Brian O'Halloran
@playingwithdust.bsky.social
Die hard Cruyffian. Ex astrophysicist. QPR devotee, for my multiple sins. Single parent.
Pinned
Time for a (re) introduction for my new followers! I'm Brian, a fallen astrophysicist living on the Copper Coast in Waterford, Ireland. Most of my feed will be photos of this gorgeous part of the world, plus my astrophotography.
Oh, plus terrible football takes.
Oh, plus terrible football takes.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
This matters because London has among the lowest vaccination rates for measles in England - there are many pockets of unvaccinated communities that could be at significant risk from a runaway outbreak:
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: Health officials are racing to contain a growing measles outbreak in London, which has struck down dozens of young children and affected 7 schools and a nursery.
UKHSA has warned an outbreak across London could see 40,000 - 160,000 cases:
www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...
UKHSA has warned an outbreak across London could see 40,000 - 160,000 cases:
www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...
London measles outbreak: more than 60 children infected
Cases are spreading between children in Enfield as the virus exploits low MMR vaccination rates, medical experts say
www.thetimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 6:49 PM
This matters because London has among the lowest vaccination rates for measles in England - there are many pockets of unvaccinated communities that could be at significant risk from a runaway outbreak:
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
I see one of these I’m just leaving the shop. Absolutely no.
Dystopian future in Boots with the SAFER POD S3 dominating the aisles.
Put down the cleanser. You have 10 seconds to comply. You have 5 seconds to comply.
Put down the cleanser. You have 10 seconds to comply. You have 5 seconds to comply.
February 14, 2026 at 6:39 PM
I see one of these I’m just leaving the shop. Absolutely no.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
Well, FUCK. Here I was excited for my first grant as a faculty member…
“White House Withholds Funding for NASA Science Missions Despite Recent Budget Bill”
NASA has been forced to pause funds for Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other missions until further notice.
🔭🧪
gizmodo.com/white-house-...
“White House Withholds Funding for NASA Science Missions Despite Recent Budget Bill”
NASA has been forced to pause funds for Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other missions until further notice.
🔭🧪
gizmodo.com/white-house-...
White House Withholds Funding for NASA Science Missions Despite Recent Budget Bill
NASA has been forced to pause funds for Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other missions until further notice.
gizmodo.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Well, FUCK. Here I was excited for my first grant as a faculty member…
“White House Withholds Funding for NASA Science Missions Despite Recent Budget Bill”
NASA has been forced to pause funds for Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other missions until further notice.
🔭🧪
gizmodo.com/white-house-...
“White House Withholds Funding for NASA Science Missions Despite Recent Budget Bill”
NASA has been forced to pause funds for Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other missions until further notice.
🔭🧪
gizmodo.com/white-house-...
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
A long thread on the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro PVR: allows me to combine/watch/record Saorview and Freesat on one box - the ability to stream multi room in high quality is the icing on the cake!
Last weekend, was looking at TV options as I was moving to fibre broadband. Was shocked that all providers offered only steaming options with no/little recording capability & was expensive.
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
February 14, 2026 at 6:05 PM
A long thread on the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro PVR: allows me to combine/watch/record Saorview and Freesat on one box - the ability to stream multi room in high quality is the icing on the cake!
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
The sass of the person writing the minute by minute on England v Scotland is to be admired
February 14, 2026 at 5:29 PM
The sass of the person writing the minute by minute on England v Scotland is to be admired
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
This rules. I love how delighted they all look!
February 14, 2026 at 4:59 PM
This rules. I love how delighted they all look!
A long thread on the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro PVR: allows me to combine/watch/record Saorview and Freesat on one box - the ability to stream multi room in high quality is the icing on the cake!
Last weekend, was looking at TV options as I was moving to fibre broadband. Was shocked that all providers offered only steaming options with no/little recording capability & was expensive.
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
February 14, 2026 at 6:05 PM
A long thread on the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro PVR: allows me to combine/watch/record Saorview and Freesat on one box - the ability to stream multi room in high quality is the icing on the cake!
