Randall Smith
@rksmith.bsky.social
Astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.
Barrel-aged text is best…
January 1, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Barrel-aged text is best…
Advice I now give to grad students and postdocs in the sciences: Don’t just try to meet and impress senior scientists. They’ll retire soon. Get to know your fellow students - make friends where possible, be colleagues at least. These are the people you’ll be sharing the field with for decades.
December 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Advice I now give to grad students and postdocs in the sciences: Don’t just try to meet and impress senior scientists. They’ll retire soon. Get to know your fellow students - make friends where possible, be colleagues at least. These are the people you’ll be sharing the field with for decades.
I am certain these are already paid for, just not done.
December 25, 2025 at 6:58 AM
I am certain these are already paid for, just not done.
Dear God yes. This is a money maker beyond belief!
December 25, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Dear God yes. This is a money maker beyond belief!
I’m sorry, we’re going to need more to link to this…
December 25, 2025 at 6:52 AM
I’m sorry, we’re going to need more to link to this…
Choosing the showrunner
Would be crucial.
Would be crucial.
December 25, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Choosing the showrunner
Would be crucial.
Would be crucial.
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hill Trilogy. Please!
December 25, 2025 at 6:50 AM
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hill Trilogy. Please!
Could they make a puppeteer’s point of view believable to a human, without having a puppeteer as an example?
December 25, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Could they make a puppeteer’s point of view believable to a human, without having a puppeteer as an example?
Where are the prime centers of Erasology? Is there a Western/Eastern split? Fights with the DMists?
December 25, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Where are the prime centers of Erasology? Is there a Western/Eastern split? Fights with the DMists?
There’s even an XKCD about it… xkcd.com/793/
Physicists
xkcd.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
There’s even an XKCD about it… xkcd.com/793/
If you’ve any interest in astronomy, feel free to reach out to me at the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard’s astronomy dept has been around for a bit, although I think what we consider esoteric and what you study might be a bit different…
December 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM
If you’ve any interest in astronomy, feel free to reach out to me at the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard’s astronomy dept has been around for a bit, although I think what we consider esoteric and what you study might be a bit different…
Surface brightness in magnitudes per sq arc min is a personal favorite. Although at least “Astronomical Unit” is what it says on the tin.
December 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Surface brightness in magnitudes per sq arc min is a personal favorite. Although at least “Astronomical Unit” is what it says on the tin.
Reposted by Randall Smith
We weren’t sure we had a menorah so the kids decided we needed a Banorah
December 15, 2025 at 12:48 AM
We weren’t sure we had a menorah so the kids decided we needed a Banorah
Astronomer: But what if the Flat-Earth folks are right? How do you prove them wrong?
December 1, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Astronomer: But what if the Flat-Earth folks are right? How do you prove them wrong?
I mean, it’s no Siri.
November 28, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I mean, it’s no Siri.
Well, at the nematode level.
November 28, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Well, at the nematode level.
Think of all the historians looking at the Cold War and saying “this is the end, humanity will not survive this” and being so happy to be wrong. Now, you get to be right again. Aren’t you happy?
November 15, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Think of all the historians looking at the Cold War and saying “this is the end, humanity will not survive this” and being so happy to be wrong. Now, you get to be right again. Aren’t you happy?
Embedded, deep in Apple’s DNA, the Jobs-Ian “I know better than you what you want”. And while it’s not always right, I admire that they haven’t totally killed that impulse. It beats, for example, enshittification.
November 15, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Embedded, deep in Apple’s DNA, the Jobs-Ian “I know better than you what you want”. And while it’s not always right, I admire that they haven’t totally killed that impulse. It beats, for example, enshittification.
Where do you think extras come from?
November 15, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Where do you think extras come from?