iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Robert Rohde @rarohde.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Proposed NOAA budget zeros out ALL climate laboratories and cooperative institutions. GFDL, NSSL, GML, etc. This appears to also end the US greenhouse gas sampling network, including at Mauna Loa, the oldest continuous carbon dioxide monitoring site on Earth. www.commerce.gov/sites/defaul...

Excerpt from proposed NOAA budget showing zero funding for Climate Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Lisa Bromfield @lisabromfield.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

I’ve been a bit quiet on here lately, but I’ve been working on a project. After 65 hours of integration, my largest and longest astro image to date is finally complete. This is a 4-panel mosaic of the Fighting Dragons of Ara 🐉🔥 #Astrophotography #nebula #NGC6188 #FightingDragonsOfAra #tasmania

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

I'm advising one NSF graduate fellow working on understanding how heavy elements produced by the first stars mixed into subsequent generations of stars, ultimately leading to our own existence, and have another considering thesis work with me on planet formation.

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Vincent Ledvina @vincentledvina.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Well... I just found out today that the proposed FY26 president's budget will eliminate the NSF graduate research fellowship program that is funding my Ph.D. I have an award in progress, too. This won't just affect future funding or applications.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Immediately after the Vietnam War, I just opted out of the pledge entirely in sixth grade. My homeroom teacher (also taught classical history) had me provide a written justification, and the rest of the year I stayed seated and silent.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

But you made it to the free world, so there's that

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Michael Lowry @michaelrlowry.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

A huge blow was dealt to hurricane forecasters this week as a critical tool was abruptly terminated by the Department of Defense and NOAA. The immediate discontinuation of data from three weather satellites will severely impact hurricane forecasts this season and beyond. More ⬇️

michaelrlowry.substack.com

Critical Hurricane Forecast Tool Abruptly Terminated

U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday it would no longer process and deliver data essential to most hurricane forecasts

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

The destruction of the US scientific enterprise continues. Or, at least, work from home just got another boost.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Unfortunately, the answer is unambiguously yes. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

nobelprize.org

Henry Kissinger – Facts - NobelPrize.org

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Well, the entire visible universe aside from the part blocked by that pesky rock it's sitting on (the grey area in this plot) community.lsst.org/uploads/defa...

Plot of the full sky in equatorial coordinates, showing the northern hemisphere almost entirely grey, while the southern hemisphere shows colors calibrated by a color bar to show 700 to 1200 visits over 10 years.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Jargon overload: I am revising two papers using the acronym SFE. In one of them it stands for star formation efficiency, while in the other it stands for surface free energy. Yikes!

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

For the record, I've also recently kayaked in the Hudson in NYC and despite getting quite wet remained healthy.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

"For the first time in over a century, swimming in the Seine Paris is no longer a wild idea — it's official. Thanks to an ambitious city-wide cleanup and a nudge from the 2024 Olympics, the Seine is open for swimming in summer 2025." www.parisinsidersguide.com/swimming-in-...

parisinsidersguide.com

Swimming in the Seine Paris

Swimming in the Seine Paris returns in 2025 with new river bathing sites, summer hours, and safety measures. Here's what to know before you dive in.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Perplexity suggests: 'The "Colby" referenced here is most likely Elbridge Colby, a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and a prominent defense policy analyst. He is known for advocating a significant military buildup, especially regarding U.S. alliances in Asia to counter China.'

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Indeed. I'd love to see NYC as civilized as Paris was when I visited last summer. Blooming parks, extensive bicycle network, street dining, single payer healthcare. Now, admittedly, they also have serious issues with affordability of housing, but on the margin, yep, I'd take it.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

I have a colleague who got a substantial award, while I had two rejected. No word yet on whether there will be any funding actions in support of the award, though.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

New @amnh.org curator Jackie Faherty's (co-mentored) student celebrating her thesis defense. Congratulations!

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

The massive Republican effort over the last 15 years at voter suppression and gerrymandering was successful.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

Unfortunately, the bottom picture is from a 2018 anti-gun rally. There were plenty of good crowd scenes on June 14, so a shame that misinformation was used instead. www.dallasnews.com/news/nationa...

dallasnews.com

Marching for gun control, students fill Washington streets 'for our dead friends'

WASHINGTON — Summoned to action by student survivors of the Florida school shooting, hundreds of thousands of teenagers and their supporters...

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

And as a result, you can show that 1 km/s ~ 1 pc/Myr, an approximation good to about 4%, and thus a very handy rule of thumb if you're studying the interstellar medium.

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

American Museum of Natural History @amnh.org · 16/06/2025

🚀 Curious about how the Museum produces its iconic Hayden Planetarium Space Shows? Join us on June 25 for a look at the making of the Museum’s new Space Show: Encounters in the Milky Way. Learn how scientists transformed data into a journey through our galactic neighborhood: bit.ly/4jQi2AE

bit.ly

Behind the Scenes of a Planetarium Show | AMNH

Go behind the scenes of Encounters in the Milky Way with the creative team behind the Museum’s latest Space Show.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I haven't found the evidence-based estimate, only 50501's. Any links?

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

It's the inaugural parade from January...

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute. All other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart..." (2/2)

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

The famously draft-dodging president violating 4 U.S. Code § 9 "Conduct during ... passing of flag": "During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present in uniform should render the military salute. (1/2)

The President standing on a podium rendering a military salute.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

An amazing valedictory piece by Dennis Overbye on my colleague Carter Emmart's career as Director of Astrovisualization at @amnh.org. I've had the immense privilege of working with him multiple times, resulting in planetarium shows seen around the world (Journey to the Stars and Dark Universe).

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Hitler: burned down the Legislature Putin: blew up five apartment buildings TACO: 300 demonstrators in LA. Stephen Miller isn't the sharpest tool in the shed even if he is a world-class hater.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I admit that I went on to get a PhD after completing the BA, then wandered the world in postdocs for a decade...

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

I also got that degree in 1983. But I'm the oddball who was able to continue on in the field to the present day!

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

You mean beyond donating a quarter of a billion? That's not enough?

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

ACLU of Texas @aclutx.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

BREAKING: Texas lawmakers passed S.B. 37, which dramatically increases state control of public universities. Allowing politically appointed bureaucrats to police curricula and override faculty expertise is a direct threat to academic freedom in Texas.

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

ESA Operations @operations.esa.int · 31/05/2025

📡Our antenna is getting into position. Our station engineers are pointing the antenna towards Voyager.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Proposed US retreat from the Solar System.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Looks like I may have to start learning the rules and residency requirements for European Research Council grants if I want to continue funded research in understanding how our planet and star formed in context.

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Reposted by Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

Dr. Tanya Harrison @tanyaofmars.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

The fact that the U.S. is turning inward and potentially set to decimate the science from its own space program while China is offering up its recently returned lunar samples for researchers around the world to analyze speaks volumes as to how the tides of science are going to shift.

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Mordecai-Mark Mac Low @astrocurator.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

The actual definition of "Habitable Zone"

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