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Bbartel

@bbartel.bsky.social
136 followers 330 following 60 posts

Technology Coach/Science Teacher, co-host of the laboutloud.com podcast, Father and Husband. he/him. I take pictures of the sun, cats and other phenomena. #scicomm #scienceteacher #edtech

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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
While up at @lawrenceuni.bsky.social Bjorklunden campus, I put a @solarcan.bsky.social Puck on a spinner for a day (facing upward), and was very pleased with the results. #pinhole
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 22/12/2025
A few #Solarcan harvests from (or near) the #wintersolstice 1. 2nd Floor classroom at Appleton East, looking south. Late Aug - Dec 19. 2. SE, installed Sept 29 and removed Dec 18. This was the best exposure, showing leaves on the tree for a little while 3. South, Oct 19 - Dec 21
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Times New Roman is a slightly more narrow font (that’s an economy thing - less printing is more money for a paper) than Calibri, so the State dept. is actually conserving space and reducing printing. So that’s win for the environment, right? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
nytimes.com
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
I found a 5 pack of #Solarcan from one of their first production runs, so I installed this Solarcan, serial #562 (normally the ones I buy are in the #30,000 or more) for a few weeks in the spring - just to see if it was still good.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
3 #Solarcan were installed at the winter #solstice '24 at #lawrenceuniversity #Bjorklunden in Bailey's Harbor, WI. Collected after the summer #solstice The first is looking south at the Chapel. The second is facing the solar array, and the last one is in the woods near the solar array.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
These two solargraphs came from an installation at Valley New School, looking East and South on College Avenue in Appleton, WI, installed around the spring equinox and taken down in May. #pinholephotography #solarcan #equinox
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Here are a few Solarcan images I haven't shared yet. The first batch were taken from the roof of three elementary schools (Berry, McKinley and Richmond) in Appleton - installed in early January, and taken down in May to share with students. #Solarcan #pinholephotography #solstice
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Here's a solargraph of the ravine at the bottom of Reid Gold course in #Appleton The #Solarcan was installed on December 21, 2024 and removed on June 18, 2025 - just a couple days before the summer #Solstice
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
With the summer solstice yesterday, I collected a couple of Solarcan installations I had installed near the winter solstice. Enjoy the solargraph - days get shorter for the next 6 months #solstice #solarcan
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Amen. “If God intended for us to shoot vertically, he would have created man with one eye above the other.” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | The latest generational divide: How to hold a phone
A breakdown of why young people insist on recording videos vertically — and why older folks hate it.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Want to teach about AI on Earth Day? How about use this article: www.yahoo.com/news/saying-... Not just power, but water too: "...using GPT-4 to generate 100 words consumes up to three bottles of water — and even a three-word response such as “You are welcome” uses about 1.5 ounces of water."
yahoo.com
Saying 'please' and 'thank you' to ChatGPT costs OpenAI millions, Sam Altman says
Being polite to your AI assistant could cost millions of dollars.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Vegetative electron microscopy. I love this story: theconversation.com/a-weird-phra...
theconversation.com
A weird phrase is plaguing scientific papers – and we traced it back to a glitch in AI training data
Once errors creep into the AI knowledge base, they can be very hard to get out.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
The last image was overlooking the Mississippi river in Onalaska, from can #39,838. This Solarcan installation was slightly disturbed from a recent storm, and you can see the diverted angle of the sun's rays that show that the can was moved.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
This image is from Appleton, can #39,806. The scan looked a little over exposed, so I processed it in black and white. The last image was overlooking the Mississippi river in Onalaska, from can #39,838.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Installing a Solarcan pinhole camera between the winter solstice and spring equinox is a unique time in the N hemisphere, with no leaves on trees and the sun isn't too high, so it gets fully captured on paper #pinholephotography #solarcan The first image is from the Oconto river, from can #38,294
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Here's a few @Solarcan Puck images from the windows at Valley New School in Appleton. They have some amazing views of downtown Appleton!
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Funding for this project came from the Stan and Phyllis Thatcher Family Fund for STEM and the Dianne Catlin Lang STEM Innovators and Girls Leadership Fund within the Appleton Education Foundation @thesolarcan #Solarcan #pinholephotography #equinox
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Blending a mixture of science, technology and a little bit of art, I wanted to share some of their results from 5th grade students at Janet Berry Elementary. We're going to do this again in May to see what changes spring brings.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I've been working with 5th graders in a few elementary schools to install Solarcan Pucks around the school close to the spring equinox (facing North, South, East and West). Then they learned how to process and adjust the images to show the path of the sun over the course of a few days.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
just the macro lens on my iPhone
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Last night was perfect snowflake photography weather in Green Bay. From the inside of my windshield.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
I see your cat and raise you one cat.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
I did some reprocessing
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
6 month exposure of @solarcan over the solar array at Bjorklunden @bjorklundendoorcounty @lawrenceuni #solarcan #solstice
