Dr. SkySkull
@drskyskull.bsky.social
Professor of optics, blogger of physics, history, & pulp fiction. Generally tries to keep things light-hearted, in spite of *waves hands at everything* (he/him) Blocking doomerism on sight.
blog: https://skullsinthestars.com/
blog: https://skullsinthestars.com/
Pinned
Dr. SkySkull
@drskyskull.bsky.social
· Nov 15
It seems like my last introductory pinned post disappeared, so: I’m a full professor of physics, specifically theoretical optics, who also like horror fiction, guitar, RPGs, videogames, and cats. Written a couple pf popular science books. Spends more time than is healthy worrying about politics.
L, and I must emphasize, OL
MORE: The local crew foreman on the NASHVILLE tunnel dig says Elon’s Boring Company has been wildly late on pay, and has been trying to hire his guys behind his back.
He also says despite what Steve Davis said about safety, the situation is dangerous.
nashvillebanner.com/2025/11/25/b...
He also says despite what Steve Davis said about safety, the situation is dangerous.
nashvillebanner.com/2025/11/25/b...
November 26, 2025 at 3:03 AM
L, and I must emphasize, OL
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
We got volcano time! (New eruption just started at Kīlauea): www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0t...
November 26, 2025 at 1:03 AM
We got volcano time! (New eruption just started at Kīlauea): www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk0t...
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
TWENTY STATES
Nice work
Nice work
Twenty states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over new changes to federal housing policy that would place new conditions on, and significantly cut funding for, permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. @jrussjruss.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/20-states-su...
20 states sue Trump over cuts to HUD housing program for homelessness
New York Attorney General Letitia James leads a coalition of attorneys general and governors challenging the Trump administration's funding cuts to a federal homeless housing grant program that could ...
www.courthousenews.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:31 PM
TWENTY STATES
Nice work
Nice work
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
If you’re wondering who’s guiding our transition, it’s the best New Yorkers that money can’t buy.
November 25, 2025 at 10:39 PM
If you’re wondering who’s guiding our transition, it’s the best New Yorkers that money can’t buy.
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
Viktor Orban is currently having a coronary.
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Viktor Orban is currently having a coronary.
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
I refuse to debate the merits of various pies because only pi is worth consideration
November 25, 2025 at 11:05 PM
I refuse to debate the merits of various pies because only pi is worth consideration
Well then.
EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
bloom.bg
November 25, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Well then.
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
It’s so funny to see people ANALYZE why Trump fawned over Zohran Mamdani and it’s literally because he’s an old man who watches news TV all day and the man from the TV came to see him which was very exciting
November 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
It’s so funny to see people ANALYZE why Trump fawned over Zohran Mamdani and it’s literally because he’s an old man who watches news TV all day and the man from the TV came to see him which was very exciting
Not only is the NYT carrying water for Trump while he’s in office, they’re trying to help him on the way out too
“Donald Trump, well on his way to becoming the most corrupt president in American history, will almost certainly escape criminal prosecution after leaving office,” writes Thomas Edsall.
Opinion | Why Trump Won’t Face Prosecution This Time Around
The president has a very big immunity umbrella.
nyti.ms
November 25, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Not only is the NYT carrying water for Trump while he’s in office, they’re trying to help him on the way out too
Um, I *already* get cheaper insurance by signing a document that says I don’t smoke.
Markwayne Mullin on healthcare: "What the president would like to do is say, hey, if you take care of yourself -- you don't smoke, you don't dip, you're not drinking, you're not overweight, you're working out -- then you should pay less than the guy that obviously is not taking care of himself."
November 25, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Um, I *already* get cheaper insurance by signing a document that says I don’t smoke.
Only one reaction photo seems right here, and that’s any photo of Kash Patel
MS NOW EXCLUSIVE BREAKING: Trump considering removing Patel in coming months
www.ms.now/katy-tur/wat...
www.ms.now/katy-tur/wat...
Exclusive: Trump considering removing FBI Director Kash Patel in coming months, sources say
MS NOW has just learned that President Trump is considering removing Kash Patel as FBI Director in the coming months, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. MS NOW Justice and Inte...
www.ms.now
November 25, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Only one reaction photo seems right here, and that’s any photo of Kash Patel
Live in fear the rest of your days kids
November 25, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Live in fear the rest of your days kids
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
I know zero real scientists who say this.
November 25, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I know zero real scientists who say this.
