David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social
📤 1856
📥 114
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Astronomy, Exoplanets, Astrobiology, Cool Worlds Lab, Columbia University. Be kind to one another.
pinned post!
Hi BlueSky! I'm a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University where I lead the Cool Worlds Lab, studying exoplanets, exomoons & exolife and sharing our passion for science over
YouTube.com/CoolWorldsLab
. I post about my team's research, spicy hot takes and whatever's going on in my life.
over 1 year ago
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David Kipping
Zack Labe
4 days ago
At the end of the day, this visualization shows what's driving the rising risk of these dangerous heat waves. It's the human-caused burning of fossil fuels and the resulting increase in greenhouse gases. That's it. More climate change indicators:
zacklabe.com/climate-chan...
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans
4 days ago
Sarah Rugheimer is the bee's knees when it comes to explaining the realities, prospects, hopes and dreams of searching for life out there in the cosmos. This one will be worth a watch for sure.
#FellowEdinburghFaculty
🔭👩🔬
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New
#CoolWorldsPodcast
episode just dropped with Dr Sarah Rugheimer!
youtu.be/J6UcWbdnHuE?...
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#33 Sarah Rugheimer - LIFE Mission, Prebiosignatures, Mountains
YouTube video by Cool Worlds Podcast
https://youtu.be/J6UcWbdnHuE?is=EPqaL6pTUz9JDwTc
4 days ago
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7 days ago
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Happy Friday!!
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Daniel Craig introduces The Weeknd
ALT: Daniel Craig introduces The Weeknd
https://static.klipy.com/ii/39f2394ae36df6e199be9eb7c9fa1012/56/21/kqb5ThmL.gif?hh=373&ww=498&mp4=zhNqfKJ3K0FykEx&webm=kRojxBvfzJdVGXNeSw0h
12 days ago
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Despite being much smaller than the Earth, this newly discovered exoplanet has approximately the same surface gravity (94%) as our home planet thanks to its extraordinary high density. A solid ball of iron.
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Revisiting the Exo-Mercury Candidate GJ 367 b with ESPRESSO and a Self-Consistent Tidal Distortion Model
We report revised mass and radius measurements for GJ 367 b, an ultra-short-period (7.7 hr) sub-Earth in a multi-planet system orbiting a nearby (~9 pc) M dwarf host. Previous mass and radius measurem...
https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.18355
13 days ago
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Finding it hard to sleep in since I changed my alarm…
youtu.be/enYdAxVcNZA?...
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YOUR NEW MORNING ALARM
YouTube video by Marc Rebillet
https://youtu.be/enYdAxVcNZA?is=ivk1XEEYdwNwltGe
15 days ago
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The paper:
arxiv.org/abs/2606.04044
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19 days ago
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A calculation that shook to me my bones…
youtu.be/sT7V4gE4ZIc?...
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The Most Terrifying Calculation in the Universe
YouTube video by Cool Worlds
https://youtu.be/sT7V4gE4ZIc?is=J4Dmzw8EhZpbqMT0
20 days ago
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Ask Claude literally any question… “That is an excellent and sharp question.”
21 days ago
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David Kipping
about 1 month ago
Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science.
elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...
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Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule
Russell Vought is going destroy American Science
https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of-key-changes-in-ombs-proposed
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A bizarre thing I’ve noticed being back in the UK this year is that drivers are quite happy to turn into a sideroad at full speed when a pedestrian is halfway through crossing it & fully expect that pedestrian to stop in their tracks to avoid being run over. NY drivers are way more pedestrian aware.
about 1 month ago
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David Kipping
Jacquelyn Gill
about 1 month ago
🧵 Public science in the US has taken some heavy hits over the last year, but the White House OMB is proposing a series of changes that will result in a TKO for science as we know it unless we fight back. Here's what's happening, and why it matters. 1/n
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depths of wikipedia
about 1 month ago
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Feels like we’re heading into civilization burn out
about 1 month ago
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Economically, do we have any evidence AI is increasing GDP? It seems the only thing it’s achieved is inflationary, on energy prices and RAM especially.
about 1 month ago
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I feel like each week I’m getting disturbed by another crisis or imminent one. Wars, famines, housing, energy, health care, inflation, government debt, nukes, jobs - do a deep dive on any of these and it’s bloody awful.
about 1 month ago
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What do you consider to be the best acting moment in the history of Star Trek? I’ll start.
