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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖

@astrotobe.bsky.social
484 followers 173 following 123 posts

(They/Them) PhD astronomer studying exoplanets at Queen’s University Belfast Lover of dinosaurs

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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Mark Grimshaw @markgrimshawtism.bsky.social · 20h
A fascinating editorial decision from the BBC, to make the headline a scaremongering “AUTISM AND ADHD ARE BEING OVERDIAGNOSED”, and then, four bullet points later, have the author of the report quoted as essentially saying “nah, that’s bullshit, actually”.
ADHD and autism at risk of over-diagnosis, says report, as author warns of rise in mental ill health
Summary
• An official review in England finds there is a risk of people being over-diagnosed with
ADHD and autism - three key findings from the report
• As well as neurodevelopmental conditions, the review looks at mental ill health, particularly in younger people. Our health correspondent explains the difference
• It was commissioned earlier this year after Wes Streeting, then the health secretary, said there was an "over-diagnosis" of mental health conditions
• Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme earlier, review chair Prof Peter Fonagy said Streeting was "with respect, completely wrong"
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 13h
We’re so back
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 13h
It’s so over
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I’m sad I’ve never got a truly personal crank email yet. There was one guy who thought the earth’s spin axis was a physical iron rod and included me on a big mailing list. But other than that, it’s just automated invites from fake journals and conferences.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Hoff Crab is neither a crab nor is it David Hasselhoff. It is a Yeti Crab, which is neither a Yeti nor a Crab but a sub-group of Squat Lobsters, which are not lobsters, they're Anomurans, like Mole Crabs, which are neither moles, nor crabs.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Mostly I’m just happy there’s so much high-budget paleo-media coming out these days 😅
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I’d probably say it’s my second or third favourite of the recent wave of paleo-documentaries but prehistoric planet still remains uncontested at number 1.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I watched NBCs “Surviving Earth”. I like that it showed off some more obscure prehistoric animals and environments. I did find the storytelling frustratingly cliched at many points. The focus on mass extinctions was fun and gave it a unique spin over other recent documentaries.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Is the omission of monsters purposeful here?
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
The peace process in Northern Ireland requires a legitimate legal route to unification. A UK prime minister saying that is “off the table” is unbelievably reckless and ignorant.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
📢 Calling U.K. astronomers and physicists📢 There is a Westminster Hall debate on “Future of science facilities and laboratories” next Tuesday (1 Sep). Contact your MP and urge them to attend. More details at: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
ras.ac.uk
Astronomy cuts to be discussed at Westminster
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) welcomes an upcoming debate at the Houses of Parliament about cuts impacting astronomy and encourages all Fellows to contact the...
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I think academics should tease upcoming papers like musicians do albums
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
The Onion @theonion.com · 19/08/2026
Democratic Socialism: Myth Vs. Fact theonion.com/democratic-socialism-m…
MYTH: The government will take away your money and give it to the poor.