Republicans fighting for your right to rotisserie chicken your children
November 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Republicans fighting for your right to rotisserie chicken your children
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
Breaking: The six Democrats now confirmed they've been contacted by the FBI.
The lawmakers accuse Trump of using the FBI "as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress."
The lawmakers accuse Trump of using the FBI "as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress."
MS NOW confirms: The FBI is working with Capitol Police to schedule interviews with the six Democratic lawmakers who urged service members to refuse to comply with illegal orders.
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Breaking: The six Democrats now confirmed they've been contacted by the FBI.
The lawmakers accuse Trump of using the FBI "as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress."
The lawmakers accuse Trump of using the FBI "as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress."
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
It can't be that bad...oh Jesus that's bleak
this is the saddest thing i've ever read
Donald Trump takes jabs at political opponents — including Gov. JB Pritzker — at annual turkey pardoning
President Donald Trump plans to bestow ceremonial pardons on two turkeys and fly to his private Florida resort on Tuesday to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday interlude during what has been a turbu…
www.chicagotribune.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM
It can't be that bad...oh Jesus that's bleak
Okay, who remembers the first cassette tape/CD they ever purchased? For me:
CD: Pink Floyd's The Wall
cassette: Styx's Kilroy Was Here
CD: Pink Floyd's The Wall
cassette: Styx's Kilroy Was Here
November 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Okay, who remembers the first cassette tape/CD they ever purchased? For me:
CD: Pink Floyd's The Wall
cassette: Styx's Kilroy Was Here
CD: Pink Floyd's The Wall
cassette: Styx's Kilroy Was Here
Time for the annual Thanksgiving holiday miracle where classes are still in session yet parking becomes readily available for some reason
November 25, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Time for the annual Thanksgiving holiday miracle where classes are still in session yet parking becomes readily available for some reason
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
For those saying there will be no consequences for Bovino.
Maybe.
But DOJ has had to dismiss a slew of cases bc of this, and Bovino seems to now spend his time trolling on Xitter (he likes to call me "empty tire" when I note he's an adjudged liar).
Maybe.
But DOJ has had to dismiss a slew of cases bc of this, and Bovino seems to now spend his time trolling on Xitter (he likes to call me "empty tire" when I note he's an adjudged liar).
Here's how Greg Bovino denies tackling Scott Blackburn, while watching a video showing him tacking Scott Blackburn.
legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
![A 5-question exchange in which Greg Bovino is asked if he sees an older gentleman, "expressing his disagreement with [Bovino's] presence in Chicago [who] doesn't like the fact that you are instructing him to move down, right?"
Bovino responds, no, "That individual is failing to follow instructions to vacate the area."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bbp2b224lro3bfnzcqwwnkfo/bafkreibxlni2hq5i7mycqssosneb3ahdrtvw3ullnbi6y66dtomevhyhh4@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 4:55 PM
For those saying there will be no consequences for Bovino.
Maybe.
But DOJ has had to dismiss a slew of cases bc of this, and Bovino seems to now spend his time trolling on Xitter (he likes to call me "empty tire" when I note he's an adjudged liar).
Maybe.
But DOJ has had to dismiss a slew of cases bc of this, and Bovino seems to now spend his time trolling on Xitter (he likes to call me "empty tire" when I note he's an adjudged liar).
"Just following orders" isn't gonna save you, guys
“We’ve tried to not have to do it, but we've got direct orders,” the masked ICE agents told them www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/i...
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"Just following orders" isn't gonna save you, guys
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
Oh hey, Jamaica is now competitive in bobsleigh, and won gold at the North American Cup
Jamaica achieves first-ever international bobsleigh triumph with four-man gold in Whistler
Canadians notch gold and silver in two-woman event, silver and bronze in four-man
www.piquenewsmagazine.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Oh hey, Jamaica is now competitive in bobsleigh, and won gold at the North American Cup
I feel like the next tech breakthrough is a company that designs a browser or add-on that filters out all the crap and only gives us human search results.
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I feel like the next tech breakthrough is a company that designs a browser or add-on that filters out all the crap and only gives us human search results.
I have had one glass of wine in about the past five months. Just hardly feels desirable for anything anymore.
New Gallup poll shows that just 54% of Americans say they drink alcohol—"the lowest Gallup has recorded since first measuring alcohol use in 1939," per a press release. The trend coincides with growing understanding that even moderate drinking is unhealthy.
November 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I have had one glass of wine in about the past five months. Just hardly feels desirable for anything anymore.
Reposted by Dr. SkySkull
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.