James Davenport
@jradavenport.com
Coffee drinking, year-round-plaid wearing space dad. Astronomy professor in Seattle. Searching for ET, caring for humans.
https://jradavenport.github.io
https://jradavenport.github.io
Pinned
James Davenport
@jradavenport.com
· Jan 22
Why some astronomers are excited about the search for alien life : Short Wave
Around the turn of the century, 3.8 million people banded together in a real-time search for aliens — with screensavers. It was a big moment in a century-long concerted search for extraterrestrial int...
www.npr.org
I listen to @npr.org every day (s/o @kuow.org). Today I'm lucky & proud to be part of a piece talking about SETI and the amazing future of 🔭🧪🎧⭐ with @vrubinobs.bsky.social. Thank you to my friend Regina & the Short Wave team for having me on!
www.npr.org/2025/01/22/1...
www.npr.org/2025/01/22/1...
Star Trek the Next Generation Technical Manual
omg. Kat Abughazaleh just posted that if she's elected, she'll swear in on a copy of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
If you were elected to public office (never mind whether you'd ever actually run), what book would you swear in on?
If you were elected to public office (never mind whether you'd ever actually run), what book would you swear in on?
December 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Star Trek the Next Generation Technical Manual
Driving thru SF on I-80, at one point could see billboards for FOUR different AI companies simultaneously. Everyone in LA is an actor, and everyone in SF is ChatGPT pretending to originally be from Ohio
December 9, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Driving thru SF on I-80, at one point could see billboards for FOUR different AI companies simultaneously. Everyone in LA is an actor, and everyone in SF is ChatGPT pretending to originally be from Ohio
Reposted by James Davenport
On the information superhighway, everything is lies. We know this. What makes Tesla so innovative is bringing that continuous integration of deceit into meat space so effortlessly.
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
On the information superhighway, everything is lies. We know this. What makes Tesla so innovative is bringing that continuous integration of deceit into meat space so effortlessly.
Am I supposed to select an UberX, UberY, or UberZ? They’re all the same price, but my University said if I pick the wrong one they’ll cancel my gym membership
December 9, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Am I supposed to select an UberX, UberY, or UberZ? They’re all the same price, but my University said if I pick the wrong one they’ll cancel my gym membership
ChatGPT will say “Absolutely” to whatever you ask it.
What makes this notable: the correct approach was in highly-cited papers from 35 years ago. Papers GPT-5 presumably trained on. I asked frontier models to review the paper. They loved it. Point out the flaw? Enthusiastic agreement: "You've landed on the crux of the issue!" 3/
![Text from the paper: "We show that the derived criterion, which applies
Tomonaga–Schwinger (TS) integrability conditions to try
to identify Lorentz-violating nonlinear modifications of
quantum mechanics, instead tests a different property:
whether the Hamiltonian is built from local operator den-
sities. This is distinct from the question of linearity in
the quantum state. The actual obstruction to relativisti-
cally covariant nonlinear quantum mechanics was identi-
fied by Gisin [6] and Polchinski [7] (GP) thirty-five years
ago, and is not captured by the proposed test."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:uknpj5mh4cfutreceecdbv7x/bafkreid46tm4ljxqecsvoduanvlfxs2zxg5ec7d7av7jkvcv7u4z5mrz7e@jpeg)
December 9, 2025 at 7:11 PM
ChatGPT will say “Absolutely” to whatever you ask it.
On the information superhighway, everything is lies. We know this. What makes Tesla so innovative is bringing that continuous integration of deceit into meat space so effortlessly.
can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot
December 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
On the information superhighway, everything is lies. We know this. What makes Tesla so innovative is bringing that continuous integration of deceit into meat space so effortlessly.
Reposted by James Davenport
Trump has pardoned huge amounts of fraud and truly heinous crimes.
In particular, he's pardoned more corrupt elected officials than any other President, and it's not particularly close.
This President is a crook through and through.
In particular, he's pardoned more corrupt elected officials than any other President, and it's not particularly close.
This President is a crook through and through.
December 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Trump has pardoned huge amounts of fraud and truly heinous crimes.
