iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Should sept 6 be a holiday, Petrov day?

010

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Finally, some backbone. Now if only they would also support certain journalists who habitually are abused by Trump.

010

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Spiderweb in breeze, slightly out of focus.

002

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

All I want to know is the chemical energy expended by a Saturn V, without learning rocket science. Anyone know a number or a link?

100

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

“Guys, they want us to go home.” 🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)

15246332045

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

We do a projectile experiment with the students using and comparing two methods. One is video analysis, fine. The other, using carbon paper on paper to mark the impact point. Well, carbon paper is hard to get these days. One instructor suggested aluminum foil. Clay could get expensive. Ideas?

200

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...

685265964803

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Have not paid attention to celestial events recently, certainly not in the mornings, was pleasantly surprised headed to my early lab today.

Pale bluish dawn sky, tree silhouettes on the right and on the bottom left. High and center, a crescent moon with strong earthshine. Middle, a white dot, Jupiter.

100

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

phyphox project @phyphox.org · 07/09/2026

We just released phyphox v1.2.1. Highlights: Spectroscopy, flashlight stroboscope, improved tone generator, updated xls to xlsx and an all new phyphox.org/docs/, which now also holds the full changelog at phyphox.org/docs/referen....

1137

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Indivisible Maynard Area @indivisiblemaynard.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

OMB is still trying to make it harder for scientists to get funding for research. Please take action below. You don't need to be a scientist for these attacks to impact your life

03018

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Alex Weatherall @aweatherall.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

If you used trinket.io to teach HTML or Python coding - tomorrow is the last day you can download your code before it shuts down. There are alternative open source trinket services you can upload it to if you want to. I must remember to remind my students.

trinket.io

Trinket

014

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Dan "Mr. Bones and Me" Greene @dmgreene.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

And if you're not a member? Well you should be. Dues scale with income and they fund the national lawsuits and the local organizing (like the lunch we ordered for new organizer training!). What are you waiting for?

aaup.org

Join

Joining the AAUP says that you’re concerned about academic freedom, and about the way that basic freedom protects your teaching and research. Join today.

0129

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

These are Excellent workshops for using computers in physics teaching.

020

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

For Trump's Indy car race in DC, they have to weld the manhole covers so the race cars don't pull them up. apnews.com/article/trum... #iTeachPhysics

041

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Gavin Schmidt @climateofgavin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

The difference in utility between the use of ML to tackle big data problems that would otherwise be intractable & the use of LLMs to produce pointless slop is so large they cannot both be usefully described as “AI“. The first is making real progress, the second is dragging us towards the abyss.

12718215

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Today in we can’t teach the kids how to use AI responsibly when the adults are not

1133

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Ian Quayle @ianhquayle.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Isn't it strange that the whole world believes scientists when they predict a solar eclipse with microsecond accuracy, but not when they predicted the existential threat of global heating due to the emission of greenhouse gases.

18357101

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Working on getting spider web colors with the spider.

Spider lower left, web showing various colors such as cyan, red, orange, out-of-focus vegetation in background.

020

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

W. Brian Lane (he/him), PhD @wbrianlane.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Jason Mantzoukas: Ooh, crackers! Alex Horne: Pinhole cameras, Jason. #taskmaster

111

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

CLEAPSS @cleapss.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Important safety advice for today…. Anyone using a colander to watch the eclipse, be careful — you may strain your eyes.” 😎🌒 Or you could read our guide to how to view this safely - PS017 science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource-Inf...

134

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Karen James @kejames.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

It’s that time again, friends. Time to share the greatest eclipse explainer ever.

9898257

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 06/08/2026

I understand that funding bodies want to go all in on AI as the shiny new innovation thing. But if all the grants start going to AI at the expense of everything else then the research sector is going to end up looking like a farm with dozens of threshers hacking away in a field with no wheat.

582326427

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

An actual writer, on generative A"I".

000

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

AAUP @aaup.org · 04/08/2026

The Trump admin is back with version 2.0 of its higher ed compact. The reason is simple: The first one failed. Compact 2.0 lacks egregious elements of its predecessor. That’s a victory & affirms that the answer to authoritarianism is organized resistance—not compliance. www.aaup.org/news/new-com...

aaup.org

New Compact Shows Resistance Works, but Fight for Higher Ed Isn’t Over

The Trump administration is back with a second version of its higher education compact. As with its predecessor, the best path forward is for higher education workers to organize and demand that their...

