Benjamin Pope
@benjaminpope.bsky.social
📤 4341
📥 1119
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Australian astronomer he/him Sydney/Gadi
pinned post!
Very happy to advertise a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Exoplanet Science position with me and Christian Schwab at Macquarie University in Sydney. We'll be working on applying machine learning & differentiable physics models to extremely precise radial velocity surveys.
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Postdoctoral Research Associate in Exoplanet Science
PRIMARY DETAIL - Salary Package: $109,272 - $117,108 (HEW Level A.6-A.8) - plus 17% employer's superannuation contribution and annual leave loading. - Full time, 3 year fixed-term role - Macquarie Uni...
https://mq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/CareersatMQ/job/Wallumattagal-Campus-North-Ryde/Postdoctoral-Research-Associate-in-Exoplanet-Science_R000021958
about 2 months ago
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smbc has a terry tao guest comic and it's nice to be the target market for something
www.smbc-comics.com/comic/sphere...
9 minutes ago
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BeijingPalmer
about 1 hour ago
supposed liberals spewing conspiracy theory anti-semitism has been more and more of a thing recently. it is possible some of them are the usual Nazis attempting a disguise, but I also think we're seeing the spread of this stuff into new circles
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Richard Easther
1 day ago
Multiple PhD projects in New Zealand to work on Rubin/LISA science and statistics 🔭, 🧪 - open now!
#astro
#cosmo
www.gravity.ac.nz/join/phd-opp...
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PhD Scholarships – Statistics, Astrophysics, Cosmology and Gravitational Wave Astronomy – New Zealand Gravity
https://www.gravity.ac.nz/join/phd-opportunities/
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Quinn Slobodian
about 3 hours ago
The perfect millenial phishing scheme does not exi-
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Casey Dreier
about 11 hours ago
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
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George Zhou
about 4 hours ago
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/...
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PhD Positions in Exoplanets | American Astronomical Society
The Exoplanet group at University of Southern Queensland Centre for Astrophysics is inviting candidates for two fully funded PhD scholarships (3 years).
https://aas.org/jobregister/ad/cc7e7c8c
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Mark Chadbourn
about 18 hours ago
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: “The Australian government also firmly believes that the ceasefire has to apply to Lebanon as well.”
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Mark Marley
about 22 hours ago
You can see why the exo-zodiacal light becomes an issue in imaging exo-Earths. Imagine turning this background glow around another star up by say 10x and the pale blue dot getting lost in the glare.
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just awful to see how Australia is failing to support the Lebanese diaspora who are such an important part of our community
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about 17 hours ago
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Eugene Lim
about 18 hours ago
The very basis of quantum computing and quantum information theory was built on the PPAN physics that the government is now cutting.
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milominder
1 day ago
This is an absolute smorgasbord of
@secondmentions.bsky.social
- 'weird breakfast spread' - 'a little yellow-topped jar of black goo with a strangely zoological name' - 'this salty yeast paste'
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flyingrodent
1 day ago
Disastrous wars, crackdowns, privatisation and austerity, all of it imposed in an atmosphere of increasingly hysterical all-channels denunciation.
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Benjamin Pope
1 day ago
I think this is true, and part of the Everything is Gender theory. We are governed by that section of the populace that believes that Father having violent tantrums until everyone else cowers, even as his life falls apart around him, was an aspirational display of power and mastery.
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CosmicRami 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
2 days ago
It's the 70th anniversary of the defining paper from Bracewell (1956) - an astronomy paper which later became the foundation of a lot of medical technology .... cross-over from science to industry application.
adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1956AuJ...
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CosmicRami 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
2 days ago
We’re in the Michael Kirby building here at Macquarie Uni and its really lovely. It’s dedicated in the name of former NSW Supreme Court Justice, Michael Kirby. Kirby is openly gay, and one of Australia’s highest profile queer people. The room we are in today is dedicated to his partner Johan van
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CosmicRami 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
2 days ago
Attending the Bracewell 70 here on campus, which is bringing together all of us science nerds with a whole heap of industry folks to talk about how our work can cross over into industry applications.
