Phiala
@phiala.bsky.social
Science, string, science fiction… string fiction? All views my own.
I’m so tired, y’all. I’m fine in all material ways, unlike many of my colleagues, but I’m existentially exhausted.
I want to do my work. I want my country to be functional and kind.
I want to not be angry all the time.
I want to do my work. I want my country to be functional and kind.
I want to not be angry all the time.
November 8, 2025 at 11:16 PM
I’m so tired, y’all. I’m fine in all material ways, unlike many of my colleagues, but I’m existentially exhausted.
I want to do my work. I want my country to be functional and kind.
I want to not be angry all the time.
I want to do my work. I want my country to be functional and kind.
I want to not be angry all the time.
Reposted by Phiala
Caution: contains contains bats, black cats, cosplaying wizards, haunted houses, and Ultimate Evil kicking back with a pumpkin spice latte to watch the action go down. At #Ebooks Direct: "Not On My Patch." ebooks.direct/products/not...
October 14, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Caution: contains contains bats, black cats, cosplaying wizards, haunted houses, and Ultimate Evil kicking back with a pumpkin spice latte to watch the action go down. At #Ebooks Direct: "Not On My Patch." ebooks.direct/products/not...
Today in stress management: baking pumpkin bread; shopping for used ham radios; snuggling cats.
September 27, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Today in stress management: baking pumpkin bread; shopping for used ham radios; snuggling cats.
Libraries.
Public radio and television.
All the things that make sure everyone regardless of income and location can access news, books, all the tools that make us engaged, informed, entertained, and show us people not like us.
Gee, I wonder why they’re in trouble.
Public radio and television.
All the things that make sure everyone regardless of income and location can access news, books, all the tools that make us engaged, informed, entertained, and show us people not like us.
Gee, I wonder why they’re in trouble.
Having a library card and using your local libraries to their fullest potential is punk rock, its an act of resistance, its self care. The library has always been my safe place and right now we need those places more than ever.
September 18, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Libraries.
Public radio and television.
All the things that make sure everyone regardless of income and location can access news, books, all the tools that make us engaged, informed, entertained, and show us people not like us.
Gee, I wonder why they’re in trouble.
Public radio and television.
All the things that make sure everyone regardless of income and location can access news, books, all the tools that make us engaged, informed, entertained, and show us people not like us.
Gee, I wonder why they’re in trouble.
Boosters successfully obtained (flu and covid)! Hydrated and going to bed early (to Cawti’s great approval) to give my immune system a chance to catch up.
September 18, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Boosters successfully obtained (flu and covid)! Hydrated and going to bed early (to Cawti’s great approval) to give my immune system a chance to catch up.
Reposted by Phiala
How I know there’s not currently a dog living in my house: the leftover donut from Friday that I forgot about was still in my lunch bag.
Today is so very Monday that a stale donut is a huge improvement!
Today is so very Monday that a stale donut is a huge improvement!
September 15, 2025 at 3:05 PM
How I know there’s not currently a dog living in my house: the leftover donut from Friday that I forgot about was still in my lunch bag.
Today is so very Monday that a stale donut is a huge improvement!
Today is so very Monday that a stale donut is a huge improvement!
Reposted by Phiala
Your horoscope for today:
Be like a log in the forest - rest quietly, take on moss, and slowly decay.
Be like a log in the forest - rest quietly, take on moss, and slowly decay.
August 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Your horoscope for today:
Be like a log in the forest - rest quietly, take on moss, and slowly decay.
Be like a log in the forest - rest quietly, take on moss, and slowly decay.
Somehow despite everything, I’ve had nine scientific publications out so far this year, and a book chapter coming in October. That’s a LOT for the level of resources I have (no grad students, one postdoc).
I have at least two more submissions planned for 2025, but those will be 2026 papers.
I have at least two more submissions planned for 2025, but those will be 2026 papers.
September 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Somehow despite everything, I’ve had nine scientific publications out so far this year, and a book chapter coming in October. That’s a LOT for the level of resources I have (no grad students, one postdoc).
I have at least two more submissions planned for 2025, but those will be 2026 papers.
I have at least two more submissions planned for 2025, but those will be 2026 papers.
Reposted by Phiala
Are you really "not making enough progress" or is it just that your expectations of yourself outpace both what you'd expect of anyone else *and* the laws of physics
September 10, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Are you really "not making enough progress" or is it just that your expectations of yourself outpace both what you'd expect of anyone else *and* the laws of physics
Reposted by Phiala
Don't forget to register!
Register for the next MEE live!
Ata Kalirad joins us to talk about their recently accepted paper on Ecological Graph Theory, a method to simulate competition in structured populations 🌍 🧪
Find out more about the online workshop and register here 👇
buff.ly/axWOiyl
Ata Kalirad joins us to talk about their recently accepted paper on Ecological Graph Theory, a method to simulate competition in structured populations 🌍 🧪
Find out more about the online workshop and register here 👇
buff.ly/axWOiyl
September 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Don't forget to register!
