The UK is set to cut its budget for astronomy research by a third. Since the few high-profile projects they are likely to continue to support, like ELT, tend to be the most expensive, it means even more drastic cuts to the rest of the field. It is effectively the end. 🧪🔭 ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

We’re getting so many journal submissions from people who think ‘it kinda works’ is the standard to aim for.

"If you witnessed something disturbing, please understand that witnessing is not evidence. Evidence is what exists after it has been reviewed by the people who require it not to exist."

New at The Watch: I dug into archival witness accounts of the British siege of Boston prior to the American Revolution. They are remarkably similar to what we're seeing in Minneapolis. open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...

"abolish ICE and prosecute everyone involved" is the moderate position

I look forward to the establishment of a Wiesenthal Center-like organization dedicated to identifying and hunting former DHS agents so that they may be held accountable.

Damaged DSN antenna out of service until May A key antenna in NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) that was damaged last fall is expected to remain offline until May, followed by extended downtime for upgrades.

In positive news: Applications for the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium research grants are open! They're a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students in WV. Deadline is March 6th! www.wvspacegrant.org/resources/pr...

We literally don’t need ICE for anything

Are you an undergraduate student looking for PAID research experience in physics and astronomy this summer? Come and work alongside the top experts in the fields of cosmology, astronomy, plasma physics, space physics, instrumentation and more. Applications are now being accepted. gwac.wvu.edu/reu

if you want a long read that involves udders, a hot air balloon, and some extremely dubious data on egg prices, the story I’ve been working on for the last few months where I tried to single-handedly take on every government function myself is now online! www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

For those at #AAS247: Come see Profs. Maura McLaughlin and Xavi Siemens give the Rossi Prize plenary talk today on behalf of @nanograv.bsky.social, talking about pulsar timing arrays and gravitational waves! astrobites.org/2026/01/07/m... astrobites.org/2026/01/07/m...

Check out all the action from the first two days of #AAS247 with our summary wrap posts! ☄️🔭✨🧪 astrobites.org/2026/01/06/a... astrobites.org/2026/01/07/a...

Absolutely horrific details about an ICE shooting in Minneapolis. A witness says a woman was trying to drive away from an ICE operation and the ICE agent "reached across the hood of the car and shot her in the face like three, four times." Bovino was there. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Its day two of #AAS247 and we have more talks from our authors! Catch Drew Lapeer ( @giantmolecular.cloud ) in room 224A at 2:00 PM and Annelia Anderson ( @astroannelia.bsky.social ) in room 228B at 2:30 PM!

Oh hell yeah www.science.org/content/arti...

Great opportunity at @stsci.edu to lead the Institute's Public Outreach division. Based in Baltimore, and STScI supports hybrid work. Details here: recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/... 🔭

The varying brightness of red supergiant Betelgeuse could be explained by Hubble’s latest reveal: The bright star in Orion’s shoulder has an elusive companion star orbiting it in its extended atmosphere, leaving a “wake” of dense gas: https://news.stsci.edu/4sunaQH #AAS247 🔭

Same with scientists. Each "fun" generative AI thing shared makes me a little less confident in the quality of your research.

It's me! Come for the discussion of the coolest astronomical experiment you've probably never heard of, stay for the surprisingly relevant digressions on sheep farming, field hockey, and why Coke is better than Pepsi. (Y'all, history is *weird*. And awesome.)

Monday, December 1, marks the fifth anniversary of the collapse of the Arecibo telescope. The ASAP has organized two short talks on the history of the Arecibo Observatory, followed by news and updates. The event begins at 12:30 PM EST. DM for the Zoom link. #AreciboObservatory

This talk was awesome! Thank you to Dr. Ahrens for a great tour of ice in the Solar System (and which planets/moons/etc. will let you make snowballs. . .).

It's entirely possible that this is the result of an administrative error -- I like to give NSF program officers the benefit of the doubt -- but it's also exactly what I would do if I were a political appointee higher up the chain who wanted to reduce GRFP applicants and further marginalize people.

