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Benne W. Holwerda

@benneholwerda.bsky.social
3.6K followers 2.4K following 4.6K posts

Dad, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Louisville. He/Him/hey you. Opinions are my own. As are the typos. Astronomy, datascience, ethics & occasional US/EU politics.

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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 1h
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/o... The philosophy professor thinks writing isn’t thinking….okay.
static.klipy.com
Chidi's 18-Year Manuscript in The Good Place
ALT: Chidi's 18-Year Manuscript in The Good Place
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Casper Albers 🟥 @casperalbers.nl · 5h
Een miljard willen bezuinigen op onderwijs om deze groepen te ondersteunen. Puur toevallig ook de groepen die vrolijk doneren aan de partijkas van de VVD. Lekker gewerkt, Rob!
Screenshot Volkskrant
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 2h
Name a TV show from before 1980
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Battlestar Galactica: Galactica & Pegasus
ALT: Battlestar Galactica: Galactica & Pegasus
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 5h
I think the raging headcold and hacking cough is not improving my JWST proposals.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 5h
Can we use ML for all the stuff we’ve been doing now for a decade or so and ‘AI’ for the LLM stochastic parrot.
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Yvette Cendes @whereisyvette.bsky.social · 10h
I WAS JUST ON THE BBC INTERNATIONAL NEWS PROGRAM!!! Don't worry, you didn't miss much, the questions were really just the announcer wanting to confirm it's not aliens. :)
Me on the BBC talking about "radio signals detected from distant planet"
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In Medias Malone @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 20h
As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things
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Emily Gorcenski @emily.gorcen.ski · 28/09/2026
Here’s the most incredible story you’ll read today. A small plane with four people aboard crashes in a field. Another pilot witnesses it. That pilot happens to be flying a bunch of skydivers. They offer to jump to assist, are given permission. The skydivers happen to be EMTs. Everyone survives.
wisn.com
Skydivers alert emergency crews, assist after plane crashes near East Troy airport
Four people were aboard the single-engine plane when it went down in a cornfield near Carvers School Road in East Troy at about 1:30 p.m.
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feeb @magicmooshka.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
it’s come to my attention that my tumblr post has been crossposted to bluesky, so I’m posting it on my account here #AntiAI #GenAI
recently my friend's comics professor told her that it's acceptable to use gen AI for script-writing but not for art, since a machine can't generate meaningful artistic work. meanwhile, my sister's screenwriting professor said that they can use gen AI for concept art and visualization, but that it won't be able to generate a script that's any good. and at my job, it seems like each department says that AI can be useful in every field except the one that they know best.

