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SETI Institute
@setiinstitute.bsky.social
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Our mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge.
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SETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 4d
PRESS RELEASE:
The SETI Institute is pleased to open the call for applications for the 2026 Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship. This research program offers an exceptional opportunity for talented early-career scientists worldwide to contribute significant advances in several fields. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
SETI Institute logo. Text: SETI Institute invites applications for the 2026 Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship. Background: Photo of physicist Minoru Freund standing in front of a spacecraft model.
Reposted by SETI Institute
skymapper.bsky.social
Our CEO @allplanets.bsky.social visited the HR MacMillan Space Centre to talk exoplanets and how SkyMapper’s decentralized network will accelerate discovery.

Huge thanks to the @setiinstitute.bsky.social team for hosting us and giving us space to share the future of sky observation. 🌌
November 24, 2025 at 7:14 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
This month, we are continuing our profile series featuring our exceptional SETI AIR program Advisors.

Meet Dorka Keehn, who has been part of the AIR program’s DNA for many years. Dorka is an accomplished artist and culture powerhouse who is responsible for bringing major public art projects... 🧪 🐡
SETI AIR Newsletter - November 2025
www.seti.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:00 AM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Since 2005, the number of wild and domesticated birds killed by H5N1 has exceeded the combined human populations of the U.S. and Russia. On the next @bipisci.bsky.social, why this version of avian influenza won’t go away. 🧪 #podcast

Listen here: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/flu...
Brown chickens in a large, mesh coop.
November 24, 2025 at 8:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have captured this eye-catching image of planetary nebula Abell 33. Created when an aging star blew off its outer layers, this beautiful blue bubble is, by chance, aligned with a foreground star... 🧪 🔭

Credit: ESO
A nearly perfectly circular bubble of blue gas is captured in this photo. At the bottom right, there is a foreground star that shines brightly and gives the bubble the appearance of a diamond ring. Numerous background stars and distant galaxies can also be seen scattered throughout the image.
November 24, 2025 at 4:03 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#ICYMI: On #SETILive, @planetarypan.bsky.social chatted with Dr. Georgina Miles and Dr. Carly Howett about the discovery that the subsurface ocean beneath the surface of Saturn's icy moon #Enceladus has been stable... but what does that mean for the possibility of life? It's all about time! 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
November 22, 2025 at 10:01 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Dr. Navdeep Panesar received her Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen, Germany. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL) and the SETI Institute. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

#NotJustAliens
Text: #notjustaliens. Navdeep Panesar, Solar Physics. Background: Starry night sky. Inset: Photo of Navdeep Panesar. Text: Dr. Navdeep Panesar received her Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen, Germany. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL) and the SETI Institute. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets in front of it. Text: Dr. Panesar’s research focuses on using multi-instrument solar observations to investigate the formation and eruption mechanisms of different types of solar coronal jets and minifilaments. She also studies the magnetic field evolution at the base of these features. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets. SETI Institute logo. Graphics: (top) Black hole. (bottom) radio telescope dishes at the Allen Telescope Array. Background: Starry night sky.
November 22, 2025 at 4:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
One of the best-known proponents of string theory, Brian Greene, explains why it remains the most comprehensive theory for understanding the fundamental laws of nature. But can it even be tested? It’s Skeptic Check: String Theory on @bipisci.bsky.social. 🧪

Listen here: buff.ly/SOmv0qH

#podcast
Photo of theoretical physicist Brian Greene in front of a blackboard full of differential equations.
November 22, 2025 at 12:01 AM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
When a faint, fast-moving speck named 3I/ATLAS slipped into view earlier this year, it carried more than a whiff of cosmic intrigue. Only two other confirmed interstellar objects have ever wandered through our Solar System, and both left scientists with more questions than answers. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
November 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
A team demonstrated that more than 80% of moss spores left on the outside of the ISS for nine months and brought back to Earth germinated normally. The findings confirm that moss spores, already known to be hardy, handily survive the stresses of near-Earth orbit. 🧪 👩‍🔬

