#phil plait

[mlobsters]

saw this cool phenomenon past couple days while waiting for the kids buses, halo with little rainbow spots on the side, line and curve on top . posted these over on bsky and tagged phil plait who came through with the proper naming

I'm often staring at this patch of sky as I hang out waiting for the bus 😂 years of zoning out looking at it, this was a first for me!

[nonfundamental]

I remember reading books and encyclopaedias about science, math, the arts, geography, global cultures, cuisines, those books from book fairs with the iconic 2000s vibes.

I dreamed of finishing school, going to Princeton, and working in NYC as a physicist. I lived and breathed math and physics documentaries, I would watch hours of Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and PBS.

It really did feel like the world was making progress to a more enlightened, globalist time. Nowadays the only globalism I see is multinational corporations and billionaires buying up housing and natural resources and leaving the rest of us plebs to fight over water and food.

I miss that world, I miss the world I was promised. I wish I could go back 15 years and tell my younger self how wrong he would be about the world and how misplaced his optimism is.

[civanticism]

CIVANTICISM Softhearted Compassion | Hardnosed Coherence

[contrary-to-ordinary]

[roversrovers]

The JWST image briefing was announced for 21:00 UTC. It started instead around 22:12 UTC. For the duration of the delay they had a very upbeat tune playing on a loop.

Here's some highlights from astronomy twitter dealing with the wait:

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

“...science isn't a belief system, scientists don't believe in evolution; we trust that it's the best way to describe how we came to be. And we do that because it's earned that trust.”

-- Astronomer Phil Plait

[imkeepinit]

“When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.” --Isaac Asimov

[phoenix]

Love what you love. Let others love what they love.

I am a science fiction fan. I always have been, for as far back as I can remember. I'm not quite old enough to have watched the Star Trek original series when it first aired, but I caught it plenty in reruns as a kid. I watched The Next Generation in grad school (in fact, the first and last episodes very neatly bookended my time at UVa), as well as all the other series as my own life and career moved on.

SO MUCH THIS