Brendan Coulson
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brendancoulson.bsky.social
Brendan Coulson
@brendancoulson.bsky.social
160 followers 300 following 3 posts
A humanist who is bewildered by persistent irrationality in society.
A firm believer in the scientific method as the best tool for gleaning truth.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
profsera.bsky.social
A lovely article about the region in Namibia where we are building the Africa Millimeter Telescope w/UNAM, a single dish telescope 🔭🧪 that will operate on its own and together with @ehtelescope.bsky.social, next to the H.E.S.S. gamma-ray telescope.

nightfallandelsewhere.substack.com/p/gamma-rays...
Gamma rays in the Gamsberg Highlands
Clyde's Spot, the H.E.S.S. telescope and Indigenous rock art in Namibia
nightfallandelsewhere.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
clapifyoulikeme.favrd.social
They finally made the milk from that hotel
a ½ gallon of neutral milk
July 6, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
payoub.bsky.social
Absolutely incredible turnout for Budapest Pride! So proud of all the organizers, including some old friends, who estimate hundreds of thousands— major embarrassment to Orban
June 28, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
robinince.bsky.social
A short piece about normalising fascism

thelowry.com/whats-on/382...
February 23, 2025 at 10:37 AM
brendancoulson.bsky.social
My Saturday morning ritual is to read The Continent www.thecontinent.org and Mail & Guardian mg.co.za “cover to cover”. Such a pleasure to have carefully researched and edited journalism to savour and digest slowly like a good nutritious meal in this age of fast, cheap, junk “news”.
The Continent | Africa
The Continent is an award-winning African newspaper, designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp.
www.thecontinent.org
February 22, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Comet G3 ATLAS Disintegrates

Image Credit: Lionel Majzik

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25020...
A series of comet images is shown. On the far left the image shows Comet G3 ATLAS with a bright central concentration at its head near the bottom of the frame. By the far right, this central concentration is nearly gone. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
February 2, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
thecontinent.org
A lightning advance on Goma by March 23 Movement (M23) fighters ended with the rebels declaring the “liberation” of the Congolese city on Monday – allegedly with help from Rwandan armed forces.
M23 is calling the shots
After seizing Goma, can anyone stop the rebel militia from consolidating its control?
continent.substack.com
February 2, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
annikabarber.bsky.social
If anyone happens to need it this week for...reasons...this is the best graphic on the complexity of human sex determination I've ever seen. I use it in an undergrad course on gene regulatory mechanisms. Shoutout to @unamandita.bsky.social!

www.scientificamerican.com/article/beyo...
Beyond XX and XY: The Extraordinary Complexity of Sex Determination
A host of factors figure into whether someone is female, male or somewhere in between
www.scientificamerican.com
January 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
brendancoulson.bsky.social
Adam Frank on the breed of armchair "scientists" who trust the professionals enough to do research, but know better when it comes to producing theories from said research. Dunning-Kruger effect? Confirmation bias?
bigthink.com/13-8/the-str...
The strange paradox of modern science denialism
Astronomer Adam Frank reflects on a handful of responses to his recent appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast.
bigthink.com
January 17, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
liamthorp.bsky.social
One of these headlines is an accurate description of what happened. The other is a really misleading distortion.
January 9, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
hrw.org
Today on Human Rights Day, we mark 76 years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights!

#StandUp4HumanRights #HumanRightsDay2024
December 10, 2024 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
threadotweets.bsky.social
Rich Neville @RichNeville Found something new to say when I leave a room. (Photo of a bag whose label says: Stay Fresh Cheese Bags
December 6, 2024 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
palomarskies.bsky.social
I once got to meet the now late Ron Evans, the command module pilot for Apollo 17. He was very proud of this photo.
jpmajor.bsky.social Jason Major @jpmajor.bsky.social · Dec 7
The famous Apollo 17 "Blue Marble" photograph of Earth was taken 52 years ago today, on December 7, 1972, from a distance of about 33,500 kilometers.