@benjaminpope.bsky.social
opening & NSW Chief Scientist Prof. Hugh Durrant-Whyte here too.
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James Ball
2 days ago
Another two weeks. Again.
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James Ball
3 days ago
Trump just openly stating his intention to commit genocide at this point: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again."
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and Australia, and art, science, music, you name it. the production of culture, knowledge, and novelty is being stifled by housing costs and it is printing through to our entire society
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3 days ago
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Liam Hogan
3 days ago
The imperial boomerang bringing tickets-of-leave back to England from Port Jackson, after 200 years? is a hell of a thing
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Second Mentions
3 days ago
In need of a second mention for the Moon? Here are some of our favourites... 🌑 The pale lunar orb 🌒 The crater-strewn rock 🌓 Our dusty grey neighbour 🌔 The tide-changing rock 🌕 The luminous tide botherer Let us know if you've got any more!
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marque lawyers
3 days ago
Great that this case will finally be prosecuted. Our usual reminder that it's now sub judice and everyone should stfu about it and let the process do its thing.
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Michael Murphy
3 days ago
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As space race takes off, Australia has lost our best eyes to the universe
Australia’s ability to contribute to the exploration of space has been dealt a hammer blow.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/as-space-race-takes-off-australia-has-lost-our-best-eyes-to-the-universe-20260406-p5zljb.html
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Coding agents feel like one of the first futuristic consumer technologies out of the software industry in years. But they feel less futuristic than e-bikes or induction cooktops and I don’t know how to think about that
4 days ago
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Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman)
4 days ago
Press conference shout-out to the Australian National University, which is a test site for
#ArtemisII
optical communications! 🧪
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ANU provides laser communications support for NASA’s Artemis II crewed moon mission
The Australian National University (ANU) is partnering with NASA along with the Australian Space Agency (ASA) and CSIRO as it prepares to send astronauts back to the moon as part of the Artemis II mis...
https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/anu-provides-laser-communications-support-for-nasas-artemis-ii-crewed-moon-mission
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Senator David Shoebridge
4 days ago
It’s Easter and the US President chose to share this, an unhinged and expletive ridden rant threatening war crimes against the Iranian people. Australians want no part in this and they expect our government to clearly oppose it and organise to prevent it.
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Mike Lund
5 days ago
20 years ago, I was at a concert where the line "Of course we all remember when Neal Armstrong walked on the moon" was said when talking about the inspiration for a particular song. I think that still may have been true for everyone else there other than me.
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Real risk that at 35 I’m the youngest at the James Reyne gig
5 days ago
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In my limited interactions with vibe-coding tools it is so clear that they are designed to maximise engagement as intensely as TikTok. Every interaction loop suggests with enthusiastically phrased suggestions for what to do next
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5 days ago
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David Sligar
5 days ago
Obviously I’m not being literal, but the point is that would rightfully be condemned as strategic support to Iran. Our E-7 will clearly contribute to defending American military assets in the Gulf, working in union with the American command, contributing data to a war of naked aggression.
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One week to go to apply for our postdoc on radial velocities at Macquarie University in Sydney!
aas.org/jobregister/...
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Postdoctoral Research Associate in Exoplanet Science | American Astronomical Society
About the Role We are seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Exoplanet Science at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. You will be working with A/Prof Benjamin Pope and A/Prof Christian ...