Learn more:
Moss Can Survive the Harsh Conditions of Space
A months-long sojourn outside the International Space Station didn't phase these plants.
time.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: On 17 March 2023, one of the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites captured this rare cloud-free image of Deception Island, an active volcanic caldera located in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. Credit: European Union, Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery 🧪
A cloud-free satellite image of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. The island forms an almost-closed horseshoe with a small opening near the bottom right of the image. Two sets of snow-covered peaks line the bottom and right of the horseshoe.
November 21, 2025 at 4:03 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Dr. Agata Zupanska brings a biologist’s perspective to the quest for understanding life. She tests the limits of terrestrial plant life and works on preparing plants for deep space human missions, all with a goal to advance deep space exploration. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
Text: #notjustaliens. Agata Zupanska, Molecular Biology. Background: Starry night sky. Inset: Photo of Agata Zupanska. Text: Dr. Agata Zupanska brings a biologist’s perspective to the quest for understanding life. She tests the limits of terrestrial plant life and works on preparing plants for deep space human missions, all with a goal to advance deep space exploration. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets in front of it. Text: Dr. Zupanska is particularly interested in spaceflight microgravity and uses the International Space Station laboratory for her research experiments. She also conducts experiments with high-energy ion beams at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, to explore how plants can withstand cosmic ionizing radiation that pervades deep space. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets. SETI Institute logo. Graphics: (top) Black hole. (bottom) radio telescope dishes at the Allen Telescope Array. Background: Starry night sky.
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
PRESS RELEASE:
The SETI Institute is pleased to open the call for applications for the 2026 Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship. This research program offers an exceptional opportunity for talented early-career scientists worldwide to contribute significant advances in several fields. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
SETI Institute logo. Text: SETI Institute invites applications for the 2026 Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship. Background: Photo of physicist Minoru Freund standing in front of a spacecraft model.
November 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Next #SETILive: The Moon that Could Support Life
TODAY, 20 November, 11 am PST

Join @planetarypan.bsky.social and planetary scientists Dr Georgina Miles and Dr Carly Howett (University of Oxford) to discuss their latest study, which shows that Enceladus may harbor a stable subsurface ocean. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
SETI Live record button logo. Text: The Moon That Could Support Life with Beth Johnson, Georgina Miles, and Carly Howett. Background: Artist's representation of Enceladus looking back at the Sun, using Cassini imagery of the moon. Inset: Photos of Georgina Miles and Carly Howett.
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: A vast cavity on the Red Planet looks back at ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) with an icy stare. The crater is located in Utopia Planitia, the largest known impact basin in the Solar System, with a diameter of roughly 3,300 km, or twice the size of Earth’s Sahara Desert from north to south. 🧪
A smooth sided crater takes up the majority of this image, taken from space, of the surface of Mars. Ejecta from the impact can be seen as lighter colored dust around the rim of the crater and even in some smaller craters to the left and below the main one. Dark streaks down the inside cliff walls could be evidence of water ice under the surface. The bottom of the crater seems to be almost flat.
November 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: This is the central region of the Bullet Cluster, comprised of two massive galaxy clusters. The vast number of galaxies and foreground stars in the image was captured by NASA’s JWST in near-infrared light. Glowing, hot X-rays captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory appear in pink. 🧪 🔭
Landscape image full of galaxies, featuring in particular, two galaxy clusters that make up a region known as the Bullet Cluster. At the center is a pink cloud that represents X-rays mapped by Chandra. To either side are blueish "clouds" that are actually the mapped areas of dark matter as determined by JWST's infrared observations.
November 19, 2025 at 4:02 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
A recent discovery from Yellowstone National Park has redefined one of biology’s most basic assumptions: that a cell must “choose” between using oxygen or other chemicals to breathe. 🧪 👩‍🔬
November 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: Saturn is seen here through the lens of NASA's Cassini spacecraft during a ring plane crossing in February 2005. The picture reveals the razor-thin ring plane in blue, atmospheric bands in gold, and moons Dione and Enceladus as slight "bumps" in the rings. 🧪 🔭
Image of Saturn as seen from the Cassini spacecraft. The planet is lit from the bottom right, with the shadow of the rings in the upper hemisphere. The rings themselves are a very thin line, seen in blue, across the face of the planet in the middle. The planets cloud bands are shown in shades of gold. The moons Dione (left) and Enceladus (right) appear as bumps in the rings.
November 18, 2025 at 4:02 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Thanks to months of monitoring by the Unistellar and AFA communities during 2023, scientists at the SETI Institute and AFA have published a new scientific paper, led by Dr. Ariel Graykowski, that reveals Comet Hartley 2 changing in a dramatic way. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