"I’ll tell you, if there ever was a fragile-appearing piece of blue in space, it’s the Earth right now."
– LMP Harrison "Jack" Schmitt
December 7, 2024 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
michaelnielsen.bsky.social
Or you can turn it into an awesome hobby: www.tobyord.com/earth
Earth Restored — Toby Ord
The most beautiful photographs of Earth — iconic images and unknown gems — digitally restored to their full glory.
www.tobyord.com
December 7, 2024 at 10:24 PM
brendancoulson.bsky.social
This makes a whole lot of sense!
katestarbird.bsky.social Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · Dec 5
How right wing media is like improv theater. My coauthor @danielletomson.bsky.social and I are really proud of this piece which builds upon ~10 years of research at UW studying the participatory nature of rumors/disinformation and Danielle’s dissertation studying right-wing influencers for 5+ years.
us.theconversation.com The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · Dec 5
Right-wing media operates like #improv theater, with influencers as performers and audiences as active participants. #Researchers explain how this dynamic ecosystem shapes reality for many Americans. https://buff.ly/3CSLpm3 Danielle Lee Tomson and @katestarbird.bsky.social @uofwa.bsky.social)
December 6, 2024 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
dunsworth.bsky.social
Jordan Peterson relies on the obstetrical dilemma being fact in his latest book which describes separate male and female human natures. I would be a liar if I didn’t admit this makes me feel 😈😈😈about my upcoming book.
Thank you @newscientist.bsky.social !
www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...
Excerpt screenshot from link provided, discussing Jordan Peterson’s new book. Now, you might expect Peterson, a psychologist, to offer psychological evidence for these differences between men and women. You would be wrong. But he does try to link it to the biology of childbirth. Labour, he explains, is painful and dangerous because human babies have evolved bigger brains, which must fit through a narrow birth canal that cannot get any wider or "women would have trouble running".
December 5, 2024 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
lisabug.bsky.social
You know they make the blenders loud so you can't hear the fruit screaming.
December 2, 2024 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
ecso.bsky.social
An excellent summary of the status of #astrology, written by the great @profchrisfrench.bsky.social

www.skeptic.org.uk/2024/11/ever...
Everything you ever wanted to know about astrology – for free
The predictions of astrology have now been put to the empirical test (at least) a thousand times – the results fail to support astrology’s validity
www.skeptic.org.uk
November 30, 2024 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
spacemarschall.net
One of these craters is not like the others! It was made by the impact of the 3rd stage of the Saturn V, which launched Apollo 13 towards the Moon. Can you see the crater with the S-IVB?

#planetaryScience #spaceExploration #SciComm🧪🔭🚀🛰️

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
November 30, 2024 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 184 of The Continent

Coup de latte: The trouble Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is brewing.

Get your copy here: bit.ly/TheContinent...
Issue 184 of The Continent by illustrator Wynona Mutisi shows a bag of Ugandan coffee showing a man, wearing a safari shirt and a wide-brimmed white hat in the style of the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni. On the bag is the picture of the national bird and Ugandan flag with the words "M7 KAHAWA". M7 is President Yoweri Museveni's nickname and "kahawa" is the Swahili word for coffee. Below that is "one party estate coffee company". In the foreground are the words: "Trouble is brewing".
November 29, 2024 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
john-self.bsky.social
You’re a stupid, worthless shopping basket holder and you’ll never amount to anything.
Shopping basket holder in Lidl witb the words “please put me in my place” above it.
November 29, 2024 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
sciencesocks.bsky.social
I just opened the full resolution 80 megapixel source file and it's like the matrix in there 🤯🔭

Link to file: esawebb.org/images/potm2...
Zoomed in version of the Westerlund: The open cluster Westerlund 1, showcased in this new Webb Picture of the Month, is located roughly 12 000 light-years away in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar) where it resides behind a huge interstellar cloud of gas and dust. It was discovered in 1961 from Australia by Swedish astronomer Bengt Westerlund. Westerlund 1 is an incomparable natural laboratory for the study of extreme stellar physics, helping astronomers to find out how the most massive stars in our Galaxy live and die.
November 27, 2024 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Brendan Coulson
susiedentwords.bsky.social
This is both sad and infuriating.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
'Refused service again with my guide dog, I'm done speaking out'
Sean Dilley is inundated with abuse on social media whenever he posts about discrimination issues.
www.bbc.com
November 24, 2024 at 9:21 AM