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Chris Schaller

@hicommander.bsky.social
2K followers 1.2K following 1.8K posts

Software Developer, Planetary Image Research Lab, Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona - MRO/HiRISE • TGO/CaSSIS • Europa Clipper/EIS - he/him/his.

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Reposted by Chris Schaller
Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 3h
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User Fiona Tribe (fionatribe.bsky.social) says: Yes, Swiss scientist Fritz Zwicky coined the term “dark matter” which is impressive, but he also coined the term “spherical bastard” to describe people who are bastards no matter which way you look at them, and I think that should be celebrated more.
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Sarah E Moran @offallingstars.bsky.social · 7h
Still server issues. Now Laura Watkins (head of science policy at STScI) is saying new deadline tomorrow, Oct. 1st at 5pm EDT for all proposers.
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Emily Rauscher @astronemly.bsky.social · 5h
Good news / bad news: you still have time to write up that last-minute idea! (Or not. Sometimes enough is enough)
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Brian G. aka urbanbohemian 🪩🥂💖 @urbanbohemian.com · 14h
We're on Bluesky, put the link in your post. Put the link in your post. Put. The. Link. In. Your. Post. Links in posts aren't buried or de-prioritized here. This is one of the last platforms you don't have to make interested users do detective work to find the link. Just put it in the post.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 19h
Every time a discourse kicks off over whether AI music, literature or art will be "as good as" the real thing, I'm always amazed more people don't cite that **there already are** creative pursuits where human-free spectacles have been available for decades, and nobody has ever wanted to watch them.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 19h
We've had the ability to watch, say, Counterstrike marathons, Street Fighter tournaments, or chess matches between computers since the 90s. Spectacles which, by their very definition, would be at a "higher standard" than human play. And nobody wants it. It's entirely meaningless. It has no appeal.
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Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social · 18h
They quoted me in this New Yorker piece about AI today. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
“Let’s say there’s a world or time line I exist in where A.I. has been subject to regulation. It is ethical. It has no footprint environmentally,” the novelist Jeff VanderMeer, a prominent critic of A.I., told me over the phone. “With those guardrails in place, would I read an A.I. book? All I can say is no. And the reason is, in part, because I want to read something coming from a particular mind.” Using A.I., he said, “feels like a betrayal of the whole point of why you’re a writer.”
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Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
NEW!! NGHI!!! VO!!! We are THRILLED to present an excerpt from @nghivo.bsky.social's next novel, a bloody Gilded Age gothic coming October 6th. Come check out The Scarlet Ball!
reactormag.com
Read an Excerpt From The Scarlet Ball by Nghi Vo - Reactor
An all-consuming tale of ballrooms and bloodshed weds The Gilded Age with the Gothic vision of Guillermo del Toro.
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Stereogum @stereogum.com · 29/09/2026
📹: Animals Asia
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Stereogum @stereogum.com · 29/09/2026
Watch prog legend Rick Wakeman perform for an audience of 150 rescued moon bears in Vietnam
stereogum.com
Rick Wakeman Performs For 150 Rescued Moon Bears: Watch
Things are generally quite difficult for the Asiatic black bear, sometimes known as the moon bear. The moon bear’s bile is used in some traditional Chinese medicines, and many of the animals are being...
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I love floating-point arithmetic, where the simple question "what is 2.1 minus 2.0" has the answer "0.10000000000000009."
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Nghi Vo @nghivo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
THE SCARLET BALL, my dark fantasy novel due out on OCT 6, is set in an 1890 that never existed. During the 1890s, dip pens were still king, but the modern fountain pen was beginning to appear. This, I suspect, is a Beekman fountain pen from the late 1890s.
Hardback book, The Scarlet Ball, resting on a wooden table with a black fountain pen laid across it diagonally.

