Britt Lundgren
@brittlundgren.bsky.social
Quasar gazer | data miner | science / education policy wonk | Associate Prof. of Physics & Astronomy at a public liberal arts college | Illinoisan
Pinned
My article on the likely influence of the experiments of polymath Thomas Young on the early abstract art of Hilma af Klint is now published & open access at Leonardo / MIT Press 🎉 direct.mit.edu/leon/article...
The 1000m speed skating coverage only gets weirder... apnews.com/article/jake...
Jake Paul cheers from the second row as his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam, wins Olympic speedskating gold
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul was in the stands for speedskating at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics to watch his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, win the gold medal in the women's 1,000 ...
apnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:38 AM
The 1000m speed skating coverage only gets weirder... apnews.com/article/jake...
It's super weird that NBC is broadcasting live heart rate monitor output from athletes' moms.
February 10, 2026 at 1:00 AM
It's super weird that NBC is broadcasting live heart rate monitor output from athletes' moms.
My parents told me about this new disgusting development, which is happening where they live. www.cpr.org/2026/01/23/i...
ICE agents leave Ace of Spades ‘death cards’ on detained immigrants’ cars
Federal officials say the cards are unauthorized and now the subject of an investigation.
www.cpr.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:44 PM
My parents told me about this new disgusting development, which is happening where they live. www.cpr.org/2026/01/23/i...
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
10/10 amazing. please go be silly
February 9, 2026 at 11:24 PM
10/10 amazing. please go be silly
From AIP FYI: "The FCC is fast-tracking a SpaceX proposal to launch more than one million data center satellites, which is now open for public comment" www.fcc.gov/document/sb-...
www.fcc.gov
February 9, 2026 at 7:04 PM
From AIP FYI: "The FCC is fast-tracking a SpaceX proposal to launch more than one million data center satellites, which is now open for public comment" www.fcc.gov/document/sb-...
Cantwell cited a SpaceX application to deploy 1M satellites for an orbital data center, w/ few details about spacecraft characteristics or orbits. “Literally, the FCC could fail to take any action on this, & within one and a half years, 1M satellites would be approved” spacenews.com/senate-commi...
Senate committee delays consideration of bill to streamline FCC satellite licensing
A Senate committee has delayed consideration of a bill intended to expedite FCC reviews of satellite licenses amid concerns it may be too permissive.
spacenews.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Cantwell cited a SpaceX application to deploy 1M satellites for an orbital data center, w/ few details about spacecraft characteristics or orbits. “Literally, the FCC could fail to take any action on this, & within one and a half years, 1M satellites would be approved” spacenews.com/senate-commi...
Relatedly, last week I asked a Whole Foods cashier if anyone actually pays with their palm, and she said "yeah, a lot... crazy, right" www.oregonlive.com/retail/2026/...
Shunned by customers, this payment method will soon disappear at Whole Foods stores
Customers either didn’t like it or didn’t find it useful.
www.oregonlive.com
February 9, 2026 at 5:27 AM
Relatedly, last week I asked a Whole Foods cashier if anyone actually pays with their palm, and she said "yeah, a lot... crazy, right" www.oregonlive.com/retail/2026/...
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Help "families" find "lost dogs" 🤔
This is what happens when every tech company fires their ethics team.
Here's that Ring #SuperBowl commercial:
February 9, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Help "families" find "lost dogs" 🤔
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
February 9, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
The NC Primary Election is March 3; Buncombe Co residents can check their registration status and find the early voting schedule & sample ballots here: www.buncombenc.gov/199/Election...
Election Services | Buncombe County, NC
Information about election services in Buncombe County.
www.buncombenc.gov
February 8, 2026 at 8:12 PM
The NC Primary Election is March 3; Buncombe Co residents can check their registration status and find the early voting schedule & sample ballots here: www.buncombenc.gov/199/Election...
From Drew Reisinger, Buncombe Co Register of Deeds:
"I know [2028] feels like forever away but we have to be grownups about this: it's up to us educate ourselves about our judicial races. It's the least sexy thing on your ballot but they are the path to saving our democracy."
"I know [2028] feels like forever away but we have to be grownups about this: it's up to us educate ourselves about our judicial races. It's the least sexy thing on your ballot but they are the path to saving our democracy."
February 8, 2026 at 8:07 PM
From Drew Reisinger, Buncombe Co Register of Deeds:
"I know [2028] feels like forever away but we have to be grownups about this: it's up to us educate ourselves about our judicial races. It's the least sexy thing on your ballot but they are the path to saving our democracy."
"I know [2028] feels like forever away but we have to be grownups about this: it's up to us educate ourselves about our judicial races. It's the least sexy thing on your ballot but they are the path to saving our democracy."
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Busy day yesterday! Thank you NCDP for allowing me to share why this primary is so important. Thank you so much Eric Ager, Lindsey Prather, Drew Reisinger, and everyone who came out to support our campaign in Fairview!
Primary day is just weeks away. Let's finish strong! WhalenForNC.com.
Primary day is just weeks away. Let's finish strong! WhalenForNC.com.
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Busy day yesterday! Thank you NCDP for allowing me to share why this primary is so important. Thank you so much Eric Ager, Lindsey Prather, Drew Reisinger, and everyone who came out to support our campaign in Fairview!
Primary day is just weeks away. Let's finish strong! WhalenForNC.com.
Primary day is just weeks away. Let's finish strong! WhalenForNC.com.
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
February 7, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
The first person I donated miles for is safely home. That's a good feeling.
DID YOU KNOW?