In particular, he's pardoned more corrupt elected officials than any other President, and it's not particularly close.
This President is a crook through and through.
In particular, he's pardoned more corrupt elected officials than any other President, and it's not particularly close.
This President is a crook through and through.
You know what’s great about this Netflix vs Paramount hostile takeover of Warner Brothers? No matter who wins, we all will have to pay more for streaming services, which will feature even more ads!
December 9, 2025 at 1:26 PM
You know what’s great about this Netflix vs Paramount hostile takeover of Warner Brothers? No matter who wins, we all will have to pay more for streaming services, which will feature even more ads!
Anyone telling Jason that Avi is the maverick singularly brave enough to ask the bold questions and challenge a stagnant field hasn’t met Jason or read any of the mountain of papers/work he’s produced. I dabble, hoping to do my small part. Jason is the preeminent scholar on SETI currently, IMO
Some have argued to me strongly that even if Loeb is wrong, he’s getting people interested in 3I/ATLAS and that’s a good thing for science.
But Loeb isn't just wrong, he's recklessly following an old playbook that got 39 people killed in 1997.
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
But Loeb isn't just wrong, he's recklessly following an old playbook that got 39 people killed in 1997.
sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...
Loeb’s Behavior is Reckless
I’ve largely ignored Loeb for the past few weeks. When he started in on his 3I/ATLAS thing, there were plenty of mainstream media outlets willing to give his claims a wide and credulous platform, and ...
sites.psu.edu
December 9, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Anyone telling Jason that Avi is the maverick singularly brave enough to ask the bold questions and challenge a stagnant field hasn’t met Jason or read any of the mountain of papers/work he’s produced. I dabble, hoping to do my small part. Jason is the preeminent scholar on SETI currently, IMO
I was late getting application submitted, so our Astronomer 🔭 panel is waitlisted for @emeraldcitycon.bsky.social, but we’re still 100% excited to attend and see all the other awesome stuff! You coming to #ECCC2026?!?
December 9, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I was late getting application submitted, so our Astronomer 🔭 panel is waitlisted for @emeraldcitycon.bsky.social, but we’re still 100% excited to attend and see all the other awesome stuff! You coming to #ECCC2026?!?
McDonald’s is worth over $200B. Why even make this?
McDonald's has released an AI-generated Christmas ad
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
December 8, 2025 at 11:48 PM
McDonald’s is worth over $200B. Why even make this?
Reposted by James Davenport
Justice Jackson nails it, but that this has to be spelled out is so depressing.
Justice Jackson to Solicitor General Sauer (just now, in Trump v. Slaughter arguments):
December 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Justice Jackson nails it, but that this has to be spelled out is so depressing.
Got to see Penn and Teller yesterday, definitely a bucket list item. Teller did his now classic Fish and Coins trick, and it’s just as marvelous to watch in person as I’d hoped. Artistry in motion
youtu.be/iSo-k_EG6po
youtu.be/iSo-k_EG6po
Penn & Teller: Fool Us -Teller performs his legendary fish tank routine. Amazing!
YouTube video by Penn & Teller
youtu.be
December 8, 2025 at 5:32 AM
Got to see Penn and Teller yesterday, definitely a bucket list item. Teller did his now classic Fish and Coins trick, and it’s just as marvelous to watch in person as I’d hoped. Artistry in motion
youtu.be/iSo-k_EG6po
youtu.be/iSo-k_EG6po
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
December 8, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
(Re: academic careers) The best thing my parents did for me is not pressure me into any field. I was very into music and STEM at 18, turned down some artistic options that would have been really positive to go this way. Was the right choice in the end? Unclear! but THEY never offered an opinion
December 8, 2025 at 1:19 AM
(Re: academic careers) The best thing my parents did for me is not pressure me into any field. I was very into music and STEM at 18, turned down some artistic options that would have been really positive to go this way. Was the right choice in the end? Unclear! but THEY never offered an opinion
As a professional astronomer, I absolutely would not want my children going into this. I hope they have been clear witnesses to my ceaseless anxiety and job insecurity. Yes, funding is much worse now than a year ago, but academia has been a disaster for a LONG time
My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?