Last weekend, was looking at TV options as I was moving to fibre broadband. Was shocked that all providers offered only steaming options with no/little recording capability & was expensive.
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
February 14, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Last weekend, was looking at TV options as I was moving to fibre broadband. Was shocked that all providers offered only steaming options with no/little recording capability & was expensive.
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
I wanted Ire/UK TV + recording capability: this led me to this, the GigaBlue UHD Quad 4K Pro (1/n)
To go behind once to Blackburn at home is charity. To do it twice is incompetence.
Can imagine the crowd turning on JS given the recent form. #QPR
Can imagine the crowd turning on JS given the recent form. #QPR
February 14, 2026 at 3:48 PM
To go behind once to Blackburn at home is charity. To do it twice is incompetence.
Can imagine the crowd turning on JS given the recent form. #QPR
Can imagine the crowd turning on JS given the recent form. #QPR
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
Did a thing for Newstalk/Off The Ball on Ratcliffe. Everyone who disagreed posted personal comments, some pretty nasty stuff. Can this be good for the “cause”? Or is impotent rage and abuse an acceptable world view now? Clicked on a FB thing about Elastica, pure misogyny. Social media was a mistake.
February 14, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Did a thing for Newstalk/Off The Ball on Ratcliffe. Everyone who disagreed posted personal comments, some pretty nasty stuff. Can this be good for the “cause”? Or is impotent rage and abuse an acceptable world view now? Clicked on a FB thing about Elastica, pure misogyny. Social media was a mistake.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." —Carl Sagan
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
![The "pale blue dot" photo. It shows three or four colored beams of light – optical artifacts – passing from the left side of the image to the right. The background is dark, empty space. In the topmost light beam is a single pale blue pixel. That's Earth. Sagan's quote is printed on the image. It reads ""We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history..."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/bafkreicpbthbsbsmlfm3fjysre3sbt3gyu2gjxmacrnofhibatrts2xwga@jpeg)
February 14, 2026 at 1:12 PM
"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." —Carl Sagan
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
So the rest of us who use drones in Cork City for recreation, search and rescue, geographical surveys etc have to step aside while the skies above the city are handed over to a private enterprise. #cork www.irishexaminer.com/business/com...
Drone delivery firm Manna seeks permission to fly in Cork airspace
Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) confirmed Manna as the beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operator that has requested permission to fly over Cork City
www.irishexaminer.com
February 12, 2026 at 11:44 AM
So the rest of us who use drones in Cork City for recreation, search and rescue, geographical surveys etc have to step aside while the skies above the city are handed over to a private enterprise. #cork www.irishexaminer.com/business/com...
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
Timelapse over 4 weeks (Jan 19 - Feb 13) showing the steady brightening of Comet MAPS as it dives towards the sun.
February 14, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Timelapse over 4 weeks (Jan 19 - Feb 13) showing the steady brightening of Comet MAPS as it dives towards the sun.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
Another thrilling #ValentinesDay at #WBYeats house
February 14, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Another thrilling #ValentinesDay at #WBYeats house
It's terrible that this year, the only thing I got for Valentine's Day is...a HDMI switch.
(Which I bought myself).
#singlelife
(Which I bought myself).
#singlelife
February 14, 2026 at 10:09 AM
It's terrible that this year, the only thing I got for Valentine's Day is...a HDMI switch.
(Which I bought myself).
#singlelife
(Which I bought myself).
#singlelife
This is a great photo
#Scotland v #Netherlands.
#GraemeSouness is fouled in the box.
#Scotland was awarded a penalty kick and won the match, but they failed to qualify for the next stage anyway.
#Worldcup1978 #1978worldcup.
#GraemeSouness is fouled in the box.
#Scotland was awarded a penalty kick and won the match, but they failed to qualify for the next stage anyway.
#Worldcup1978 #1978worldcup.