By actual request (!!!), I’m going to take a run at resurrecting the morning cat photos. (“The only thing I miss from twitter,” I was told.
There is SO MUCH RIDICULOUSNESS to share with the world!
There is SO MUCH RIDICULOUSNESS to share with the world!
September 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
By actual request (!!!), I’m going to take a run at resurrecting the morning cat photos. (“The only thing I miss from twitter,” I was told.
There is SO MUCH RIDICULOUSNESS to share with the world!
There is SO MUCH RIDICULOUSNESS to share with the world!
Reposted by Phiala
Ebook bundle: pay-what-you-want ($18 or more) for 9 Murderbot books and stories + 5 other Martha Wells works.
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
Humble Book Bundle: Martha Wells' Murderbot and More by TOR
Fall in love with Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries series—the engine behind the hit AppleTV adaptation—and help support World Central Kitchen.
www.humblebundle.com
August 23, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Ebook bundle: pay-what-you-want ($18 or more) for 9 Murderbot books and stories + 5 other Martha Wells works.
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
Reposted by Phiala
It's ok to look after yourself.
It's ok to get some rest.
It's ok to sew pants for ghosts.
It's ok to let moss into your life.
It's ok to wear a tiara of goblin bones to your nephew's birthday party.
It's ok to get some rest.
It's ok to sew pants for ghosts.
It's ok to let moss into your life.
It's ok to wear a tiara of goblin bones to your nephew's birthday party.
May 29, 2025 at 10:20 PM
It's ok to look after yourself.
It's ok to get some rest.
It's ok to sew pants for ghosts.
It's ok to let moss into your life.
It's ok to wear a tiara of goblin bones to your nephew's birthday party.
It's ok to get some rest.
It's ok to sew pants for ghosts.
It's ok to let moss into your life.
It's ok to wear a tiara of goblin bones to your nephew's birthday party.
It’s great to see progress on a yard project that takes years of work.
May 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
It’s great to see progress on a yard project that takes years of work.
Reposted by Phiala
duolingo recently declared they are now an AI-first company. well, here at The Museum of English Rural Life, we pride ourselves in being EI-first. EI EI O
May 19, 2025 at 10:49 AM
duolingo recently declared they are now an AI-first company. well, here at The Museum of English Rural Life, we pride ourselves in being EI-first. EI EI O
Amateur Radio General Class License call sign KD3BHE.
Now I guess I have to figure out how to actually DO something, not just pass a couple of tests.
Now I guess I have to figure out how to actually DO something, not just pass a couple of tests.
May 16, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Amateur Radio General Class License call sign KD3BHE.
Now I guess I have to figure out how to actually DO something, not just pass a couple of tests.
Now I guess I have to figure out how to actually DO something, not just pass a couple of tests.
I certainly don’t.
“Trump’s war on science is an attack against anyone who has ever loved someone with cancer,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement. “The American people do not want us to slash cancer research in order to give more tax breaks for billionaires.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/u...
Kennedy Clashes With Democrats Who Accuse Him of Usurping Congress’s Power
www.nytimes.com
May 14, 2025 at 9:59 PM
I certainly don’t.
Reposted by Phiala
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
May 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
TWO consecutive nights of sleep. Feels like a 2025 record.
But I haven’t actually gotten anything done yet today except meetings. It’s raining, and I just want to stare out the window and drink tea.
But I haven’t actually gotten anything done yet today except meetings. It’s raining, and I just want to stare out the window and drink tea.
May 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
TWO consecutive nights of sleep. Feels like a 2025 record.
But I haven’t actually gotten anything done yet today except meetings. It’s raining, and I just want to stare out the window and drink tea.
But I haven’t actually gotten anything done yet today except meetings. It’s raining, and I just want to stare out the window and drink tea.
Getting enough sleep makes everything better. And I took a three-day weekend, also a plus.
Maybe I’ll get some things done today.
Maybe I’ll get some things done today.
May 12, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Getting enough sleep makes everything better. And I took a three-day weekend, also a plus.
Maybe I’ll get some things done today.
Maybe I’ll get some things done today.
Reposted by Phiala
Reposted by Phiala
I know you all know this, but apparently it needs to be said that basic science is a NECESSARY PRECURSOR to translational science
NSF to ONLY fund research in five areas: artificial intelligence, quantum information science, biotechnology, nuclear energy, and translational science. Can this be happening?
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
NSF slashes number of ‘rotators’ and well-paid managers as part of restructuring
Smaller future budgets will require fewer people, NSF official tells staff
www.science.org
May 9, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I know you all know this, but apparently it needs to be said that basic science is a NECESSARY PRECURSOR to translational science
Reposted by Phiala
I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but the orcas now have two F/A-18 Hornets
May 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
I don’t mean to alarm anyone, but the orcas now have two F/A-18 Hornets