Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
@elakdawalla.bsky.social
Planetary scientist, freelance science writer and space artist, queer, ADHD, mom. Turns out it’s hard to be all those things at once. Shop at elakdawalla.Etsy.com
Pinned
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a planetary geologist, a science writer, space artist, queer, ADHD, mom. I write & post about solar system & exoplanet science for Sky & Telescope and elsewhere, & post about space-themed art & jewelry I sell at elakdawalla.etsy.com. I live in Los Angeles. Also, cats.
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Surprise meteorite debris uncovered on Moon’s far side
The rare samples, uncovered by China’s Chang’e-6 mission, might help to reveal secrets of how the Solar System evolved.
☑️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...
☑️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪🔭
The rare samples, uncovered by China’s Chang’e-6 mission, might help to reveal secrets of how the Solar System evolved.
☑️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...
☑️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪🔭
October 23, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Surprise meteorite debris uncovered on Moon’s far side
The rare samples, uncovered by China’s Chang’e-6 mission, might help to reveal secrets of how the Solar System evolved.
☑️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...
☑️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪🔭
The rare samples, uncovered by China’s Chang’e-6 mission, might help to reveal secrets of how the Solar System evolved.
☑️ www.nature.com/articles/d41...
☑️ www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧪🔭
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
A moth got into the shelter tonight and it was the event of the season.
October 24, 2025 at 1:03 AM
A moth got into the shelter tonight and it was the event of the season.
This is an amazing story. Settle in.
Your Cherokee words for today.
The top word is English followed by how it is written in the Cherokee language followed by how it is spelled in English then how to pronounce it phonetically.
The Sun & Moon shared rank evenly & they received prayers separately from the creators, spirits & Gods, as
The top word is English followed by how it is written in the Cherokee language followed by how it is spelled in English then how to pronounce it phonetically.
The Sun & Moon shared rank evenly & they received prayers separately from the creators, spirits & Gods, as
October 24, 2025 at 4:29 AM
This is an amazing story. Settle in.
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
San Diego is a lot of things, but it is most definitely this dude describing an airplane emergency landing on the beach.
youtube.com/shorts/fEJuU...
youtube.com/shorts/fEJuU...
#SanDiego man explains how a small plane had an emergency landing on #MissionBeach🎥 @kusinews
YouTube video by Stop Sign Pros
youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:59 AM
San Diego is a lot of things, but it is most definitely this dude describing an airplane emergency landing on the beach.
youtube.com/shorts/fEJuU...
youtube.com/shorts/fEJuU...
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
🌟OPEN ACCESS🌟
A new dataset acquired at Eastwind Glacier in Antarctica, which has a relatively accessible grounding zone near McMurdo, provides scientists with valuable cryoseismological information. For more, visit #SRL ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...
A new dataset acquired at Eastwind Glacier in Antarctica, which has a relatively accessible grounding zone near McMurdo, provides scientists with valuable cryoseismological information. For more, visit #SRL ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 AM
🌟OPEN ACCESS🌟
A new dataset acquired at Eastwind Glacier in Antarctica, which has a relatively accessible grounding zone near McMurdo, provides scientists with valuable cryoseismological information. For more, visit #SRL ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...
A new dataset acquired at Eastwind Glacier in Antarctica, which has a relatively accessible grounding zone near McMurdo, provides scientists with valuable cryoseismological information. For more, visit #SRL ⚒️
pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/arti...
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Came across my timeline again and I'm still shocked by this video. Best thing I've ever seen John Cena film.
I’m afraid to say this is very attractive. Got to love a passionate nerd. He knows his shit.
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Came across my timeline again and I'm still shocked by this video. Best thing I've ever seen John Cena film.
