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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics

@leilabelkora.bsky.social
2.8K followers 2K following 1.7K posts

Science writer. Roots in US (NE/CO), Morocco, Switzerland. She/her. Current project: poet Robert Frost as amateur astronomer, to come from Clemson @cupress.bsky.social Agent Henry Thayer at Brandt & Hochman.

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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 22h
It’s been a rough week in the news and, as they say, it’s only Wednesday. Sleep well, friends. Tomorrow is another day.
A pair of mallard ducks sleeping on the ground in partial shade, with tall reeds in the background.
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Reposted by Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics
Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Rosetta's dispatches from Comet 67P were a source of daily wonder. Forever thankful for the teams that made this happen.
A lumpy, double-lobed comet floating in the darkness of space, with streamers of material floating away from its surface, glowing in the sunlight.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Fascinating and alarming at the same time, this wave physics. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/c...
nytimes.com
See How El Niño Is Washing Ashore in California (Gift Article)
An enormous pulse of wave energy will soon reach Southern California and continue north, raising sea levels by half a foot and increasing threats from swells and tides.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The latest thinkers committed to … I love this phrase… “a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.” www.macfound.org/programs/awa...
macfound.org
MacArthur Fellows - MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, we work to ...
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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A phenomenal moment in the Senate. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta. Smith denies it. Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury. Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland. WATCH IN FULL, UNINTERRUPTED
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David Blanchard @davidblanchard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Absolutely wonderful!
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy Tuesday. The moon looks extra beautiful now that the weather has (temporarily) cooled off and the mornings feel fresh.
Gibbous moon framed by trees in a cloudless blue sky.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
So intriguing to be followed by someone who just joined BlueSky yet who passed away in 2007! 🔭
Alert that Bohdan Paczynski is following me.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Great science story to assuage the Sunday scaries. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/s...
nytimes.com
In an $80 Motel Room, a Discovery to Shed Light on the Origins of Life (Gift Article)
A scrappy science project led to a significant discovery: two new species of a rare organism that could elucidate a fundamental transition in the history of life on our planet.
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Dr Grace S Peng @gspeng.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"One meticulous study of a New York school outbreak in 1974 found that a second-grader with measles infected 28 other students in 14 classrooms because measles can spread through ventilation systems."
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Trip report. Headed out Friday afternoon from Irvine to visit @palomarskies.bsky.social and see a show at the Palomar College Planetarium. Palomar College is in the town of San Marcos, which I had never been to. And which was entirely different from how I imagined it! I thought it was a little
Palomar College Planetarium with a boxy roof on which the tiles facing the sunset are orange and those facing another direction are blue.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Just went on a terrific “day trip” in which my husband and I left Irvine in the afternoon and ended up in some special places in the universe. Trip report tomorrow! 🥱😴
Building with tall boxy roof that is glowing orange one face that faces the setting sun, and blue-green on another direction. A sign says Palomar Planetarium. Dusky evening sky behind, and curving paths enclosing a small planted area in the foreground. There are also white spheres, roughly beach-ball sizes, at the sides of the walkways.
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Benne W. Holwerda @benneholwerda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Oh BUBBLE bubble. Coolcoolcool apple.news/AqRiA9bWPSkK...
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Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Exciting news from Cambridge, where the long-lost, original model of the USS Enterprise is about to go on display at the MIT Museum! (This is the one featured in the opening credits, not the larger studio model at the Smithsonian.) Details: mitmuseum.mit.edu/announcement... #StarTrek #scifi 🗃️📜🖖
The rediscovered original 33” model of the Starship Enterprise prior to restoration. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions/HA.com.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Neat find in my part of the world. I want to see a diorama with “thunder beast” and/or “swamp rhino.” ktla.com/news/califor...
ktla.com
Fossils found in Southern California could be prehistoric ‘thunder beast’ or ‘swamp rhino’
City crews working on an infrastructure project in Oceanside, California, found fossils of a prehistoric animal that could be more than 40 million years old.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Good morning from the neglected garden. This is for the international civil servants I grew up among, and the newer generation of them, who work to foster peace and development.
