iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The sticker table and the coffee table are.... missing? 👀

Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

How culturally insensitive does one have to be to continue naming the default branch on GitHub repos the old way instead of 'main', even for recent repos!

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Transient phenomena got nowhere to hide even amidst these dense, deep images. After spending more than a year in commissioning and science validation, the 10-year journey of the LSST begins! Thanks for featuring me in your story @hannah-richter.bsky.social .

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Ryan H. @ryan.blacksky.app · 04/05/2026

My preferred AI metaphor is actually Asbestos. - Seemingly magical properties - Developed and experimented with to make endless products - Poisoned countless communities in it's creation - Everything it was used for eventually becomes a toxic hazard to mitigate & it's in the fucking walls now

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

This is a classic example illustrating how combining knowledge from multiple sources and knowledge gives a better understanding of the whole than any individual fact. Something that we do till date in scientific research.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

But in this particular case, it happens to be correct due to an additional piece of information that is separate from tidal forces. Our almost perfect solar eclipses mean that the ratio of the size to distance is the same for Sun and the moon, which leads to this result. But it isn't true generally.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

There is no way to infer the density directly from tidal effects. If the moon was twice as dense but with the same mass at the same location, its tidal effect on our planet would be virtually unchanged.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

This could not be correct. Tidal force on the earth is directly proportional to the mass of the other object (Sun, moon) and inversely proportional to the cube of the distance between Earth and that object, not the cube of the radius of that object.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

So you're not on a break then 😕

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Happy new year to you and Mathias as well!

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Here comes the Carolina blue again 😯

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Yes but I doubt this has anything to do with Elon. The beginning of the expansion of NASA ADS to SciX and include more fields is about 3 years old and hence predates the current US administration.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

I was both relieved and sad when I submitted the final grades for my course on general relativity. This is a course I've been wanting to teach in a physics-first approach for almost 15 years now. I don't have teaching obligations so I don't know if I'll teach this course again (or when).

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

The classroom I taught in this semester had no windows, two doors on opposite sides with glass panes and both opened outwards. There was no place to hide or escape had this happened in my building.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

How did they know your current address? That sounds alarming as well, especially if they sent it to your residence.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

I had this for some of my physics courses and I'm already doing this in my teaching. I collect those sheets as part of the exam since it helps me see what the students seem to place emphasis on.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

And that's why I decided to make my GR exams closed-book, in-class like the old days instead of a take home exam.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Tank you for your attention to this matter!!!

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Cara Giovanetti @idontevencara.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Awful news: CMB-S4 is cancelled. This experiment was massively exciting for the cosmology community. It would have told us about the state of the universe some 400,000 years after the big bang, at a level of precision we can now only dream about ⚛️🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation

Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Eric Bellm @ebellm.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

🔭 Friendly advice for astronomers in the US and Chile--if you are excited to access @vrubinobs.bsky.social Data Preview 1 on Monday, request your account *now*--it has to get approved by a human. For best results use your university single-sign on, if available. rsp.lsst.io/guides/getti...

rsp.lsst.io

Getting an account on the RSP

Before getting started: Understand whether you have Rubin data rights.- Rubin data rights are required in order to hold an account in the Rubin Science Platform., All scientists and students affili...

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Stop doomscrolling and start zoom+scrolling #CaptureTheCosmos skyviewer.app/explorer

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Sure, it takes 400 ultra high definition TVs to display a single image from @vrubinobs.bsky.social at its full resolution. That's difficult. Instead we went for a display that's as big as 400 TVs put together to do justice to these wonderful images.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

At Duke, we believe athletics and academics can coexist in a healthy manner. What better way to demonstrate that other than using the scoreboard of the football stadium for #RubinFirstLook images? #GoDuke

Image of a nebula from Rubin Observatory displayed on a scoreboard at Brooks Field, Wallace Wade stadium, Duke University

