[Admin] Schwarze Löcher, Satelliten und Sternexplosionen! Begrüßt unsere neue Kuratorin @vicgrinberg.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy! realscientistsde.blogspot.com/2025/10/schw...

On my way to Brussels to kick off the new European SCALES network which brings together people working on superfluid physics across laboratory and astrophysical scales (yes the name was intended ... very proud of coming up with that acronym 🤣).

The Astronomy group @royalholloway.bsky.social is organising the annual meeting of the UK #neutronstar community this week. We've already seen so much great science from our UK colleagues 🤩 and international collaborators and there are still several more days to go.

In London today to kick off a collaboration with the Research Software Engineering group at UCL who will help me and the new team working on my FLF project write better software. Really excited about this.

Explaining neutron stars... using eggs 🌟 This simple experiment, demonstrated by @drvgraber.bsky.social of our Department of Physics, is a neat way of conveying the complex makeup and movement of neutron stars. Recently, Dr Graber conducted this on an episode of 'The Sky at Night' on BBC Four.

In London today at the Royal Astronomical Society to give a lecture on "ML Approaches to Radio Astronomy" for the annual STFC Intro to Astronomy Summer School organised by UCL. Really excited to be here 🤩

Want to learn some amazing facts about #neutronstars? Alex Andersson, Kaustubh Rajwade, Adriana Dias and Lucie Robbins have a few more exciting pulsar tidbits for you 🤩. #SkyAtNight @royalholloway.bsky.social

First apple crumble cake of the season with apples from our own little tree. Awesome flavour 🤩

Want to hear the wonderful Jocelyn Bell Burnell talk about her discovery of pulsars, the struggles of minorities in science and see me spin some eggs 😄? Then this month's #SkyAtNight episode is for you www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... Including some wonderful shots of @royalholloway.bsky.social

En route back home from a wonderful three-day leadership retreat with 19 other @ukri.org Future Leader Fellows in Manchester. We've shared so many great ideas and conversations. But mainly leaving with a sense of optimism about the future of research and HE, which I haven't felt in a long time.

I spun and cracked some eggs today... all in the name of science 🤩. A great end to this week.

Really looking forward to a week of full on radio astronomy in Görlitz for the 2025 SKAO Science Meeting. So much incredible science will be possible with this new radio telescope #skao2025

It's been a few really busy and exciting weeks on the science front, and we can finally share that our European network grant for SCALES ("Superfluid Condensates in Astrophysics and Laboratory ExperimentS") has been funded. So happy about this one www.cost.eu/actions/CA24...

Here's another shocking infographic made by @planetarysociety.bsky.social that shows the impact of the 2025 presidential budget cuts on almost 20 successful space missions. The scale of US tax-payer-funded investment waste is really unprecedented.

A wonderful and exciting week in Trento is coming to and end. We talked all things superfluid from neutron stars to helium and cold-atom system. Bringing together theorists and experimentslists. Always great to be back in the old villa with an awesome view of the mountains.

Finally having some much needed few days off and taking the opportunity to introduce a bunch of Germans to hot cross buns. Everyone approved.

𝗡𝗼, 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝟮-𝟭𝟴𝗯'𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. K2-18b is back in the news, now with a bold claim that biosignature molecules (DMS and/or DMDS) have been 'detected at 3σ'. Most exoplanet astronomers are extremely sceptical about these claims, let's see why (1/n). 🔭🧪🪐 #exoplanet

A serendipitous discovery illuminates the kinds of objects that might bridge the gap between pulsars and long-period radio transients. aasnova.org/2025/04/11/a... @ozgrav.bsky.social 🔭🧪

My little Saturday morning contribution to Astronomy outreach

Writing and reading emails really is the main productivity killer of academics .... I've literally done nothing else for 2 days. How on earth is this possible?!?! And I appreciate that 50% of these were necessary. But the rest definitely wasn't 😵‍💫.

Astronomers! One of the best things about the old astro-Twitter was that there was frequent discussion of the latest research. The new AstroSci feed is the perfect place to have this kind of science discussion! ☄️ If you see a cool paper - post about it!

Thanking the universe for helpful and competent sysadmins today. Makes running simulations on a computing cluster infinitely easier.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ Only one week left to apply for the two postdoc positions I am currently advertising. DL 28 February.

Finally had some time yesterday to build a little book nook I got for Christmas. Such a wonderful present.

Reading expressions of interest for the next round of RHUL FLFs today. 2 take aways: (i) Sooo much exciting research. I'd love to sit down with each person & have a chat about their work. (ii) Incredible how much about grant writing one learns doing this. Definitely recommend, if you get the chance.