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
hell yeah
“I am not interested, nor will I ever be interested. I'm 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak. ... The other day, somebody wrote me an email, said, ‘What is your stance on AI?’ And my answer was very short. I said, ‘I'd rather die.’” 🫡
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says 'I'd rather die' than use generative AI
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.
www.npr.org
October 24, 2025 at 3:01 AM
hell yeah
I made these today. Same idea, different scales. Timeline of the first 5000 days of the Voyager missions to the outer planets. Each bead stands for 10 days. Planet beads when they were sciencing planets. Gold bead for each new year. Wrap bracelet ($250) or hanging art ($290). #EmilysSpaceCraft
October 24, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I made these today. Same idea, different scales. Timeline of the first 5000 days of the Voyager missions to the outer planets. Each bead stands for 10 days. Planet beads when they were sciencing planets. Gold bead for each new year. Wrap bracelet ($250) or hanging art ($290). #EmilysSpaceCraft
In somewhat terrifying but hopefully positive personal news, I've decided to purchase an extremely expensive 10x10 booth in the exhibit hall at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December. I'll be selling my gemstone and wire jewelry and art. I hope you'll come find me there.
October 23, 2025 at 5:41 PM
In somewhat terrifying but hopefully positive personal news, I've decided to purchase an extremely expensive 10x10 booth in the exhibit hall at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December. I'll be selling my gemstone and wire jewelry and art. I hope you'll come find me there.
I have realized why I've been struggling to keep up with, and keep writing about, what's happening with solar system exploration. It's not because things are bad; in the past, when things were bad, I wanted to shout about active missions to the world, as a light in the darkness, rare good news. 1/n
October 23, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I have realized why I've been struggling to keep up with, and keep writing about, what's happening with solar system exploration. It's not because things are bad; in the past, when things were bad, I wanted to shout about active missions to the world, as a light in the darkness, rare good news. 1/n
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Ok but what if they’re not sad.
For God’s sake let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings
And tell sad stories of the death of kings
October 18, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Ok but what if they’re not sad.
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
I don't joke when I say the financial incentive of poly is beginning to outweigh my social anxiety caused by having to explain to my family I'm poly
October 18, 2025 at 8:13 AM
I don't joke when I say the financial incentive of poly is beginning to outweigh my social anxiety caused by having to explain to my family I'm poly
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
What an absolute buzz today to hear speakers at a big Mars Climate conference here in Paris cite important recent work by an USGS scientist who THREE WEEKS AGO was selected by NASA to join the 2025 astronaut candidate class.
Gene Shoemaker would be very, very pleased.
Gene Shoemaker would be very, very pleased.
Sol 738 Update On Curiosity From Lauren Edgar: Pahrump Hills http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/astrogeology/sol-738-update-on-curiosity-from-msl-scientist-lauren-edgar-pahrump-hills // map by Phil Stooke http://t.co/d3axtGD5UI
October 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
What an absolute buzz today to hear speakers at a big Mars Climate conference here in Paris cite important recent work by an USGS scientist who THREE WEEKS AGO was selected by NASA to join the 2025 astronaut candidate class.
Gene Shoemaker would be very, very pleased.
Gene Shoemaker would be very, very pleased.
Oh neat! Both Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express observed comet 3I/ATLAS. (Or at least attempted to; Mars Express' max exposure duration was too short for it to be visible. Still, a null result is a result!) Amazing that Mars Express is still doing science. www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
ESA’s ExoMars and Mars Express observe comet 3I/ATLAS
Between 1 and 7 October, ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and Mars Express spacecraft turned their eyes towards interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, as it passed close to Mars.
www.esa.int
October 9, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Oh neat! Both Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter and Mars Express observed comet 3I/ATLAS. (Or at least attempted to; Mars Express' max exposure duration was too short for it to be visible. Still, a null result is a result!) Amazing that Mars Express is still doing science. www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Hello! I'm the grad program coordinator and past admissions chair summoned to answer your questions.
It is a multi-part decision (one many departments are currently navigating.) For us, we got an awesome class last year that was larger than our larger than our target by ~x2.
It is a multi-part decision (one many departments are currently navigating.) For us, we got an awesome class last year that was larger than our larger than our target by ~x2.
October 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Hello! I'm the grad program coordinator and past admissions chair summoned to answer your questions.
It is a multi-part decision (one many departments are currently navigating.) For us, we got an awesome class last year that was larger than our larger than our target by ~x2.
It is a multi-part decision (one many departments are currently navigating.) For us, we got an awesome class last year that was larger than our larger than our target by ~x2.
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...
