Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 03/11/2025I have been experimenting with large language models to "collaboratively" write code to illustrate key physical concepts for my junior-level mechanics class for physics majors. It did a very nice job in generating an animation of the "tennis racket theorem." 141
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 28/10/2025We're hiring a teaching physics professor! Our campus feels like a liberal arts sized college within a research university. Our current teaching faculty teach first year to graduate level courses and mentor undergraduate and graduate research students. careers.umassd.edu/en-us/job/52...careers.umassd.eduDetails - Assistant/Associate Teaching Professor - PhysicsDiscover exciting career opportunities at UMass Dartmouth. Join our diverse team and make a difference. Explore job openings now at UMassD! 073
Reposted by Robert Fisher Philip Mocz @philipmocz.bsky.social · 14/09/2025I noticed Google search is no longer reliable for quick unit conversions & calculations. So I built a simple online calculator Give it a spin: pmocz.github.io/online-unit-... 1134
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 18/08/2025Generative AI is rapidly progressing and threatens to inundate us. A new paper (including my old Caltech classmate Serge Belognie) utilizes noise-encoded illumination to “watermark” live video. It offers some hope for those concerned for team reality. arxiv.org/abs/2507.23002 h/t @truesciphi.orgarxiv.orgNoise-Coded Illumination for Forensic and Photometric Video AnalysisThe proliferation of advanced tools for manipulating video has led to an arms race, pitting those who wish to sow disinformation against those who want to detect and expose it. Unfortunately, time fav... 060
Reposted by Robert Fisher Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 28/07/2025📣📣 BOOK NEWS 📣📣 I'm excited to share the cover and release date of Book #2, #EdgeOfSpaceTime, which is now available for PREORDER!! You can order from ANY bookstore, including your local indie! More details on preordering here: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817... What's the book about? 🧵 56922249
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 27/07/2025It's always great to see the successes of former students. Postdoc Chris Byrohl @cbyrohl.bsky.social, whom I've known he was an undergraduate, published an amazing paper this week on his new GPU accelerated Ly-α radiative transfer code THOR Hugely impressive results! arxiv.org/abs/2507.11603 060
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 04/05/2025Experimenting with the @anthropic.com Claude Code command line beta. In some ways, it is a natural extension of the familiar chat LLM interface. In others, it offers a brief glimpse of more agentic AIs to come -- building and running code and analyzing results largely on its own. 020
Reposted by Robert Fisher sanjana! @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social · 15/04/2025Really cool opportunity for advanced grad students and postdocs to learn about and discuss multi-messenger astrophysics in beautiful Santa Cruz! (featuring yours truly) 32911
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 08/04/2025My research group alumna, Mckenzie Ferrari has made her debut contribution to the astronomy reader's digest Astrobites! In her engaging review, Mckenzie dives into a paper exploring the origins of astronomical candles that shine a bit too brightly. aasnova.org/2025/04/08/s... 🔭🧪aasnova.orgShedding Light on Candles That Burn a Bit Too BrightAstrobites reports on how standard candles might not be quite as standard as previously thought, and how a particular type of supernova is making a name for itself. 072
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 24/03/2025The ESA Gaia mission mapped out the positions and velocities of over a billion stars in our galaxy and led directly to dozens of breakthrough investigations in stellar astrophysics. Godspeed. 0133
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Kramers and Holst (1923) captures the brief "old quantum mechanics" of Bohr and Sommerfeld in beautiful illustrations. archive.org/details/atom... Ht/Paul Prudence 0215
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 23/12/2024I’ve written a short Docker file to easily enable anyone to run Blondin & Tonry’s SuperNova IDentification (SNID) code on almost any platform. (1/2) 193
Reposted by Robert Fisher Dr. Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Periodic reminder that the sun isn’t going to explode. It will slowly ploof out and completely wreck the inner solar system in ~5 billion years but a ploof is very different from a boom. The sun (as crazy as this seems when you think about how big the sun is) is too small to go supernova 7648
