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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 5h

I hope the lid was tight when they dropped it - wouldn't want ashes to get everywhere

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 11h

dammit I could have used this in my class a few weeks ago. Very nicely done

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 11h

but at 1000 sigma in the minds of most cosmologists just because

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 11h

trying to wrap my head around somebody needing a recipe for "melted cheese on toast". Pretty sure I figured this out for myself at what, age 7?

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

It boggles the mind how much Republicans are obsessed with kids' genitals, but no, Arizona, I am not voting to restrict which bathrooms people can use or for a non- scientific definition of the word sex.

Photo of AZ ballot where I have voted no on anti-trans proposition 318

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

the flamethrowers in the Last Temptation of Christ

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

yes, the authors should have caught this in proofs- but what system is AAS using that would allow it to happen in the first place? Are they hiring copy-editors that don't know the difference between astronomy and astrology? Are they using AI?

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — Cornell bans fraternity parties in wake of gang rape allegation, says state police will investigate campus sex crimes.

Dear Cornell community,

I am deeply sorry for the harm Jane Doe suffered in 2024, and appalled that this act of sexual violence occurred within our Cornell community. It is clear that women on our campus continue to question whether they are safe. We must meet this moment by acknowledging where we have fallen short and taking meaningful action.

I have spent the past weeks listening to students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and trustees, who have shared their feelings of deep connection and sympathy with Jane Doe, anger and frustration that this could happen at Cornell, and outrage at the broader prevalence of sexual violence against women in our society.

These conversations, and campus protests, have underscored my deep conviction that we must do better: that the time for meaningful and lasting change at Cornell, and at campuses across the country, is now. The independent review led by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates will look at all related Cornell policies and practices, and provide actionable ways that we can improve. However, it is clear that we cannot wait for these findings to take action.

After gathering input from across all parts of our university community, I am implementing, effective immediately, the following measures to strengthen campus safety, better support survivors, and begin addressing the social context of sexual violence at Cornell:

Strengthen Campus Safety. All parties and social events in Interfraternity Council (IFC) houses at Cornell will be suspended for the remainder of the 2026-2027 academic year. These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue.
There will be zero tolerance for violations of this directive. Any fraternity holding an in-house party or social event will receive an immediate emergency suspension.
We will immediately engage students and faculty experts in the development of safe social alternatives and invest university resources in their establishment.

Better Support for Survivors. We will strengthen our systems of support for survivors of sexual assault in three important ways:
We will add staff to the Cornell Office of Civil Rights, including the appointment of a dedicated Case Manager who will help individuals who report sexual misconduct navigate other university processes (such as financial aid, academic accommodations, housing, and bursar) as needed.
We are working with the New York State Police to allow their experienced, trauma-informed criminal investigators, who are independent of Cornell University, to investigate allegations of sexual assault on campus. These individuals will interview survivors who elect to pursue criminal charges and will prepare comprehensive investigative summaries for the appropriate law enforcement agency. This would be in place for the duration of the independent review.
Student support staff will be added beyond the Presidential Task Force recommendations to provide additional Victim Advocate support in the Sexual Harassment & Assault—Response & Education (SHARE) office and prevention-focused programs across campus. This is in addition to an existing plan for investment in additional mental health resources.

Changing the Social Culture at Cornell. Research has shown that campus sexual assault is not limited to the fraternity system. At its core is the specific context of social behavior and a deeply disturbing prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse. While this is not a problem unique to Cornell, we are committed to setting a higher standard for education, oversight, and enforcement of safe social behavior and citizenship.
We will accelerate the implementation of the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Sexual Assault and expand the scope and nature of the recommendations by engaging the campus community.
Leaning on faculty expertise in the area of sexual assault and rape culture, and actively engaging and listening to the Cornell community, we will re-form and re-focus the Presidential Task Force on Sexual Assault on expanded opportunities for safe and healthy social engagement and further ways to reduce risks.
We will enhance existing education and programming to address the bystander effect and the duty of care we owe each other.
To provide further support and momentum for this effort, we will engage national sexual violence prevention expertise and community safety organizations to examine the factors leading to campus sexual violence and strategies to promote responsible sexual citizenship.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

My daughter coined DWA - driving while asshole - when she was learning to drive and it has stuck in the family

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

agreed! "whatever the hell that number means" I was also struck by the point that apparently the most prestigious CS papers are in conference proceedings? WTF?

