7. Troublemaker, by El Lissitzky, 1913

Back from a quick but lovely visit to the UCSD astronomy department!

“I have asked the clergy of the diocese to make sure their affairs are in order and they have written their wills.,not the time for statements. It is time to put our bodies between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable”. Rob Hirschfeld, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire

✨ Andy Tzanidakis (Univ of Washington) chats about his article on stars with irregular, aperiodic luminosity dimming events & where the science goes next: youtu.be/z0th9YvNgCo 🔭 The AAS Journal Author Series connects authors w/their research, their human stories & the broader astronomy community.

Spot the cosmic imposters! 🔍 Help fine-tune NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s alert system and figure out which detected changes in the sky are cosmic events vs. imposters with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse🧐 Join now: zooniverse.org/rubin 🔭🧪

Hrg over. Cruz and Cantwell both said they hope the nomination will clear the Senate by the end of the year. Markey honed in again on Isaacman's relationship w/Musk. Several stressed need to support science and aero. Isaacman said sci, aero, tech just as impt as human spcflt.

I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.

My family policy of "no Roblox, ever, under any circumstance" is looking pretty solid.

I had to add pelvic floor stretches to my "getting older" regimen a few years ago, so this was very interesting to read.

Some false reports are circulating that Mt. Rainier is suddenly showing seismic tremor activity — this is not true. The signal being referenced is actually radio interference, most likely due to rime ice buildup on the antenna of one of our seismic stations.

Something’s a little sus… 👀 Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨ Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍 👉 zooniverse.org/rubin

AAG submitted to sponsored research! This one has gone through the rock tumbler several times and is certainly polished; let's hope it's exciting enough to get over the hump this time.

Well, instead of going to San Diego to give a nice talk I'm going to stay in rainy Seattle and have COVID in the basement 😑

I'm still watching this four days later, it's weirdly compelling. 14 people have been doing a lap an hour every hour for the last 89 hours. Every X:55 they stagger in, grab a drink, and line up again... www.youtube.com/@backyardult...

Because, look. Print order is a choice. No one obliges you to print a guy going “I like Bartletts for this” and then immediately, no space in between, have two other cooks going “if you don’t use Bosc pears you might as well piss in it”. You choose to do that. And I’m very glad for it.

There's a livestream! www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx7S...

~ 1000 astro bachelors degrees given out last year, a new record, while most grad programs are planning to admit fewer students this year (due to reduced or uncertain federal funding).

Wrapping up a very nice visit to the Yale Astronomy Department. Lots of lovely discussions about Rubin, ZTF, compact binaries, and much more!

Really stoked that dear family friend Steve Joo has been named one of @foodandwine.com's Best New Chefs for 2025. If you are in the Bay Area, check out www.joodooboo.co! www.foodandwine.com/2025-best-ne...

Yes but I, personally, was young then

ZTF 🔭 is now shadowing the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Science Validation survey footprint with a daily cadence in gri! www.wis-tns.org/astronotes/a... I made a "watchmap" for the Lasair broker that for all ZTF alerts falling in this region: lasair-ztf.lsst.ac.uk/watchmaps/568/

So the Grand Canyon is on fire...

Trump’s ‘Gold Standard’ for Science Manufactures Doubt - The Atlantic www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Yesterday, astrophysicist Eric Bellm told us about his involvement with the groundbreaking Vera Rubin Observatory, as well as the astonishing things this #telescope could achieve in the coming years. 🔭 Watch at buff.ly/RcmRZEy

Just finished rereading Jane Smiley's 1995 university satire "Moo." Highly recommended for academics looking for a diversion this summer. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/168699...

Senate markup is tomorrow, call call call! 🔭 www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/ful...

3I/ATLAS now recovered back to May 22 (mag 20.5 in g) in ZTF imagery, thanks Quanzhi Ye. In the latest MPEC

Build it! Everyone should learn the joy of changing trains at Park Street. This is what peak transit system design looks like. Seattle to San Francisco? Just go Inbound to Park St and change trains to go Outbound to San Francisco! Nothing could be simpler!

Full house at @dirac-institute.bsky.social for our @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 sprint! 🔭

We had a lot of fun last night with 500 of our friends and neighbors, celebrating the First Look images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social, and 20 years of vision and effort from our team at UW

🔭 Friendly advice for astronomers in the US and Chile--if you are excited to access @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 on Monday, request your account *now*--it has to get approved by a human. For best results use your university single-sign on, if available. rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...

Two decades after RCSA’s catalytic investment in the project, we are thrilled to see first images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social‬! Looking forward to igniting further discovery at #Scialog: Early Science with the LSST.

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

Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...

A tour-de-force intro to @vrubinobs.bsky.social 🔭 by @danclery.bsky.social‬ with some awesome graphics and quotes from many colleagues and friends!

Congrats to Dr. @tomwagg.bsky.social, who successfully defended his excellent PhD dissertation today!

Somehow, 25 years after its release, elementary school kids today are still finding and loving "Who Let the Dogs Out" www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojUL...

“The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — hardly a partisan institution — finds that nondefense government R&D yields long-run economic returns of 150% to 300% …“Our findings therefore point to a misallocation of public capital, and substantial underinvestment in nondefense R&D.”

Whether an individual student uses ChatGPT or not, I think any remaining value of their college degree as an employment credential is about to evaporate.

RIP to the few bucks of Skype credit I've been laboriously keeping active for the past 9 years

Wrapping up a great visit to @thenrao.bsky.social--I learned a ton, got to talk to folks about @vrubinobs.bsky.social, and ate lots of excellent New Mexican food!

v excited to see this work from @astrobonk.bsky.social on the arXiv !! In this, Rebecca Kyer + report the discovery of two Galactic accreting compact objects consistent with being transitional millisecond pulsars !! I worked on this optical variability plot with Rebecca !! 🧪🔭☄️ #highenergyastro

Yay SPHEREx! 🔭

Excited to see the science these talented folks are planning with @vrubinobs.bsky.social! Early-career faculty can join us for the 2025 edition of the LSST Scialog meeting series by self-nominating here: rescorp.org/scialog/earl... 🔭

Just wrapping up a lovely week in Oxford talking with the Lasair team and other European brokers about @vrubinobs.bsky.social. Many great discussions and a memorable conference dinner!

Attention #AAS245! 🔭

If you’re in the fire zone in pasadena and need a place to evacuate, let me know. We also have our rental south of Washington with lots of space

This program at MPIA (applications due Jan 15) is open to all nationalities and two positions are guaranteed to folks from non-rich countries. www.mpia.de/en/careers/i...