Thomas
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thomasmarks.space
Thomas
@thomasmarks.space
9 followers 57 following 9 posts
Postdoctoral researcher in aerospace engineering at Michigan

https://www.thomasmarks.space
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thomasmarks.space
We just published a featured article in the Journal of Applied Physics! In this paper, we use Bayesian inference to predict Hall thruster behavior in a coupled simulation across facility pressures.

The paper is open-access here: pubs.aip.org/aip/jap/arti...
Uncertainty quantification of a multi-component Hall thruster model at varying facility pressures
Bayesian inference is applied to calibrate and quantify prediction uncertainty in a coupled multi-component Hall thruster model. The model consists of cathode,
pubs.aip.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Thomas
wafflecut.bsky.social
Learned that an anonymous outside expert on submersibles did an interview with the OceanGate Titan investigation, and they released a transcript, with all the names redacted. The first line of his first answer? "I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic."
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD ***************** Investigation of: LOSS OF THE SUBMARINE TITAN IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN ON JUNE 18, 2023 * * * * * * Accident No.: *********** * * * * * * Interview of: Co-designer/Pilot Deepsea Challenger DCA23FM036 via Microsoft Teams Friday, July 26, 2024 INTERVIEW OF 10 BY LCDR 11 Q. So how did you get yourself started into submersible 12 operations? 13 A. Well, I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic. When I 14 set down the path to make that film, the first thing that I did 15 was arrange to be introduced to the head of the submersible 16 program at the P.P. Shirshov Institute in Moscow, a guy named 17| Professor I. I did that through a mutual friend 18 of ours, a guy named , who is one of the preeminent underwater cinematographers in the world. And had been on a 20 submersible expedition out to Titanic the previous year with the 21 Russians. And that was organized by a Canadian company that was 22 doing an IMAX film which was released under the title Titanica.
October 16, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Thomas
heathcliffhelms.heathcliff.cat
Thankfully the ham's onboard a.i. is a good therapist.
October 17, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Thomas
praecipitator.bsky.social
Something stupid I made for a Fallout 4 mod @cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social
A screenshot of Fallout 4, with a picture frame containing a pencil drawing. The drawing is a parody of the Cow Tools comic, but depicting a two-headed cow with a mushroom cloud in the background, captioned "Brahmin Tools"
October 16, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Thomas
cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social
it's not FOR us
edited comic panel. Batman is breaking a lump-with-handle cow tool over his knee and saying "this is the tool of the cow. we do not understand it. we will not use it."
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Thomas
theefantomas.bsky.social
October 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Thomas
jacobgeller.com
Great piece
jpbrammer.bsky.social JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · Aug 27
A year ago, I heard that Oklahoma City had approved a plan to build Legends Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the entire Western hemisphere. Why were we building the Tower of Babel in the Heartland? I decided to investigate. This essay is the result. (gift link) thepickup.com/whats-so-wro...
What’s So Wrong With Oklahoma City Building A Tower To The Heavens? - The Pickup
Okie ex-pat JP Brammer goes long on Legends Tower, a fishy nonprofit, and whether or not Oklahoma is for dreamers.
thepickup.com
August 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Thomas
rjc1084.bsky.social
A sandwich throw must be the crime of the century if they can allocate this many officers in such dangerous DC times!

“Dunn’s attorney says he tried to turn himself in, but instead, 20 officers came to his home to arrest him.”
August 15, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Reposted by Thomas
jacobgeller.com
Watching a pannenkoek video is kinda like watching someone assemble a particle accelerator
July 28, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Thomas
bretdevereaux.bsky.social
This week on the blog: Death!

We continue out look at what life was like for pre-industrial peasant farmers - most humans who have ever lived - with a discussion of the mortality regime they lived and died under and why 'life expectancy' can be a deceptive statistic.

