Peter Erwin
@peter-erwin.bsky.social
Astronomer studying black holes and nearby galaxies. Author of Imfit (http://github.com/perwin/imfit).
... could only have happened during a mass extinction like the end Cretaceous, not 100 million ears earlier during the Jurassic. Therefore Archaeopterix fossils must be hoaxes. (4/4)
January 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
... could only have happened during a mass extinction like the end Cretaceous, not 100 million ears earlier during the Jurassic. Therefore Archaeopterix fossils must be hoaxes. (4/4)
If you're curious about the first question: apparently both evolution and mass extinctions are driven by viruses from space, and so the appearance of a new class of animals such as birds ... (3/n)
January 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
If you're curious about the first question: apparently both evolution and mass extinctions are driven by viruses from space, and so the appearance of a new class of animals such as birds ... (3/n)
From the Nature review: "Two things interest me about this otherwise worthless book: why it was written, and what effect it might have.”
(2/n)
(2/n)
January 6, 2025 at 4:35 PM
From the Nature review: "Two things interest me about this otherwise worthless book: why it was written, and what effect it might have.”
(2/n)
(2/n)
Steve Jackson Games is based in Austin, the most liberal part of Texas. Also, I don’t think the guy who posted this is quite as right-wing as you’re implying:
www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/...
www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/...
Daily Illuminator: Roe v. Wade
I know I was not alone in my anger when the Supreme Court ignored precedent, decency, and the majority voice, and overturned Roe v. Wade . . .
www.sjgames.com
November 27, 2024 at 6:50 PM
Steve Jackson Games is based in Austin, the most liberal part of Texas. Also, I don’t think the guy who posted this is quite as right-wing as you’re implying:
www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/...
www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/...
That's full of charming odd, seemingly irrelevant details ("The wife tells her husband that she is fed up with this kitchen made of this Saturnian dark brownish stone and she would like to have a kitchen made of good wood coming from the forest of the Earth.")
November 24, 2024 at 12:37 PM
That's full of charming odd, seemingly irrelevant details ("The wife tells her husband that she is fed up with this kitchen made of this Saturnian dark brownish stone and she would like to have a kitchen made of good wood coming from the forest of the Earth.")
So I don't think there's much evidence that astronomy departments are discouraging African-Americans for something as astronomy-specific as being dismissive of astrology.
September 7, 2024 at 1:31 PM
So I don't think there's much evidence that astronomy departments are discouraging African-Americans for something as astronomy-specific as being dismissive of astrology.
Table 4 of this report shows that African-American got 2015 bachelor's degrees in astronomy at ~ half the rate of the total college population. But this was a *higher* rate than for physics, atmospheric sciences, and earth sciences -- and almost all engineering fields.
ww2.aip.org/statistics/a...
ww2.aip.org/statistics/a...
African-American Participation Among Bachelors in the Physical Sciences and Engineering - AIP.ORG
Results from the 2005 to 2015 Data of the National Center for Education Statistics
ww2.aip.org
September 7, 2024 at 1:31 PM
Table 4 of this report shows that African-American got 2015 bachelor's degrees in astronomy at ~ half the rate of the total college population. But this was a *higher* rate than for physics, atmospheric sciences, and earth sciences -- and almost all engineering fields.
ww2.aip.org/statistics/a...
ww2.aip.org/statistics/a...
*saying*, “The data’s not good” — that’s what *I* would most likely say — while someone saying, “The data aren’t good” would come across as (slightly) pedantic and unnatural. (2/2)
August 26, 2024 at 11:45 AM
*saying*, “The data’s not good” — that’s what *I* would most likely say — while someone saying, “The data aren’t good” would come across as (slightly) pedantic and unnatural. (2/2)
As a scientist, I think there’s a distinction between formal written language (e.g. papers), where plural data is fairly common (probably in part due to editorial enforcement), and spoken language, where singular data is fairly common. So I wouldn’t find anything wrong with a scientist (1/2)
August 26, 2024 at 11:32 AM
As a scientist, I think there’s a distinction between formal written language (e.g. papers), where plural data is fairly common (probably in part due to editorial enforcement), and spoken language, where singular data is fairly common. So I wouldn’t find anything wrong with a scientist (1/2)
and they never got around to trying to convert me.
August 11, 2024 at 9:41 AM
and they never got around to trying to convert me.
The last time I was visited by Mormon missionaries (when I was living in Spain), they were seemingly so delighted to find a native English speaker (they were still learning Spanish) that we just ended up chatting about things like how the missionary training process worked, (1/2)
August 11, 2024 at 9:41 AM
The last time I was visited by Mormon missionaries (when I was living in Spain), they were seemingly so delighted to find a native English speaker (they were still learning Spanish) that we just ended up chatting about things like how the missionary training process worked, (1/2)
I am obscurely amused at how this meme is evolving, with the S. Korean woman shooting a pistol replaced by a Chinese man shooting a rifle...
August 2, 2024 at 11:56 AM
I am obscurely amused at how this meme is evolving, with the S. Korean woman shooting a pistol replaced by a Chinese man shooting a rifle...
(If you've used PyImfit in the past, there aren't a lot of changes; the jump in version number is more to signal that I think it's ready for general use than anything else.) (7/7)
July 29, 2024 at 11:40 AM
(If you've used PyImfit in the past, there aren't a lot of changes; the jump in version number is more to signal that I think it's ready for general use than anything else.) (7/7)
PyImfit is available for Python 3.10-3.12 on macOS (Intel and Apple silicon) and Linux, and can be installed with either pip ("pip install pyimfit") or conda ("conda install -c conda-forge perwin::pyimfit") (6/7)
July 29, 2024 at 11:40 AM
PyImfit is available for Python 3.10-3.12 on macOS (Intel and Apple silicon) and Linux, and can be installed with either pip ("pip install pyimfit") or conda ("conda install -c conda-forge perwin::pyimfit") (6/7)
The documentation includes examples of how to use Imfit's built-in bootstrap-resampling mode to estimate confidence intervals for things like bulge/total ratio, as well as how to use Imfit models with the MCMC code emcee. (3/7)
July 29, 2024 at 11:40 AM
The documentation includes examples of how to use Imfit's built-in bootstrap-resampling mode to estimate confidence intervals for things like bulge/total ratio, as well as how to use Imfit models with the MCMC code emcee. (3/7)
PyImfit allows access to Imfit's model-construction and fitting capabilities from within Python, including all the standard image functions and minimization algorithms. (2/7)
July 29, 2024 at 11:39 AM
PyImfit allows access to Imfit's model-construction and fitting capabilities from within Python, including all the standard image functions and minimization algorithms. (2/7)
Aha, I thought I remembered there being a Language Log post about that:
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8667
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8667
Language Log » Aggressive periods and the popularity of linguistics
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
June 9, 2024 at 7:00 AM
Aha, I thought I remembered there being a Language Log post about that:
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8667
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=8667
The recent Ryan Gosling/x Film “The Good Guys”, which is set in early 1970s LA, had to digitally add in the air pollution when they showed views of the city. (Also, I think there was a brief bit of radio mentioning a “2nd stage smog alert”; I felt a nostalgic twinge of pain in my lungs.)
June 9, 2024 at 6:58 AM
The recent Ryan Gosling/x Film “The Good Guys”, which is set in early 1970s LA, had to digitally add in the air pollution when they showed views of the city. (Also, I think there was a brief bit of radio mentioning a “2nd stage smog alert”; I felt a nostalgic twinge of pain in my lungs.)