Seeing these stories about college graduates booing commencement speakers about AI, I realized (1) our speech was about AI, too - what a coincidence!, but (2) our students didn't boo our speaker, and I thought his take was approachable and honest.

So here's my question on this lovely day. Do large cybercrime attackers like the folks behind shinyhunters ever get arrested and experience any repercussions for crimes like holding for ransom during our final exam week the system we all use to administer our exams and manage our gradebooks?

👇🎯 Tl;dr: Support the liberal arts & fund the damn public universities like we used to

Beautiful, clear skies are a rarity in Happy Valley, PA. We have been trying to get a group of students to a location just outside of town into some darker skies for about a year, and last night we finally had our opportunity.

Really excited to have Prof. Andrea Ghez visiting giving a talk on the characterization of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.

As long as I'm in "not biting my tongue" today mode -- Anyone seen the Flock cameras that have popped up around campus? I love the fact that I am driving by a license plate reader / facial recognition camera installed by my employer on my way into work every morning.

I love how the weekly email from the Provost's office that was started in 2020 to share pandemic-related news that needed to get out quickly now includes the weekly FAQ question and answer about the faculty unionization vote. Very thoughtful of them to share their helpful insight!

I'm glad that others on here seem to hate that de-aging Dunkin commercial as much as I did.

I was in the class of 1994 for these positions in Socorro. As a first gen college student who hadn't traveled a lot, it was my first extended trip west of the Mississippi. I still keep in touch with several of my classmates from that summer. Highly recommend -- please apply!

Getting sent pics of aurora visible in PA and from friends in VA, but clouds rolled in here and we can’t see it. Boooooooooo.

I'm new to the high school kid dropoff line, but is it normal for the parent behind you to freak out and road rage at you through their windshield? My apparent crime was waiting for the crossing guard and all the kids to finish crossing in front of me. I guess running over students is encouraged?

This is the first NPR/PBS station I've seen that's going out of business as a result of the federal rescission: radio.wpsu.org/2025-09-11/p...

This site is a treasure trove and one of my favorite teaching tools.

Not sure how Blue Sky decided to serve me up stories about this besides mindreading. Anyway, if anyone wants to hear a fun story about our local 2024 and 2025 civics bee, I'm happy to oblige. Turns out this guy isn't the only 60+ year old PA legislator who thinks the Civics Bee is a hit on Fox News.

Have to use this account the same way I used my now defunct Twitter account. State College, it has been a long run of dreary, grey skies, and tonight it is clear as a bell and the Moon looks beautiful next to Jupiter. Go outside, take some deep breaths of the night air, and look up. It is wonderful.

Soo... I created this, found a bunch of folks, posted a bit, and then got distracted by life, the universe, and everything. But folks keep telling me this is the place to be, so I'm back. Going to do some more follows / follow backs, and try to reengage with everyone here.

This summer, Penn State Astronomy will be hosting a workshop for high school science teachers with a theme of Black Holes: sites.psu.edu/psiwa/. If you know of any teachers looking for a summer workshop in astronomy, please share! #EduSky

Sing it with us 🎤: “Total Eclipse of April 2024!” 🧪 🔭 Join us on Tuesday as NASA’s Michael Kirk will describe how this eclipse is more than just an awe-inspiring celestial occurrence: youtube.com/live/MafbgwR...

For those interested in Penn State and sustainability - our college has created a crowdfunding site to raise money to pay for decarbonization efforts to offset e.g., student travel for education abroad trips. The idea came from our study abroad coordinator. give.communityfunded.com/o/annual-giv...

Super interesting to read this article about the return to Rec game our basketball team just played against Illinois: onwardstate.com/2024/02/23/a...

Want to relate a fun story of students going above and beyond that relates to one of my favorite things to spend time on -- PSU astronomy history. First off, in many pictures of Old Main, the armillary sphere that was the class gift of 1966 is featured.

I haven’t found too many of my State College folks on here yet, but if you live close by, there is a beautiful young Moon with lots of Earthshine right now.

Got lunch yesterday and paid with square, and the screen indicated I was “Order 66”. I almost couldn’t go through with paying. Never expected Dave Filoni to impact my daily life in this way.

Happy Faculty Activity Report Eve to those who celebrate! Is it coincidence that this happens to be so close to Groundhog Day?

I have a question for #astronomy folks - Hubble's website had a wonderful resource (made in Flash) called "Telescopes from the Ground Up". I never wrote my own notes on telescopes because I just used that resource. Now it is gone like all Flash content. Anyone know of something as good?

I'm the advisor for the Eberly College of Science Student Council, and they are fundraising for Penn State's THON fundraiser for childhood cancer. If you plan to donate and are looking for a great student org that is participating, please consider using this link: donate.thon.org?fuseaction=d...

I guess as another intro style post, I can explain my choice of handle (don't think I ever did that before, but maybe?)

Whoa! There are a ton of folks here I used to follow at the other place. I tried looking when I first signed up and failed, not sure why my searches didn't work previously. Anyway, looking forward to starting over here.

Hello, world!