Nicole "They call me Spooky. Spooky Mulder" Gugliucci
@noisyastronomer.com
12K followers 1.4K following 77 posts
Physics professor, astronomer, education researcher, and scicommer who loves dogs, speculative fiction, weights, and good trouble. NH, US. She/They. Opinions are mine alone. RT≠endorsement. Posts are ephemeral. I swear a lot. bio.link/noisyastronomer
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noisyastronomer.com
FTR I use Griffiths for undergrads. E&M is still fucking magic, but at least he kind of admits it.
noisyastronomer.com
Sent to me by a wonderful student who couldn't fit my E&M class into their schedule, but I think they are swapping notes with their roommate who IS and who couldn't fit in a different physics course. Which... ❤️
noisyastronomer.com
It feels weird laughing at ANYTHING Nazi related right now, BUT...

I've seen several variations of fake subtitles on this fictional Hitler scene but this.... THIS ONE... is a must see if you're a physicist.

I didn't even have to take that course and I am WHEEZING 🤣
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm-4...
Hitler learns Jackson E&M
YouTube video by Kian Kamgar-Parsi
www.youtube.com
noisyastronomer.com
I don't think most faculty are even aware it exists! typical state of internal comms around here :-)
noisyastronomer.com
... And I'm not sharing my personal life with my work account.

I tried so so hard to make it work! But eventually I had to give up. Especially since so people were using it to book meetings anyway.
noisyastronomer.com
I can't speak for others, but my availability depends on personal and professional obligations that are at various times (yay flexible scheduling... you're always working!) and our institutional Outlook calendars REFUSE to take updated input from my Google Calendar.
noisyastronomer.com
Curious why you call it a smoothie? That just seems like such an interesting visual in my head...

And tell it to slow down, I'm covering CMEs on Oct 10th in intro astro! :-P
noisyastronomer.com
Oooh! Also good one for the #heliophysics feed
setiinstitute.bsky.social
A team of heliophysicists and machine learning experts in academia and industry has come together to develop Surya, the first foundation model for heliophysics, representing a new approach to studying and predicting solar activity. 🧪 🔭

Learn more: www.seti.org/news/surya-a...
Surya: A Foundation Model for Understanding Our Sun
www.seti.org
noisyastronomer.com
I've used the Venus phosphine case in my intro classes to have students evaluate different popsci articles that each had a different tone or take on the announcement.
🎢 #AstroEd
noisyastronomer.com
Oh, that guy's at it again...
megschwamb.bsky.social
This is complete and utter pompous bullshit. It's telling that of the people proposing it wants to anoint themselves director general when every one of his claims of having discovered technosignature interstellar objects has been debunked by the planetary community. arxiv.org/pdf/2510.01405
arxiv.org
noisyastronomer.com
OOOH I'll play!

I propose that the United Nations name ME the Director of Citizen Science and gift me 500 hours of over-subscribed telescope time to share with amateur astronomers.
aussiastronomer.bsky.social
Well I propose that the United Nations name ME the Director General of Dark Energy Studies and gift ME 500 hours of over-subscribed telescope time a year, if this is how we're doing things now.
megschwamb.bsky.social
This is complete and utter pompous bullshit. It's telling that of the people proposing it wants to anoint themselves director general when every one of his claims of having discovered technosignature interstellar objects has been debunked by the planetary community. arxiv.org/pdf/2510.01405
Reposted by Nicole "They call me Spooky. Spooky Mulder" Gugliucci
jradavenport.com
If you’re a science journalist who likes to talk about the people angle, I really do think there is a story here. I see endless coverage of this Maverick Genius who is doing what nobody thought possible, in the face of scornful resistance from colleagues. But it’s bullshit, and there’s a story there
Reposted by Nicole "They call me Spooky. Spooky Mulder" Gugliucci
jradavenport.com
I’m a loud voice in support of ISOs as technosignature targets. There’s no thought policing or gatekeeping going on. A tenured prof at the richest Uni in the world isn’t being silenced. THE headline here is: disrespect & arrogance of a loud voice, dominating over earnest work and community
Reposted by Nicole "They call me Spooky. Spooky Mulder" Gugliucci
jradavenport.com
If anyone from the UN wants to talk, here’s a nice summary. The astronomy community does NOT endorse this proposal, just take it from one of THE EXPERTS on ISOs with Rubin. Meg (and many others) has helped the community plan for +10yrs for these kinds of studies.
megschwamb.bsky.social
I'll for global coordination for ISO follow-up, but it's telling that no one who's actually coordinating follow-up was actually asked to participate in this proposal or thought of to be even suggested as names on committees in this proposal
noisyastronomer.com
Am I the only academic who can't give a straight answer to the question, "what days and times work best for you?" mid-semester.

I have a patchwork quilt schedule that changes from week to week due to every-other-week and one-off meetings.

#AcademicSky
noisyastronomer.com
Prudent thinking for the way forward, at least in education when we feel it's getting stuffed down our throats.

And with a great comparison to how teaching about website reliability has drastically changed.
#education #InformationLiteracy
us.theconversation.com
“New education technologies are only as powerful as the communities that guide their use. Opening a new browser tab is easy; creating the conditions for good learning is hard.”
- Professor Justin Reich, MIT, who has some lessons from recent history

buff.ly/6rzTKSb
noisyastronomer.com
#HigherEd #AcademicSky
fishkin.bsky.social
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
noisyastronomer.com
The commentary 🤣
mcnees.bsky.social
Robert Goddard, rocketry and space flight pioneer, was born #OTD in 1882.
🧪🔭🚀

After a 1926 liquid-fuel launch:
"It looked almost magical as it rose, without any appreciably greater noise or flame, as if it said, 'I've been here long enough; I think I'll be going somewhere else if you don't mind.’”
Goddard, in a heavy long coat, standing next to his wire frame liquid fuel rocket prototype. It is winter out, with bare branches and cloudy skies.
noisyastronomer.com
Evergreen...
thephdpeople.com
Breakthroughs rarely come from pushing harder.
They come when you step back.
Rest is part of the process.

#AcademicChatter #phdchat #academicsky #phdsky