acoup.blog/2025/07/18/c...
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part II: Starting at the End
This is the second part of our series (I) discussing the basic contours of life – birth, marriage, labor, subsistence, death – of pre-modern peasants and their families. As we’ve …
acoup.blog
July 19, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Thomas
catastro-v.bsky.social
im always taken aback by just how much cis people will humiliate themselves to be dicks to trans people. like sorry, youre confused about pronouns? how did you make it thru 6th grade english you slimy dipshit? why are you going on podcasts to advertise youre too stupid to understand simple concepts?
“The trans issue for me is so novel,” Newsom said. “I'm trying to understand as much as anyone else the whole ‘pronoun’ thing.”
July 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Thomas
dynomight.net
New colors without shooting lasers into your eyes dynomight.net/colors/
July 17, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Thomas
jacobgeller.com
Happy birthday to the greatest of all time
July 5, 2025 at 5:31 PM
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nudny-piotr.bsky.social
I sometimes wish for "advanced level" video essays, but then realise that they're probably called "conferences" and "research papers"
June 30, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Thomas
xkcd.com
Tennis Balls xkcd.com/3080
April 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Thomas
jacobgeller.com
Saw Sinners in a FULL imax theater on a TUESDAY NIGHT and had the TIME OF MY GODDAMN LIFE
April 23, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Thomas
nuclearkatie.com
Fundamental science underlies basically all of modern society, including all applied research. When it suffers, we all do
www.wired.com/story/nist-d...
Trump Admin Plans to Cut Team Responsible for Critical Atomic Measurement Data
The team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes measurement data crucial for advanced research in areas like astrophysics, nuclear fusion, and semiconductors.
www.wired.com
March 26, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Reposted by Thomas
jensob.bsky.social
As if another reason was needed to mobilize and stand up for science: the entire NIST atomic spectroscopy group will be laid off. I have employed the work of this extremely dedicated group of individuals throughout my career. Their efforts are foundational. @standupforscience.bsky.social
brettmorr.is Brett Morris @brettmorr.is · Mar 19
The atomic spectral lines in this app come from the NIST atomic spectroscopy group, which has provided the world with spectroscopic measurements for 120 years.

Today we got word that the federal government is laying off the entire group. 🔭🧪
brettmorr.is Brett Morris @brettmorr.is · Feb 24
Tired of wondering which atomic lines are in your spectra? You need:

*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars

install:
pip install whoseline

source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
March 19, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by Thomas
davecl.bsky.social
Petition to save the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group from closure. They provide critical precision measurements used from fusion experiments to astrophysics. 🧪🔭 www.change.org/p/oppose-the...
Sponsor Oppose the layoff of the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group · Change.org
www.change.org
March 24, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Thomas
askhistorians.bsky.social
Take that, intellectual historians.
"I keep hearing about how knowledge was lost in the dark ages, but as far as I can tell, that almost exclusively concerns Greek philosophy, which, imo, isn't exactly a big deal. In terms of knowledge that actually affects people's lives on a practical level, that is technology, the only thing I can find is concrete, and even then, I've heard it pops up here, and there. With that in mind, what knowledge that makes any difference was actually lost?"
March 25, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Thomas
papapishu.bsky.social
Schmidt had been visiting Luxembourg and flew back to the U.S. on Friday. His partner had gone to pick him up at Logan Airport, and waited four hours before calling authorities. “It was just said that his green card was flagged,” said Astrid Senior, his mother. She said she didn’t hear from her son directly until Tuesday, when she learned he’d been hospitalized. Senior described Schmidt being “violently interrogated” at Logan Airport for hours, and being stripped naked, put in a cold shower by two officials, and being put back onto a chair. She said Schmidt told her immigration agents pressured him to give up his green card. She said he was placed on a mat in a bright room with other people at the airport, with little food or water, suffered sleep deprivation, and was denied access to his medication for anxiety and depression. “He hardly got anything to drink. And then he wasn’t feeling very well and he collapsed,” said Senior. He was transported by ambulance to Mass General Hospital. He didn’t know it at the time, but he also had influenza. On Tuesday, Schmidt was transported to the regional headquarters for ICE in Burlington, Massachusetts, and then transferred to the Wyatt facility. The family, including his partner, who is a cardiologist in Nashua, have acquired attorneys and been working with the German consulate in hopes to have him released on bail.
March 15, 2025 at 1:08 PM
thomasmarks.space
A nice article by @mastroianni.bsky.social, as usual.

substack.com/@experimenta...
Funding science is actually a badass thing to do
OR: The Three Sirens of Entropy
substack.com
February 18, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Thomas
triplchii.bsky.social
guide to the planetary system of Proxima Centauri, 2598 revision
February 13, 2025 at 11:10 AM