to assess the damage as a wildfire emergency grips the region.
wired.com
Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex at Robledo de Chavela municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain on fire. Burgohondo wildfire. 📷 via Infues Avila
Wildfire forces evacuation of NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Spain arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...
Wildfire forces evacuation of NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Spain
Any potential damage will be assessed when it is safe to do so."
arstechnica.com
Looks like the SOAR webcams are online - gives a peek of what Cerro Pachón is looking like after the major snow storm. I think that's the SOAR in front, then Gemini South behind it, and to the right in the far distance is Rubin Observatory. www.ctio.noirlab.edu/~soarcam/out...
ctio.noirlab.edu
The combined water level in two of the United States’ biggest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, has fallen to a historic low, in what experts are calling a significant moment in the Colorado River crisis — threatening a water system that supplies tens of millions. https://cnn.it/4w3ZOSB
Harrowing long read. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
‘The bed you thought was safe, isn’t safe’: how Zoe Watts survived drug-facilitated rape – and fought back
For years, her husband was adding sedatives to her evening cup of tea. Now, with fellow survivor Amanda Stanhope, she is lifting the lid on a hidden and diabolical crime
theguardian.com
Again, weird way to cover this. Every public company files an annual 10k with the SEC that includes a disclosure of known risk factors to investors, and common types of food-borne illness would be included for *any* food service company. Like they’d legally have to include them.
Forbes@forbes.com · 3w agoSEC filings show Taco Bell—and other restaurants—knew cyclospora posed a risk to their businesses and the public.
Probably more helpful to think of them not so much as “Canadian wildfires” but rather “climate change wildfires currently consuming Canada”
This is a great initiative. I wish it had a higher budget, but we'll take what we can get. If you or someone you know is a woman interested in a career in #STEM or the trades, APPLY. #WomenInTrades #WomenInSTEM
Mark Gerretsen@markgerretsen.bsky.social · 3w agoThe Government of Canada is investing $100 million to help remove barriers and expand economic and leadership opportunities for women and girls across Canada, including in STEM, skilled trades, and emerging industries. 📅 Apply by September 15, 2026 🔗 More information: bit.ly/3TpZK1x
also this isn't a taco bell problem, it's a taco bell has unusually good ability to trace their supply chains and strong relationships with local public health authorities so they're the first affected company to provide traceability problem
Seth Cotlar@sethcotlar.bsky.social · 3w agoThis administration, supposedly representing the “real” salt of the earth Americans, is filled with people like this who have no idea how Americans actually live. For context, each Taco Bell outlet serves about 900 people PER DAY and there are over 300 Taco Bells in Michigan.
Horses don't need to hear or smell a threat in order to sense danger. Watching wolf behavior raises their heart rates, while wombat videos do not. Visual cues alone can trigger a predator response, especially in males, while older horses respond less fearfully! 🧪 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
William Shatner will debut his new heavy metal band at Riot Fest
William Shatner will debut his new heavy metal band at Riot Fest
chicagotribune.com
At the moment, a lot of folks are doing wonderful work on pulse profile variability in millisecond pulsars. There's now a great paper out, led by Shania Nichols, focusing on better timing methods to account for profile changes in troublemakers like J1713+0747! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2607.12038
Mitigating the Timing Impact of Anomalous Pulse Profile Shape Variability in PSR J1713+0747 with Gaussian Component Modeling
The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) achieves sub-microsecond timing precision for several millisecond pulsars in its pulsar timing array (PTA) with the objectiv...
arxiv.org