Close-up of spherical clusters of small reddish, pinkish, and orange flowers on lantana bush.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
There are no wildfires currently near me, but here’s a preparedness tip I just implemented. We once had an evacuation warning, and I learned that, beyond the already packed “go bag” of passports, insurance info etc, I didn’t really know what to pack, and in the heat of the moment 🔥, couldn’t think.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Very interesting, and well written. scottdodelson.substack.com/p/has-dark-m...
scottdodelson.substack.com
Has Dark Matter been detected?
Recent announcement has everyone buzzing
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Cool shot
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This morning’s head-spinning read. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
newyorker.com
Israel’s Qatargate Scandal
Did Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides peddle influence to a foreign power?
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NASA picture of the day today is a real 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿beauty! This is a composite image of the ~5000yo Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis. The amazing Giuseppe Petricca has only gone and photographed the Sun at noon there, every few days, for a whole year. #Dedication 🔭🧪👌 ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/image-articl...
The imposing Callanish Stones stand talk with their shadows spanning out across the glass.  It's a super clear sky, but looks cold. Above the central stone is a strange figure-of-8 shape of dots.  This is the location of the Sun, at noon, on various different days across the year.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Here’s Robert Frost, only 2 months before his death, reading and saying four poems at a fundraiser for what was then the National Cultural Center, later the Kennedy Center. Listen to the end to get the full effect of his wry sense of humor. www.kennedy-center.org/video/center...
kennedy-center.org
Robert Frost recites 4 of his poems (1962) | Kennedy Center
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A festive atmosphere as I garden this morning, with jolly music playing from my neighbor’s construction site, friends passing by, birds twittering, and mosquitoes feasting abundantly on my unsuspecting calves. (I thought the cooler weather meant— never mind.)
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
How is it not Friday yet.
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Russia targeted a second-hand book market in Kyiv, and publishing warehouses and printing presses nationwide . #bookhistory
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Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Now also a paid part-time *graduate student* internship @ Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics working on American Women's History Museum project to make scientific work of 19th-& early 20th-century women more findable & accessible Deadline: October 5, 2026 #HPS www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=a...
indeed.com
Graduate Student Research Intern | History of Women in Science - Cambridge, MA 02138 - Indeed.com
Apply for the Graduate Student Research Intern | History of Women in Science job in Cambridge, MA! Learn more about the job description, salary, and job details to see if you qualify on Indeed today.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The pleas for feedback have gotten a little silly. So Cal Edison wants me to rate my recent middle-of-the-night outage experience. First, I wake up to a text alert and stumble down the dark hall to where I charge my phone. It’s from Edison, telling me the power is out. Ok. Back to bed. (cont’d)
Note from Edison asking, overall, how satisfied are you with the outage experience!
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I don’t know if schools in 🇨🇭still do this but around 10th grade my class took a field trip by train (plus hours of hiking afterward) to the Aletsch glacier. It’s painful to hear about the great rivers of ice disappearing. It’s not too late to address global warming.
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
HOLY WOW GC = galactic center. MEERKAT is a radio observatory, and the images are amazing. Totally different structures seen in infrared and radio. Staggering.
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Naomi Oreskes @naomioreskes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Despite the bad headlines and rhetoric coming from DC, there is real progress on the ground. For example NY state is close to achieving its 70 X 30 climate goals (70% renewable by 2030). Progress is happening, but needs to be sustained. climate.ny.gov/dashboard
climate.ny.gov
Climate Dashboard Visualizations
NY Climate Act Visualization Dashboard
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Yesterday when my friend’s husband stopped by with his special delivery of “cheese pies,” the house was mortifyingly messy. Dirty, even. Anyway, guess who just finished some late-night vacuuming and sweeping. 🌒 🧹
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🔭 (As an undergrad I drove a box of glass plates either from JPL to Flagstaff Obs or the other way around… I wish I could remember!)
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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Nice photo but pretty easy to scroll past until you realize it was taken on Mars.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Me, idly googling: who is the patron saint of literary permission-seekers? The internet: Thomas J. Craughwell at the Catholic Herald has anticipated your question.