FACT: You are the poor.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Going places if she ever gets into DIY punk clothing
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Consider, I can completely encrust my messenger bag in pins and still see them when I carry it around.
A messenger bag completely covered in various pin badges
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Finally, the Astro-paleo crossover I’ve been looking for.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 16/08/2026
UK press culture is so utterly depraved
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
I’ve added my name to this petition and so should you. The UK press led a targeted racist harassment campaign that lead directly to a suicide. My colleagues in Academia should not stay silent on this. goodlawproject.org/s/abb8a1
goodlawproject.org
Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project
Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 13/08/2026
Sign our petition to call for climate action here: buff.ly/IrLHG0f
A fire service vehicle stands on the charred remains of heathland, smoke blows around the area
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Dr Dave Hone @davehone.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A point I've not seen before and a strong one!
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 11/08/2026
"This is based on what I feel" is the foundation of all 'science' on the right, including when it comes to trans people.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 10/08/2026
Gollum mogs Dobby
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Actually I think we should make a lifelike sculpture of Dobby’s exhumed remains alongside the pipeline for good measure.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Can we start a counter petition to have it re-redirected through the exact spot. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’
Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beach
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Call me old-fashioned, but I do think we could be losing our sense of proportion. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’
Power cable linking UK and Ireland now passes near Bronze Age human burial remains instead of fictional grave on Welsh beach
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/08/2026
I understand that funding bodies want to go all in on AI as the shiny new innovation thing. But if all the grants start going to AI at the expense of everything else then the research sector is going to end up looking like a farm with dozens of threshers hacking away in a field with no wheat.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
You’re absolutely right, it’s not just X, it’s Y and moreover it’s Z.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that this world’s skies were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences far greater than Martians. And that said intelligences thought “hey that one looks like a marshmallow!”
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
"There are shades of the departed Starmer government in this saga: @ukri.org wants to tell a big story about science funding going up, but instead is mired in a row over a fairly minor sum.... One does not have to be an astronomer to know that optics matter." 👌🔭 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on the Lovell telescope: budget cuts to physics are bad science and worse politics | Editorial
Editorial: Funders have picked a damaging fight with scientists and the public. They should reconsider their plans
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
When UK policy is following this close behind Trump something has gone horribly wrong
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
We could literally keep funding blue sky research at our current levels, the government just wants even more money funnelled into AI slop factories.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I think it’s important to mention the overall budget to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has *increased*. They’re just “re-prioritising” and cutting funds to curiosity based research in favour of avenues with perceived short term economic impacts. AI startups get mentioned a lot in this regard.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
You think at a time like this the U.K. would be stepping up to exploit the gap left by these decisions and become a world leader in science…
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The Royal Astronomical Society is shocked and dismayed to hear that the UK's iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory is at risk of closure amid a slew of catastrophic budget cuts. Read our full statement here: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Devastating hit to STEM spaces and resources in the North West. Jodrell Bank is a public museum, events venue, scientific UNESCO heritage site. Devastating loss to scientific communication in vulnerable region of the country.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
With high impact, low cost facilities like Jodrell Bank and HiPERCAM/ULTRACAM having cuts announced I’m honestly left wondering what *isn’t* getting cut?!
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I have some non astronomer followers on here and I really want to convey how apocalyptic the cuts we’re facing in UK astronomy are.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Had a great time at #DinoConUK! Now time to collapse in a heap after 7 straight days of science.
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Reposted by Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖
Alex Hall Hall @alexhh.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
It is extraordinary how it has become a sort of “settled wisdom” these days that Net Zero is an absurd aim, a sign of mad political correctness, and “has got to go”, when our planet is literally burning to death.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I wish they paid me the big bucks 😂
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
It does appear that life on earth emerged almost as soon as the conditions allowed it! Which does bode well for the chances of life elsewhere in the universe. But for the first ~4 billion years it was mostly simple and unicellular, so conversely, complex life is probably quite rare.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Habitability of planets around M dwarf stars is a real topic of debate at the moment. They do a lot of big flares which may strip planets of their atmospheres. And to be close enough to have liquid water you might end up tidally locked with a permanent day and night side.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
I’ve probably made it to my colleagues in asteroid monitoring more than anyone’s ever made it to me 😂
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Swapping my National Astronomy Meeting Lanyard for a #DinoConUK lanyard. What a week 😅
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Hydrostatic equilibrium only, death to Phobos and Deimos
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Is now a good time to suggest I think we need stricter definitions for what actually counts as a moon even in a solar system context
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
IRRC this one is very much in the “formed more like a star” category 😶
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Depends on the mass of the brown dwarf. Some of the smaller ones form more like planets while the more massive form like stars.
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Could you encode the instrument?
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Toby Rodel 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦕🦖 @astrotobe.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Microlensing, Imaging and Transits definitely Then Transit/eclipse timing/duration variations for the other four?
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