The Scarlet Ball features an Asian woman in a red dress holding a white skin mask as shadowy hands reach for her. The text on it reads:

THE SCARLET BALL
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
NGHI VO

The pen is black, with no clip or cap bands.
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Michael Busch @michael-w-busch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It is a bit strange to read about this poll and find zero mention of COVID and how that changed what activities people were doing.
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UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory @uarizonalpl.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
While orbiting Mars, LPL's HiRISE camera has sent more than 100,000 photos to Earth over the last 20 years. www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report...
tucsonsentinel.com
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026
We need to be clear with ourselves and each other that this is most pronounced when rape is involved but it‘s everything … women are told to always put men’s potential first, ahead of everyone’s well-being bsky.app/profile/susa...
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Quarterfinal 3 julienite VS halite #mincup26 #minerals
illustration of two minerals competing on the Mineral Cup 2026 quarterfinals: julienite VS halite. the first are tiny needle-like crystals embedded on a rock. the last is a single blue crystal chunk
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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
After a long day at the aquarium, the otters help tidy their toys away. Payment is made promptly and entirely in ice cubes.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
ANUBIS: "And nowe the weighinge of your hearte, to see the worthe of your lyfe, the sum of your deedes. Reache ynto your chest, seize it, and putte it on the scale. You may not believe you kan do thys, but you kan. Heere all rules bende and change." Me [figuringe out wher to putte my iced coffee]
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Christy Klancher @stpauligrrrl.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I went to Mia and saw amazing crop art last night! The exhibit runs through Nov. 29, in the hallway back behind the cafe. Not as cool as the rotunda last year, but there are more pieces on display—about 20. This squirrel remains one of my favorites: @goingwrong.bsky.social
Wendy Brozic’s crop art at Mia: a squirrel holding a nut goodie with thought bubble reading “Jackpot”. Made of seeds, grains, leaves, bark.
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I absolutely love this illustration. So pudgy.
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Natee (they/them) @himmapaan.bsky.social · 28/09/2023
When I saw the Titanosaur exhibition at NHM London with friends, @dinomaster.bsky.social suggested I drew a Pudgy Patagotitan. I had a hard time pudgifying what is already _beyond_ pudgy, and could have pushed the exaggeration much further. I merely ended up with a short-legged titanosaur.
Ink drawing of a Patagotitan with, despite earnest attempts, only slightly exaggerated proportions, seen in side view, facing and walking towards the right. It has a gently silly expression at least.
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Gustavo Rinaldi @gusrinaldi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
🐘&🧦🐉 #illustration #kidlitart #kidlit #BRart #fantasyart
Drawing of an adult elephant with a dragon sock puppet on their trunk in front of an amazed elephant calf.
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
furnsh_c("pumpkin.bsp");
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Mark Marley @markmarley.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
As OREX formally closes shop at the end of this month, the science in that precious container goes on. Meanwhile the successor mission APEX heads on to Apophis.
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Congrats to the whole PRIMA team on the selection of NASA's first Probe Explorer mission!!!!!! @caltechipac.bsky.social will be PRIMA's science center, and we look forward to working with everyone over the next decade on this exciting project! www.nasa.gov/news-release...
nasa.gov
NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class - NASA
NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to
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UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory @uarizonalpl.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
LPL welcomes NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to campus today! 🚀
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OκULTRA XP🧿, writer for The Economist @0kultra.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
honestly Mars is a planet of succ and unless there are like, Precursor hypertech ruins hidden there there is absolutely no point of having more than like one tiny science outpost there
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Old Dutch Dill Pickle potato chips are of course the best. Minnesotans know.
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Ich will not buye a 1260 page astoundinglye intriguing novel that Ich do not have tyme to reade when Ich am readinge four othir bookes Ich will not buye a 1260 page astoundinglye intriguing novel that Ich do not have tyme to reade when Ich am readinge four othir bookes Ich will not buye...
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
All the minerals from the mineral cup 2025. They are now uploaded as high-res PNG files as stock art here: 💎 salvaterra.itch.io/minerals-sto... #mincup #mincup25 #mincup26 #minerals #sciart #bsnm
a poster with 32 colourful illustrations of mineral pieces from the set of contenders in the mineral cup 2025. the minerals are such as calcite, haüyne, silver, hematite, tugtupite, kyanite, wavelite, etc. some are green, some are blue, golden, grey, white, in a wide variety of shades and hues.
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Kameron Hurley @kameronhurley.com · 17/09/2026
Gosh! www.cbr.com/best-militar...
cbr.com
10 Greatest Military Sci-Fi Books of All Time, Ranked
Exploring combat, futuristic tech, psychology warfare, & the cost of conflict, these mind-blowing military sci-fi books are absolute masterpieces
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NBC News @nbcnews.com · 17/09/2026
The new wild cat species is about the size of a domestic kitten and lives in Bolivia.
nbcnews.to
New wild cat species is identified for first time in 100 years, researchers say
A type of tiger cat, the animal is smaller than a house cat, slender and spotted. It lives in the Bolivian cloud forest.
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Lane Stellmaker @hipcrimevocab.net · 16/09/2026
It seems like this is a good time to tell you all why LLMs are never, and can never be, conscious.
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rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Unsurprisingly (it *is* by Lane, after all), this is a really, really good explanation of some famously complex philosophical concepts
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Sable, Final Girl 🏳️‍⚧️ @ghostlysable.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
it's Pascal's Wager for Redditors
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Derek Doom @thescratchmonkey.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
http://twitter.com/amyhoy/status/1602077621595971584