Graduate Admissions | Department of Astronomy | University of Washington
The Department of Astronomy has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. General Information for applying to UW Astronomy Graduate Program. Applications must be submitted using ...
astro.washington.edu
October 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...
ESA's Plato exoplanet-hunting spacecraft is fully assembled, ready to begin a year of testing in the runup to its December 2026 launch: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Completed Plato spacecraft is ready for final tests
By fitting its sunshield and solar panels, engineers have completed the construction of Plato, the European Space Agency’s mission to discover Earth-like exoplanets. Plato is on track for the final ke...
www.esa.int
October 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
ESA's Plato exoplanet-hunting spacecraft is fully assembled, ready to begin a year of testing in the runup to its December 2026 launch: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Raise your hand if archiveofourown.org is helping you get through all of *waves hands* this
Home | Archive of Our Own
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
archiveofourown.org
September 27, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Raise your hand if archiveofourown.org is helping you get through all of *waves hands* this
Reposted by Emily Lakdawalla, Uranus Expert
In my previous career I used InSAR a lot. This mission has been a long time coming and it's very exciting to see it happen. This will be be a big deal in the InSAR world over the coming years. Even though I'm out of that game now, I look forward to seeing what it does.
Some good news from space, as the NASA-ISRO NISAR mission publishes its first synthetic aperture radar images of Earth. This spacecraft has a heckin' big antenna (a dish 12 meters across) for bouncing L- and S-band (25- and 10-cm) radio waves off the surface www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-is...
NASA-ISRO Satellite Sends First Radar Images of Earth’s Surface
Preliminary images from the most powerful Earth radar satellite ever launched offer a tantalizing glimpse of the science the mission will be able to deliver.
www.jpl.nasa.gov
September 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM
In my previous career I used InSAR a lot. This mission has been a long time coming and it's very exciting to see it happen. This will be be a big deal in the InSAR world over the coming years. Even though I'm out of that game now, I look forward to seeing what it does.
Well, Nixon got his name on the Moon landers, but everybody knows he had nothing to do with them.
trump gets credit for this
September 27, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Well, Nixon got his name on the Moon landers, but everybody knows he had nothing to do with them.
Some good news from space, as the NASA-ISRO NISAR mission publishes its first synthetic aperture radar images of Earth. This spacecraft has a heckin' big antenna (a dish 12 meters across) for bouncing L- and S-band (25- and 10-cm) radio waves off the surface www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-is...
NASA-ISRO Satellite Sends First Radar Images of Earth’s Surface
Preliminary images from the most powerful Earth radar satellite ever launched offer a tantalizing glimpse of the science the mission will be able to deliver.
www.jpl.nasa.gov
September 25, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Some good news from space, as the NASA-ISRO NISAR mission publishes its first synthetic aperture radar images of Earth. This spacecraft has a heckin' big antenna (a dish 12 meters across) for bouncing L- and S-band (25- and 10-cm) radio waves off the surface www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-is...
Okay, I don’t think this will keep me from wanting to turn off the TV whenever I see Kimmel, but I respect this
reminder: Jimmy Kimmel is enough of a mensch that he devised a segment on which actors who are just short of having enough work to qualify for union healthcare come on his show and deliver a single line of dialogue
deadline.com/2024/07/jimm...
deadline.com/2024/07/jimm...
‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Once Again Aims To Help Working Actors Get Health Insurance With New Casting Notice
Jimmy Kimmel wants to help actors get health insurance with a new casting notice for his talk show
deadline.com
September 18, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Okay, I don’t think this will keep me from wanting to turn off the TV whenever I see Kimmel, but I respect this
I first read The Onion when I picked it up for free on street corners in Chicago in 1998, and I’m a proud subscriber to its reborn snail-mailed form
By the way, you can in fact run a media business where people give you money for goods and services. 56k+ people give The Onion ~$100 and we give them a year of newspapers. This business didn’t exist last year in this way. People will pay for good shit. Now’s the time to break glass and go for it.
September 18, 2025 at 2:56 AM
I first read The Onion when I picked it up for free on street corners in Chicago in 1998, and I’m a proud subscriber to its reborn snail-mailed form