As a balm for The Horrors I have been rereading The Hands of the Emperor, a fantasy novel about kind, competent people working in government. Highly recommend.

Welcome to Frankfurt. The bad news is your luggage is delayed. The good news is your train is also delayed. #goodtobehome

Today was my last day at MPIA. Still waiting to see what happens next 😬

The MPIA call for summer interns is now live! This is a great opportunity for bachelors & masters students from anywhere in the world to come an complete a three month, fully funded research project in beautiful Heidelberg. Check it out here: www.mpia.de/en/careers/i...

I crocheted an HL Tau ornament (ALMA's version) for the institute Christmas tree! 🔭

FUND 👏 MORE 👏 PERMANENT 👏 POSITIONS 👏 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

SAP software is a scourge on humanity

When IBCK does a book I've actually read

Hot damn! Too much adoration allowing scientists to go off the rails would explain more than just Watson.

Science teaches how to build an AI chatbot. The humanities teach you why pretending it's 'intelligent' is a bad idea.

You've seen the news about issues at Goddard closing facilities and the culture of fear and intimidation. AGU has generated an email and a call script to contact your representatives. Please take a few minutes over your coffee this morning to send it. And thank you. agu.quorum.us/campaign/146...

As feds seal off labs from staff at NASA Goddard in prep for hasty evac+demolition, union reports: “Closure activities are proceeding during the government shutdown, which may be illegal under the Antideficiency Act and further endangers property.” 🔭🧪 www.gesta-goddard.org/blog/gestas-...

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

Help! My cat doesn't understand that daylight savings means dinner is not in fact late.

🔊Announcing a new Physics/Astro PhD scholarship scheme in Edinburgh, for students from a Black heritage, inc mixed Black background. Please help me spread the word. The scholarship covers all tuition fees, living costs & research travel. #blackinSTEM 🔭👩‍🔬⚛️ ℹ️: www.ph.ed.ac.uk/studying/pos...

Binge watching The Pitt on a red-eye the night before the JWST deadline was maybe not the best decision. 🫩

How's your Sunday going? Mine consists of coffee, a job application, and a disapproving cat.

Me at 35 being asked to write a five paragraph essay like I'm in high school again

I'd been meaning to par down my streaming subscriptions. Disney made it easy to pick the loser.

"We use the updated values." But what are the updated values? Where did you get them from?

Should I spend Sunday working on this grant proposal or should I take a nap?

I recently got to talk to Space about a new JWST MINDS paper led by Maria Morales-Calderón! 🧪🔭 www.space.com/astronomy/ja...

Academics, this is your periodic reminder to maintain a personal webpage with an up to date email address.

I recently did an interview on the origins of life that is 100% alien-spaceship free. You can read about it here: open.substack.com/pub/storiesf... 🧪🔭

1/ Heute, 12.8., ist um 13 Uhr der ehemalige MPIA-Direktor Thomas #Henning live auf Ö1 zu hören. Grundlage ist unsere Nachricht zu präbiotischen Molekülen in der Scheibe ✨ um V883 Ori. Aber es wird generell über den #Ursprung des Lebens gesprochen. #Astronomie #Leben @oeaw.bsky.social 🔭

Another MINDS JWST paper! We explore the stark transition from H2O-dominated spectra in Sun-like systems to the carbon-rich chemistry seen for low-mass objects. We don't know exactly what is driving this trend, but we explore the possibilities that may be acting in concert. arxiv.org/pdf/2508.04692

New MINDS paper from Nicolas Kurtovic, focused on binary systems. Spectra, extended emission, variability, multi-observatory analysis -- there's something for everyone! arxiv.org/pdf/2508.02576

New research suggests that the building blocks of life may not be formed locally, but could be widespread throughout the universe. Complex organic molecules are inherited and developed in protoplanetary discs, paving the way for life's origins. 🌍✨ #SpaceScience #OrganicMolecules 🔭

ALMA found evidence for complex organic compounds, such as sugars & amino acids, in a protoplanetary disc. Thus, discs may inherit these complex molecules from interstellar clouds. More in this press release by @mpi-astro.bsky.social : https://www.mpia.de/news/science/2025-05-v881-ori 🔭 🧪

Antifreeze? In MY planet-forming disk? It's more likely than you might think.

My student Abubakar Fadul's most recent paper is now on arXiv! He found evidence of ethylene glycol (aka antifreeze) and glycolonitrile in a protoplanetary disk. If confirmed, these will be the most complex organics seen in a disk! 🔭🧪☄️ arxiv.org/abs/2507.14905

How to comment on paper drafts:

🧪 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

Closer science ties across the Atlantic: the Max Planck Society has just launched its new #Transatlantic Program to boost collaboration with top U.S. institutions & open up more chances for researchers at every level - from #PhDs & #postdocs to directors!🌍🔬 www.mpg.de/25034916/max...

It is with great pleasure that I share MAXMINDS 2.0, a new Max Planck program to support scholars in danger of displacement by war or natural disasters, and who have limited access to resources and institutional support. If you know affected scholars, please share. www.maxminds.mpg.de

Celebrating Independence Day by doing the most American thing I can think of: working during vacation because I don't have job security and am terrified of unemployment.

Twelve ALMA/AGE-PRO papers just out! Exploring how gas and dust evolve in disks 🌟🌀 — Congrats to all authors! 🎉 NRAO press release: public.nrao.edu/news/alma-pl...

Our global petition to save NASA science closes this Thursday, and we’re just shy of 15,000 signatures! Every name counts, this petition will be hand-delivered to members of Congress. Add yours today, Save NASA Science. planet.ly/petition

Don't miss our new NASA Science spending and economic impact resource at dashboards.planetary.org/nasa-science.html — see space science spending in every state and congressional district and custom reports for each region. A unique resource.

An easy thing you can do to support NASA, even if you are not American.

Now would be a great time to start advocating for science funding. @planetarysociety.bsky.social has some great resources 🔭🧪 www.planetary.org/save-nasa-sc... Save NASA Science - Action Hub | The Planetary Society

Are you a PI of a federal grant cancelled by the Trump administration? Please share your info with the Democratic Staff of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, who launched this portal yesterday to track funding cancellations 🔭🧪 forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Done. Super easy!

Useful resources for US folks. www.savensf.com/take-action

Yup, as a junior American scientist in Europe I have seen nothing about retaining early career folks. We will just be gone.

There goes my best chance of not being unemployed come September 🔭🧪 pcos.gsfc.nasa.gov/news/2025/56...

✉️ It's time to speak up for science! Kick off our Week of Action by writing to your members of Congress. Urge them to robustly fund space science in FY 2026 & beyond. Every letter makes a difference! You can use our prompts for inspiration. #WeekOfAction aas.org/advocacy/get...

A little color in a dark time. ❤️ My neighborhood. Translation: With the campaign "We are colorful!" we oppose hatred, incitement, and exclusion in our society. We stand up for democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, an open, solidarity-based society.

BREAKING: NSF has frozen all grant funding, as of yesterday. It's unclear when they will resume funding awards, or why the pause has been put in place. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Keep pushing back! -HHS Walks Back “Autism Registry” Plans - autisticadvocacy.org/2025/04/hhs-...