White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval of research grants These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

Trump fires all 24 members of the U.S. 🧪 National Science Foundation’s governing body @aaas.org @science.org #United4Science www.science.org/content/arti...

We are looking for two new PhD students to join our group at the University of Southern Queensland to work on exoplanet demographics and atmospheres. See AAS ad below. aas.org/jobregister/...

The FY 2027 NASA budget request hides its science cuts by omitting mission names instead of explicitly zeroing them out. We did the work and found 54 missions cancelled in this proposal. This is another extinction-level event for NASA science. Full list: planetary.org/save-nasa-science

Nice, they confirmed WISPIT 2c, making WISPIT 2 a system with two planets inside gaps of the protoplanetary disk, separated by a ring. Chloe Lawlor et al. arxiv.org/abs/2603.22085

It's great to see WISPIT 2 CC1 promoted to WISPIT 2c - congratulations to the team! 🔭☄️ #exoplanets

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

JWST image of Arp 298, also known as NGC 7469 and IC 5283. This image is dominated by NGC 7469, a face-on spiral galaxy. Its companion galaxy IC 5283 is partly visible in the lower left corner. Credit: ESA, NASA, CSA, L. Armus, A. S. Evans Source

After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.

Globally, no single day in 2025 was cooler than its 1991-2020 average. climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima...

Rep. Grijalva says she was pepper-sprayed by ICE

3/3 Time to update the Gas Giant Portrait I created, now including the new versions of Saturn and Uranus I recently processed. Full size & more info: flic.kr/p/2oUkYSY 🔭🧪 Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/AndreaLuck Jupiter is next on the list to be updated :)

The raw data look like messy interferograms that are hard to understand by eye - and we enhance these data to restore beautiful images of the environment of the black hole in NGC 1068, Jupiter's moon Io, and a dusty binary system WR 137.

Are you someone who is interested in astronomy graduate school? This is a list of many/most departments and their expectations for admissions this year. Please feel free to spread it far and wide. If you are doing admissions and you'd like to update your entry, reach out as per the form!

Growing planets need to eat, and astronomers just found one snacking on gas in between the rings of a protoplanetary disk. aasnova.org/2025/10/08/g... 🔭🧪

Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...

My district has been without representation in the House since March.

“The Destruction of NASA’s Mission” Whistleblowers reveal OMB’s Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency New from Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation Ranking Member Maria Cantwell. NOTE: This is indeed what I have seen going on inside NASA. 🧪🔭 www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

She basically invented astrophysics. She proved the laws of chemistry, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics, not just gravity, applied universally. She determined the composition of the sun and primacy of hydrogen in the universe. She advised the PhDs of Frank Drake and Frank Kameny.

My first NASA position, as a contractor in the Kepler Science Office, was on a H-1b visa. NASA ended up giving me a medal and now I’m the Chief Scientist of NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and an American citizen to boot. Seems like a net win for the US, no? But now this:

Using Steward Observatory's MagAO-X, astronomers have captured—for the first time—a baby planet growing inside a disk of dust and gas. The sharp U of A-developed adaptive optics revealed how young worlds plow dark paths through their star’s protoplanetary disks as they form: bit.ly/3Vn0CSo

The press release from @stewardobservatory.bsky.social is online now: news.arizona.edu/news/growing... #exoplanets ☄️🧪🔭

New protoplanet(s?) alert! I'm happy to share this LBTI image of WISPIT 2 from our team's paper led by Laird Close. Planet b was discovered at Hα with MagAO-X following the SPHERE disk discovery (R. van Capelleveen +), and CC1 might be a candidate 2nd (enshrouded?) protoplanet #exoplanets ☄️🔭🧪

Enjoyed talking w Bruce Dorminey in Iceland about our universal framework to assess which exoplanets & moons may be habitable. Key for search for life beyond Earth! His story: @forbes.com www.forbes.com/sites/bruced... @stewardobservatory.bsky.social @uarizonalpl.bsky.social @uarizona.bsky.social

The Smithsonian is an independent institution. It is not a branch, department or division of the federal government. There's no reason why the executive should have any control over anything the Smithsonian does.