It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence relies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Wait what theconversation.com/the-worlds-2...
theconversation.com
The world’s 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars
Electric vehicles get all the press – but it’s the smaller unsung two wheelers cutting oil demand the most.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Observational Astronomy class with students out at Moore’s observatory. Fun was had. Stars were observed. Spectra taken and then a mild competition for deep sky object happened and some great pictures got made. Seestars are a fantastic teaching tool.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Vega with diffraction elements.
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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026
New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:
science.org
NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding
Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
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NOELREPORTS @noelreports.com · 28/09/2026
A Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine building in central Kyiv, sparking a fire and sending a column of black smoke over the city. Footage from the scene showed people escaping through windows as the building burned. #Ukraine
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Of course. The historic shaker village site is under threat from a datacenter. Because of course it is. shakervillageky.org/datacenter/
shakervillageky.org
Data Center - Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill
Help Protect Shaker Village Kentucky’s largest National Historic Landmark, and Mercer County’s leading tourist destination needs your support. On Monday, September 28 at 6:00 p.m. a special called mee...
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Andy!
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Sarah Andersen @sarahseeandersen.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The image is of a four panel comic.
The first panel shows Sarah, the protagonist, working at a desk. A brain next to her says, "We need to take breaks!"
The second panel zooms in on Sarah's face. She is annoyed. She says, "What if I don't listen to you?"
The third panel shows the brain smiling.
The fourth panel shows the brain reaching towards a lever. The brain says, "I'LL MAKE YOU."
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Saavik ‘Careful of the Ankle’ Ford @saavikford.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hey folks—this is doing really well—more than 90% raised!!! But they aren’t there yet! Can you help save the grave of the man who 1st recognized light is an electromagnetic wave??? It’s more than a little shocking this is down to private fundraising, but with your help, it will get done!!!
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Creeptotem?
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This is amazing. I’ve been thinking about manifolds lately and John just makes something that visualizes it in an amazing way. Fun to play with and quite illustrative. Betting that there is more to sniff out in these manifolds yet.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“Ultima ratio papam” The last argument of the pope.
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Jay D. Aronson @jaydaronson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Haven’t laughed this hard in a minute…“We thank our glorious administration for their brilliant technical solution to a social problem. This is how it should be, because all social & political problems definitely have a technical solution, and usually we just need to pay for something involving AI…”
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 25/09/2026
Voyager Instruments xkcd.com/3302/
 3-panel comic. (1) [Person with shoulder-length hair gestures at diagrams on wall in front of table with three people.] PERSON 1: As the radioactive power source on *Voyager 1* weakens, we’ve been turning instruments off to conserve power. (2) PERSON 1: Only two instruments remain. Do we want to lose the plasma wave subsystem or the magnetometer? (3) PERSON 2 with ponytail: You know, if we just turned off Greg’s LED underlighting– PERSON 4 with short hair: Absolutely not. PERSON 3: Dammit, Greg. PERSON 4: I will *not* allow us to look uncool in front of aliens.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Re-reading “longitude” as part of the book research.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My university now has a “chief transition officer”. What are we transitioning to here?
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PoliticsJOE @politicsjoe.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Cory Doctorow reckons the AI Bubble is about to burst. Is he right? @doctorow.pluralistic.net
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Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Girl dinner
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Seestar inserts done. On time for class observing trip on Monday.
Seestar inserts
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Oh BUBBLE bubble. Coolcoolcool apple.news/AqRiA9bWPSkK...
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Meta taking a video satirizing their perv glasses offline.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The future liberals want…
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Michael Brown @mjibrown.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dr Strangelove 2 unsurprisingly is dumber and has more CGI than the original.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is followed shortly by “and that’s why you don’t need graduate students” or “so you can apply for all the grants” AI push is a labor replacement strategy. The “reverse centaur” book by @doctorow.pluralistic.net is radicalizing me here.
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Fietser Brandon @americanfietser.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If you want housing in the United States, you're better off being a car or a computer chip.
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
They picked one with only moderate eccentricity?
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Coming out on the side of noise in the battle of signal-to-noise
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Stacy McGaugh @dudedarkmatter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Overdue
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Chris Mihos @chrismihos.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I get really annoyed seeing so many people say "Since everyone uses AI to write papers..." or "Referee reports now are just written by AI..." Look: Everything I have written has, for better or worse, been my own writing. Don't project your cynical expectations on my work. Seriously, screw gen-AI.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
That was fast! Her second book just came out just this year!
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is very exciting!
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Nash @radiodeadair.com · 23/09/2026
One of the problems with being both a DIYer and extremely disorganized is when you finally start cleaning you discover you've bought the same tool at least three times.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
At the light, we look over and the driver next to us is playing YouTube on their phone on the nav clamp (!) Youngerkid: “oh I know that YouTube video. It’s about a game where you work from home as a worm.” That got a laugh. Later, we looked it up. Worming from home. Worm fills out spreadsheets.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“Just rebrand it as the glorious revolution” - English historians probably. 17th century history is wild.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
My two brains.
static.klipy.com
Tigger Hugs Eeyore
ALT: Tigger Hugs Eeyore
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 22/09/2026
I'm of two minds about this information
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LeifH @lhdinton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"The answers were unambiguous: self-centred men who are argumentative, stubborn, disagreeable and unempathetic are much more likely to own a high-status car such as an Audi, BMW or Mercedes."
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
still rules even if i say so myself www.programmablemutter.com/p/who-really...
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Coolcoolcool.
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Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow @tomtomorrow.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
new toon: large language muddle www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
dailykos.com
Large language muddle
A cartoon by Tom Tomorrow.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Screen doors, running water.
static.klipy.com
Monty Python Life
ALT: Monty Python Life
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