This Thursday, I am hosting an event called CIENCIA EN ESPAÑOL for the community, not just scientists, to have researchers talk about their science in Spanish. There is a Zoom option, so please share it widely!

The deadline for PhD applications at Royal Holloway is coming up next week (31 Jan). Sharing this again for anyone interested in working on neutron star science with me.

Glasgow has been showing its pretty (and surprisingly dry) side these past few days. Spent two days at the 2025 meeting for the UK Quantum Technology for Fundamental Physics (QTFP) community. Way out of my comfort zone 😅 but I learnt a lot about some really cool quantum science.

Well, big news. I am planning to move the Space Library to a new home. And I need some help - in 35 years I've never asked for funding, donations or subscriptions for my Space Report, to keep it independent, but now I need to raise some additional funds. www.gofundme.com/f/fund-jonat...

It's been a meh kind of day where nothing got ticked off on the to-do list. BUT I gave a webinar for the UK Quantum Fluids network about hiccups in #neutronstars and that was lots of fun. Interdisciplinary science always cheers me up 😊. Will post a link for anyone interested once the talk is online.

Folks who follow me but aren’t astronomers—you might not realize how MANY astronomers live in Pasadena—home to JPL, CalTech, & Carnegie Observatories, among others. Of 3 close friends, at least 2 have lost their houses. Many non-astronomers (including support staff like janitors) have also. 1/

Spending today at the Royal Astronomical Society in London as a panelist at the "Gravitational Wave Analysis in the Era of Machine Learning" specialist discussion. Lots of useful and critical conversations already. ras.ac.uk/events-and-m...

I am looking to hire a PhD student at Swinburne University to study the links between pulsars, magnetars and fast radio bursts! If you or anyone you know may be interested, then please feel free to reach out to me via email. #Astronomy #RadioAstronomy astronomy.swin.edu.au/study/phdpro...

🌟🌟 Are you or anyone you know interested in doing interdisciplinary neutron star research? I am looking to hire 2 POSTDOCS to join me at RHUL in October 2025. One post will focus on cosmic superfluidity, the other on radio pulsar timing. Application deadline is 28 February 2025. More details below.

Best thing to do on a gray, rainy day ... look at some wonderful space-related art in St Albans cathedral. Museum of the Moon by Luke Jerram.

First (and probably only) round of Christmas cookies I'll get to this year but I am very much looking forward to eating those next week 🤩

I survived my first +4hr department board meeting this morning and then co-ran a +3hr computing workshop for some of our PhD students this afternoon ... I think it's time to call it a day 😴.

So much ... every single day. Brought to you today by "I'd like to do some actual science but instead I am thinking of what to do about a workshop invitee list of +50 people that doesn't seem to have a single women on it."

Spent two wonderful days in Manchester visiting the pulsar group. We had so many great chats about neutron stars and new projects. After what feels like months (or even years) of proposal and job application writing and dealing with admin tasks, I am so excited to finally get back to doing science.

A bit of Sunday live sports entertainment at Twickenham #ENGJPN. The main reason my significant other is happy that we are back in the UK 😄.

LISA wird das erste Gravitationswellen-Observatorium im All sein und als gigantisches Interferometer Abstandsänderungen zwischen in den Satelliten messen. Wie das funktioniert, verrät euch Gudrun Wanner vom AEI heute Abend um 19 Uhr live bei Astro & Co 🔭 www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAj1...

First day in over 3 weeks that I got to see the sun and now the stars. Can't believe that I've forgotten how bleak and grey the UK autumn can be.

Want to learn about an exciting new laboratory analogue of the interiors of superfluid neutron stars, then this article is for you www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-s...

🌟🌟 If you or anyone else you know is interested in doing a PhD in neutron star astrophysics and working with me, I am currently looking for 2 PhD students to join me at Royal Holloway for the 2025/2026 academic year. Application deadline is 31 January 2025. More info on the two projects below.

New paper just published 🥳: We used 3D numerical simulations to model the response of the superfluid neutron star interior to a sudden spin-up (a so-called glitch) for the first time in the full sphere. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Ever wondered what happens when the radio beam of a pulsar passes through the magnetic field of another pulsar? Well, wonder no more! arxiv.org/abs/2410.12510 Our observations also directly confirm that neutron star magnetic fields are filled with electrons and their anti-matter counterparts! 🔭🧪📡

A little (or rather big 😄) personal update: I was recently awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship and today was my first day at Royal Holloway, University of London. Seeing that sign on my new office door felt like such a massive achievement. Here's to more exciting neutron star science 🥳.

Our department is hiring! Please share with folks you know who are looking for a *permanent* teaching faculty position, in either astronomy or physics. Apply at careers.olemiss.edu/job/Universi... 🧪⚛️🔭

Nothing better than the smell of fresh bread.