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 07/12/2024So many Weinberg gems in this talk. This one slide distills the essence of his approach to science wonderfully. As someone who interacts primarily through the command line still, I feel for the loss of the “good old days” of MS-DOS. 🙂 0133
Reposted by Robert Fisher Nilesh Trivedi @nilesh.trivedi.link · 29/11/2024floss.fund is offering $1 million per year grant to open-source projects. But very few applications have been received so far, and it needs help spreading the word. Please RT/boost and upvote it on HackerNews: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4227... #foss #OpenSource #sustainabilityfloss.fundFunding for Free and Open Source projects - FLOSS/fund 2166
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 01/12/2024Exciting to see so many new folks here. I’m a computational astrophysicist working to understand how dead cinders of stars can blow up and light up the sky in a last hurrah. We use big computers. (Figure below courtesy of current PhD student Vrutant Mehta and collaborator Ruediger Pakmor.) 1205
Reposted by Robert Fisher sanjana! @sanjanacurtis.bsky.social · 18/09/2024Exciting news everyone! I am hiring a postdoc scholar to work with me at Oregon State Physics. If you love computational astrophysics, supernovae, and/or compact object mergers, this may be a great fit for you. More information here: aas.org/jobregister/...aas.orgPostdoctoral Scholar in Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics | American Astronomical SocietyThe Department of Physics at Oregon State University invites applications for a 2 year postdoctoral scholar position. The successful candidate will work with Prof. Sanjana Curtis on multi-messenger as... 110759
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 06/10/2024I participated in the judging of an elevator pitch competition hosted by our campus’s NSBE chapter. Every one of the participants deserves the opportunity to go to the national meeting to advance their career aspirations. Can you help make it happen? www.linkedin.com/posts/maxime...linkedin.comMaxime Larsen on LinkedIn: #nsbegold #nsbegold #nsbeI just got asked a magical question! Why don't you bring every student from NSBE to the National Convention? I know the answer to this valid question but I… 000
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 22/09/2024The great astro Exodus from X took place early in Bluesky’s development, thanks to @astrokatie.com’s engagement. With X continuing to melt down, these numbers will only grow with time. 021
Reposted by Robert Fisher Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 29/07/2024A calming happy astro #poem for the start of your week. I'm guessing John Updike wasn't aware of the blaze star though, a white dwarf that is currently busy cannibalising its neighbour, and about to explode, creating hellfire for a whole week! 🧪🔭 😱 ℹ️: www.astronomyedinburgh.org/2024/07/10/t... 1216
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 29/06/2024My Heidelberg Joint Astronomical Colloquium, “An Emerging Consensus on White Dwarf Supernovae” is now available to view on YouTube. youtu.be/ZlRBn8PAyX8?si… @hitsters.bsky.social @mpi-astro.bsky.social 061
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 14/06/2024Huge congratulations to Logan Cabral-Pelletier and the other recipients on receiving a DOE CSGF fellowship! Logan is the second member or alum of my group to have garnered this highly selective honor, after Gabriel Casabona. www.energy.gov/science/arti... 010
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 14/06/2024Today marks the 60th anniversary of the ground-breaking ceremony at SMTI, the institution which later joined the University of Massachusetts system as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 1991, bringing a world-class research university to the South Coast of Massachusetts. 010
Reposted by Robert Fisher The Open Journal of Astrophysics @ojastro.bsky.social · 29/04/2024New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Supernovae in 2023 (review): possible breakthroughs by late observations" by Noam Soker (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel) astro.theoj.org/article/1171...astro.theoj.orgSupernovae in 2023 (review): possible breakthroughs by late observations | Published in The Open Journal of AstrophysicsBy Noam Soker. A discussion of observations of the aftermath of supernovae explosions, such as supernova remnants, and how these may shed light on the explosion mechanism 022
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 14/03/2024On this pi day, give a thought to Ludolph van Ceulen, who spent 25 years calculating pi to 35 digits. Prior to the 18th c., pi was known as the "Ludolphine number." Even in his home town of Delft, van Ceulen is remembered only by a printout in a window. 100