For general writing, publishing, and dealing with difficult text: Saint Francis de Sales is your best bet. Ironically, he is famous for refusing to accept any royalties from his own international best-seller, Introduction to the Devout Life, much to the horror of modern working writers.
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CIRES @cires.colorado.edu · 14/09/2026
Water vapor isotopes record information about evaporation, condensation, mixing, and transport. New CIRES-led research fed water vapor isotope data into a weather model — and observed improvements in atmospheric analysis and short-term weather prediction globally. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
nature.com
The significance of water vapor isotopes in improving weather prediction - Communications Earth & Environment
Assimilation of mid-tropospheric vapor isotopes significantly improves short-term weather forecasts and mean-to-extreme precipitation, especially at mid-latitudes, according to an analysis of 4.5…
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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The rule they are overturning was predicted to give $120 billion in public health benefits by 2047, with projections that by 2035, it would would prevent up to 1,200 premature deaths, 870 hospital and emergency room visits, 360K asthma attacks, 48K school absence days and 57K lost workdays each year
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
In the annals of interesting snacks from Japan… my friend sent me, via her husband who is in the U.S. for business, a box of “cheese pie.” We were intrigued! Turns out it’s like a cheesy breadstick or cheese straw dusted with powdered sugar. Very nice!
Box of rectangular pastries with a white coating of powdered sugar. The treat is a sort of crispy cheese straw. The inside doesn’t have any creamy filling, it’s crispy.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Fascinating. The simplest questions can take a lot of research to resolve. quantamagazine.org/why-do-these-fossil-shells-flip-their-spirals-every-few-millennia-20260911/
Two light-blue colored fossil spirals, with red arrows indicating  clockwise and counterclockwise growth.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Something I have learned from my science outreach and just talking to people is how obscure geodesy is. Very few non-scientists know the word “geodetic.” At least we can relate it to GPS, but it’s much richer than that.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Sad… 🔭🧪 arstechnica.com/space/2026/0...
arstechnica.com
Europe will go it alone on Venus mission after NASA yanks radar instrument
Europe is looking inward, and perhaps to China, as the White House tries to cancel some NASA partnerships.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
It’s time for my afternoon walk, normally, but no way. I don’t event want to open the door.
Weather app page showing 100 degrees F and an extreme heat warning.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A technician came today to try to see why, 2 weeks ago, the A/C wouldn’t turn on for a period of time. (Thank goodness, it has been working lately.) Turns out, a lizard pushed on the low-voltage wire while shedding his skin. No sign of him now, but the skin was still there. Bit of a jump scare.
A lizard skin draped over some colored wires inside the controls of a compressor.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
All of @PBSnews.org NewsHour was engrossing tonight. This segment was a bit of history I hadn’t known before. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
pbs.org
Fighter pilot reflects on order to sacrifice herself to stop Flight 93 on 9/11
On 9/11, the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 stormed the cockpit, forcing the hijacked jet to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. But before the world knew of their bravery, members of Washing...
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Spelling Bee won’t take CATALECTIC. Look how far this astrophysicist has come.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Went to the store, mainly for carrots. Bought stuff while consulting my list. Came home without carrots. I’m going to blame this unusual humidity.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Got the new Covid shot (Pfizer) Friday evening. Felt tired, sore-armed, and a little feverish last night—24 hours later—but overall my reaction seems milder than with previous shots. (Your mileage may vary.)
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
#histsci 🔭🧪 #DivGradCurl iykyk
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Did a ton of yard work and made gingerbread to take to a neighbor’s bbq. At least, that’s the intent.
Gingerbread cooling in a glass pan.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
When I entered my name through my phone, it couldn’t find me, but through the desktop I’m there (albeit as Leila Belkora Hans, and missing my ORCid and other info). In the interface for adding info it could not find either of my advisors, although they are in the database. But yes, cool project.
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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics @leilabelkora.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
This morning’s short, lovely read. There are bits of video and I was struck by the resonant acoustics of the old convent building, when the baker sings. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
How a Blanket of Dough Becomes an Ethereal Pastry (Gift Article)
Generations of women from a single Portuguese village have kept this delicate tradition alive.
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