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

If you're in the triangle region of North Carolina, come see this and more on a big scoreboard at the Duke University watch party! #CaptureTheCosmos #RubinFirstLook

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Peter Coles 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

In response to the ever-increasing number of submissions to the Open Journal of Astrophysics, I'd like to invite more astrophysicistsonto our Editorial Board. We're looking for volunteers with expertise in any area of astrophysics! Please contact me or @ojastro.bsky.social astro.theoj.org

astro.theoj.org

The Open Journal of Astrophysics

The Open Journal of Astrophysics is an arXiv overlay journal providing open access to peer-reviewed research in astrophysics and cosmology.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

If you're in the triangle region of North Carolina, join us at the Rubin First Watch party at Duke and talk to those of us who made it happen in-person.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

More than just the mistakes, substituting the numbers early hides away the trend that they can see from keeping the symbols. I have noticed this practice when I was a TA some 12 years ago and will see it later in Fall when I teach my first ever full semester course!

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

What a milestone for the @vrubinobs.bsky.social ! I have been with the project for almost 6 years now but have been interested in it for more than 12 years. I was happy to be at the celebration virtually and excited for more things to come.

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Sesh Nadathur @seshnadathur.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

A 2/3rds budget cut to astrophysics and completely dropping Roman 😱🤢

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

We should declare March 2025 as THE month of cosmology

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

But those who liked the S8 tension can now focus on w.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Uhh... Many of us are not around until Thursday

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 09/08/2024

conda is an overkill when it is just one person (or maybe a handful) people working on it and locally. But in production, when several people want to use the exact same setup, conda works well.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 29/07/2024

I agree with the renaming when the new name is clearer as in this case. But it should go through a deprecation period where both are supported but using the old one issues a warning.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 28/05/2024

Do they tell what grant/contract to charge that 1.5 hours to too?

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 15/05/2024

Ah, finally a billion dollar solution to this problem!

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 13/05/2024

Fear of failure explains why the student turned in an assignment that they largely copied. It doesn't explain why they weren't doing the thinking in the first place though.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 29/02/2024

I don't know, to get that 10% bump as early as possible.

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Matt Johnson, PhD @mossmatters.bsky.social · 17/02/2024

Duke's destroying a globally recognized generational legacy. I know of 15 biology faculty and curators who trained at Duke and who used the herbarium, just in my 10 years there. Climate Commitment "for life"? A budget is a moral document and Duke has shown its cards. www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

‘A tragic mistake’: Decision to close Duke University’s herbarium triggers furor

Century-old institution boasts many unique specimens and is considered a “poster child for modern curation”

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Reposted by Arun Kannawadi

Fay-Wei Li @fernway.bsky.social · 14/02/2024

sad news - Duke University decided to dump their herbarium, which has over 800,000 plant specimens, one of the largest among in America, and includes many type specimens of Lady Gaga ferns. What a shame. Please stop Duke admins for making this horrible mistake!!

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 01/02/2024

Princeton/IAS Astro colloquia does this. Despite being 'adjacent' to each other, it's a significant commute between the two institutions to undertake in the middle of a workday. And many research staff work remotely. This insistence to going back the way it was is insane.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 03/12/2023

I feel like that term did more harm than good by causing confusion. It's a risk when we take a normal word and give it a technical meaning.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 03/12/2023

What's a good alternative for "the universe is 'flat'"? I was speaking to a 6-year old about space who has picked that term from the Internet and thinks that the universe must be made of stacked sheets of paper. I had to tell him that the observable universe (he knew of that term) is a sphere.

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Arun Kannawadi @astroarun.bsky.social · 29/10/2023

We are hiring a research scientist and multiple postdoctoral researchers to join our ever-expanding cosmology group (pun intended) Duke Physics. Details are in our job ad jobregister.aas.org/ad/354aef95. Reach out to me or Prof. Troxel, or @evevavagiakis.bsky.social if you have any questions.

jobregister.aas.org

Postdoctoral positions in cosmology | AAS Job Register

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