Brian D. Wade
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astrobrian.bsky.social
Brian D. Wade
@astrobrian.bsky.social
Father, husband, and scientist. Interested in astrobiology, evolution, microbes, and all things space exploration. he/him/his
How did #birds evolve? The answer is wilder than anyone thought.
#evolution

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How did birds evolve? The answer is wilder than anyone thought
Discoveries in Jurassic rocks reveal that birds were adept fliers earlier than scientists realized.
www.nature.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:33 AM
It's ironic that the US dime is inscribed with, "liberty over tyranny."

www.coinnews.net/2026/01/16/s...
U.S. Mint Starts Shipping 1776 ~ 2026 Coins for Circulation
Mint begins shipping 2026 semiquincentennial coins for circulation, including the Emerging Liberty dime, Enduring Liberty half dollar, and Mayflower quarter.
www.coinnews.net
January 18, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Quote of the day by Chronicles of Narnia writer CS Lewis: 'You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream'

m.economictimes.com/magazines/pa...
Quote of the day by Chronicles of Narnia writer CS Lewis: 'You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream'
CS Lewis, the celebrated author of The Chronicles of Narnia, left an indelible mark on fantasy and Christian thought. His academic brilliance at Oxford and Cambridge, coupled with his prolific writing...
m.economictimes.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Quote of the day by Leo Tolstoy: 'Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself'

m.economictimes.com/magazines/pa...
Quote of the day by Leo Tolstoy: 'Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself'
Leo Tolstoy, a giant of literature, penned timeless novels like War and Peace and Anna Karenina. His work delved into morality and self-change. Born in Yasnaya Polyana, his early life saw personal lo...
m.economictimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Quote of the day by Abraham Lincoln: 'It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years'

m.economictimes.com/magazines/pa...
Quote of the day by Abraham Lincoln: 'It’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years'
Abraham Lincoln's famous quote highlights living life with purpose. It suggests true success comes from meaningful experiences, not just longevity. Lincoln, the 16th US President, rose from poverty th...
m.economictimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:43 AM
America’s $38 trillion national debt is so big the nearly $1 trillion interest payment will be larger than Medicare soon

fortune.com/2026/01/15/n...
America’s $38 trillion national debt is so big just the interest will soon cost more than Medicare | Fortune
Interest payments on America's debt have ballooned to nearly $1 trillion a year—and will only go up from here.
fortune.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
🚀 #Artemis II launch opportunities in early 2026

Find out more on #NASA's blog:
🔗 nasa.gov/missions/art...

@exploration.esa.int
January 11, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Kenneth Chang @kchang.bsky.social @ NYT reviews the new telescope 🔭 system being pursued under the patronage of the Schmidt Sciences team, with some closing thoughts by me . . . www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/s...
Google’s Former C.E.O. Wants to Build a Cosmic Search Engine
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks https://theonion.com/nasa-discovers-distant-planet-with-conditions-that-could-sustain-rocks/
January 6, 2026 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
In his forthcoming 📃 in @jrnlofphil.bsky.social, Grant Ramsey shows that a long-standing thesis held by philosophers of biology & evolutionary biologists—that fitness depends on population size, n—is based on conceptual & mathematical errors 👇 philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27701/ #philsky #HPBio #evosky
January 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
1/n New paper alert!
Bottlenecks are common in life cycles, but how do they shape the evolution of multiple cooperative traits at once? We tested this in M. xanthus under stringent vs relaxed bottlenecks.
Population bottlenecks shape the evolution of #cooperative traits in #Myxococcus via #LifeCycle trade-offs. @iamsamayp.bsky.social &co show that stringent bottlenecks favor growth & sporulation, while relaxed bottlenecks favor predation & germination @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3N1nia7
January 9, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Former Google CEO plans to singlehandedly fund a Hubble telescope replacement
#astronomy

arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...
Former Google CEO plans to singlehandedly fund a Hubble telescope replacement
“This is a very significant contribution to the astronomical community."
arstechnica.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:39 AM
The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing
#academicSky

theconversation.com/the-5-stages...
The 5 stages of the ‘enshittification’ of academic publishing
Academic publishing now shows the same decline that has hit social media and online marketplaces.
theconversation.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
This is one amazing photo.

Jets of water vapour and ice crystals blasting out through four deep fractures in the icy shell of Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus.

This is the only alien ocean we know of that we can directly access.

(1/2)
January 4, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Recycling Li-Ion Battery Cathode Materials in Iron-Fueled, Low-Sulfate Cultures of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
#microbiology #microSky

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Recycling Li-Ion Battery Cathode Materials in Iron-Fueled, Low-Sulfate Cultures of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
The continuous demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in consumer products and electric vehicles (EVs) has raised concerns about their environmental impact when not disposed of properly. Among the co...
pubs.acs.org
January 4, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a vibrant star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of our Milky Way’s satellite galaxies🧪🔭

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/04/Hubble_spots_stellar_sculptors_at_work_in_a_nearby_galaxy

@science.esa.int @stsci.edu
January 4, 2026 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
🔵 In 2025, the NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope found a new moon orbiting Uranus! Called S/2025 U1, it joined the 28 other known moons around the ice giant. Webb’s infrared view also revealed the planet’s rings and atmospheric details in stunning clarity 🧪🔭

www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @stsci.edu
January 3, 2026 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
#HappyNewYear! Start 2026 on a radiant note with this breathtaking video of the Sun: our Solar Orbiter spacecraft captured a stunning plasma flare dancing above the solar surface 🔥🧪🔭

🔗 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
January 1, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
🚀 Planning to attend #AbSciCon2026 and study the role of metals in life evolution and life elsewhere? Then consider submitting an abstract to our session #20- Transition Metals in Habitability and Biological Evolution. Details below and at this link: agu.confex.com/agu/abscicon...
December 31, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
📷 This NASA/ESA #Hubble Space Telescope image shows the N159 star-forming complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our Milky Way 🧪🔭

🔗 esahubble.org/images/potw2...
December 29, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Top #PPOD of 2025 - Number 5: The Jagged Shores of Pluto’s Highlands

This enhanced color view from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft zooms in on the southeastern portion of Pluto's great ice plains, where at lower right the plains border rugged, dark highlands informally named Krun Macula. 🧪 🔭
December 29, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
The geometry of cooperation: decoding microbial interactions www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... #jcampubs
December 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM