Tad Thurston
@tadthurston.bsky.social
Data scientist/analyst, astrophysicist
Publishes physics student tutorial videos
https://youtube.com/c/tadthurston
And general scicomm articles
https://firstexcitedstate.substack.com
Publishes physics student tutorial videos
https://youtube.com/c/tadthurston
And general scicomm articles
https://firstexcitedstate.substack.com
Pinned
Tad Thurston
@tadthurston.bsky.social
· Nov 10
Human-Caused Global Warming? Yep.
Here's a summary of the basic evidence:
firstexcitedstate.substack.com
We'll need to make the (undisputed) scientific #climatechange case repeatedly soon:
- atmospheric CO2 levels are rising
- the excess CO2 comes from human activity
- CO2 in the atmosphere causes warming
- the Earth is warming at the corresponding rate
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/human-caus...
- atmospheric CO2 levels are rising
- the excess CO2 comes from human activity
- CO2 in the atmosphere causes warming
- the Earth is warming at the corresponding rate
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/human-caus...
A new #Substack promoting the use of the 'stupid' word, and the first one's easy...
open.substack.com/pub/onstupid...
open.substack.com/pub/onstupid...
On Stupid: Case 1
In talking about politics, we should use this word way more often when it's deserved
open.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 3:17 AM
A new #Substack promoting the use of the 'stupid' word, and the first one's easy...
open.substack.com/pub/onstupid...
open.substack.com/pub/onstupid...
Happy Earth Day! 🧪
Earth size relative to Sun -> to scale
Earth distance from Sun -> not to scale
Earth size relative to Sun -> to scale
Earth distance from Sun -> not to scale
April 22, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Happy Earth Day! 🧪
Earth size relative to Sun -> to scale
Earth distance from Sun -> not to scale
Earth size relative to Sun -> to scale
Earth distance from Sun -> not to scale
‘Arresting’, ‘detaining’, and ‘relocating’ someone without authority is called ‘kidnapping’, right? It’s a criminal act.
This is obviously the only correct legal holding and anyone who disagrees is a fascist who rejects the rule of law. It's as simple as that; we can't have a system of the executive black-bagging people without cause or process, much less one that ships them to a place a court already said they can't.
JUST IN: Saying the Trump administration’s “grievous error” “shocks the conscience,” a federal judge has rejected their call to lift her order demanding the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
April 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
‘Arresting’, ‘detaining’, and ‘relocating’ someone without authority is called ‘kidnapping’, right? It’s a criminal act.
No doubt. I saw it in theatres just before going to college, and it was seen on the reg by my two kids right before they went. An example of a movie way better than it had a right to be, and an 80s comedy that still holds up really well.
RIP Val Kilmer: Celebrating cult classic Real Genius is now a moral imperative. The ’80s comedy has stood the test of time, even inspiring a 2009 Mythbusters episode. arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/...
RIP Val Kilmer: Celebrating cult classic Real Genius is now a moral imperative
The ’80s comedy has stood the test of time, even inspiring a 2009 Mythbusters episode.
arstechnica.com
April 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
No doubt. I saw it in theatres just before going to college, and it was seen on the reg by my two kids right before they went. An example of a movie way better than it had a right to be, and an 80s comedy that still holds up really well.
Months ago: 'The markets are just super-excited Trump is coming in the future'
Today: 'these are Biden's markets. Also time is probably non-linear.'
Today: 'these are Biden's markets. Also time is probably non-linear.'
Hassett: "We've got a Biden economy. Still, most of Biden's policies are in place. If you look at the Atlanta Fed GDP now number, it's showing negative first quarter, which is kind of a metric of the inheritance of President Biden."
March 10, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Months ago: 'The markets are just super-excited Trump is coming in the future'
Today: 'these are Biden's markets. Also time is probably non-linear.'
Today: 'these are Biden's markets. Also time is probably non-linear.'
It seems to me the playbook is clear: knowing that billionaire tax cuts will blow a $multi-trillion hole in the debt, the cover is to (falsely and loudly) claim $multi-trillion savings by DOGE, whether it’s true or not.
