The view from the Ivory Tower

Tales of a frustrated academic. You can contact me at miocyon at-sign gmail period com #flickr_badge_source_txt {padding:0; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif; color:#333333;} #flickr_badge_icon {display:block !important; margin:0 !important; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0) !important;} #flickr_icon_td {padding:0 5px 0 0 !important;} .flickr_badge_image {text-align:center !important;} .flickr_badge_image img {border: 1px solid black !important;} #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper {width:150px;} #flickr_www {display:block; text-align:center; padding:0 10px 0 10px !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#3993ff !important;} #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:hover, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:link, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:active, #flickr_badge_uber_wrapper a:visited {text-decoration:none !important; background:inherit !important;color:#FF0033;} #flickr_badge_wrapper {background-color:#ffffff;border: solid 1px #FFFFFF} #flickr_badge_source {padding:0 !important; font: 11px Arial, Helvetica, Sans serif !important; color:#333333 !important;} www.flickr.com Go to miocyon's photostream

[miocyon]

Reassessing 1986's SpaceCamp

Is it a hidden gem, a cult classic, or hopelessly dumb? Senior Space Editor Eric Berger and Senior Technology Editor Lee Hutchinson vote "all of the above."

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Whistleblower says Trump officials thought USAID did 'just abortions,' asked for 'Barney-style' slides before gutting agency, per new book

Read an exclusive excerpt from Nicholas Enrich's "Into the Wood Chipper"

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Everybody hates renters

Institutional investors in the housing market… here we go again

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I am not a temporarily embarrassed homeowner

Senator Warren and Senator Moreno revive the bipartisan case against renters.

Amen!

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The Pudding

The Pudding explains ideas with visual essays.

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A Mysterious Signal Transfixes Radio Sleuths -- And Intelligence Experts

The mysterious Persian-language transmission began about 12 hours after the start of the US-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. It was jammed five days later. Is it a coded message for US agents in Iran? Iranian sleeper cells? Israeli operatives? That’s what experts are trying to decipher.

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Pavements

“Pavements is a World View” Laurel Westrup (UCLA) When I first met one of my best friends in high school, I loathed him. He was arrogant, aloof, and judgmental. However, my opinion chan…

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(via A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator - YouTube)

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We need to talk about naked mole rats - The Oatmeal

This is a comic about naked mole rats, aka tube goblins.

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We could produce a lot of electricity on the land used for biofuels

About enough to meet current global electricity demand.

I love thought experiments like this...

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(via GWAR cover “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan - YouTube)

Do yourself a favor and watch this...

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A young progenitor for the most common planetary systems in the Galaxy

A lot of my work has been characterizing and understanding trends in big samples of planets. I tend to try to not get too attached to any particular system. But over the last seven years, I've grown to love the four planets orbiting V1298Tau — a young star in the constellation Taurus. They feel like dear friends to me. Let me tell you why. One of the big questions in planetary science is how newborn stars — encircled by disks of gas and dust — turn into the mature planetary systems we've now de

This is a friend of mine

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I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.

I'm calm. I'm calm. I promise.

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(via Giulliana Merello Hears The Police For The First Time - YouTube)

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When It Happens

It’s been so long, you sometimes forget that eventually, IT will HAPPEN. It’s impossible to say when IT will HAPPEN. But it can’t be too long until...

Perfect.

I have my post ready for when it happens...

[miocyon]

AP photos spotlight a year of joy, triumph and resilience across Africa in 2025

In 2025, ordinary lives intertwined with extraordinary shifts across Africa's bustling cities and vast rural heartlands.

[miocyon]

Times Investigation: Ex-Trump DOJ lawyers say 'fraudulent' UC antisemitism probes led them to quit

The Times spoke to nine former Department of Justice civil rights attorneys tasked with investigating antisemitism complaints at the University of California. They all resigned during their investigations. Here's why.

We live in the worst timeline