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"Out here stars were perforations revealing the bleached skeleton of the universe through a collection of tiny holes. And surrounded by these silent trees, beside a calming fire, I watched the bones dance." —Cherie Dimaline, "The Marrow Thieves"

Yet, how have #nightscapes changed since then (1979)? 🌌🌃 #LightPollution #ArtificialLight #ALAN #Night #Darkness #TransformingNight

In ancient Mesopotamia, astronomers needed to know the moon’s position, even on a cloudy night. So they made records and calculations of the moon’s positions and velocity measured in degrees. This record from Uruk or Babylon from the Seleucid period covers 248 days. 📸 by Dr K. Wagensonner

If anyone is curious about the current list of search terms being used by right wing activist organizations to harass university professors, here's a public records request I received today from Mike Howell of the Heritage Foundation. Not intimidating or meant to curtail by my speech at all, right?

A fungus called Cladosporium sphaerospermum thrives at Chernobyl: “Some scientists think its dark pigment—melanin—may allow it to harness ionizing radiation through a process similar to the way plants harness light for photosynthesis. This proposed mechanism is even referred to as radiosynthesis.”

The compounding crises + cruelties of cutting Medicaid, vilifying + deporting the immigrants providing (poorly) paid eldercare, denying accommodations to family caregivers who must pause their own lives, and creating a world into which fewer ppl want to bring children — our future support networks

This is gross, and also a great reminder to everyone to *get everything personal off your work devices* always and forever. Yes, it is annoying to have things separate. Also, it is important.

{cough cough}

i saw a relic of this at my uni in 2015; the three story computer science building on my campus had one womens' restroom, which was an unmarked retrofitted janitors closet.

Biopolitics, 💩 version (And, yes, it's shitty)

Enshittification is depressing Everything that was cool is struggling to survive or has become a deranged version of itself And it’s everywhere. Ugh

The emerging dominant phrase, "AI slop," is giving pig slop a bad name. 🐷🐖🐽

More wise advice. More and-not-but beyond depressing that teaching has come to this.

Wise advice and-not-but beyond depressing that teaching has come to this.

Important thread, from a professor who understands the assignment.

thought provoking and i think i might try this next semester

What does the fox say?🦊 Today, we’re showing off our favorite pictures of culpeo foxes we’ve spotted around Cerro Pachón, home of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. 📸 💡Fun fact: While these little guys look like foxes (and are called foxes), they’re actually more closely related to wolves and jackals!🔭

You just died. The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.

I love this

I've been no contact with my family for almost 17 years. It's hard to talk about estrangement because so many people will tell you to reconcile with your family. If you are in a similar situation, I am happy to listen and commiserate.

NEW from me - NSF cancels grant scheme for social science research. Seems the NSF quietly archived ALL calls for DDRIG grants in the SBE directorate. This is a massive blow for PhD students wanting to do cutting-edge social science research. 🏺🧪

That or snorting

You should try using AI to speed up the process…

As we go through your replies and show off the skills behind your favorite dishes, you can help us protect farm workers with a #Thanksgiving donation: act.seiu.org/a/thanksgivi... or paypal.com/paypalme/ufw... #WeFeedYou

As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store. Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.

This is true. It is the best email I got this year.

Command obeyed! Anyone on your list wanna know how an almost forgotten disease is bound w. histories of nutrition, obstetrics, environmental, ethics, and more? They need “Starved For Light,” and maybe some cod liver oil. Now 30% off with code HOLIDAY25 from: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Academics need to tell families and friends, especially at holidays, that there are forbidden questions: How's that book coming? Oh, you are still working on that book? Does it usually take that long? How much money will you make?

What do you see in this image? I see #ArtificialLight #ALAN #LightPollution 🌃 #TransformingNight

Ripe sources to cultivate by #envhist #histsci #aghist 《🦆s》

Read the entire 🧵 This this this this this this this this this this this this this this this this Did I say this?

It is gut-wrenching to watch even if it's going right.

Turkey w herbes de provence Homemade sourdough, celery, mushroom, onion, garlic, walnut stuffing Sorta mashed potatoes w peels Gravy Homemade orange-ginger cranberry sauce (also an excellent glaze) NEW* shaved brussels sprouts salad w apple, dried cranberries, mustard cider dressing *for crunch

City Lights and Atmospheric Glow #Science #EarthSciences #Meteorology #UrbanClimate #AtmosphericScience #LightPollution

The night sky is not the only marvel of the Atacama Desert. One example? The Licancabur volcano, one of the great gatekeepers of ALMA. 5920 m high, it‘s part of a chain of mountains that separate Chile and Bolivia 🌋 https://www.eso.org/public/images/licancabur-yuri/  🔭

Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.

If you want to know more about light pollution see @sarabpritchard.bsky.social new book!

"Nursing home magnate"? That phrase is nauseating on its own. 🤢🤮

We depend on our supporters to be able to pay our grad student & precarious contributors honoraria. Make sure we don't have to make cuts to this program in 2026 by supporting our annual fundraiser today. fundrazr.com/niche2025?re... #envhist #envhum #cdnhist #histgeog

Gameday voting on which school has the most faculty in the Epstein Files

Timeline cleanse: welcoming fall chum salmon home to Piper’s Creek in Seattle, WA.

Some of Earth’s darkest skies are at risk. New industrial projects near Chile’s Atacama Desert could blind ESO’s world-class telescopes. What happens when our best eyes into space start losing vision? 🌒 Story: www.skyatnightmagazine.com/news/light-p... #DarkSkyTexas #Atacama #LightPollution

This is phenomenal. (Bookmarks for talks, teaching...) #LightPollution #ArtificialLight #ALAN #Night #Darkness #LightJustice

👀 The last technology in my #histtech survey, which centers on 10 techs, is the container ship. We start the unit Mon.

New Mexico is the only state to have a “state smell” A bunch of grade school kids said that roasting green chile should be our state smell so their teacher had them write our state Congress and in a shocking display they all came together, wrote the bill, and passed it in a matter of weeks

Totally jazzed after taking my #histtech students to Cornell's Johnson Museum of Art and talking about technological change in art, tech in art, & tech as art.* 🤓 Already have ideas for #lightscapes seminar next semester. And do I want to try to do an exhibit? 🤔🤩 *Almost minored in art history.

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If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features." There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.