iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

If you thought your Christmas was intense… this robot was busy barrelling through the sun’s atmosphere at 192 km per second. It went closer to the sun than we’ve ever been before - and faster than any other human-made object in history. 🔥 www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

Nasa's Parker Solar Probe survives closest-ever approach to Sun

Scientists hope the probe can help us better understand how the Sun works.

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Dave Lee @davelee.me · 13/12/2024

As I said -- only a matter of time before news orgs lashed out at Apple's lackluster (and evidently dangerously wrong) AI summaries of their work. This is shambolic and the BBC has every right to be furious about it.

bbc.com

BBC complains to Apple over misleading shooting headline

Apple's new artificial intelligence features falsely made it seem the BBC reported Luigi Mangione had shot himself.

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

A clear summary of a grim situation by @drjr.bsky.social. Academics always grumble about university rankings, unless their university is doing well in them. But when Aussie universities are dropping down the charts in unison... it's a warning sign. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Falling enrolments and funding cuts force Australian universities to take stock

The Australian Universities Accord offers a roadmap for reform, but there are major challenges ahead.

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

So nice to hear Laura interviewed by @sanaqadar.bsky.social 🤓🙌

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

Folks outside the UK / science might not clock quite what a strong statement this is. EVERYBODY wants to be an FRS. But not @deevybee.bsky.social - not any more. 💥

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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

NASA's visualization team created a preview of every phase of the Moon in 2025, hour by hour. The best part: Watching how the Moon's appearance changes due to its inclination, oval orbit, and libration (wobble). 🔭🧪 svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5415

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

TIL the Daily Mail has a data vis team. www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/ar...

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

🎶 It’s me, hi! 🎶 🎶 I’m the problem, it’s me 🎶 Did you know - 99% of camera trap photos taken in Tasmania are of brushtail possums messing with equipment…

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Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert @elakdawalla.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

The best thing about this image: the night side of Saturn. It’s not totally dark. Why not? Because it’s vaguely lit by light that has reflected from the rings. If you could somehow stand on the top of Saturn’s clouds, when it’s night, your world would be brightly lit by the huge yellow arc of rings.

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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

What is common knowledge in your field but shocks outsiders? Ants often act like inefficient goofballs. They got lost, accidentally drop their good and walk in circles trying to find it but eventually give up and go home, half of the ants in a nest just sit there 24/7 and do absolutely nothing.

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Thinking I might start popping the weekly brainteaser from my science spot on Radio National Breakfast up here, for any fellow nerds who like a puzzle... 🤓 This was last week's. I found it kinda surprising, and it was solved beautifully by a 10yo of my acquaintance so it's eminently doable!

Alex's cafe has 13 numbered tables in a straight line.
Customers tend to walk out rather than sit next to an occupied table, and always choose the farthest table from other customers.
To maximise her dine-in trade, Alex always tells her first customer to sit at one of two tables.
Which ones are they?

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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 05/01/2024

Fever xkcd.com/2877

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 16/01/2024

🚨 JOB ALERT 🚨 We are looking for the next Darren Osborne cadet to join the ABC RN Science Unit in 2024! It's an entry level gig for 10 months, location flexible. If you know a "science news geek" (that was Darren's Twitter handle 🤓💗) from regional Australia, tell them to apply. And pls share 🙏

careers.abc.net.au

ABC Careers - Job Details - Darren Osborne Regional Science Cadet

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 30/10/2023

It’s been too long since I read anything by Naomi Oreskes. Good to see she’s still swinging.

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Astronomy Picture of the Day 🪐 @apod.shinyakato.dev · 08/10/2023

Plane, Clouds, Moon, Spots, Sun - © Doyle and Shannon Slifer Official: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231008.html HD: apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2310/Plane… Please enjoy following threads too! 🔭

What's that in front of the Sun? The closest object is an airplane, visible just below the Sun's center and caught purely by chance. Next out are numerous clouds in Earth's atmosphere, creating a series of darkened horizontal streaks. Farther out is Earth's Moon, seen as the large dark circular bite on the upper right. Just above the airplane and just below the Sun's surface are sunspots. The main sunspot group captured here, AR 2192, was in 2014 one of the largest ever recorded and had been crackling and bursting with flares since it came around the edge of the Sun a week before. This show of solar silhouettes was unfortunately short-lived. Within a few seconds the plane flew away. Within a few minutes the clouds drifted off. Within a few hours the partial solar eclipse of the Sun by the Moon was over. Fortunately, when it comes to the Sun, even unexpected alignments are surprisingly frequent. Perhaps one will be imaged this Saturday when a new partial solar eclipse will be visible from much of North and South America. APOD editor to speak: in Houghton, Michigan on Thursday, October 12 at 6 pm

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 04/10/2023

Looking forward to season 2 of Loki, aka "Dr Who but with fights". I’m 100% not the first to think or say this, but … it is. 1) A British-sounding hero with a shabby-formal outfit travels through time with a companion, on the run from a bureaucratic bunch of self-important busybodies. ✅

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 27/09/2023

Priceless toddler moment #827: Little human woke up from nap, leapt to his feet and declared, with obvious confidence and clarity of purpose, “We’re going to take our rubbish to the zoo!”

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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 26/09/2023

NEW Staying below 1.5C wld save $12tn & create more jobs than are lost, says IEA To get on track by 2030 we need… 🌅3x renewables 🏢2x efficiency 🚗"sharply" more EVs & heat pumps 🔥-75% methane emissions 🛢️⛽🏭-25% fossil fuel use 🧵let's dive in www.iea.org/reports/net-...

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

4) It is an impossible myth invented to torture us all

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 22/09/2023

We are recruiting for an environment reporter in the science unit at ABC RN! If you're passionate about the environment and digital storytelling, and can work in Australia, this could be you. 🤓🌏 Would love this job ad shared far and wide, to anyone from anywhere who might be amazing at it.

ab.co

ABC Careers - Job Details - Online Environment Reporter

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 19/09/2023

PLEASE RETWEET (or whatever it's called): I want to follow and support fellow science journalists on Bluesky! Help me find them!! Reply to this if you are among that hallowed number. @easternblot.bsky.social @jjbw.bsky.social @eshirin.bsky.social @duncanfyfe.bsky.social @colinschultz.bsky.social

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 12/09/2023

Huge, huge credit to Prof Ian Hickie for showing up and standing up in this interview. No idea how much of it ended up in the show - I haven’t watched it - but … wow. youtu.be/XkD1sr0Odlc?...

youtu.be

De-Transitioning: Professor Ian Hickie extended interview | 7NEWS Spotlight

Subscribe to 7NEWS Spotlight for the latest video » http://7news.link/SpotlightSubscribeConnect with 7NEWS Spotlight onlineVisit » https://7news.com.au/spotl...

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 12/09/2023

Very cool (and potentially exciting) result! And a good reminder that if (/when?) extraterrestrial life is discovered, it will most likely be just like this: a weird chemical balance in an exoplanet atmosphere, seen via some wiggly lines in a spectrum, subject to extensive expert debate. 👽🧪

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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 12/09/2023

Brassica xkcd.com/2827

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jonathan jb webb @jjbw.bsky.social · 11/09/2023

Doing some bsky thinking. 🤓 Cheers @biancanogrady.bsky.social for the invite to this place that is not the other place! Seems (so far) less awful and less addictive. Both positives.

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