To be clear, if this bill passes, it will end all scientific research & medical training in the US. It will close hospitals. It will be economically devastating. Millions will lose their jobs. Call your representatives & tell them to vote fuck no on 15% IDC rates & the rest of this horror show.

Biden officials never pressured Israel to reach a ceasefire. Ever. @ryangrim.bsky.social reacts to new revelations from Israel’s Channel 13 investigation, based on interviews with nine senior Biden officials.

NEW: A Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations memo out this morning estimates that Elon Musk and his companies stand to avoid at least $2.37 BILLION in legal liability “through his efforts to gut the federal workforce and exert influence over federal agencies.” 🧵:

Israeli forces have now dropped more explosives in Gaza than fell on London, Dresden, and Hamburg during the Second World War. The region’s hospitals have not been spared; most are no longer functional. Clayton Dalton writes about the devastation.

Enjoyed having my brain stretched by @miquai.bsky.social as he waxed philosophical on the nature of the universe and reconfiguring how we understand it. Looking forward to upcoming papers on novel bio signature detection methods and leaving inspired to stretch to greater heights. Thanks, Mike!

The US science community relies on a massive network of post-bacs, graduate students, and post-docs, many of whom are foreign nationals. We train these students and in return we get a ginormous scientific output that makes us a stronger nation - BUT this system is now under attack. (1)

Are you a Democrat fed up with the inaction of the Democratic Party? Here are 5 things to demand from your representatives:

REST IN PEACE TO BREONNA TAYLOR (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020)

Arizona! The University of Arizona is hosting an event at noon Friday. Check out this item from @kvoa.bsky.social 👇

Please consider supporting this mutual aid effort organized by choir, Black in Astro, Astro Poverty Survey, and Movement Consulting to support our colleagues affected by the federal cuts: www.gofundme.com/f/mutual-aid...

Chandra consistently has the hottest takes on everything, so I'm inclined to believe her on dark matter.

Trump & Musk are trying to fire 100,000+ civil servants right now - including over 1,000 VA employees. Purges are happening at SBA, Energy, Education & more. Firing this many critical employees at once could make it impossible for our government to provide BASIC services.

I love a scale model

Those of us who have long worked for equity in science have not stopped, despite agonizing challenges. Please read and sign to support us as we continue advocating in this harsh reality, and to validate the fact that good science is *always* science for everyone. sites.google.com/view/space-s...

It’s a COUP, where are YOU?! Fight or Resign, Chuck. NYC‼️ WHERE: Outside Senator Chuck Schumer’s office, 780 3rd Ave (b/t 48th & 49th) WHEN: TUE, WED, THUR, 10-11AM Join @bkindivisible.bsky.social TOOLKIT: docs.google.com/document/d/1... cc @jeffsharlet.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov

If you’re in Tucson, checkout the Art of Planetary Science show later this month! Attendance is free. I’ll be there opening night and have 3 pieces in the show (2 won awards!)

NASA Goddard's entire Early Scientist Spotlight series is down, including some really cool interviews with underrepresented people who've since had to leave the field due to the lack of jobs! That's extremely cowardly and whoever is doing this should not know peace.

Democrats aren’t powerless against Trump’s blitzkrieg power-grab. Senate rules are designed to protect the rights of the minority and Democrats have tools at their disposal to grind Senate business to a halt if Republicans try to ram through Trump’s extremist agenda: indivisible.org/resource/how...

And the horror (for people who've lived their lives in the law) is that the longer this frontal assault on the idea of a government cabined by law goes on without remedy, the weaker the very idea of a system governed by enforceable rules becomes to the lay mind.

If you are in danger unless you comply with a regime, you are in danger whether you comply or not

Changing grant proposals going forward is one thing, but NSF is reneging on funding agreements. You now have postdocs, research associates, students, etc. going without paychecks on numerous projects that were already funded. This is unacceptable! 1/2 🧪

TODAY: Senate hearings start for the conspiracy theorist that Trump picked to protect public health. Robert Kennedy Jr. has spent years spreading dangerous misinformation about vaccines and public health. Tell your senators to reject this fundamentally unfit nominee: indivisible.org/resource/cal...

Seems to be worthwhile to start following @indivisible.org

Amidst the chaos and harm, remember: Trump does not have the constitutional authority to do any of this. It’s all illegal. The Constitution says so, and the Supreme Court agrees. This is a dictatorial power grab and we need to fight it accordingly. Let’s get to work.

Disaster delayed until Monday

In a blatantly unconstitutional power grab, Trump is freezing funding for life-saving programs like Medicaid, food and housing assistance, childcare grants, and school meals — even though that funding was already approved by Congress.

While President Trump illegally pauses federal funding from Congress, the Senate must not be business as usual. We do not consent to this lawless power grab.

Not to add to stress, but fwiw Project 2025 did also call for basically 50% cuts to NSF physical sciences grants, and implied even bigger cuts to NASA planetary and astrophysics missions.

Just had a sample of the Eaton Fire ash that is in my driveway run on the department XRF. Is there titanium (new house paint)? Yup. Lead (old house paint)? You betcha. Heavy metals? Check. Treat that ash like it's toxic folks (because it is)

LPL is hosting the next OPAG meeting in Tucson. Sign up to join us on campus. www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/meeting...

If you are planning on applying to our PhD program for Fall 2025, applications are due this coming Friday, December 13, 2024 at 5:00pm MST. Find more information here: www.lpl.arizona.edu/admissions

Israel has broken the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon "approximately 100" times since the truce went into effect last Wednesday. www.cnn.com/2024/12/02/m...

I am not mad about Biden pardoning his son, I am mad about him ONLY pardoning his son. There are thousands of petitions that have been sitting on his desk for his whole term, he promised to end the federal death penalty, + all the crack v. powder folks still sitting in prison Disappointing!

What a great opportunity!

Size comparison between Hurricane Helene and Saturn's moon Helene

With Marcellus Williams on people’s minds, it’s worth remembering that the Democratic Party quietly removed opposition to the death penalty from its platform in 2024. theintercept.com/2024/08/23/d...

Although some states have included teacher raises as bargaining chips to pass voucher laws, the residents of state after state are finding their budgets busted by vouchers. Arizonans are facing a $1.4 billion shortfall largely as a result of its program, which advocates had claimed would save money.

What a photo! This was taken by JUICE as it sped away following its incredible double flyby of the Moon and Earth. 🤩🔭🧪 t.co/Or0NrGtK2B

The Arizona Daily Star just published this lovely piece on Pluto's Broken Heart, covering the newly installed Pluto plaque for the Arizona Scale Model Solar System and new research by Drs. Erik Asphaug and Adeene Denton on the origins of Pluto's heart-shaped feature. 🌌❤️

Pluto is now added to the Arizona Scale Model Solar System! Despite the ruling of the @astro4edu.bsky.social, we felt that Pluto is one of us. Find out more about our scale model at www.lpl.arizona.edu/solarsystem/!

🚀🪐 Exciting news! Our new paper on Saturn's upper atmosphere using data from the Cassini mission is out today! We reveal the distributions of key hydrocarbons and uncover intriguing meridional and seasonal trends. 🌌🔬 #Cassini #SaturnScience #SpaceResearch #Astronomy #PlanetaryScience