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 16/01/2024I heard the sad news that Chris Belczynski passed away very prematurely this weekend. He is best known for his population synthesis predictions for LIGO sources. I saw him speak only once in 2016, with a prescient prediction of LIGO’s NS-NS rate. t.co/GZNWr09c0rt.coKrzysztof's MemorialView Krzysztof's Tribute to Share a Memory and Photos. 010
Reposted by Robert Fisher Michael Zingale @michaelzingale.bsky.social · 10/01/2024As the semester starts, remember that using and creating open education resources is a great way to lower costs for students and to collaboratively develop texts for our field. Check out the Open Astrophysics Bookshelf: github.com/Open-Astroph... Raise an issue to add your own stuff #astrogithub.comOpen Astrophysics BookshelfA collection of open-licensed "living" textbooks on topics in astrophysics - Open Astrophysics Bookshelf 0136
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 31/10/2023Heidelberger Schloss on All Hallow’s Eve. Happy Halloween! 🎃 050
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 31/10/2023Wow, amazing to see how LeGuin captured the pivotal moment in the first Earthsea novel in such a seamless fashion. Such a shame that after so much fantasy has found its way to the silver screen, LeGuin has never had a proper interpreter. 121
Reposted by Robert Fisher Michael Zingale @michaelzingale.bsky.social · 30/10/2023interested in computational science for grad school? Apply for one of the Stony Brook Institute for Advanced Science graduate fellowships: iacs.stonybrook.edu/opportunitie... I'm happy to chat with anyone interested in computational astrophysics #astroiacs.stonybrook.eduGraduate Fellowships | Institute for Advanced Computational ScienceGraduate Fellowship Opportunities 099
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 24/10/2023Ramesh is an outstanding scientist and also such a down-to-Earth guy. Can’t wait to see this! 020
Reposted by Robert Fisher Prof. Carl E. Fields 💥 @carlnotsagan.github.io · 29/09/2023new paper alert ‼️ have u ever wanted to use the stellar evolution code, MESA, in your class but don’t know where to start or don’t want install it? then you should try MESA-Web! paper online now: arxiv.org/abs/2309.15930 w/ @michaelzingale.bsky.social + more ✨ 1207
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 28/09/2023It’s been wonderful spending the first leg of my sabbatical at the Institute of Advanced Studies. I had the opportunity to work with some amazing junior scholars and reconnect with some distinguished senior folks. Nächster Stopp: Deutschland! 030
Reposted by Robert Fisher Dan F-M @dfm.io · 20/09/2023We're hiring postdoc fellowship positions at the Center for Computational Astrophysics! 3 year FRF: apply.interfolio.com/132546 5 year FSRF (focus on software development): apply.interfolio.com/132547 This is a great place to work & these are awesome jobs! Please share & reach out with questions!! 15140
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 11/09/2023“We have learned that no theory of everything can include every interesting thing.” - Leo Kadanoff 020
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 29/08/2023At one point, physisict Nick Hitchon, admitted to documenterian Michael Apted that he will always be more famous for his appearance in his groundbreaking series "7 Up" than for his work on plasma physics. www.theguardian.com/environment/... 000
Reposted by Robert Fisher saurabh w jha @sublunar.bsky.social · 25/08/2023Supernova 2022pul with an amazing JWST spectrum. Read all about it in papers led by Matt Siebert and Lindsey Kwok and an awesome team of collaborators. And more to come! arxiv.org/abs/2308.12449 arxiv.org/abs/2308.12450 082
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 24/08/2023The names of our galaxy’s large satellites are quite ahistorical. It’s time we did something about it. 073
Reposted by Robert Fisher Dr Ashley J Ruiter @astronomash.bsky.social · 18/08/20232nd Announcement: abstract submission deadline for Transients Down Under is in 4 weeks! 🌟 transientsdownunder.github.io #transients #observation #theory #telescope_coordination #follow-up #cultural_astro #data #instrumentationtransientsdownunder.github.ioTransients Down UnderMon Jan 29 - Fri Feb 2, 2024 @ Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. Background image: Vela supernova remnant. Image credit: ESO/VPHAS+ team. Acknowledgement: Cambridge Astronomical... 042
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 18/08/2023Proud of undergraduate research student Amelia Melhem, who was selected to participate in Caltech’s FUTURE program! Amelia is on a paper coming soon, and will be a great student for one lucky PhD program next year! www.caltech.edu/about/news/helping-… 020
Robert Fisher @fisherastro.bsky.social · 15/08/2023My first post in the azure heavens. It seems there is a critical mass of astro and physics folks on this platform, which is nice to see! 040