Backup Blog for KaiYves

Kai, 33, New Yorker. Archaeology, astronomy, space travel, oceanography, geology, history, exploration, superhero comics, general science, Star Wars, Disney, and whatever else catches my interest. (My username is pronounced "K-eye yeeves")

[petitworld]

Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington, USA by Bryan Swan

[allhailthe70shousewife]

[stayforeverst0ned]

[depsidase]

[apod]

2026 June 4

A Planetary Nebula with Cosmic Buckyballs Image Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/J. Cami (Western University); Image Processing: K. Beecroft Text: Jan Cami (Western University) & Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)

Explanation: What is happening inside this unusual nebula? Planetary nebula Tc 1, captured here in exquisite detail by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the celestial site where buckyballs were first identified in 2010. Buckminsterfullerene — as buckyballs are officially called — is a molecule with 60 carbon atoms (C60) arranged in the shape of a soccer ball. The molecule is named for architect Buckminster Fuller because of its resemblance to the geodesic dome he helped popularize. Webb’s new data reveal where the C60 molecules live in this nebula, and the geometry is striking: they populate a thin spherical shell around the central star, visible here as the bright edge of the nebula’s glowing orange central region. Look closely near the nebula’s heart and a more perplexing feature emerges: a delicate structure shaped uncannily like an upside-down question mark, fitting punctuation for the many questions this nebula still poses.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260604.html

[sablingart]

Kimono Girl Stamps

[kaiyves-backup]

Spring decs put away, hello summer!

[myspace]

Six flags commercial from 2004 you most likely forgot about.

[nonenosome2]

Nobody who has seen this has ever forgotten about it.

[typewriterchan]

I guarantee that anyone who has seen this will know exactly what it sounds like before even unmuting.

[quiltofstars]

The Dragon's Egg Nebula, NGC 6164 (lower left) // Imre Klacsány

[wavepools]

[kaiyves-backup]

The rainbow scrunchie in question, @ulyssessimpsongrant. (Also feat. my new SailGP Australia shirt from this weekend.)

[nasa]

Moon Joy June: Launch Inspo

Moon Joy June artists! Looking for a little inspiration? The prompt for this week is “Launch.” Here is a small collection of photos of the launch of the Artemis II mission, which took place on April 1, 2026. What followed was ten days of our Artemis astronauts circling the Moon, returning to Earth, and experiencing pure Moon joy all throughout.

You can find more launch photos here. If you’re feeling inspired to make some art, you can share your creations on Tumblr with the #ArtemisArtShow hashtag!

[amnhnyc]

You won’t find this pigeon on the streets of New York City. Meet the Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans)! This colorful bird can be found throughout Southeast Asia, where it inhabits forests. It hangs out in small flocks in the treetops, foraging mainly for fruit. Distinguishing males from females isn’t too difficult: Females lack pink necks and are mostly olive-green in color!

Photo: Yi-Kai Tea, CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist

[kaiyves-backup]

@1863-project

[hope-for-the-planet]

New method turns ocean water into drinking water, without waste

The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials

Desalination is the process of generating freshwater from brackish or saltwater, usually through the process of reverse osmosis. While this can be a very useful tool in water shortages, it also has some pretty huge drawbacks--reverse osmosis requires a lot of energy, requires chemical treatment of the water, and produces concentrated brine as a waste product which can be harmful to aquatic ecosystems.

Researchers have recently discovered a new way to perform desalination using solar energy, which doesn't require chemical inputs and collects waste salt instead of producing brine. Concentrating the waste salt in a solid form instead of brine means that it can later be processed to extract valuable minerals like lithium.

[flippantsmeagol]

9/29/2025 on the East side of Courthouse Butte. Sedona, Az. Thirty second exposure in moonlight.

[specialagentartemis]

Knightposting does nothing for me but, musing on it, the service/duty-based archetype that really gets me is The Captain.

The Captain is a leader of a smallish group in a bounded environment; spaceship captain is the canonical version to me, here. The Captain has authority, she is undeniably the authority figure in this space and she expects her commands to be obeyed, but that authority is a contract. It comes with the knowledge that she uses that authority for the good of her crew.

The Captain is dutiful: her duty is to her mission second, and her crew first. Everything else, including her own personal feelings and desires, comes third. The Captain takes her duty as commander seriously and has a strong sense of responsibility. She is responsible for what happens to each one of her crew, responsible for their lives and safety, responsible for their failures and deaths. And she takes the weight of that responsibility seriously too.

The Captain is fair: her expectations may be high but she isn’t capricious. She does not ask her crew to do anything she wouldn’t do herself, and in the case of a crisis The Captain is ready to go down with her ship, making sure that everyone else gets out first.

The Captain isn’t so much a fantasy to be, more the fantasy of serving under. The Captain is the fantasy of having a boss who would die for you, rather than your real life boss who would probably sell you to Satan for one corn chip.

[a-solitary-sea-rover-backup]

[sabertoothwalrus]

aint it crazy how everyone is famous nowadays and yet I dont know who anyone is. there are countless people that will have more followers on instagram than the population of Sacramento and no one I know irl has ever heard of them

[kaiyves-backup]

It’s the future and everyone is famous to fifteen people.