Duncan Christie
@astroduncan.bsky.social
Astrophysicist. Postdoctoral researcher at the MPIA. Exoplanet atmospheres. (he/him/his)
www.duncanchristie.net
www.duncanchristie.net
Pinned
Duncan Christie
@astroduncan.bsky.social
· Sep 28
Normalize submitting to arXiv after acceptance instead of on submission.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
My family are useful canaries of what news the public actually sees from astro, and only yesterday did my mum ask me about a study (one article of many linked below) who said they "trained an AI" to simulate the Milky Way.
This was NOT AI as how the public sees "AI", and this is disingenuous.
This was NOT AI as how the public sees "AI", and this is disingenuous.
November 23, 2025 at 9:21 AM
My family are useful canaries of what news the public actually sees from astro, and only yesterday did my mum ask me about a study (one article of many linked below) who said they "trained an AI" to simulate the Milky Way.
This was NOT AI as how the public sees "AI", and this is disingenuous.
This was NOT AI as how the public sees "AI", and this is disingenuous.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
As we are in the midst of job season, and as hiring committees no doubt ask themselves if applicants looked at the departmental webpage to see who works at their institution and what they do, it's a great time to make sure those websites are up to date. #astronomy
November 21, 2025 at 9:53 AM
As we are in the midst of job season, and as hiring committees no doubt ask themselves if applicants looked at the departmental webpage to see who works at their institution and what they do, it's a great time to make sure those websites are up to date. #astronomy
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Lorena Acuna @astrolore.bsky.social combined beautiful JWST spectra with mass and radius measurements for a warm Saturn, finding evidence for either a hot interior or a very small core - both unexpected! arxiv.org/abs/2511.13483
November 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Lorena Acuna @astrolore.bsky.social combined beautiful JWST spectra with mass and radius measurements for a warm Saturn, finding evidence for either a hot interior or a very small core - both unexpected! arxiv.org/abs/2511.13483
Reposted by Duncan Christie
and Evie Ahrer @eahrer.bsky.social wrote a Nature comment on the JWST revolution for exoplanet atmospheres, from CO2 and photochemistry on gas giants to the push to smaller/cooler worlds www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
and Evie Ahrer @eahrer.bsky.social wrote a Nature comment on the JWST revolution for exoplanet atmospheres, from CO2 and photochemistry on gas giants to the push to smaller/cooler worlds www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Lots of fun work out from APEx postdocs in the past week! first up was Sophia Vaughan @sophiavaughan.bsky.social on a deep search for reflected light from a hot Neptune w/ the VLT. This summed up light from ALL FOUR 8m telescopes over 2 nights- a preview of ELT-like data! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08691
November 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Lots of fun work out from APEx postdocs in the past week! first up was Sophia Vaughan @sophiavaughan.bsky.social on a deep search for reflected light from a hot Neptune w/ the VLT. This summed up light from ALL FOUR 8m telescopes over 2 nights- a preview of ELT-like data! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08691
Reposted by Duncan Christie
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If women are underrepresented in STEM, it's at least partly because men like this offer mentoring, then embarrass themselves by assuming their mentees must be into them, then decide the best solution is to cut ties, which sends the signal to other faculty that the mentee must not be good enough.
Interested in hearing about the 3D structure of silicate, chloride, and sulfide clouds on warm Jupiters? Nishil Mehta has you covered 👇 #exoplanets
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Mf...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Mf...
Combining JWST Data and General Circulation Models for a 3D Study of the Clouds on Warm Jupiters
YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Interested in hearing about the 3D structure of silicate, chloride, and sulfide clouds on warm Jupiters? Nishil Mehta has you covered 👇 #exoplanets
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Mf...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Mf...
The care that has to be taken when analyzing transmission spectra of ultra-hot Jupiters due to 3D effects is always really fascinating. Here is Cyril Gapp's recent talk on his work on the ultra-hot WASP-121b and the cool things going on in its atmosphere.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuZU...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuZU...
