Mike Boylan-Kolchin
@mbkplus.bsky.social
Dad, husband, astrophysicist, dog herder. Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor in Astronomy at UT Austin. This is a personal account and the views expressed in my posts here are mine. https://mrbk.github.io
True. But it's both a permission structure and plausible deniability. Diabolically brilliant! Can't say they didn't warn you....
January 16, 2026 at 9:28 PM
True. But it's both a permission structure and plausible deniability. Diabolically brilliant! Can't say they didn't warn you....
(to be clear, this is a catch phrase an alternate universe version of toretto. But the multiverse is very large....)
January 16, 2026 at 9:13 PM
(to be clear, this is a catch phrase an alternate universe version of toretto. But the multiverse is very large....)
There's been a lot of recent interest in self-interacting DM models that can provide SMBH seeds via core collapse. There are (controversial) indications of overly-dense substructure on similar mass scales that could be explained through SIDM. These models don't run afoul of observational constraints
Formation of the Little Red Dots from the Core-collapse of Self-interacting Dark Matter Halos
We present a statistical study of black hole (BH) formation and growth seeded by gravothermal core collapse of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halos at high redshift, using a cosmological semi-ana...
arxiv.org
January 16, 2026 at 9:02 PM
There's been a lot of recent interest in self-interacting DM models that can provide SMBH seeds via core collapse. There are (controversial) indications of overly-dense substructure on similar mass scales that could be explained through SIDM. These models don't run afoul of observational constraints
this is Emily Oster erasure
January 16, 2026 at 8:50 PM
this is Emily Oster erasure
Reposted by Mike Boylan-Kolchin
Channeling my Michael Hobbes and saying "is it, though? Is it really?"
![Because so many of its leaders lean conservative, UATX has been portrayed in some quarters as having been a right-wing project from the start. [highlighted:] However, the truth is vastly more complex.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:yj436z2s2v37rvaw33lc4ryq/bafkreicv42vljbbqghnda4uem3kfhficqsdzoupaypqc3vzjkkighrjudq@jpeg)
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Channeling my Michael Hobbes and saying "is it, though? Is it really?"
These people thought they were going to reinvent the university, then managed to make something that has all of the fractured dynamics of a dysfunctional department without any of the intellectual rigor or benefits. Amazing job, y'all.
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
These people thought they were going to reinvent the university, then managed to make something that has all of the fractured dynamics of a dysfunctional department without any of the intellectual rigor or benefits. Amazing job, y'all.
Channeling my Michael Hobbes and saying "is it, though? Is it really?"
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Channeling my Michael Hobbes and saying "is it, though? Is it really?"
Elon is twerking?
January 16, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Elon is twerking?
Pretty wild to live in a world where government agents' identities and likenesses are state secrets but faces and names of peaceful protestors are publicized *by the government*
January 16, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Pretty wild to live in a world where government agents' identities and likenesses are state secrets but faces and names of peaceful protestors are publicized *by the government*