27238

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

A friend said that when she was young, many decades ago, her friends said that if you put a US penny on top of your tongue and a dime below, you would feel a shock. I tried it (after using an alcohol wipe), but nothing--tho coins have changed over the years. Has anyone heard of this? #chemistry

231

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I have a joke about Achilles, but I feel like a heel telling it.

031

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

AAUP @aaup.org · 31/07/2026

“To demand that the AAUP remain silent about the political attack on academia is ridiculous. To demand that the AAUP should do nothing to fight for academic freedom is wrong.” #academicsky

insidehighered.com

Critics of the AAUP and the Delusions of Neutrality

The AAUP is not and must not be neutral in defense of academic freedom.

15929

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Was it worth it, dropping the phone taking these pictures (only a small dent on the screen)? #iTeachPhysics #optics #spiderwebs #colors

Outside wall/corner of a brick house, with a spider web and the sun at the top. The web displays many different colors at different places, along arcs centered on the sun.

030

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The arrogance of these companies is appalling. Shut them down.

010

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Geek Grammy @geekgrammy.com · 28/07/2026

And here is tangible evidence that Tom can dance. Neil is probably getting drowned in this video. According to the laws of the internet, here is Tom Holland.

youtube.com

Lip Sync Battle - Tom Holland

YouTube video by Comedy Central Latinoamérica

36116

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Kathleen E. Kennedy @themedievaldrk.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

When the steel mills and factories closed we called it a Rust Belt. This new devastation is spreading, but we have no name for it yet. We have no word for the corrosion of learning. Oh wait, we do. Welcome to the Slop Belt.

08127

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

In the middle of the picture, up in the trees, a spider web catches the sun light just right for light wave interference to produce interesting colors. #optics #iTeachPhysics

Leaves and branches high up in a tree, mostly in shadow but with some sunlight. In the middle, a spider web catches the sunlight, producing an area with shades of mauve or magenta color next to an area of vaguely greenish blue.

040

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

W. Brian Lane (he/him), PhD @wbrianlane.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

WE CAN FINALLY HAVE NUMPY AND VPYTHON IN BROWSER-BASED PYTHON THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🎢 trinket.gopicup.org/pyodide/96a8...

trinket.gopicup.org

numpy and vpython

481

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

So, CBS went to the speech a few minutes in, then cut away in the middle, now they are ripping his crap to pieces. Expect firings tomorrow?

000

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Assuming this is real: Pretty interesting technique, similar to how some hitches work. Physics problem: Make reasonable assumption about coefficient of friction, determine the "tension" in the snake.

000

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

This came in the #glowscript google thing. An apparent free, full-featured replacement for #trinket.io trinket.strivemath.org #iTeachPhysics

110

Michael Burns-Kaurin @mburnskaurin.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Colors from a spider web strand in sunlight.

Some long narrow leaves bottom and left edges. Stretched from left to right, at a slant, a spider web strand with colors varying along the strand.

130

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

AAUP-South Carolina @aaup-sc.org · 09/07/2026

We join with faculty in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas to note with dismay that central tenets of the AAUP have disappeared from the Principles of Accreditation of the Commission on Colleges and Universities (formerly SACSCOC). 🧵 1/8 sacscoc.org/principles-r...

sacscoc.org

Principles Review - SACSCOC

SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation review The future of accreditation should be shaped by the institutions and stakeholders it serves. The Principles Review Committee, composed of peer representative...

12825

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

If you are a faculty member and worried about the fact no one seems to be fighting back against the attacks on academic freedom, it might be time to join @aaup.org

26823

Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin

All Things Physics @allthingsphysics.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Have you ever wondered if it's possible to hear light? And when I say "hear light" I mean "shine-a-light-in-your-ear-and-hear-music" hear light. The answer might surprise you. Watch my latest video to learn more! How to hear light! youtu.be/tthvO8ecPks

youtu.be

How to hear light!

YouTube video by All Things Physics

423