The bit I love about astronomical observations is the potential to find the unexpected. This is a result that's not on my bingo card for occultation studies. A research group in Japan has found a Kuiper belt object with a tenuous atmosphere that shouldn't be there, but it is.

Kom vanavond met verhalen hoe de oorlog is verdwenen en vertel ze duizend malen. Alle malen zal ik wenen. Leo Vroman

Very glad to welcome @pedrorueda.bsky.social in our reading room and to have him discuss his ongoing research as part of his Nottebohm fellowship!

Thomas H Huxley was born OTD in 1825. The idea of “warfare” between science and religion is suspect, but it works for H. Protestantism lacks “a trace of any desire to set reason free. The most that can be discovered is a proposal to change masters” from the Pope to the Bible. 🧪🌱🐋 #HistSTM #EvoBio

Yes, Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky coined the term “dark matter” which is impressive, but he also coined the term “spherical bastard” to describe people who are bastards no matter which way you look at them, and I think that should be celebrated more.

Chemist Helen Murray Free revolutionized diagnostic medicine by co-developing the first dip-&-read test strip for monitoring glucose in urine. Her work transformed diabetes management, allowing people to monitor their glucose at home rather than w/lab tests. She was born #OTD in 1923. #WomenInSTEM

My grad student João Covolan is organizing a nice workshop in Florence. Spread the word! Tuscany and the Iberian Empires. Migration and Knowledge Transmission in the Early Modern Period (30 October 2026, Florence) www.medici.org/cfp-tuscany-...

I gather Kit was on Start the Week today discussing his new book on alchemy, which seems a good reason to give it a shout out. It's hugely enjoyable as well as deeply researched. profilebooks.com/work/the-age...

Used the extra day off to finish this excellent book on Gutenberg and book printing. Highly recommended! #HPS #hst

Op je verjaardag Willem!

- "This story about resistance is beautiful, but how does it end?" - "It continues!" Buon anniversario della liberazione, amici ed amiche. Sotto l'ombra di un bel fiore.

Finished Candice Millard’s Destiny of the Republic; a fascinating political and medical history (And scientific for Alexander Bell’s attempt to find the bullet).

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched on this date in 1990. Here's a look at the observatory's impressive legacy. #astronomy

We have finally completed the digitization of this unique work, so as of now it is available online for all #earlymodern #rarebooks #bookhistory people to enjoy! ☞ dams1.antwerpen.be/asset/KIataT...

A first edition of Galileo’s Dialogo as seen in Villa Farnesina in Rome.

Spotted today: L’Amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle #Rome

I rented a car on the weekend and was reminded of this great @mattsurelee cartoon. This is exactly what the Europcar counter looked like at Sydney airport 🤣🤣🤣

The Pantheon; an astonishing building.

Charles Darwin died on this day in 1882. All sorts of info regarding his funeral a week later at Westminster Abbey can be had at this page from @darwin-online.bsky.social: darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialInt...

Last week I suggested that maybe Donald Trump was not quite all there. I would like to revise that opinion. I think he may be what we used to call stark raving bonkers. app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/73055/...

Erasmus Darwin, Midlands Enlightenment thinker, physician, inventor, abolitionist, died #OTD 1802; founding member of Lunar Society (with Watt, Boulton & Wedgwood), grandfather of Charles Darwin, friend of Benjamin Franklin. An Experiment 1768 by Wright of Derby Portrait 1770 Birmingham AG - ALT

this song turns 50 years old today.

Not necessarily my favorite unit of measurement, but definitely the strangest and most flexible unit: the don-percentage; changes whenever you want to, can be negative when mentioned as positive, whatever you like! @andrechemist.bsky.social @atrupar.com

I now own a fuzzy logic rice cooker… Curious what the fuzzy logic part means.

Make It Myself xkcd.com/3233/

Jesuit, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, author of the monumental Almagestum Novum (1651), was born 17 April 1598 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2024/07/10/a...

Book Review: thonyc.wordpress.com/2026/04/15/a...

Old style train timetable in Ceske Velenice (Czech republic)

Renaissance, Dutch cartographer, Abraham Ortelius was born 14 April 1527 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/a...

Dutch, mathematician, astronomer, physicist, Christiaan Huygens, was born 14 April 1629 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/t...

Current status of the Strait of Hormuz dispute

Sterfdag Primo Levi (1919-1987). De Italiaanse chemicus schreef een zeer aangrijpende Auschwitzgetuigenis, 'Is dit een mens'. In het boek onderzoekt hij met ingehouden emoties in hoeverre het bestaan van slachtoffers en daders nog menswaardig genoemd kan worden.

My project for the last year, Orbital Studies Issue № 0 is available now! Orbital Studies is a literary science magazine. We publish writing and art in service of a more beautiful scientific culture. Includes work from @philipcball.bsky.social, @spencer.place, Michael Levin... orbitalstudies.com

The Moon is different now. It looks totally new! And I look at it *a lot* so you can trust me. I am grateful to my editors at @theatlantic.com for letting me say a few things about what Artemis II has meant this week. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...

This morning:

Before Artemis II, there was to have been #dearMoon. A 🧵

The Artemis II crew's amazing images are the latest in a series of human observations of the moon, reaching back to Galileo in 1610, who published the first images of the moon based on telescopic observation. Our copy comes from the library of Astronomer Royal John Couch Adams (Adams.5.61.1).

Weather update from Pincher Creek, AB

Reid Wiseman on #Artemis II: "We have Earth out window 4 and Moon out window 3... the Moon is about 3-4 times the size of the Earth and it is almost full, and the Earth is just a small crescent out there... it's magnificent... such a majestic view out here" Mission Control: "Amaze, amaze, amaze!"

My favourite author Paul Koudounaris has a new book out on 19th-century railroad dogs. He came across the material while researching another book & decided to give these stories to readers for free. In these pages, their restless spirits are granted a well-deserved immortality. shorturl.at/Cs20x

Finished Julian Barnes’ Departure(s); absolutely brilliant.

Coming soon to a library near me-This new annotated edition of From the Earth to the Moon! It's edited by @anaklimchy.bsky.social (who taught the great #JulesVerne class I took @rosenbachmuseum.bsky.social) & features essays by @jordanbimm.bsky.social, @older.bsky.social & @historyasif.bsky.social.

They are rising!

For someone that is actually half German, I am mildly disappointed. But as I am not autistic; let’s move on 😅

Flat Earth - finally proved 🤘 @flatearthsociety.bsky.social

Baby steps, but still.

For anyone interested in the history of science this is a wonderful article. Mathematics, science and the arts had not separated out into the different disciplines we know today.The interconnections described here are fascinating.

William Harvey, influential English physician, FRCP, born #OTD 1578, described full circulation of blood in landmark work De Motu Cordis (1628); Physician to James I & Charles I, Warden of Merton College Oxford. Portrait after Daniel Mytens, National Portrait Gallery | @bodleian.ox.ac.uk