This year's gingerbread is the Vera Rubin Observatory! @vrubinobs.bsky.social

Thread of my Christmas gingerbreads 🌌⬇️

New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Optimal intrinsic alignment estimators in the presence of redshift-space distortions" by Claire Lamman (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Jonathan Blazek (Ohio State U.) and Daniel J. Eisenstein (Northeastern U.) doi.org/10.33232/001...

Happy Thanksgiving :) @desisurvey.bsky.social

Another full paper annotation! I LOVE this one - be sure to read through the end. The drawings of a star trying to make a hole in the nebula cracked me up👷

Even in the middle of Columbus ❤️

Halloween is also #DarkMatterDay! 🎃🌌 Celebrate the invisible forces that shape our universe with @zacksavitsky.bsky.social, @clairelamman.bsky.social, and @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social. Studying the origins, elements, and mysteries of the cosmos — connects us all: youtu.be/xbrom_qFwsA #scicomm 💫

Congratulations to the 2025 winners of the National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications given by @nationalacademies.org in partnership with @schmidtsciences.bsky.social ! Learn more about the winners: www.nationalacademies.org/news/2025/10... #scicomm

Another full paper annotation, done in TWO languages!! Really nice job @astroaure.bsky.social !

Are you from one of these states? Then we need your help to save American science! The Senate Appropriations Committee will be marking up the President's Budget Request for science on Wednesday. People have been saying the proposed cuts "decimated" US science, but that's wrong: they are apocalyptic

Happy 4th! I made a patriotic pie, celebrating America's leadership in space sciences (historically).

Someone please talk me out of this impulse buy so I can view the @vrubinobs.bsky.social images.

My article was just published! A few people have already told me how much they appreciate seeing a change from the local narrative. Major kudos to the McClintock Letters organizers for a well-coordinated and impactful program. www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/2025/06/13/c...

This is an excellent high-impact initiative! All scientists should consider sharing their stories in hometown papers.

Just finished 22nd grade :)

Science news outlets need cartoons.

Every single one of you reading this have benefitted from publicly funded science in a thousand ways. This cannot be the end. Carl Sagan called science a "candle in the dark." It is up to all of us to make sure that candle does not go out.

🚨 DESI High is back! 🚀🌌 High school students in Mexico & Spain recently explored the universe using real data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. 🔭💻

I did it!

Friends, I am defending tomorrow!! Anyone is welcome to watch the public talk, which will be streamed here at 1pm EST (May 2): youtube.com/live/Kybv2Zs...

A short, fun video about my science communication. I'm considering using only edible chalkboards in the future...

Week 32:

I have a paper out today! I'll be honest, this one is really aimed at a handful of people in my field. But I did manage to make a paper annotation that a wider audience might enjoy (linked in the arXiv comments section). arxiv.org/abs/2504.16076

Week 30: I think my defense will be a natural end to these weekly jokes. So... only 2 more left!!

Free idea: a website where you enter the name of your disease/injury/condition/procedure and get shirts, stickers, signs, etc. with “NIH grant number X saved my life.”

Fantastic time discussing whether the latest blockbuster cosmology results really do show that Dark Energy is evolving! Brilliant explanations from @clairelamman.bsky.social , @tamarastro.bsky.social and @justshaun.bsky.social Check it out! Full talk: youtu.be/reNicLW2vpY?... 🧪⚛️

DESI's DR2 BAO results are out!! TL;DR... 1/n @desisurvey.bsky.social

My favorite article I've read covering the DESI results. Well written and a great glimpse into the human side :) www.scientificamerican.com/article/froz...

LCDM doesn't seem that robust anymore. Is it a problem with the model? Is it a problem with the data? Why does LCDM seem to break in this funny degeneration precisely crossing LCDM? Interesting times ahead!! Looking forward to new @desisurvey.bsky.social releases. Credit: @clairelamman.bsky.social

DESI's DR2 BAO results are out!! TL;DR... 1/n @desisurvey.bsky.social

Week 24: #ParkerSolarProbe

Submissions are being accepted until March 31 for the awards for excellence in science communication given by @nationalacademies.org in partnership with @schmidtsciences.bsky.social which honor science communicators, journalists, and researchers. Apply now: www.nationalacademies.org/awards/excel...

This is devastating. I am a scientist because of the REU program. It gave me a chance to experience what it was like to be a researcher, and to show myself and others that I was good at it!

DESI is on bluesky now!! Follow to get the latest on dark energy and making the largest map of the Universe 🔭🧪

Professors please pull up a chair. I’ve been talking to my classes about what has been going on. I explained indirect costs to them. I talked to them about what a probationary employee is in the government. At the end of class they asked if we could talk about it more. (1/)

If you’re in the US and you’d like to know what projects and vital services federal grants currently fund in your state, you can search here: www.usaspending.gov And you can find the contact information for your elected representatives here: www.usa.gov/elected-offi... They need to hear from you.

I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service. “Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.

Another wonderful paper summary!

President Jimmy Carter’s legacy lives on among the stars. In 1977, the then-president penned this three-paragraph letter that was included with my Golden Records, a message cast into the cosmos.

I like all things astronomy and cosmology so followed you. Came for the gingerbread, stayed for the science.

My gingerbread for this year. Merry Christmas and happy Voyages to all!!

DESI made Quanta's top spot for biggest physics breakthrough of 2024!

fantastic piece discussing the evolving role of scholars/scientists www.nationalacademies.org/news/2024/06...

Dark, rich, and serene They think my joy comes from space But it's chocolate

Turns out JPL also made a model of Curiosity!! 7/10. Pretty accurate but tastes awful.

I’ve seen some posts recently, about the value of basic research, in light of funding cuts and demands that research have immediate economic justification. Let me collect some info here, in a thread, about why it’s a bad idea to attach those sorts of demands to funding. 🧵 🧪 ⚛️

True story

My gingerbreads from the last four years. Any recommendations for this year's?

Like all good jokes, this one requires a detailed explanation /n