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I was talking, I was talking to myself, somebody else

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

oops. @aas.org journals (in this case PSJ) might have an issue with copy-editing and proof-reading as I am pretty sure this is not what the authors intended 🔭🧪

screenshot of Planetary Science Journal article in which the USGS' Astrogeology Science Center is repeatedly referred to as the "Astrology Science Center"

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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 11/10/2026

WOT?!?!?! 🌟💥 Did you see this image of supernova remnant Pa 30?! Bet you'll never look at fireworks the same way again! noirlab.edu/public/image... 📸 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Cunningham/J. Miller & M. Rodriguez /T.A. Rector /D. de Martin & M. Zamani

A spherical structure made up of long, narrow, radial spikes emanating from its centre. This is the supernova ejecta. Many stars of the Galaxy surround it.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

So how many Evangelical mega-churches are planning watch parties for the televised execution?

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Reposted by Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️

barbylon @barbylon.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

After this, Goddard closed and dismantled the anechoic chamber :(

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Yes, but 1st line drives me crazy. There are 3 songs about rainbows: Over the Rainbow, Sushine, Lollipops and Rainbows, and The Rainbow Connection, and the latter is asking 'why so many"? THERE AREN'T SO MANY!

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Well there was the time a Dem beat the shit out of a Republican on the floor of the US Senate, but the parties were a tad different in 1856

Political caricature of the caning, depicting Sumner on the floor holding a pen and his "Crime against Kansas" speech as Brooks lunges at him

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner

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Reposted by Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️

AstroArxiv @astroarxiv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Oxygen isotopic ratio in open cluster RGB stars: A new method for accurate mass and age estimations. O. Straniero et. al. arxiv.org/abs/2610.11404

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Stephen Kane @exocytherean.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Are you applying to grad school? Are you interested in planetary science, ice giants, and icy moons? Apply to come work with myself and Fabian Klenner at Riverside! Details are in the attached picture.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

apparently she used to look normal. I just cannot imagine the pathology of wanting go from this to whatever the fuck she is now

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Here's an official white house page - guess the white House is now the ENEMY! www.whitehouse.gov/priorities/t...

screenshot from white house website with headline "LEAD THE WORLD IN AI"

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Yes, he's got it backwards. Foreign students pay full tuition and thus help keep schools afloat.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Huh, didn't know my employer, ASU, with an 88% acceptance rate, was among America's "most elite universities "

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I really do not understand why you think frequency is a 'more natural term for people' and apparently not all of your colleagues agree. Choosing to deliberately provide inaccurate information to the public in a report about a *science* result is an interesting flex.

screenshot of a ny times article from July 2016 in which the writer does not think the public will be confused by the word 'wavelength.'

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Ugh. Science reporters for the NY Times should know difference between frequency and wavelength

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Reposted by Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️

Andy Rivkin @asrivkin.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🔭🧪🛰️

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Not my favorite Roxy LP but I like it and Oh Yeah is one of my favorite songs Bryan Ferry ever wrote

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

OK, I first heard of this song last week from the discourse that people who say they haven't heard it are virtue signaling or whatever, but now I think I oughta go look at the lyrics at least.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The first season had a *perfect* ending. should have left it there.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

the Christmas episode in Season 2 of Ted Lasso. Never watched another episode

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Are you sure that's not an early Kraftwerk platform?

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

note that Nobel prize curve is cumulative - the percentage of women among this year's prize is 0%, as usual

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

and the fraction of Nobel Physics Laureates who are women has another slight drop this year, from 2.18 to 2.17%

graph showing that women almost never win Physics Nobel Prize, despite continuous growth in the number of trained women physics since 1970. In 2023, 25% of Bachelors' and 21% of PhDs in Physics were granted to women, yet only 2% of laureates are women.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Huh, I wonder if he took "this educational opportunity seriously and apply what he learns to help improve the University/Greek Life community."

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

There's a view of MASCOT as it was heading down to the surface. Will never tire of seeing shadows of spacecraft on other worlds.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This is crazy, Michael. Tons of people are still doing geochemistry on lunar samples (it seems to be one of the few things NASA deems selectable in its R&A programs now). Also, many samples were kept in deep freeze to preserve volatiles and are now being analyzed again

science.nasa.gov

Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) - NASA Science

Special samples returned during the Apollo Program have been stored under pristine conditions and remain unexamined. These samples include core samples sealed

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Name planets by number of moles of kilograms: Mercury: 0.5 M kg Venus: 7.6 M kg Earth: 9.3 M kg Mars: 1 M kg Jupiter: 3000 M kg Saturn: 900 M kg Uranus: 136 M kg Neptune: 160 M kg Pluto: 20 mM kg

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Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Goddammit. The contempt these people have for everything wondrous and good and *human* is so grotesque.

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Larry R. Nittler 🚀🎹🌖☄️ @larrynittler.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Huh, I knew there was an equatorial bulge, but didn't picture Earth being quite that elongated

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