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Julianne Dalcanton

@dalcantonjd.bsky.social
2.1K followers 366 following 525 posts

Astrophysicist at the Center for Computational Astrophysics & U. Washington.

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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
But this is what I’m mulling at the moment. I just don’t see how this winds up being fiscally or socially stable, and “the LLMs will do it” does not seem like a satisfying answer.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
I am way out of my expertise zone with this framing, but people who think about systems of class and economies and labor have plenty of more rigorous and informed things to say.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
Somehow all these models of our future assume that there is some OTHER group of very highly trained, insightful individuals who function as an underclass that will somehow be satisfied with endlessly reviewing the products of the Real Scientists to make all this work out.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
And the zillions of pull requests that the Agentically Enabled will be generating for key open source projects. Who exactly is supposed to be verifying and implementing them? Who exactly is supposed to be wading through to find which ones are misguided?
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
The hundreds of papers collaborated into existence with LLMs? The Real Scientists will be leading these, and the magic of peer review will separate the wheat from the chaff. Who, exactly, is supposed to be executing this tedious search for the wheat?
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
The Real Scientists of the future are envisioned to be those pushing agentic LLMs to the forefront of rapid knowledge discovery. And then that work is supposed to be tediously verified and translated by who exactly?
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 3h
Like many scientists, I’ve been mulling over the impact of LLMs on our fields. I’ve not yet seen it articulated, but I think there is a largely unspoken “invisible labor underclass” framework at play.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
If you are an MIT alum, and your kid applies to MIT, you promptly get a letter saying “We do not care that you are an alum and do not call us to whine. We do not do legacy admissions so STFU.” It’s glorious.
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Reposted by Julianne Dalcanton
David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Here's a chart showing who funds basic research in the US. It's easy to tell that private funding cannot make up for significant cuts to government funding.
A 3D-styled pie chart illustrating the distribution of Research and Development (R&D) resources based on the NSF NCSES National Patterns of R&D Resources: 2022-23 Update.

The chart is divided into six segments, listed here in descending order of their financial contribution:

Federal Govt: The largest segment, shown in dark blue, accounts for 51% of the total, valued at $39.5 B.

Higher Ed. – Institutional: A light coral segment accounting for 23%, valued at $18.2 B.

Non-profit at Research Institutes: A dark red segment accounting for 8%, valued at $6.1 B.

Higher Ed. – Direct Philanthropy: A bright red segment accounting for 7%, valued at $5.8 B.

Business: A grey segment accounting for 7%, valued at $5.2 B.

Non-Federal Govt: The smallest segment, shown in light blue, accounting for 4%, valued at $3.2 B.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Vienna’s amazing social housing is often on top on tiny little storefronts that host artists selling (and making!) things, or itty bitty coffee joints.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Seattle has tons and tons of new housing stock, all built over retail spaces that can only hold a CVS. It’s a huge problem long term.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Uh, wow.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Good gracious. Ass is bodacious.
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Reposted by Julianne Dalcanton
Matt Weiner @mattweiner19.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
it is possible to mathematically prove exactly what is most offensive about this image
the most efficient known packing of seventeen squares into a square. In each of the top corners, three squares are in the corners in a sensible way. Along the bottom, three squares are distributed evenly, or close to it. Seven squares are jumbled up in the middle in a cruel parody of God's creation. Then on the right there is one square oriented to the grid, jammed between two of the seven, with an impudent little fuckboi of a gap between it and the three squares in the top right corner. A red arrow is pointing to that gap.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
At fixed luminosity, vastly easier to detect a point source than something fuzzy, so you can be almost dark but modestly detectable. So another reason why I’m old man shakes fist at cloud.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I am “grouching at every attempt to brand as New! Exciting! stuff we have perfectly good names and concepts for” years old.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Maybe they’re flakey at being crunchy like nuts?
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We discussed this extensively in a coop I used to live in in the late 80’s, and eventually wrote to the company to ask. We got a nice typed letter back explaining that the sweetner was derived from grape sugars and it was crunchy like nuts. So that’s the story they’re going with.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Needs to be an option for karaoke.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
They definitely have strong sensors for “the way things are done around here”, and will force compliance.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Such a good course, everyone should take it! Taught me everything I know.
Absolute shit photo of the lunar eclipse.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
We have had constitutional amendments before. We were extremely close to passing the Equal Rights Amendment. Is there any concerted effort around a Right to Privacy amendment? Surveillance tech (Flock, Palentir, etc), AI scraping of personal communications, bathroom policing are begging for it.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Trump swag has been decreasing at NYC tourist shops, but what I find most baffling is their failure to capitalize on Mamdani and the graphical branding of his campaign.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I tried!!!! But he was on this elevated step thing and tall. I would have absolutely cream pied him if I’d had one.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
It wasn’t a nuanced “maybe wantonly murdering people is bad” take. It was 100% “the winners of extraordinary wealth concentration are beyond reproach” take.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I guarantee you that the man filming this was fine with that.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Just passed a Certain Kind of Man filming his righteous take that the aristocrats in the French Revolution were wrongly targeted, since they were the real wealth and job creators. I am not making this up. It came out of his actual mouth as he huffily tossed his expensive hair.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Output of the 10% of my brain not thinking about work: 1. Jimothy is a girl. 2. Jimothy’s mom would absolutely fuck someone up for calling her baby weird.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
My mamma don’t like you, and she likes everyone.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I’m failing to find the source for this, and would appreciate a link if someone has it.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Exactly. They physically hurt me.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Good thing England brought him up from central accounting.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
<sputter>
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
This referee seems like he would absolutely turn the car right around if you don’t stop hitting your brother.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I quite liked this take on Haaland. bsky.app/profile/r-em...
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Not much actually happens, but a huge amount -almost- happens, and that’s the joy (and heartbreak) of it.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Ok, this is a Game.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Harry Kane looks like he was destined to process forms wearing an ill-fitting suit, but was accidentally good at football.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Especially when sprinting.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
I wish I remembered who, so I could give full credit!
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Though gracious me, he deserves better than this unfortunate bobblehead.
Frightening display of three bobblehead dolls for sale, in order: a brunette Haaland, buddy Jesus, and F1 driver Marquez.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Blessings to the person who referred to Haaland as “Norwegian megafauna”.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Larry is the personality hire.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Is there a mnemonic yet?
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Schism currently winning the Content Quality Award. bsky.app/profile/liam...
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
I cannot handle trying to keep up with both the World Cup and a schism.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Phil’s new single mom friend certainly did enough this week.
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Gadzooks!!!!!
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Um, no.
media.tenor.com
two men in suits and hats dancing in front of a sign that says help
ALT: two men in suits and hats dancing in front of a sign that says help
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Julianne Dalcanton @dalcantonjd.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
For Father’s Day, my dad in Somalia teaching physics while Aden Adde, the country’s first democratically elected president looks on.
A group of Somali officials look on as a white man wearing Blues Brothers suit, tie, and shades, points to students in front of a blackboard with text about magnets.
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