February 23, 2025 at 5:18 PM
It seems to me the playbook is clear: knowing that billionaire tax cuts will blow a $multi-trillion hole in the debt, the cover is to (falsely and loudly) claim $multi-trillion savings by DOGE, whether it’s true or not.
Grand Maester Pycelle has entered the chat
Trump as little girls gather around him before he signs an order banning trans people from sports: "The Secret Service is worried about them? If we have to worry about them, we have big problems."
February 5, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Grand Maester Pycelle has entered the chat
Reposted by Tad Thurston
BREAKING: CDC's top advisors demand answers and a restoration of crucial public health data. New story by me: www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/c...
CDC advisers push agency to explain data removal, say when info will be restored
Information on topics such as gender, teens' behavior, and infectious diseases was removed from the CDC's website.
www.statnews.com
February 1, 2025 at 11:41 PM
BREAKING: CDC's top advisors demand answers and a restoration of crucial public health data. New story by me: www.statnews.com/2025/02/01/c...
Trump is like the cop-beating, dark-timeline version of Jesus where if you commit violence in his name, you are forgiven.
January 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Trump is like the cop-beating, dark-timeline version of Jesus where if you commit violence in his name, you are forgiven.
2024: Warmest year recorded!
-> we inject CO2 into the atmosphere
-> the concentration of CO2 goes up
-> since CO2 absorbs and re-radiates heat, the temperature goes up.
We should stop doing so much of the first thing. 🧪
-> we inject CO2 into the atmosphere
-> the concentration of CO2 goes up
-> since CO2 absorbs and re-radiates heat, the temperature goes up.
We should stop doing so much of the first thing. 🧪
January 12, 2025 at 8:18 PM
2024: Warmest year recorded!
-> we inject CO2 into the atmosphere
-> the concentration of CO2 goes up
-> since CO2 absorbs and re-radiates heat, the temperature goes up.
We should stop doing so much of the first thing. 🧪
-> we inject CO2 into the atmosphere
-> the concentration of CO2 goes up
-> since CO2 absorbs and re-radiates heat, the temperature goes up.
We should stop doing so much of the first thing. 🧪
It still blows my mind that we talk about the last election as though Dems should have 'listened more' and promoted better economic and inflationary policy. What did the winning side do? Blast false assertions about economic numbers and promise to do the opposite of what their policies actually do.
January 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
It still blows my mind that we talk about the last election as though Dems should have 'listened more' and promoted better economic and inflationary policy. What did the winning side do? Blast false assertions about economic numbers and promise to do the opposite of what their policies actually do.
I had a feeling that "Thomas Jefferson daily prayer" quoted by Mike Johnson didn't really sound like something from TJ:
www.monticello.org/research-edu....
www.monticello.org/research-edu....
National Prayer for Peace (Spurious Quotations)
www.monticello.org
January 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
I had a feeling that "Thomas Jefferson daily prayer" quoted by Mike Johnson didn't really sound like something from TJ:
www.monticello.org/research-edu....
www.monticello.org/research-edu....
November global update:
www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-...
www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-...
Assessing the Global Climate in November 2024
The global land and ocean temperature departure from average for November 2024 was the second highest on record.
www.ncei.noaa.gov
December 12, 2024 at 4:12 PM
November global update:
www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-...
www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-...
The @meetthepress.bsky.social Trump interview was a primer on how to lie and get away with it: brazenly, and without correction. Among others, 3 or 4 times it was asserted that crime was “at an all time high” and the (correct) pushback to criminals immigrating was flatly denied, without pushback.
December 9, 2024 at 1:05 PM
The @meetthepress.bsky.social Trump interview was a primer on how to lie and get away with it: brazenly, and without correction. Among others, 3 or 4 times it was asserted that crime was “at an all time high” and the (correct) pushback to criminals immigrating was flatly denied, without pushback.
🧪 How far away is the horizon? It's easy to figure out: height (in feet), square root it, add about 20% = horizon distance in miles.
6 feet tall: h = ~3 miles
Empire State Bldg (1000 feet): ~40 miles
Plane (35k feet): ~230 miles
Here's the math:
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/how-far-is...
6 feet tall: h = ~3 miles
Empire State Bldg (1000 feet): ~40 miles
Plane (35k feet): ~230 miles
Here's the math:
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/how-far-is...
How Far is the Horizon?
Sometimes when I’m in a tall building or a plane, I wonder how far away the horizon is.
firstexcitedstate.substack.com
November 22, 2024 at 5:59 PM
🧪 How far away is the horizon? It's easy to figure out: height (in feet), square root it, add about 20% = horizon distance in miles.
6 feet tall: h = ~3 miles
Empire State Bldg (1000 feet): ~40 miles
Plane (35k feet): ~230 miles
Here's the math:
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/how-far-is...
6 feet tall: h = ~3 miles
Empire State Bldg (1000 feet): ~40 miles
Plane (35k feet): ~230 miles
Here's the math:
firstexcitedstate.substack.com/p/how-far-is...
Even in late November with lows in the 30s-40s and leaves falling off the trees, the Dipladenia from the summer are still booming
November 22, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Even in late November with lows in the 30s-40s and leaves falling off the trees, the Dipladenia from the summer are still booming
Expel him if he tries to assume his seat in the new Congress.
November 21, 2024 at 6:04 PM
Expel him if he tries to assume his seat in the new Congress.
Reposted by Tad Thurston
1. I reiterate that I don't think bots/trolls get how comprehensive the "block" function here is.
2. I also think they don't quite get how prevalent "don't engage, just block" is as an ethos here.
3. Bluesky is a neighborhood party: everyone is welcome until they're a jerk. Then out they go.
2. I also think they don't quite get how prevalent "don't engage, just block" is as an ethos here.
3. Bluesky is a neighborhood party: everyone is welcome until they're a jerk. Then out they go.
November 20, 2024 at 3:17 PM
1. I reiterate that I don't think bots/trolls get how comprehensive the "block" function here is.
2. I also think they don't quite get how prevalent "don't engage, just block" is as an ethos here.
3. Bluesky is a neighborhood party: everyone is welcome until they're a jerk. Then out they go.
2. I also think they don't quite get how prevalent "don't engage, just block" is as an ethos here.
3. Bluesky is a neighborhood party: everyone is welcome until they're a jerk. Then out they go.
I made my nebula-ish cover image using the free @blender3d.bsky.social Blender3D software and Gleb's (@glebalexandrov.bsky.social) remarkable tutorials. Opened up a whole new avenue of creativity!
November 19, 2024 at 1:54 PM
I made my nebula-ish cover image using the free @blender3d.bsky.social Blender3D software and Gleb's (@glebalexandrov.bsky.social) remarkable tutorials. Opened up a whole new avenue of creativity!
All of those documents are the very epitome of OER, which the State of Oklahoma, in every other situation, presses for.
PAMELA BROWN: The Trump bibles are $60 a pop. There are many bibles available that cost half that. Why are you using a Trump-endorsed bible?
RYAN WALTERS: The bible, declaration of independence, and constitution are all included in this bible that we purchased (3/4)
RYAN WALTERS: The bible, declaration of independence, and constitution are all included in this bible that we purchased (3/4)
November 18, 2024 at 4:52 PM
All of those documents are the very epitome of OER, which the State of Oklahoma, in every other situation, presses for.
Reposted by Tad Thurston
This is the rallying call that I've needed to hear since November 6th. From Roxane Gay in today's New York Times www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/o...
November 17, 2024 at 7:43 PM
This is the rallying call that I've needed to hear since November 6th. From Roxane Gay in today's New York Times www.nytimes.com/2024/11/17/o...
Considering the numerous allegations and civil findings against the actual President-Elect of the US, how in the world are these allegations disqualifying for the GOP?
Exclusive: Documents obtained by The Post provide extensive detail about an allegation that Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, sexually assaulted a woman in 2017.
Defense pick Hegseth paid accuser but denies sexual assault, attorney says
Documents obtained by The Post provide extensive detail about an allegation that Pete Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman in 2017.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 17, 2024 at 4:47 PM
Considering the numerous allegations and civil findings against the actual President-Elect of the US, how in the world are these allegations disqualifying for the GOP?