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Mary Knapp

@mknapp.bsky.social
584 followers 253 following 231 posts

Radio astronomer, cycling and gardening enthusiast, fiber artist

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Reposted by Mary Knapp
Aaron Stewart-Ahn @badideas.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Saw the documentary NAZA, made in secret, with interviews of members of Israel’s intelligence services testifying and showing how they created a system to perpetrate genocide in Gaza. The filmmakers and their families have been threatened by Netanyahu himself. I wrote my thoughts here boxd.it/gvDEIR
boxd.it
A ★★★★★ review of NAZA (2026)
Merely a film. A film that has led Netanyahu himself to threaten the citizenship and safety of its Israeli filmmakers and even their families, simply for the act of filming veterans of Israel’s intell...
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 27/09/2026
reading this, it does seem as if “rationalism” is an elaborate intellectual architecture designed primarily to support the idea that if you were born white, male and clever then you are the genetic elite and entitled to rule.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 26/09/2026
As a former pretentious little shit who grew out of it, rationalists (et al) annoy the piss out of me because they are adults with the mentality of tweens - they are somehow still convinced they are the greatest geniuses who have ever walked the earth. It is the worldview of an arrogant baby.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 26/09/2026
the Eliezer Yudkowsky superhero origin story is truly so intensely dorky as to defy all attempts at parody. you could not waterboard any of this out of me web.archive.org/web/20010309...
His autobiography even opens with a parable: as a small child he threw his favorite squirtgun off a third-floor balcony rather than accept that his mother could lend out what was his, and felt complete when he heard it hit the pavement. He goes on to describes himself as a specialist in the technological transformation of the human species, one of the few people alive with the standing to steer it. He identifies with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the one person who sees the danger clearly and has to act while everyone else gets on with ordinary life.
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Aaron Huertas @aaronhuertas.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The psychology of doomerism is that the Doomer is the smartest boy in class because he can see the Real Problem, which obviously negates the primacy of Other Problems. For totally mysterious reasons, the Real Problem is never poverty or discrimination.
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Holly Brockwell @hollyqueenofspayeds.com · 26/09/2026
We're trying to find a home for, and I quote, "the Pissfingers of cats." Any takers? ❤️
Three screenshots of our facebook post about Jaffa Cake the unlucky mogJaffa in his cone of shame
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Danaland @danaland.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I know it's been a tough year - check those couch cushions and if you can find a little something to send, that would be SO GREAT. You just never know when it's going to be your turn in the barrel ... build good karma!
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 20/09/2026
I need you to take all the rage you get from when someone cites your paper incorrectly and put it towards helping other people in this field. I believe solidarity and group action are always, always possible. I know we can do it. I'm just really mad that we're... not.
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 20/09/2026
Years of abstracts about people trying to make the field a better place for marginalized folks, all removed, and you still want to give them your money and your time because of FOMO? Please be serious.
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 20/09/2026
I KNOW academics understand the concept of committing to the bit. I've watched people fight for a full decade about the geologic age of one patch of the Moon. So it should be fairly easy to understand that if we want change in our communities, that means committing to the bit, for YEARS.
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Brad Johnson @climatebrad.hillheat.com · 19/09/2026
"There are numerous laws in place that already prohibit many of the harmful activities engaged in by the large AI firms. But those laws are mostly not being enforced sufficiently to make a meaningful difference, because in America, we simply do not enforce the law against the powerful."
thebignewsletter.com
AI Is an Elite Crime Spree
Documents show a Microsoft exec called AI the "largest theft of labor in human history.” New AI regulations are besides the point, the problem is we don’t apply existing laws to the powerful.
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Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I just wanted to write about physics! But noooo, a fucking sex cult had to take over Silicon Valley and the entire public discourse about technology and the future while aiding the rise of fascism, and I felt duty-bound to write about that instead LOOK WHAT THEY MADE ME DO
hachettebookgroup.com
More Everything Forever
This "smart and wonderfully readable" (New York Times) exposé shows why Silicon Valley’s heartless, baseless, and foolish obsessions—with escaping death...
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Sunny Moraine @dynamicsymmetry.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Again, I feel shitty even asking given the state of the world in general, but this is going to eat about $10,000 all told, and while I think we can get some help from relatives, I’d just. Super appreciate any help anyone has to spare ko-fi.com/dynamicsymme...
