Forbidden icecream

This mosaic was acquired by the HRSC instrument on 17 December 2012 between altitudes of 1,330–1,700 km.

Colour data were taken in blue, green, and near-infrared and approximate (though with greater contrast and saturation) what human eyes would see.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Seven years.

So they're managing it well then, got it

Same, Wendy. Same.

Much (perhaps the plurality) of reduced AGU attendance was from foreign scientists choosing not to travel to the US. That's less of an issue for LPSC (though certainly part of the picture).

That's definitely surely part of it. How much, I have no idea.

I based this calculation on the highest abstract # I could find by a simple search, so the specific numbers are likely incorrect.

And numerous factors likely feature here, including severe reductions in travel by government employees.

But of all years, this is the one to censor DEI content??

Relative to last year, there's been a drop of 46.3%. A drop of almost HALF.

Relative to the mean of 1893 for 2021–2025, that's a reduction of 46% (virtually the same).

For those of you what like graphs, here's a plot of total (absolute) numbers of abstracts versus year since 2021 to now. (There was no LPSC in 2020 on account of COVID-19, and I can't be bothered to go back to 2019 or beyond because it's late and I'm tired.)

This is abstract #2022.

Given that the numbering scheme starts at 1001, and mine will *definitely* be rejected, that's ~1,020 abstracts for #LPSC2026.

By comparison:

LPSC 2025: highest number I could find = #2903
LPSC 2024: #2794
LPSC 2023: #3036
LPSC 2022: #2956
LPSC 2021: #2781

I have no idea. All of this is grassroots, and the other efforts underway that I know of I've heard about through the grapevine. There's no centralised planning, at least not yet.

There will be more such meetings like this, organised by different folks across the country. As far as I know, ours will be the first, and it will be small—we can only accommodate about 270 people at the venue (the Kentucky Science Center).

I'm proud to be doing this. I hope you'll join us.

There's no abstract fee, and ALL topics of interest and importance to the community are welcome.

We'll talk science (solicited and contributed) in the mornings, and topical issues in the afternoons.

If you want to help shape our community at the grassroots level, then this is the meeting for you.

I've been working on this with Chase Million (who's done the lion's share of organising the whole thing so far).

We have no sponsors (federal, industry, or otherwise), so we're completely funded by the registration fee ($300).

So if you're willing and able, please register—the sooner the better!

It really is remarkable that something like this hasn't happened more frequently than once every 0.4 century