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Star Trek Mind Blown Reaction Meme
ALT: Star Trek Mind Blown Reaction Meme
https://static.klipy.com/ii/c3a19a0b747a76e98651f2b9a3cca5ff/7b/51/pKYxOXuq.gif?hh=196&ww=250&mp4=2YRZ6Z4BicBZM7c&webm=kllyywA3GIRCexzFwGD3
about 1 month ago
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coward
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about 1 month ago
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The staggering size of the Universe is in itself perplexing. It’s outrageously large, indeed it almost feels unnecessarily large.
about 2 months ago
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reposted by
David Kipping
Paul Gilster
about 2 months ago
Przybylski’s Star may be the strangest object we've yet observed. Is it a technosignature? Very short-lived ultra-heavy elements like actinium, plutonium show up here. How? What is making these reactions on a stellar surface? Sagan had a thought on this.
www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/15/p...
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Przybylski’s Star: Still Bizarre After All These Years | Centauri Dreams
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2026/05/15/przybylskis-star-still-bizarre-after-all-these-years/
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I think my greatest flaw as a science communicator is that I’m simply more interested in research. There’s a ton of stuff I know I should do, optimizing thumbnails, hiring producers, diving into YT analytics and just churning out more content, but I’m constantly called to research…
about 2 months ago
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David Kipping
Andy Saunders - Apollo Remastered
about 2 months ago
This is incredible. The new NASA image release from
#Artemis
includes a sequence of 'Hello World' still photographs. I've been processing / animating them and here's what the original didn't show us: Satellites, including their solar arrays, lightning storms and dancing aurora!
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New paper
arxiv.org/abs/2605.02969
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The Catastrophic Consequences of Agnosticism for Life Searches and a Possible Workaround
Planned and ongoing searches for life, both biological and technological, confront an epistemic barrier concerning false positives - namely, that we don't know what we don't know. The most defensible ...
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.02969
about 2 months ago
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With the two-hour marathon now broken, I wondered: how fast could humans ultimately run a marathon? Between a simple exponential and a stretched exponential model, the latter is favored implying humans could run 1h47m (!) one day (assuming same rules/no cheating).
about 2 months ago
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I have a big new research paper on an epidemic problem we don’t discuss enough in astrobiology. Currently in review but I couldn’t wait to share so here is the video, paper should land on the arXiv next few days.
youtu.be/u3HLrDkMRXY
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Why We Might NEVER Detect Alien Life
YouTube video by Cool Worlds
https://youtu.be/u3HLrDkMRXY
about 2 months ago
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Fund NASA science or we’re demoting it again to comet.
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2 months ago
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David Kipping
The Verge
2 months ago
Trump fires the entire National Science Board
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Trump fires the entire National Science Board
Federal funding for scientific research was already in turmoil.
https://buff.ly/k5oax5w
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Sam Gregson
2 months ago
The latest Science Counterpunch just landed! 👊 This week we chatted to Prof "Cool Worlds"
@davidkipping.bsky.social
about engaging sceptical audiences, how to better communicate physics and how scientists should engage massive influencers. Don't miss it! Link:
youtube.com/watch?v=aT3S...
⚛️🧪
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“Allan variance”
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2 months ago
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David Kipping
depths of wikipedia
3 months ago
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Casey Dreier
3 months ago
Don't miss my new op-ed on how space science is getting demoted to hitchhiker status at NASA:
spacenews.com/put-science-...
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Put science back in the driver’s seat
Put science back in the driver’s seat
https://spacenews.com/put-science-back-in-the-drivers-seat/
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Possibly my favorite part of my recent interview with
@chrislintott.bsky.social
youtube.com/shorts/tdL65...
