Dr. Taylor Loy
LightNews LightNews
banner
tayloraloy.bsky.social
Dr. Taylor Loy
@tayloraloy.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.1K following 2.5K posts
Virginia Tech Postdoc (STS), nuclear energy/nonpro. Former SRO instructor nuke worker. he/him. #TritiumMatters

Dissertation:
https://hdl.handle.net/10919/120638

FAS Day One 2025:
https://fas.org/publication/fusion-energy-leadership-tritium-capacity/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
tayloraloy.bsky.social
Dr. Taylor Loy @tayloraloy.bsky.social · Aug 10
*PhD-level intelligence intensifies*
tayloraloy.bsky.social
There was a time when I could’ve honestly said that I’ve either watched or could describe the box of almost any movie at our local video store.
gwillow.me G. Willow Wilson @gwillow.me · 3d
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
blipstress.bsky.social violet allen @blipstress.bsky.social · 8d
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
salisbot.bsky.social
"War crimes, murder, or both"
rgoodlaw.bsky.social Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 3d
Former US military lawyers speak out:

"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."

Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes

1/2
• If the U.S. military operation to interdict and destroy suspected narcotraFicking vessels is a “non-international armed conflict,” as the Trump Administration suggests, orders to “kill everybody,” which can reasonably be regarded as an order to give “no quarter,” and to “double-tap” a target in order to kill survivors, are clearly illegal under international law. In short, they are war crimes. • If the U.S. military operation is not an armed conflict of any kind, these orders to kill helpless civilians clinging to the wreckage of a vessel our military destroyed would subject everyone from SECDEF down to the individual who pulled the trigger to prosecution under U.S. law for murder. Highlighted sentence at the end of the document reads: Again, the bottom line is that, since orders to kill survivors of an attack at sea are “patently illegal,” anyone who issues or follows such orders can and should be prosecuted for war crimes, murder, or both.
November 29, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
greatdismal.bsky.social
This Creedence from 1970’s been sounding exponentially prescient for quite a while now

I went down Virginia, seekin’ shelter from the storm
Caught up in the fable
I watched the tower grow
Five Year Plans and New Deals, wrapped in golden chains
And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain?
November 27, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
asharangappa.bsky.social
Don’t forget that *Trump’s own lawyer’s argument* to the Supreme Court in the immunity case was that the check on the President using his immunity to order criminal acts was that those under him would not follow illegal orders. Now it’s a crime for lawmakers to remind servicemembers of that?
captmarkkelly.bsky.social Captain Mark Kelly @captmarkkelly.bsky.social · 6d
The President doesn't want you standing up and speaking out against him, so he's coming after me to intimidate all of us.

But I won't back down — and neither should you.
November 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
A tpublic, if you can keep it.
November 26, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
atomicanalyst.bsky.social
Today in 1958, a B-47 on ground alert at Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana, carrying a sealed-pit hydrogen bomb containing no plutonium, caught fire when the Jet-Assisted Take-Off (JATO) bottles accidentally discharged during the pilot’s acceptance check, pushing the plane into a towing vehicle.
A black and white photograph showing three B-47 bombers on a flight line at an air base under a partly cloudy sky. The ground below the aircraft is wet, possibly from rain.
November 26, 2025 at 2:52 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
When given a regulatory limit for environmental releases is the nuclear industry the only industry that attempts to maintain those releases as low as technically possible even when they are routinely releasing only a fraction of the allowable limit of a given pollutant? Or is that common?
November 26, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
nuclearkatie.com
Every day I learn about another new nuclear startup (derogatory)
November 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
courtneymilan.com
If the only thing that can help you is a placebo, I hope you find an inexpensive, easy, and harmless placebo and ride it for all it is worth.
November 23, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
gregsargent.bsky.social
Useful @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social analysis of Trump proposal on Russia, skewering it point-by-point in an easily digestible way:
www.arcdigital.media/p/trump-and-...
Trump and Witkoff Try to Get Russia a Win
The joint U.S.-Russia proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, taken point-by-point
www.arcdigital.media
November 22, 2025 at 11:53 AM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
1 Megadollar : 1 Megadeath
atomicanalyst.bsky.social Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 13d
Today in 1952, the Boston Globe published an article by science writer Michael Amrine sharing the news that the hydrogen bomb—successfully tested for the first time 18 days earlier but not yet deployed—would enable the United States to conduct mass slaughter for the low, low cost of $1 per person.
Copy of a November 19, 1952, front-page article in the Boston Globe headlined: “Our New H-Bomb Makes Life Cheap * * * Costs $1 to Kill Super-Weapon Man With Atoms for Use on Cities * * * * * * Hydrogen Further It Brings War Reduces the Cost Home to Civilians” A note below the headlines and above the article reads, “Michael Amrine was the first person outside of Atomic Energy Commission to learn that work on the hydrogen bomb had begun. He was interviewing Senator Edwin C. Johnson, Dem., of Colorado, member of the Congressional Atomic committee, on a television broadcast three years ago this month at the time when the Senator disclosed that scientists were working on ‘a bomb 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb which fell on Hiroshima.’” An excerpt from the article: "The first atomic bombs cost approximately $2,000,000,000 in development—and each of the first few bombs cost $1,000,000 in themselves. Now the individual cost of each atomic bomb is said to be around $250,000, but with improved efficiency it is estimated that one bomb might kill 250,000 persons in New York—or Moscow. That is $1 per person, and even if one adds in the $4,000,000 for a B-36 bomber, if that is the means used, the atomic bomb is far more 'economical' than using fleets of bombers with ordinary bombs, or even using 1,000,000 men with 1,000,000 two-cent bullets."
November 19, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
atomicanalyst.bsky.social
Today in 1952, the Boston Globe published an article by science writer Michael Amrine sharing the news that the hydrogen bomb—successfully tested for the first time 18 days earlier but not yet deployed—would enable the United States to conduct mass slaughter for the low, low cost of $1 per person.
Copy of a November 19, 1952, front-page article in the Boston Globe headlined: “Our New H-Bomb Makes Life Cheap * * * Costs $1 to Kill Super-Weapon Man With Atoms for Use on Cities * * * * * * Hydrogen Further It Brings War Reduces the Cost Home to Civilians” A note below the headlines and above the article reads, “Michael Amrine was the first person outside of Atomic Energy Commission to learn that work on the hydrogen bomb had begun. He was interviewing Senator Edwin C. Johnson, Dem., of Colorado, member of the Congressional Atomic committee, on a television broadcast three years ago this month at the time when the Senator disclosed that scientists were working on ‘a bomb 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb which fell on Hiroshima.’” An excerpt from the article: "The first atomic bombs cost approximately $2,000,000,000 in development—and each of the first few bombs cost $1,000,000 in themselves. Now the individual cost of each atomic bomb is said to be around $250,000, but with improved efficiency it is estimated that one bomb might kill 250,000 persons in New York—or Moscow. That is $1 per person, and even if one adds in the $4,000,000 for a B-36 bomber, if that is the means used, the atomic bomb is far more 'economical' than using fleets of bombers with ordinary bombs, or even using 1,000,000 men with 1,000,000 two-cent bullets."
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
“Beyond Byproduct: Rethinking Tritium in Fusion Technologies” in Nuclear Future Nov/Dec 2025