Learn more: www.seti.org/news/citizen...
Citizen Scientists Help Discover that Comet Hartley 2 is Fading
www.seti.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Wednesday! #comet3iatlas 🧪 🔭

NASA will host a live event at 3 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Nov. 19, to share imagery of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS collected by a number of the agency’s missions.

The event will air on NASA+, the NASA app, the agency’s website and YouTube channel, and Amazon Prime.
November 17, 2025 at 9:28 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
String theory promised to unite quantum physics and gravity. Many were giddy about the suggestion that tiny vibrating strings might make up the universe. What happened to this idea? It’s Skeptic Check: “String Theory” on @bipisci.bsky.social. 🧪

Listen here: bigpicturescience.org/episodes/ske...
Photo of theoretical physicist Brian Green in front of a blackboard full of differential equations.
November 17, 2025 at 8:23 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#PPOD: NASA’s JWST observed Herbig-Haro 49/50, an outflow from a nearby still-forming star, in high-resolution near- and mid-infrared light. The young star is off to the lower right corner of the Webb image. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI 🧪 🔭
A long tall column of red dust reaches up from the lower right to the upper left of this very detailed image from JWST. At the top end of the column, a galaxy appears to rest; however, that galaxy is in the background. Numerous background galaxies are also in the image as well as a few foreground stars with the tell-tale diffraction spikes of JWST's optics.
November 17, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by SETI Institute
allplanets.bsky.social
Gave two talks at the MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver on Friday evening to a wonderfully diverse and curious crowd. We explored the @setiinstitute.bsky.social , LaserSETI, and of course @skymapper.bsky.social Loved the questions, the energy, and the conversation.
November 16, 2025 at 11:10 AM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
#ICYMI: On our latest #SETILive, @planetarypan.bsky.social discovered that steam worlds transitioned from theoretical to confirmed in an interview with Dr. Artem Aguichine (UCSC). Watch the full interview: youtube.com/live/nBpyGdX... 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
November 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
In a recent SETI Live episode, host @goastromo.bsky.social spoke with Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Ana Glidden (MIT) and STScI astronomer Dr. Néstor Espinoza about the newest JWST results probing the possible atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1 e. 🧪 🔭 🔭
November 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Dr. Marziye Jafariyazani is a Data Scientist for NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) Mission at the SETI Institute, where she is part of the Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) for the TESS mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

#NotJustAliens 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
Text: #notjustaliens. Marziye Jafariyazani, Astrophysics / Data Science. Background: Starry night sky. Inset: Photo of Marziye Jafariyazani. Text: Dr. Marziye Jafariyazani is a Data Scientist for NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) Mission at the SETI Institute, where she is part of the Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) for the TESS mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets in front of it. Text: Before shifting her focus to our own galaxy and diving into stellar time-series data to help discover Earth’s cousins, Dr. Jafariyazani spent nearly a decade studying distant galaxies, tracing their star formation histories and chemical fingerprints to better understand how they evolve over time. Background: Starry night sky with graphics of a star and exoplanets. SETI Institute logo. Graphics: (top) Black hole. (bottom) radio telescope dishes at the Allen Telescope Array. Background: Starry night sky.
November 15, 2025 at 4:00 PM