December 7, 2025 at 8:21 PM
As a professional astronomer, I absolutely would not want my children going into this. I hope they have been clear witnesses to my ceaseless anxiety and job insecurity. Yes, funding is much worse now than a year ago, but academia has been a disaster for a LONG time
Confirming what anyone who has seen a child with a Chromebook knows. At best they are not transformative for most learning
One Laptop Per Child, 10 years later: "we find no significant effects on academic performance but some evidence of negative effects on grade progression... computer access significantly improved students’ computer skills but not their cognitive skills" www.nber.org/papers/w34495
Laptops in the Long Run: Evidence from the One Laptop per Child Program in Rural Peru
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
December 7, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Confirming what anyone who has seen a child with a Chromebook knows. At best they are not transformative for most learning
Reposted by James Davenport
The 14th Amendment says that all people born in America, regardless of race are citizens and have a right to equal protection under the law. For SCOTUS to be remotely confused on that text speaks to their racism, not the Constitution (1/3) www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...
Supreme Court agrees to decide if Trump may end birthright citizenship | CNN Politics
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide if President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship with an executive order is constitutional, offering the justices an opportunity to revisit w...
www.cnn.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The 14th Amendment says that all people born in America, regardless of race are citizens and have a right to equal protection under the law. For SCOTUS to be remotely confused on that text speaks to their racism, not the Constitution (1/3) www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...
The Board of Regents voted 7-1 to eliminate the Statistics program. Statistics! The field that underpins AI, much of computer science, and bolsters all of science… madness
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
It's over.
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
December 7, 2025 at 7:28 AM
The Board of Regents voted 7-1 to eliminate the Statistics program. Statistics! The field that underpins AI, much of computer science, and bolsters all of science… madness
Tomorrow they’ll deny it all. Never forget what these monsters have done, never forget the people who have defended and enabled this the whole way.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announces another boat strike in response to a request/wish from Turning Point USA’s Andrew Kolvet.
December 5, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Tomorrow they’ll deny it all. Never forget what these monsters have done, never forget the people who have defended and enabled this the whole way.
Reposted by James Davenport
Come work with us at Penn State!
The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is hiring postdocs, and welcomes applicants who can make connections with its sibling centers like @pseticenter.bsky.social doing SETI, Astrobiology, and Planetary Systems Science:
aas.org/jobregister/...
The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is hiring postdocs, and welcomes applicants who can make connections with its sibling centers like @pseticenter.bsky.social doing SETI, Astrobiology, and Planetary Systems Science:
aas.org/jobregister/...
Postdoctoral Research Positions at Penn State Center for Exoplanets & Habitable Worlds | American Astronomical Society
The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds (CEHW) at Penn State invite applications for one or more Postdoctoral Researcher positions.
aas.org
December 4, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Come work with us at Penn State!
The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is hiring postdocs, and welcomes applicants who can make connections with its sibling centers like @pseticenter.bsky.social doing SETI, Astrobiology, and Planetary Systems Science:
aas.org/jobregister/...
The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is hiring postdocs, and welcomes applicants who can make connections with its sibling centers like @pseticenter.bsky.social doing SETI, Astrobiology, and Planetary Systems Science:
aas.org/jobregister/...
Reposted by James Davenport
Men don’t have to “pretend to be women” to enter women’s locker rooms, changing rooms, and bathrooms. Famously, Donald Trump just strolled right in
December 4, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Men don’t have to “pretend to be women” to enter women’s locker rooms, changing rooms, and bathrooms. Famously, Donald Trump just strolled right in
Reposted by James Davenport
*looks directly at camera*
Pantone’s 2026 color of the year is technically not a color at all — meet Cloud Dancer, the first-ever white shade to receive the designation from the world’s color authority.
Pantone makes a surprising choice for its 2026 color of the year
We did not see that coming.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:56 PM
*looks directly at camera*
Reposted by James Davenport
Academia has this way of making you feel utterly unsuccessful even when by any reasonable standard you are doing just fine.
December 4, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Academia has this way of making you feel utterly unsuccessful even when by any reasonable standard you are doing just fine.