The latest from me.

H/t to @alastairbaker1.bsky.social for his editorial guidance throughout.

#NukeSky
nuclearinst.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
karenattiah.bsky.social
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
davidcorn.bsky.social
Remember Jamal Khashoggi.
November 18, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
juliet-turner.bsky.social
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
dburbach.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social
I don't think it gets mentioned enough that Bovino is a member of the civil service. He is not a political appointee. Yet he still engages in constant open partisanship while in uniform and with a DHS flag behind him.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19d
Bovino: "Whether they were criminals or individuals that were taking jobs from Americans -- you name it, that's what they were doing. And I'll tell you what's gonna happen. We're gonna go even harder on the streets. If he releases those 650, we're gonna apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago."
November 13, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
ryanmarino.bsky.social
Ghislaine Maxwell told the Deputy Attorney General (who is Trump’s personal attorney) that Trump had never been to Epstein’s house. The DoJ had years-old emails proving that was a lie but still released that statement.

And now Ghislaine Maxwell has a new puppy, 3 meals a day, and healthcare access…
November 12, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
ctreese2.bsky.social
After one deployment & couple of days before sending the Marines out on leave, I was doing a fireside chat with a small group. As we talked about how to assess the time I said "This was less than a year of your life. A defining time, but if statistics hold, you'll live many more. We saw<
November 11, 2025 at 3:53 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
I swear if they vote on something before everybody figures out if we’re talking about FSA or HSA, we just need to delete all healthcare laws and start from scratch.

These are entirely different types of accounts with different rules and I see them being used at about the same frequency.
steventdennis.bsky.social Steven T. Dennis @steventdennis.bsky.social · 21d
Rick Scott told me his plan would be to take all of the remaining ACA subsidies and redistribute them to HSA accounts and people can then buy whatever insurance a state certifies. Basically a repeal/replace.
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
November 11, 2025 at 3:53 AM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
On ZNPP restart:

“To launch one or two units, there is enough water in the cooling pond and two cooling towers. They can also replenish the pond using water from wells.”

-Former ZNPP employee and nuclear engineer Oleksandr Krupnyi

I’ll recheck my estimates, but I don’t think that is credible.
theins.press The Insider @theins.press · 22d
Russia claims NATO is preparing “major sabotage” at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, but the scenario described is technically impossible

The Insider unpacks the SVR's latest attempt to preemptively blame Ukraine for any potential incident at the facility.
Russia claims NATO is preparing “major sabotage” at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, but the scenario described is technically impossible
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) recently released a statement titled “The West is preparing to blame Russia for a possible accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” warning of a “...
theins.press
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
The current Trump talking point seems to be that the DOJ has to prevent the judiciary from making them feed millions of Americans who are currently hungry and in daily need because we *might* have an “emergency” of unknown nature before the government reopens.

This is the emergency.
November 8, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Dr. Taylor Loy
gabriellehecht.bsky.social
The pope has signed on to the STS agenda.
cpaxton.bsky.social Chris Paxton @cpaxton.bsky.social · 25d
Words to live by tbh
November 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
tayloraloy.bsky.social
Please @cyborgapologist.bsky.social don’t hurt ‘em.
tayloraloy.bsky.social Dr. Taylor Loy @tayloraloy.bsky.social · 25d
Are we having another MC Hammer moment?
November 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM