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Matthew R Francis (backup account)

@matthewrfrancis.bsky.social
338 followers 84 following 1.4K posts

Science journalist and writer, cat man, hat man, music man, queer. So very tired. He/him. Signal: BowlerHatScience.51 Backup account for when my main account @BowlerHatScience.org isn't functioning (which seems to happen a lot??)

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Reposted by Matthew R Francis (backup account)
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 50m
From Physics Today (physicsworld.com/a/francis-ha...): ‘When asked what he will do for the rest of today, Halzen replied “I’m working on a proposal. I hope this prize will help get it approved.”’
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 30m
obviously one white man is responsible for the entire IceCube experiment, that's how science works
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 31m
good morning
panel from "Questionable Content" by Jeph Jacques showing Hannelore (a young white woman with floofy blonde hair) saying "I can think of worse ordeals to subject myself to, but only because I have an anxiety disorder."
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12h
anyway in a just world a giant cartoon piano would fall on hanania and tracey in the middle of their pro rape podcast
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Rachel W. Martin @rwmartin.bsky.social · 12h
Everybody loves potato!
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Micah @rincewind.run · 12h
“we can fantasize about raping people on livestream but if anyone thinks anything bad should happen to us as a result we will try to get them fired” sums up the state of right wing “intellectualism” pretty well
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 12h
I'm almost finished with "Control" so naturally I'm doing all the sidequests to procrastinate on completing the story
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Elon Green @elongreen.bsky.social · 15h
Susan Collins's antisemitism did not get enough attention. "I don't think it's a coincidence that ProPublica has as some of its funders George Soros, Donald Sussman, and other [pause] left-wing billionaires."
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 17h
Working on a story about this and hoping to speak to USA Today journalists or journalists at other Gannett to better understand the editorial process. Anonymity granted. Contact info in bio.
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mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 23h
no....no!!!!!
lowly worm is now driving the trolley problem trolley :(
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VERTICAL📼BLANKING📺INTERVAL @vertiblank.bsky.social · 18h
A Hark! A Vagrant classic
Watson: Oooh, what’s that you’ve got?
Franklin: My final report
Watson: Little Rosie Franklin’s research! I bet it’s something!
Franklin: ROSALIND.
Crick: Oh, that’s a big name
W: You’re getting fancy on us! Tell me—
F: Ah. I love this game.
W: Is it a scientific breakthrough in feelings?
F: Well, I suppose I have to go into hysterics or have a baby somewhere, good day gentlemen
W: GO, GO
[W and C slip a look at F’s notes]
C: Nice
W: Quit hogging
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 17h
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 17h
LEGITIMATE QUESTION
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 18h
the new claim that Watson stole not only data but its interpretation from Franklin, and then got a sinecure to tell every white woman and person of color he met the rest of his life that they were inferior to him, a white man. We need to resurrect him so we can beat the shit out of him.
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Natalia Cecire @ncecire.bsky.social · 18h
People who do not read back in action to stop anyone else reading either
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 19h
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 19h
appropriately for the season, a black cat crossed my path today
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🇵🇸Martin “Doomsday” Pfeiffer🖖🏳️‍🌈 @nuclearanthro.bsky.social · 19h
😻😻😻CLEANSING THERMONUCLEAR FIRE IS CANCELED FOR THE LATE MORNING! HOORAY BIGGER KITTY FRIEND SHAPE ENJOYING THEIR BOX MUCH LIKE MY SMALLER KITTY FRIENDS AT HOME DO!😻😻😻 HT @thrownintosol.bsky.social
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The Onion @theonion.com · 20h
This Weeks Editorial Cartoon: Hiding in Plane Sight theonion.com/hiding-in-plane-sight
This Weeks Editorial Cartoon: Hiding in Plane Sight
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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 20h
Spooky bird stories. My Halloween comic from 2024.
A comic titled Spooky Bird Stories. In panel 1, a turkey vulture is telling stories to other vultures, and it says, "She walked toward the source of the terrible smell. She got closer and closer, and then, to her horror, she saw... No dead body." A black vulture says "No!" and a turkey vulture says "Did someone already eat it??" In panel 2, a northern cardinal is telling a story to some songbirds. It says "They peered through the windows of the house at the gory scene. Zombies had smashed through the door in the night. The homeowner was dead. But worst of all... He hadn't refilled the feeders." An eastern bluebird says "Aaah!" and an American goldfinch says "It can't be!". In panel 3, A screech owl is telling a story to other owls. It says "And then the ghost fluffed itself up really big to appear scarier." A saw-whet owl gasps, and a long-eared owl says "Horrifying!". In panel 4, a downy woodpecker is telling a story to other woodpeckers, and says "The eerie sound rang through the dark woods. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. It was the distinctive two-part knock of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The species had returned from the dead... FOR REVENGE." A red-cockaded woodpecker says "Yesss".
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 21h
he *does* know about covering up crimes, very well qualified
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 21h
motherfucker lived too long and died too well, I hope the hell you said you believe in is real
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Micah @rincewind.run · 21h
truly a man ahead of his time, the modern epstein-loving republican party would never memory hole him for being an abusive monster
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escapedexplorer.bsky.social @escapedexplorer.bsky.social · 22h
🫡
[Fake text/meme template]
Text conversation with "Bruce (Landlord)"

"It is clear in the lease: no pets are allowed in the apt. Sorry"

*the above picture of Fishtopher, sitting so perfectly and looking up patiently at the camera*

"OK I will make an exception because he looks very polite"
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hammancheez but spooky @hammancheez.bsky.social · 23h
I genuinely thought he was already dead Welp *slaps both knees* time to hydrate these graves aren’t gonna piss on themselves right
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I went to the grand reopening of the African American Civil War museum this week and the timing is just right — its mission to preserve Black history is more relevant now than ever
huffpost.com
The African American Civil War Museum Reopens To Honor The Black Soldiers Who Changed History
The museum recently held its grand reopening in Washington’s historic U Street Corridor.
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mcc @dryad.technology · 04/10/2026
Have you noticed, lately, or noticed people around you commenting, that there just seems to be no money anymore. There's no money for companies to make the tv shows you like, the video games you like, the local diner you like shut down, no one you know can find a job. Think about that in context of
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Cheryl Lynn Eaton @cheryllynneaton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Well, now I have to ask the question. Are we sure Pierre "threw himself" in front of the truck?
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Fishtopher and Friends @fishtopher.bsky.social · 22h
sitting so politely
Fishtopher, a classic brown tabby cat, sitting on a white bed and looking at the camera with green eyes. He covers his front paws with his tail.
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 22h
my pitch for the story I'm currently writing was—in its entirety—"om nom nom?" and the link to the journal article
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 23h
I'm not making weird faces into the webcam while I wait for my interviewee to show up. I'm ... stretching my face muscles. Yeah. That's what I'm doing.
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hammancheez but spooky @hammancheez.bsky.social · 23h
I am writing a complaint to vanity fair showing sam altman as depicted on the edge of a precipitous fatal fall off a cliff with no guardrails or safety harness because america would never be the same if something terrible happened and it gave me anxiety
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I for one think it's really bad to have openly misogynistic justices on the supreme court who don't possess a theory of mind for MORE THAN HALF THE POPULATION
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 05/10/2026
All prisoners should have the right to vote while in prison
Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
and I still can't get into my main bsky account
Poe in "Rise of Skywalker" saying "somehow, Monday returned" with an appropriately dejected look on his face
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I was going to get some cookies but Nebula has gone to sleep on the back of the sofa with her paw on my shoulder, so I guess I'm staying here forever
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Frog and Toad Bot @frogandtoadbot.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“Frog, Frog,” cried Toad, “taste these cookies that I have made.” Frog ate one of the cookies, “These are the best cookies I have ever eaten!” said Frog.
Frog samples one of Toad's cookies, which are the best cookies he has ever eaten.

From "Cookies"
In *Frog and Toad Together*
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Micah @rincewind.run · 04/10/2026
every election everywhere after one (1) cycle with the fascists out of power: FASCISM NEPOBABY: 50.1% NORMAL POLITICIAN: 49.9%
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 04/10/2026
So uhh, did you hear that Donald Trump has started this new "super intelligence force?" Yeah, he's calling it "SIF," no joke. He's all-in on this. He's all-in on the SIF. You might even say he's SIF-ilou-- *gets tackled offstage by the secret service*
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"normal" ain't nothing but a term in statistics
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
generally speaking my library's 2-week checkout period is fine, since (also generally speaking) I rarely have trouble renewing. However, the book I'm currently reading is larger than my head and I have four days left to read a bit under half of it. And someone has it on hold. I'm not gonna make it.
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 04/10/2026
It took like a week for him to change his mind on the "enjoy the camps" thing. All it took was people saying it to the mod team instead of trans people.
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"can I speak with Amanda Hugginkiss?"
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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 04/10/2026
I can't get over the fact that he thinks daylight savings is bad because you have to climb up "high and dangerous steeples" to change the clocks. Like a fire engine full of cats has to go out and they climb the ladder like in a Richard Scarry drawing
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Patrick "Inverted Vibe Curve" Blanchfield @patblanchfield.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
new wolfenstein looks like shit
its pete hegseth splaying his arms christlike at a podium with all sorts of americana bunting thats got a distinct fash aesthetic
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
looking at the extended forecast and I think? maybe? summer is finally over??
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
my 7-year-old niece is a wonderful human being, but she is also a lot. A few hours around her and I'm ready for a nap.
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Twelve-and-a-half percent!
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Matthew R Francis (backup account) @matthewrfrancis.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I did not get nearly enough done today, so I *should* do more this evening. However, I'm also dead tired, so I guess I just suck.
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