Thermal Dissociation and SiO in the Ultra-Hot Jupiter WASP-121b
YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars
www.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM
The care that has to be taken when analyzing transmission spectra of ultra-hot Jupiters due to 3D effects is always really fascinating. Here is Cyril Gapp's recent talk on his work on the ultra-hot WASP-121b and the cool things going on in its atmosphere.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuZU...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuZU...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Astro PhD applications for Edinburgh are open! Deadlines are:
* 24 Nov: Career Development Scholarship (for students of Black heritage)
* 5 Dec: Bell Burnell Scholarship (for all URM students)
* 5 Jan: all applications
Come to beautiful Scotland! 🏴
Applying is free! 🔭🧪
ifa.roe.ac.uk/phds-jobs-fe...
* 24 Nov: Career Development Scholarship (for students of Black heritage)
* 5 Dec: Bell Burnell Scholarship (for all URM students)
* 5 Jan: all applications
Come to beautiful Scotland! 🏴
Applying is free! 🔭🧪
ifa.roe.ac.uk/phds-jobs-fe...
November 13, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Astro PhD applications for Edinburgh are open! Deadlines are:
* 24 Nov: Career Development Scholarship (for students of Black heritage)
* 5 Dec: Bell Burnell Scholarship (for all URM students)
* 5 Jan: all applications
Come to beautiful Scotland! 🏴
Applying is free! 🔭🧪
ifa.roe.ac.uk/phds-jobs-fe...
* 24 Nov: Career Development Scholarship (for students of Black heritage)
* 5 Dec: Bell Burnell Scholarship (for all URM students)
* 5 Jan: all applications
Come to beautiful Scotland! 🏴
Applying is free! 🔭🧪
ifa.roe.ac.uk/phds-jobs-fe...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Great piece by astronomer and SETI leader Jason Wright on the endless, exhausting claims about 3I/Atlas by Avi Loeb.
"zero planetary scientists give Avi’s claims any credence... because he’s demonstrably wrong"
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
"zero planetary scientists give Avi’s claims any credence... because he’s demonstrably wrong"
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft. He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Great piece by astronomer and SETI leader Jason Wright on the endless, exhausting claims about 3I/Atlas by Avi Loeb.
"zero planetary scientists give Avi’s claims any credence... because he’s demonstrably wrong"
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
"zero planetary scientists give Avi’s claims any credence... because he’s demonstrably wrong"
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Looking to start a PhD in Physics & Astronomy in 2026? The team @physicsuol.bsky.social have announced their STFC-funded projects on offer next year, spanning astrophysics, planetary science, and space instrumentation. Deadline: Jan 18th, contact us to learn more!
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
November 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Looking to start a PhD in Physics & Astronomy in 2026? The team @physicsuol.bsky.social have announced their STFC-funded projects on offer next year, spanning astrophysics, planetary science, and space instrumentation. Deadline: Jan 18th, contact us to learn more!
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
le.ac.uk/study/resear...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
The agency has already been irreparably damaged, capacity and culture destroyed, decades worth of experience shown the door. "NASA" is the strongest name brand in the world, a metonymy for our highest ideals as humans. It is being bulldozed by people who don't understand (or care) what we're losing.
After 13 years as the top federal workplace, NASA is facing an employee exodus and months of turmoil after deep budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration.
If fully implemented, the changes could reshape U.S. science for years.
If fully implemented, the changes could reshape U.S. science for years.
NASA has lost thousands of workers. Here’s what that means for science.
Staffers told The Post about months of turmoil and sweeping changes that, if fully implemented, could transform NASA and American science beyond the Trump years.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
The agency has already been irreparably damaged, capacity and culture destroyed, decades worth of experience shown the door. "NASA" is the strongest name brand in the world, a metonymy for our highest ideals as humans. It is being bulldozed by people who don't understand (or care) what we're losing.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
I will also just remind you that NASA used to have a bunch of advisory committees that all would have raised the red flag on this... But we were all disbanded, along with most advisory panels, in the spring.
November 6, 2025 at 3:51 PM
I will also just remind you that NASA used to have a bunch of advisory committees that all would have raised the red flag on this... But we were all disbanded, along with most advisory panels, in the spring.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
You might ask why... It seems to be two things. One, Project 2025 makes it clear the authors do not believe that government scientific capacity should exist. They are doing everything they can do to make that happen.
And Goddard is in a blue state. They are making an example.
And Goddard is in a blue state. They are making an example.
November 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
You might ask why... It seems to be two things. One, Project 2025 makes it clear the authors do not believe that government scientific capacity should exist. They are doing everything they can do to make that happen.
And Goddard is in a blue state. They are making an example.