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3I/ATLAS and Avi Loeb
YouTube video by Cool Worlds Podcast
https://youtube.com/shorts/tdL656yI44A?feature=share
3 months ago
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#CoolWorlds
Podcast Episode 32 is now live!
@chrislintott.bsky.social
on Technosignatures, Citizen Science, Scicomm
youtu.be/qI3DAXM0-do
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#32 Chris Lintott - Technosignatures, Citizen Science, Scicomm
YouTube video by Cool Worlds Podcast
https://youtu.be/qI3DAXM0-do
3 months ago
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Love will always win
3 months ago
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I love all the astronauts but is it ok to have favorites in Glover and Koch?
3 months ago
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NASA Flew by the Moon, but Behind the Scenes, Its Science Is a Chaotic Mess
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/o...
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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/opinion/nasa-climate-science-earth.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
3 months ago
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3 months ago
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Let’s goooooo!
3 months ago
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David Kipping
Michael Brown
3 months ago
Reflect Orbital finally have some numbers for their underwhelming service. 50 Watts per square metre for 20 minutes* in 2030 if they launch 5000+ satellites. This requires 750 satellites and if they charge $5000 per satellite per hour then this will cost just $750,000.
www.reflectorbital.com
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“There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that, if you will only legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, their prosperity will leak through on those below.”
3 months ago
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David Kipping
ESO
3 months ago
A new solar system in the making? For the second time ever, two planets have been directly observed forming around a host star. Our VLT and VLTI have helped astronomers confirm the presence of a second gas giant orbiting the star WISPIT 2. More:
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2604/
🔭 🧪
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Are Wormholes Actually Possible?
youtu.be/z90spjws6z8
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Are Wormholes Actually Possible?
YouTube video by Cool Worlds
https://youtu.be/z90spjws6z8
3 months ago
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You have to feel sorry for folks who study the Epstein regime...
arxiv.org/abs/2603.15810
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Experimental evidence for granular shear-flow instability in the Epstein regime
Stability analysis of two-fluid protoplanetary disc models has enriched our understanding of how solids can grow into larger bodies called planetesimals. Dust particles entrained in a gas stream modif...
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.15810
3 months ago
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David Kipping
Royal Astronomical Society
4 months ago
The RAS is alarmed by the threat to ground-based astronomy posed by proposals put forward by Elon Musk's SpaceX and Reflect Orbital. We have opposed the plans with
@eso.org
and the International Astronomical Union. Find out more at:
ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
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David Kipping
George Monbiot
4 months ago
The additional cost of ONE fossil fuel price spike on the scale of 2022 = the ENTIRE COST of Net Zero by 2050. We get precisely nothing in return for the first cost, and a whole new, more secure and cheaper energy system from the second one.
#NoBrainer
www.theccc.org.uk/2026/03/11/c...
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Cost of Net Zero by 2050 less than a single fossil fuel price shock – CCC - Climate Change Committee
The independent, statutory body tested its cost and energy security conclusions against different scenarios. It found that the total additional cost of a single fossil fuel price spike of 2022 magnitu...
https://www.theccc.org.uk/2026/03/11/cost-of-net-zero-by-2050-less-than-a-single-fossil-fuel-price-shock-ccc/
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David Kipping
Jeremy Berg
4 months ago
6/10
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David Kipping
Roger Freedman
4 months ago
For
#WomensHistoryMonth
: Let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Sally Ride (1951-2012), Ph.D. physicist, educator, and the first U.S. woman in space. As a member of the Rogers Commission, she helped bring to light the O-ring failure that led to the Challenger disaster. 🎢⚛️⭐️🔭🧪🪐 1/3
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let it be known that my achilles heel is cadbury mini eggs
4 months ago
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One thing I’m seeing is that AI appears to be perceived by many as an increasingly political topic, whereas a decade ago it was largely one of technology alone. Both statements of critique and praise for such systems are becoming seen as latently partisan, much like climate science experienced.
4 months ago
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