If you have Delta Sky Miles, you can donate them to help a kidnapped-and-released person fly home!
They are set free on the streets of El Paso or another Texas town with no phone, no money, nothing at all. Your miles can get them back to their loved ones!
If you have Delta Sky Miles, you can donate them to help a kidnapped-and-released person fly home!
They are set free on the streets of El Paso or another Texas town with no phone, no money, nothing at all. Your miles can get them back to their loved ones!
Donate Your Miles — Stand With Minnesota
Donate your Delta Skymiles to get people home from Texas
www.standwithminnesota.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:47 AM
The first person I donated miles for is safely home. That's a good feeling.
Meanwhile over on FB... "Anyone know where I can get some listeria and/or bird flu?"
(All of the 11 comments on this post are positive recommendations.)
(All of the 11 comments on this post are positive recommendations.)
February 8, 2026 at 4:26 AM
Meanwhile over on FB... "Anyone know where I can get some listeria and/or bird flu?"
(All of the 11 comments on this post are positive recommendations.)
(All of the 11 comments on this post are positive recommendations.)
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Everyone should be following the digitization and posting of the Adam Jacobs Collection. A 10,000 live concert chronicle of rocknroll-live-in-Chicago between the mid-1980s and today. archive.org/details/aada...
February 7, 2026 at 11:54 PM
Everyone should be following the digitization and posting of the Adam Jacobs Collection. A 10,000 live concert chronicle of rocknroll-live-in-Chicago between the mid-1980s and today. archive.org/details/aada...
Brings to mind this piece.. US tech oligarchs owe their fortunes to the post-WWII model of federal investment in academic research. Yet they now ask us to believe that public unis/labs are an inefficiency in the system, & they're salting the earth behind them. www.liberalcurrents.com/marc-andrees...
Marc Andreessen Is a Traitor
It is the tech oligarchs, not young radicals, who have turned against the system that made them.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Brings to mind this piece.. US tech oligarchs owe their fortunes to the post-WWII model of federal investment in academic research. Yet they now ask us to believe that public unis/labs are an inefficiency in the system, & they're salting the earth behind them. www.liberalcurrents.com/marc-andrees...
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Re-upping this interview with @biblioracle.bsky.social from earlier this week which helpfully made me put some shit that had been burbling in my head to page.
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/the-techno...
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/the-techno...
February 7, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Re-upping this interview with @biblioracle.bsky.social from earlier this week which helpfully made me put some shit that had been burbling in my head to page.
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/the-techno...
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/the-techno...
His recommendation letter read: “I have a perfect editoress in mind: Yale sr, worked at Vogue last summer, runs her own campus mag, art major, completely connected, v small goodlooking blonde.”
.. "editoress"???
.. "editoress"???
February 5, 2026 at 7:50 PM
His recommendation letter read: “I have a perfect editoress in mind: Yale sr, worked at Vogue last summer, runs her own campus mag, art major, completely connected, v small goodlooking blonde.”
.. "editoress"???
.. "editoress"???
Osterbrock et al.'s article about Edwin Hubble from 1990 is a fascinating read, by the way: articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1990AS...
1990ASPC...10....1O Page 5
articles.adsabs.harvard.edu
February 5, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Osterbrock et al.'s article about Edwin Hubble from 1990 is a fascinating read, by the way: articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/1990AS...
This is how elite university faculty wrote recommendation letters 100 years ago. We are supposed to have learned a few things since then.
![Screenshot from Osterbrock's 1990 article "Self-Made Cosmologist: The Education of Edwin Hubble", with an excerpt about Hubble's admission to graduate school, which reads: "Hubble, however, had decided to go back to astronomy; he knew by then that the school-teaching life was not for him. As the end of the school year approached he wrote Moulton, his astronomy professor at the University of Chicago, to ask about coming back as a graduate student. Moulton immediately recommended him very strongly to Edwin B. Frost, the director of Yerkes Observatory, where the graduate work was actually given: "Personally [Hubble] is a man of the finest type. Physically he is a splendid specimen. In his work here, altogether, and especially in science, he showed exceptional ability. I feel sure you would find him just the sort of man you would wish to have."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2zhgcd3rlyylivbnyf4ia5k/bafkreiedb3a6ldwdezj3v2q4wf7vkq5ytkowehrxl6ldsrdqyfh3pewfze@jpeg)
February 5, 2026 at 7:38 PM
This is how elite university faculty wrote recommendation letters 100 years ago. We are supposed to have learned a few things since then.
This is an insane way to respond to being outed for having written a highly inappropriate recommendation letter that also seems to be knowingly putting a student in harm's way.
This is the Yale professor's explanation for why he described the physical attractiveness of a student in an email to Epstein. He explicitly says he regrets nothing about their association.
Again, I'm so happy Yale hired David Brooks to restore trust.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
Again, I'm so happy Yale hired David Brooks to restore trust.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
February 5, 2026 at 7:33 PM
This is an insane way to respond to being outed for having written a highly inappropriate recommendation letter that also seems to be knowingly putting a student in harm's way.
Reposted by Britt Lundgren
Absolutely blistering grilling of Scott Bessent by Rep. Casten on Trump’s massively illegal scheme to steal Venezuela’s oil.
'Do You Recognize That Quote?': Sean Casten Grills Scott Bessent On Previous Comments On Tariffs
YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News
youtu.be
February 5, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Absolutely blistering grilling of Scott Bessent by Rep. Casten on Trump’s massively illegal scheme to steal Venezuela’s oil.