February 14, 2026 at 10:01 AM
This is a great photo
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You said we weren’t doing Valentines this year
You told me, last week, not to get you anything
Violets are blue
You said we weren’t doing Valentines this year
You told me, last week, not to get you anything
February 14, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Roses are red
Violets are blue
You said we weren’t doing Valentines this year
You told me, last week, not to get you anything
Violets are blue
You said we weren’t doing Valentines this year
You told me, last week, not to get you anything
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
can you imagine how disappointed you’d be if you knew nothing about this book and only picked it up for this particular cover
February 14, 2026 at 8:23 AM
can you imagine how disappointed you’d be if you knew nothing about this book and only picked it up for this particular cover
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
can’t think of a clearer sign of a fake fan
STAR TREK has ALWAYS thought (often badly and often thoughtfully) about disability & prosthesis use
Evan Carlos Somers (himself a wheelchair user) penned the DS9 ep MELORA about that exact vexed but rich history
memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Melora_...
STAR TREK has ALWAYS thought (often badly and often thoughtfully) about disability & prosthesis use
Evan Carlos Somers (himself a wheelchair user) penned the DS9 ep MELORA about that exact vexed but rich history
memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Melora_...
February 13, 2026 at 10:03 PM
can’t think of a clearer sign of a fake fan
STAR TREK has ALWAYS thought (often badly and often thoughtfully) about disability & prosthesis use
Evan Carlos Somers (himself a wheelchair user) penned the DS9 ep MELORA about that exact vexed but rich history
memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Melora_...
STAR TREK has ALWAYS thought (often badly and often thoughtfully) about disability & prosthesis use
Evan Carlos Somers (himself a wheelchair user) penned the DS9 ep MELORA about that exact vexed but rich history
memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Melora_...
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
This is something the Nazis used to do to Jewish children in the camps. It happened to a man I knew when he was a child in Auschwitz. The camp guards thought it was funny as hell.
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 8:09 PM
This is something the Nazis used to do to Jewish children in the camps. It happened to a man I knew when he was a child in Auschwitz. The camp guards thought it was funny as hell.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
I joined the Times Tech Report to talk about how AI data centers are the next financial crisis. Their massive up-front costs and burdensome debt require perfection - constant tenancy and no missed payments - and capacity is being built for demand that doesn't exist.
youtu.be/iG8kjXN550o?...
youtu.be/iG8kjXN550o?...
AI Bubble: How the data centre crisis risks triggering a financial crash | Ed Zitron
YouTube video by The Tech Report
youtu.be
February 13, 2026 at 8:54 PM
I joined the Times Tech Report to talk about how AI data centers are the next financial crisis. Their massive up-front costs and burdensome debt require perfection - constant tenancy and no missed payments - and capacity is being built for demand that doesn't exist.
youtu.be/iG8kjXN550o?...
youtu.be/iG8kjXN550o?...
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
The same week as the announcement of the lifting of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport the airport almost gets a new moat thanks to biblical flooding is certainly something to consider alright
February 13, 2026 at 1:32 PM
The same week as the announcement of the lifting of the passenger cap at Dublin Airport the airport almost gets a new moat thanks to biblical flooding is certainly something to consider alright
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
This is a 100% elite manufactured craze.
a stat i always cite is the number of anti-trans articles in the press went from 60 in a year, to 7,500
February 13, 2026 at 9:54 AM
This is a 100% elite manufactured craze.
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule
Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:15 AM
UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Reposted by Brian O'Halloran
"Sky has announced “world-first” plans to bring multiple streaming services together as part of a single subscription"
Excited to share that we've invented cable tv again...
www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertain...
Excited to share that we've invented cable tv again...
www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertain...
Sky confirms it will bring together Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and Hayu into a single subscription
The broadcaster is bringing Disney+, Netflix, Hayu and HBO Max into a single TV subscription.
www.radiotimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:10 AM
"Sky has announced “world-first” plans to bring multiple streaming services together as part of a single subscription"
Excited to share that we've invented cable tv again...
www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertain...
Excited to share that we've invented cable tv again...
www.radiotimes.com/tv/entertain...