Amy Hoy (@amyhoy)

this is the best explanation of roko's basilisk ever written

likes 1799  retweets 444

null @nova@starflower.space

computer boys are realy like "imagine a boot so big that logically we must start licking it now in case it might possibly exist someday"

12/10/22, 1:50 PM
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Heck yes, Tucson.
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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I was delighted to speak to the National Academies' Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Sciences about ways to measure NASA's planetary science R&A program. Livestream recording: vimeo.com/event/6176869
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Poorly Drawn Lines @poorlydrawnlines.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Behind the scenes.
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UArizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory @uarizonalpl.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
The first LPL Evening Lecture is one week from tonight! You can join us either in-person in Tucson or online. More information is here: lpl.arizona.edu/events/2026-...
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Mark Marley @markmarley.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Don't forget to attend our public lecture tonight about the search for life in the oceans beneath the ice in our own planetary backyard.
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Nghi Vo @nghivo.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Whatcha up to in a few hours? I've been looking forward to this one for a bit!
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Fernando Salvaterra @salvaterra.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Last year, for Mineral Cup 2025, I ink-sketched all the minerals in a handmade sketchbook as an exercise to learn more about minerals. This was the result: #mincup #mincup25 #mincup26 #minerals #sketchbook #sciart
a collage of 16 photos os my minerals sketchbook, each photo a double page spread with two different minerals inked, the ones who participated in the 2025 mineral cup.
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
simply too many things going around other things at different speeds, that's my 1-star Yelp review of space harmonious music of the spheres my ass, Mr. Pythagoras
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Everyone is always like “oh Dracula is so bad, oh Dracula is so weird and horny, Dracula bit my dad” but Dracula also has times when he’s just at his house for 200 years bothering no one so maybe chill out
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World of Warcraft Gamemakers Guild - CWA @wowgg-cwa.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Pins Pictured Left to Right: World of Warcraft, Story Franchise Development, Diablo, Texas QA, Overwatch, Platform & Technology, Hearthstone & Rumble
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Chris Schaller @hicommander.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
These are amazing.
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World of Warcraft Gamemakers Guild - CWA @wowgg-cwa.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We hope everyone is as excited as we are for BlizzCon this weekend! Keep an eye out for these limited run union pins. Each one representing a different organized CWA unit within Blizzard. Good luck collecting them all! Thank you @tsepish.bsky.social for helping us make these real!
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Krys Blackwood @shodoshan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I'm hiring for the first time in 5 years! citjpl.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Jobs/job/JPL... I'm looking for someone with strong UX research & design skills, an understanding that change management is a crucial part of design implementation, & a keen grasp of how to train people on complex systems.
citjpl.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
User Interface Designer III
Job Details New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus at JPL. We ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon idea...
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Steve Collins @longhairnasaguy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Boosting
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