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, ALPHA CEN A b!!! First hinted at in Wagner+21, now Chas Beichman, Aniket Sanghi and team have published new JWST images of alpha Cen A showing another hint of this Saturn-sized planet candidate! exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/overview/alp...

mRNA tech is some of the coolest, most powerful, most promising scifi shit humans are currently doing. They are being investigated to help with cancers, autoimmune diseases, M.S., stroke recovery, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and high cholesterol.

🧪 BREAKING (good news): Senate subcommittee says NO! to Trump's proposed slashes to NASA & NSF funding. Today, the subcommittee said to keep NASA + NSF funding at $33.9 billion, the same as in FY24. See 7:15 below. Full Senate appropriations committee meets tomorrow about it. 🧵 1/3

Every living NASA science chief unites in opposition to unprecedented budget cuts www.planetary.org/press-releas...

Like many NASA projects and missions, the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute was asked to submit a closeout budget this week. Hopefully just a drill! But very difficult just the same. 💔 Regardless of what happens, I’m *so proud* of the service we have performed for the community over the years. ✨🪐💾🔭👩🏻‍🔬

NASA Goddard is pushing through a 48% staff reduction!!! This could impact the upcoming Roman Space Telescope and many other future Astro missions. News coverage seems not sensational enough. Are we really going to let NASA (as we know it) die quietly? www.space.com/space-explor...

#Astronomy grad students, come work with me or one of my fantastic colleagues for 6 months! I'm happy to answer questions about the program and/or my #exoplanets projects! 🔭🧪🪐

US students. Looking to apply to graduate school? Had an offer rescinded recently? The University of British Columbia in Canada will re-open the application portal in some departments for US students from April 14-18. Details: www.grad.ubc.ca/us-applicant... #ubc #AcademicSky #PhDSky #ScienceSky

Vandalize a library? Take over a campus? Do all kinds of crazy things?

NEW: No fewer than 10 principle scientists at NIH investigating emerging infectious diseases and neural disorders were among those fired by RFK Jr. today. One is an esteemed scientist awarded for breakthrough research into the causes of Parkinson's disease. By me and @emilymullin.bsky.social:

This has to be my favourite JWST image yet. I'm just in awe. Look at this thing. The pale blob in the centre is a foreground elliptical galaxy. The light swirling around it is a more distant spiral galaxy, gravitationally lensed into a ring. 🔭🧪 esawebb.org/images/potm2...

Le Monde reporting that a French scientist traveling to Houston to attend a conference was denied entry to US after a search of his phone & computer revealed messages critical of Trump's science cuts, "which [says CPB] conveyed hatred of Trump & could be qualified as terrorism". Computer confiscated

This is what it's come to?

Here's a selection of illustrations I've created for science press releases over the years. Please repost for me! And if you need to commission this kind of work, check my background. I'm your man. #SciArt #spaceart

The U.S. Department of Defense is ending all of its funding for social science research, stopping 91 ongoing studies related to threats such as climate change, extremism, and disinformation. scim.ag/4hqu6HA

Depriving NASA of the interdisciplinary expertise required to work together to advance science and exploration is not a sustainable way forward.

AAS Alarmed by Rumored Deep Cuts to NASA and National Science Foundation Recent reports have indicated that the White House may soon be proposing drastic cuts to future budgets for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). aas.org/posts/news/2...

There are reports The White House is considering a 50% cut to NASA’s science programs, and 25% of its overall budget, which would be catastrophic for both current and planned missions. But, there is still time for the administration to reconsider. Read our full statement ⬇️

White House may seek to slash NASA’s science budget by 50 percent arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

Time for the promised thread on ε Eridani b! I should emphasize this manuscript is a submitted draft—comments from the community are very welcome. Bottom line: ε Eri b is likely a 1.0 Jupiter-mass planet, only 3.2pc away, on a 3.55 AU near-circular orbit, ~aligned with its debris disk. 🔭🪐🧪 [1/7]

US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks. https://go.nature.com/4kd1vIu

PUBLISHED!!! Go check out IF we will be able to look for a key biosignature (oxygen!) with the Giant Magellan Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope! 🔭🪐🧪 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Undergraduate research opportunities are incredibly valuable, both for the students and for the progress of the work. And having undergraduate research experience is a massive help for grad school admission. REU cancellations harm students’ preparedness & career prospects, and slow research progress