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
A few @solarcan results from around the front yard, back yard, and down in the ravine (with a Solarcan Nebula). Front and back yard were installed in September, and the Nebula was installed in the summer. All started with trees full of leaves, eventually letting in more sun in the winter #solstice
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/12/2024
Happy Solstice! I've harvested a few @Solarcan installations and installed a few more. More to come...
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Snow squall to sun: This was difference in pressure from last night’s low of under 750 mmHg when the snow squall arrived, to today’s sunny high close to 770
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Here's a story about #Solarcan photos I took at Lawrence University www.lawrence.edu/articles/alu... @solarcan.bsky.social @lawrenceuni.bsky.social
lawrence.edu
Alum Brian Bartel experiments with long-exposure campus views
Brian Bartel ‘97, a science instructor and amateur photographer, developed a fascination with Solarcan, a method of shooting long-exposure photographs and capturing the sun’s journey across the sky.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
It was almost perfect snowflake photography weather earlier today. A little too warm and now too windy.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Our latest episode of Lab Out Loud is ready for your ears! "Fighting Wellness Scams with Science" - a fantastic conversation with @jonathanstea.bsky.social laboutloud.com/2024/11/epis...
laboutloud.com
Fighting Wellness Scams with Science
To listen to this episode, download the mp3 directly, find us on iTunes, or use the player above. Dr. Jonathan N. Stea Ever feel lost in the world of wellness advice online? Our guest, Dr. Jonathan…
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Juliette is alive.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 12/10/2024
Northern Lights pics from Thursday taken with a Pentax K-1, 10 second shutter, f-2.4 and various ISOs. We were just north of Appleton, so you can see a plane taking off from Green Bay.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 24/09/2024
Always #votescience www.scientificamerican.com/article/vote...
scientificamerican.com
Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment
Kamala Harris has plans to improve health, boost the economy and mitigate climate change. Donald Trump has threats and a dangerous record
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 28/04/2024
“He’s not the one caught dozing off nearly every day, slurring his words, rambling incoherently about Gettysburg, running a sparse campaign schedule or whining about the temperature” www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 15/04/2024
Got to spend a little time with my dad taking pictures of a great horned owl family in City Park, Appleton and then a breeding pair of bald eagles across the river. There are two owlets and the mother visible. We can only see both eagles but not the eaglets yet.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 10/04/2024
After testing the views, we decided to install a full @solarcan.bsky.social facing south, and we will check back in June. Thanks again to the History Museum at the Castle for the view! Check out their new exhibit coming at the end of the month myhistorymuseum.org
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 10/04/2024
The second image is facing south, and captures most of the path of the sun over Brokaw. You can see Main Hall to the left. At the top of the solargraph, you can see a broken arc. Some of this is due to the clouds on Monday, but some of it is also from the Eclipse too.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 10/04/2024
With some help from new friends from the History Museum in Appleton, I installed some @solarcan.bsky.social pucks on the 4th floor of the Castle. The first solargraph is facing east at Lawrence University. You can see Main Hall on the right, and it looks like the sun is coming out of the Chapel.
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 08/04/2024
I taped a couple @solarcan.bsky.social pucks to the sunroof of my car for a day or two, and love the output I get from driving around under the sun. Now those are maps!
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 29/03/2024
You can see the last one was actually my first install. I crushed the can a little with the zip ties. On the next installs, I first used painters tape to secure the can, then carefully added the zip ties for extra security
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 29/03/2024
I had a few @solarcan.bsky.social Colour cans to install, so I did that today before the trees leaf out. I also wanted to get an angle upwards as we near the solstice so I made a crude stand that I could drill into trees. Time to wait a few months…
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2024
better #sapsicle pictures with a better camera
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2024
some better #sapsicle pictures with a better camera
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 21/03/2024
Here’s some early spring #phenomena for students to look out for if the have sugar maples - sapcicles!
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 20/03/2024
The vernal equinox can be a great time to harvest @TheSolarCan in the northern hemisphere. You can capture the entire path of the sun, and there aren't any leaves. This Solarcan Nebula was installed in the winter solstice, & I took it down last night. #pinholephotography #equinox #Solarcan
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 18/03/2024
Sure it’s cold(er), but it’s perfect weather for capturing pictures of snowflakes!
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 15/03/2024
Here's our interview with founder Sam Cornwell about Solarcan! youtu.be/7zvYh4XvFVk?...
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 08/03/2024
While in Austin for #sxswedu, I chose a room facing south. On Monday, I taped a #solarcan puck to my window (for calibration purposes), and gradually adjusted the angle over the week to get the solargraph right. NOTE: on Wednesday, the puck fell giving a broken arc from the sun
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 07/03/2024
"Smoke and Mirrors". Just saw this powerful visualization art at #sxsw2024 from Beattie Wolfe beatiewolfe.com/smoke-and-mi... It's art that communicates 6 decades of climate data (methane emissions) - a follow-up from her "From Red to Green" CO2 visualization beatiewolfe.com/our-planet
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Bbartel @bbartel.bsky.social · 07/03/2024
Found in Austin: student artwork that fell out of the garage. We’ve all been there.
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