And Goddard is in a blue state. They are making an example.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
This is how you incinerate a field of science. 🔭🧪
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:39 AM
This is how you incinerate a field of science. 🔭🧪
Reposted by Duncan Christie
We’re now watching the murder of space sciences in America. Unless someone can stop this, this is the beginning of the end.
The brain drain will accelerate until there’s nothing left to stay for. 🧪🔭
The brain drain will accelerate until there’s nothing left to stay for. 🧪🔭
Most of the Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Campus is planned to be demolished by March 2026, if not sooner.
www.space.com/space-explor...
www.space.com/space-explor...
November 6, 2025 at 2:36 AM
We’re now watching the murder of space sciences in America. Unless someone can stop this, this is the beginning of the end.
The brain drain will accelerate until there’s nothing left to stay for. 🧪🔭
The brain drain will accelerate until there’s nothing left to stay for. 🧪🔭
Reposted by Duncan Christie
EXPEDITIOUSLY AT LOUD VOLUME
i hope this election cycle empowers everyone the next time a centrist liberal says to drop pro-trans and pro-immigrant rhetoric to enthusiastically tell them to shut the fuck up
November 5, 2025 at 4:54 AM
EXPEDITIOUSLY AT LOUD VOLUME
It's motivated by AI slop being posted, but I would like to see this extended to other arXiv categories.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 4, 2025 at 8:10 AM
It's motivated by AI slop being posted, but I would like to see this extended to other arXiv categories.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
“We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically.”
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
www.ru.nl
November 1, 2025 at 10:45 PM
“We are told that AI is inevitable, that we must adapt or be left behind. But universities are not tech companies. Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically.”
Reposted by Duncan Christie
Last chance to turn it off.
On Monday, November 3rd, Microsoft will start using your LinkedIn data for AI training. And remember, you're opted in by default.
To toggle it off 👉 Account - Settings & Privacy > Data privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement.
On Monday, November 3rd, Microsoft will start using your LinkedIn data for AI training. And remember, you're opted in by default.
To toggle it off 👉 Account - Settings & Privacy > Data privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement.
October 31, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Last chance to turn it off.
On Monday, November 3rd, Microsoft will start using your LinkedIn data for AI training. And remember, you're opted in by default.
To toggle it off 👉 Account - Settings & Privacy > Data privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement.
On Monday, November 3rd, Microsoft will start using your LinkedIn data for AI training. And remember, you're opted in by default.
To toggle it off 👉 Account - Settings & Privacy > Data privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement.
Reposted by Duncan Christie
We've collected 65 individual exoplanet atmosphere composition measurements to look for population-level trends 🔭 #exoplanets
To do this, we had to create a toolkit to standardize between definitions of . We call it ExoComp. (Yes, that's a Star Trek reference 😀).
To do this, we had to create a toolkit to standardize between definitions of . We call it ExoComp. (Yes, that's a Star Trek reference 😀).
October 31, 2025 at 1:35 PM
We've collected 65 individual exoplanet atmosphere composition measurements to look for population-level trends 🔭 #exoplanets
To do this, we had to create a toolkit to standardize between definitions of . We call it ExoComp. (Yes, that's a Star Trek reference 😀).
To do this, we had to create a toolkit to standardize between definitions of . We call it ExoComp. (Yes, that's a Star Trek reference 😀).
Reposted by Duncan Christie
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Alastair Claringbold ( @exoarcturus.bsky.social ) gave a great talk this week on Temperate Jupiters as a part of the BOWIE+ ECR Highlight Series.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCD...
Chemistry and Aerosols of Temperate Jupiters
YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Alastair Claringbold ( @exoarcturus.bsky.social ) gave a great talk this week on Temperate Jupiters as a part of the BOWIE+ ECR Highlight Series.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCD...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmCD...
Reposted by Duncan Christie
SAVE THE DATE! The 11th AAS Topical Conference Series (AASTCS): Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 will take place in Denver. Join astronomers, planetary scientists & researchers from around the world for an in-depth exploration of one of the most dynamic fields in science today. More details soon 🔭
October 22, 2025 at 2:31 PM
SAVE THE DATE! The 11th AAS Topical Conference Series (AASTCS): Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 will take place in Denver. Join astronomers, planetary scientists & researchers from around the world for an in-depth exploration of one of the most dynamic fields in science today. More details soon 🔭