In mildly positive news, Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent this letter to Acting NSF Director Stone on Friday, asking the NSF to reconsider its decision and make several other related changes. democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do... 🧪🔭

@giantmolecular.cloud, Bill Smith and I wrote about why the new modification to the eligibility rules for the premier NSF graduate fellowship is actually A Really, Really Big Deal -- and not in a good way.

new from me and a few others at astrobites 🧪 🔭

NEW: NRAO to Outfit the VLBA with New Ultra Wideband Receivers A major upgrade is coming to the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) – state-of-the-art ultra wideband receivers capable of operating across the frequency range of 8 - 40 gigahertz (GHz). #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #NRAO #VLBA

The GRFP announcement from NSF cuts out an entire cohort of 2nd year students from consideration, without warning. This is so deeply unfair that it warrants a formal protest from the scientific community. If someone wants to work with me to craft an open letter and solicit signatures, LMK.

Ugh. The eligibility change would *completely* screw over anyone who entered grad school last year but decided to wait a year before applying (as well as many folks in the future who may have wanted to take that path). I know a *lot* of people who are gonna be hurt by this.

It took me most of an astronomy PhD, but I finally have my own telescope! It's a Tasco 66TE-5 Cosmic II 5-mm refractor, found at a thrift store for $18. It's 59 years old and needs a tripod and more eyepieces (and proper polishing!), but it should be functional enough.

Hello from Green Bank, West Virginia! We're halfway through the first day of the 2025 Pulsar Science Collaboratory camp. I'm super excited to teach the students about single pulse searching and the Crab. . .

For folks interested in interstellar objects: There's a new preprint out searching for similar bodies using the latest @nanograv.bsky.social data release, led by @gwacwvu.bsky.social researchers Lankeswar Dey, Ross Jennings, Jackson Taylor, Joe Glaser, and Maura McLaughlin! arxiv.org/abs/2507.19475

A companion star …. Inside Betelgeuse’s atmosphere…. You think you know some stuff about the Universe but there’s always more surprises! 🙃🔭✨

🧪 For those following indirect rates (not normally an issue with so much drama!): Senate bill, out today, seeks to block the admin from making abrupt changes to indirect rates at NSF, NASA, and NOAA: www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

On Avi and 3I/ATLAS: sites.psu.edu/astrowright/... ☄️ 🔭

The Senate CJS report is out, and the recommendations are positive! They suggest "full operational funding" for NRAO, and funding for GBO at FY2024 levels. They also -- pretty bluntly -- completely reject the idea of shutting down one LIGO detector. 🔭 www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

These are some of the most odious people alive.

I received a very scary scam call saying they are going to arrest me cause I didn’t fill out some immigration form. They were very scary, they acted on my fear of prison and deportation, and they do this to many international students. I didn’t send anything, but have to warn all other students.

This reiterates the point I’ve made a few times on here: the US’s loss will be other countries’ gain, but overall it will be an enormous loss. There is no other country that can replicate the US research investment or environment, and the primary brain drain will be out of research, not overseas.

It remains way past time to shut down all the automated plagiarism machines. And it is also way past time for Nature to stop taking money to run "AI" hype advertisements.

There's now also a short Nature Astronomy meeting report on the conference! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Professor in the flagship university of the whitest state (Maine) and this absolutely tracks. We’ve been facing the demographic cliff everyone has warned about for years. We also have a campus food bank. Most of our students are first-gen, blue-collar.

Also, what so many of these xenophobic, racist critics don’t realize is the full-pay international students are how we can afford generous aid packages to in-state, mostly white students. 🙃

I've had the privilege of working at JPL for the last two weeks, doing radio transient studies. Despite the current scientific climate -- or maybe *because* of it -- it's been an unforgettable experience. Dare mighty things -- and, importantly, fund those mighty things. Fund science, not fascism.

🧪 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

In a study of professors, women got 378 new work requests over 4 weeks vs 118 for men. Women spent more time on service, advising & teaching; men on research. Orgs should track who is taking extra duties & ensure they are rewarded and distributed fairly. www.forbes.com/sites/kimels...

US Friends! The Green Bank Observatory (GBO) is a vital instrument in the global #RadioAstronomy network (incl. pulsar science), and it is under threat with the proposed funding cuts. Please take action to keep it open: www.gogreenbankobservatory.org/take-action/ Pls share! 🔭📡🧪 📸 GBO/AUI/NSF

There are also free online fax options you can use if a phone line is busy and you want to keep yelling. I’ve used this one before: faxzero.com

Fellow NJ-07 folks: Kean's line is (202)-225-5361. I hit a busy signal for a while but got in after ~20 minutes; keep calling, and you'll get through! I get super anxious about making these calls. But a few minutes of anxiety for the chance to stop this bill? Easily worth it. Any day of the week.