Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 10h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

620 6.2K 11K

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · 13h

Russell Vought, OMB Director, is using this shutdown to further the aims of Project 2025. He is slashing the federal workforce, and dismantling our agencies.

This is not just a shutdown standoff — it's finishing the job of DOGE. Take action for federal workers here! zurl.co/up9de

Poster graphic reading: This isn’t just a shutdown standoff. Project 2025 aims to critically slash our federal workforce and dismantle our agencies. Doge already laid off 300k. Project 2025’s real goal? At least 1 Million federal employees laid off. In bold red highlighted text: Vought wants to finish the job.

Highlighted text at top of graphic reads: Solidarity with federal workers! In red text below: Take Action!
Two blue bubbles read: Call Congress and let them know: Stop Vought! and Stand with Federal Workers! Links in our Bio to sign:
A list of petitions: Solidarity with NASA, EPA, FEMA, NIH

5 47 110

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 14h

What are the logistics like for international students, particularly coming from the US? Is there support for things like housing?

1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 14h

I think I recall a YouTube engineering channel roundly debunked this idea a year or two ago.

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 17h

Thank you!

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 18h

No one ever accused The Expanse of having good worldbuilding

1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 1d

I can't believe we're getting a Minecraft movie sequel before an End update

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 1d

Beautiful. About how long is the tail here? I want to try to capture this comet soon but I need to get my mount patched up first.

1 1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 1d

In this case the neurodegenerative aspects of repeated COVID infection probably play a role

1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 2d

Not good! Really hoping the programs I'm apply to don't cancel (I know one doesn't plan on canceling this cycle so at least I have that assurance)

Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 2d

So far the astronomy PhD programs that have cancelled admissions are Washington, Michigan State, and Case Western.

Meg Schwamb @megschwamb.bsky.social · 3d

Sad to see the University of Washington Astronomy Department has suspended graduate admissions for the 2026-2027 Academic Year. astro.washington.edu/graduate-adm...

1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 2d

If I wasn't poor I'd just replace it with a Losmandy G11G and be done with it

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 2d

Scope is gonna be out of commission for a while until I fix the power connector (the AVX uses a twist-lock design that can easily cause the wires inside to twist and short). Hopefully should be a simple repair once I get the supplies.

1 5

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 2d

🎵 They did the Monster Slash 😭 @ellecordova.bsky.social

11 390 850

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 3d

If only it was easy to just up and immigrate to those nations

1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 3d

I also use "AI" (machine learning) when processing my astrophotos, mainly for background extraction and noise reduction. Those tools have existed long before generative "AI" was ever a thing, and certainly don't rely on stolen content to work.

1 5

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 3d

M33, the Triangulum Galaxy. Composite image with just under 4 hours of total integration time. It's the third-largest galaxy in the Local Group, the first being Andromeda and the second being our own Milky Way. It's also the second-closest major galaxy, sitting at ~2.7 million lightyears. 🔭

A photo of a large spiral galaxy. The arms are somewhat indistinct and subtle, but two major ones can be made out. Dark dust lanes snake their away through the arms like veins. Several large pink clumps dot the face of the disk, each one a vast star-forming region hundreds to thousands of lightyears across. The center of the galaxy glows with a soft pale yellow light. The outer regions are a dimmer bluish-purple. Many foreground stars are also present, all of which are much closer than the Triangulum galaxy and sit within the Milky Way, just happening to be between the viewer and the galaxy behind them.

2 8 59

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 3d

Are phages not a good strategy to combat antibiotic resistance? My understanding was that microbes need to swap antibiotic resistance for viral immunity, so we could switch between phages and antibiotics as required. I'm sure it's not so simple IRL but is there a reason phages seem so overlooked?

1 1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 3d

A truly remarkable feat, when you really sit down and appreciate everything that went into this image.

Hopefully one day things like this become commonplace.

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social · 3d

See that small, moving splotch?

That's 3I/ATLAS, a comet that formed in a different star system, photographed from Mars orbit by the ESA Exomars Trace Gas Orbiter.

A comet from a DIFFERENT SOLAR SYSTEM photographed by a ROBOT ORBITING MARS

last Friday

6 19

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Phoebe Barton 🚀🇺🇳 @phoebebarton.bsky.social · 4d

i'd be satisfied if we only saw the equivalent of Antarctic research stations on Luna before the 22nd century.

because at least we'd be working toward something. we'd be *doing* something. we'd be *learning* things.

3 9

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Alex Arrelia @alexarrelia.bsky.social · 6d

It is unfathomable to me that we’re all just supposed to be okay with higher energy costs and more air and light pollution, in exchange for a machine that steals personal data and copyrighted material and produces slop and wage theft, and big tech can do this to our society unilaterally.

21 310 960

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 6d

Back when it felt like such a future was still possible for us. Ah well. Maybe in another few centuries with a more responsible, sustainable society.

4

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 6d

I agree. A diverse energy mix is needed and every locale/community will have different needs. I just don't see the point in excluding nuclear from that mix.

1 1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 6d

Not necessarily so. There are control schemes that could allow it to cover PV variable generation, as detailed here

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A perspective of using nuclear power as a dispatchable power source for covering the daily fluctuations of solar power

The feasibility and the limitations of using nuclear energy as a dispatchable power source for covering the daily fluctuations of the solar electricit…

www.sciencedirect.com

1 1

S.M. Pritchard @smpritchard.bsky.social · 6d

It can be renewable via seawater extraction and "waste" reprocessing, although the latter does also come with proliferation issues. But it's also the most efficient (in terms of power density) and safest forms of energy per kW.

1

Reposted by S.M. Pritchard

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 7d

As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.

There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."

1/🧵

53 260 1.1K