https://aas.org/jobregister/ad/1b915921
5 days ago
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Ketan Joshi
6 days ago
"bluesky is dying" discourse means: check your smoke alarm batteries + reiterate that all text based social media is dying, it's just that X, Threads, Facebook, Substack Notes etc all hide their statistics
bsky.jazco.dev/stats
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CosmicRami 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
6 days ago
This 👇🏽 “Astronomy does more than deliver discoveries. It inspires students, engages communities, and builds the pipeline of future scientists. Stepping back from a flagship international collaboration at the very moment the world is looking up risks dimming that inspiration for a generation”
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ok so genuinely, why are people so upset at the idea of there being tall buildings in cities. what's it about
6 days ago
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Jonah Goldfine
6 days ago
Announcing massive budget cuts to NASA while we have Astronauts on their way to the moon is such a massive kick in the teeth
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László Molnár
7 days ago
I love this. I'm tempted to print this quote on cardboard and bonk my undergrads on the head every time they're terrified that I'll be disappointed that they made a mistake or couldn't solve a problem on the first try. Failures are the curriculum. The error messages are the syllabus.
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Tiago Peixoto
7 days ago
Very interesting read.
www.percepta.ai/blog/can-llm...
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Can LLMs Be Computers? | Percepta
We build a computer inside a transformer — executing arbitrary C programs for millions of steps with exponentially faster inference via 2D attention heads.
https://www.percepta.ai/blog/can-llms-be-computers
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Possum
7 days ago
Renewables has always been like the famous Keynes quote that the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent - but in the end, the economics and security of renewables wins. Every single time.
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Julia M. Rohrer
7 days ago
Nobody: Literally no one: DAG aficionados:
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noam chompers
7 days ago
Went on an accidental rant about this the other day when I heard about [redacted innovative pedagogy thing someone was doing]. Literally said ‘I think some people’s pedagogy is *too* creative… have you considered standing up and speaking knowledgeably about your expertise in an interesting way’
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The discourse about colonizing the Moon or Mars is missing the point that it would be easier to colonize Everest, Antarctica, the bottom of the sea, or the depths of the Sahara. There's a reason we don't do this at scale! It would also be transformative to have research stations there!
7 days ago
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Rafe Meager (they/them)
7 days ago
as far as i can tell, "we'll have to colonise another planet" is the billionaire equivalent of my girlfriend in canada. there's no real plan. this doesn't exist. maybe one day it will, but today it's a discursive pressure release valve to protect us from grasping the horror that there is no exit
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Looking forward to doing Pint of Science in Parramatta on May 18 talking about the latest in exoplanet imaging!
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Pint of Science @ The Commercial Hotel, Parramatta | 18 May
Pint of Science returns to Sydney, bringing scientists ready to share their latest discoveries and ideas in pubs across the city. <br /> <br /> Come along for a casual…
https://pintofscience.com.au/event/pint-of-science-the-commercial-hotel-parramatta-18-may/
7 days ago
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seven rasmussen — STARSHIPS out 8/4/26
7 days ago
things i wouldn’t want to hear in a rocket in space: 5. “houston we have a problem” 4. mysterious hissing 3. “give me a napkin quick. there’s a turd floating through the air.” 2. knocking on the airlock door 1. the outlook email sound
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans
8 days ago
From fighting the cuts here I'm learning that the media is genuinely interested in what we do and write excellent articles that politicians read and then act upon. Is this something you can lobby for? There's still time for a change of mind?
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans
8 days ago
I'm so so sorry - terrible news. A journalist recently asked me if I thought the UK would pull out of ESO in response to our current funding crisis. I said this would be the absolute last thing we stopped funding: membership is the top priority of the whole community as
@eso.org
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The Australian government have decided not to pursue membership of the European Southern Observatory, the world’s largest astronomy organisation and one where membership was the main request of the decadal review. What are we going to do?
8 days ago
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imagine if the amount of money we are about to blow through to stabilise the oil economy, or even a fraction of it, had been spent on public transport, renewables, and cycle lanes
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8 days ago
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Julianne Dalcanton
9 days ago
Please spread the word! In addition to becoming an important part of the MESA project, the person in this role would have opportunities to collaborate on scientific software across CCA, which has a vibrant, interactive community of scientists and code developers.
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