ko-fi.com
Buy Sunny Moraine a Coffee
Become a supporter of Sunny Moraine today!
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alix e. harrow @alixeharrow.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
sorry, but torturing the omelas kid is just a smart move, polling-wise. i personally wish there wasn't a kid in the omelas hole--of course i do!--but let's not get distracted by purity tests, here.
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Annalee @flowerhorne.com · 11/09/2026
Like I appreciate the faith in people. It's understandable to want to believe that seemingly smart people must be making absurd claims because they're pursuing a rational strategy to obtain money. They are in fact making absurd claims because they are absurd people who believe absurd things
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I remember that meeting vividly…and yes the rage has propelled me through several big proposals (though not a SMEX…yet!)
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 07/09/2026
As a famous NBER working paper showed, when a family business is handed over to a professional manager with an MBA, the company doesn't become more profitable overall; it just finds ways to pay its workers less: www.nber.org/system/files...
nber.org
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The Boston LOL 💜 🚲 ⚡ @thebostonlol.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Please sign this petition to call for a safer Mem Drive and share with friends and neighbors who care about after safety docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Petition: Make Memorial Drive Safe, Green, and Accessible
We are heartbroken by the death of MIT Professor Thomas Rose, who died from injuries sustained while biking at Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive. Professor Rose is the fifth person killed while ...
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This makes me furious - just swap the parking and bike lane and you protect cyclists from moving traffic and reduce the chance of getting doored! Why is this not the standard?!? Living humans on bikes should not be a buffer between traffic and empty pieces of property (parked cars).
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mandercamp @mandercamp.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Repaving Dot Ave, and bike lane is very clearly marked, but wish Boston would just figure out what cities around the world have and put bike lane next to the curb, then street parking, then traffic lane. Protected bike lane for just the cost of some paint
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GONZO the Ca'at @gonzo.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Pleez conseddir helping Salem and famolly. Thay are having a varry harde time in manny ways. Salem needs neurological help varry badly and thatis not cheep
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Scientists helped to save 100s of millions of lives. What they've gotten since peak COVID is to be villainized, defunded and attempts at criminalizing them.
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Marlena quindi @quindimarlena.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I can't believe no one has taken these babies yet. 😭 NE USA friends, someone go get these cats!
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AGU (American Geophysical Union) @agu.org · 25/08/2026
In late May, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a proposed rule that could fundamentally change how scientific research is funded in the United States. Write to your legislators about this harmful rule. Read more and take action today: spklr.io/63326Er8i8
Graphic that reads: Tell Congress to shut down OMB's attempt to control federal grantmaking.
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Paul Blart @swagmastarpaul.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Second post op update is posted. I am able to start considering dental restoration in the next month however the cost falls to me. Thanks so much for your continued love and support. www.gofundme.com/f/support-ta...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Tay’s Recovery, organized by Taylor Leigh
Hi everyone, Over the last few months I have been experiencing various health issues (sh… Taylor Leigh needs your support for Support Tay’s Recovery
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
It’s helpful when a bunch of terrible people make a convenient list of themselves so we can avoid them. Of course Pinker and Strumia are on there too…
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
There’s a review (book chapter) by Dave Brain et al that you might find useful. Here’s a link that gives the title and authors: pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/rimg/art... I know the PDF is available somewhere open access because I was looking at it yesterday, but I can’t find it right now.
pubs.geoscienceworld.org
Exoplanet Magnetic Fields | Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry | GeoScienceWorld
Planetary magnetic fields are important indicators of planetary processes and evolution, from a planet’s outer core to its surface (if it possesses one)
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Venus and Mercury both have very slow rotation rates compared to Earth/Mars (and tidally locked Mdwarf planets). Mars does have a (weak) dynamo. Venus does not, but rotation rate is not cited as a likely reason.
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
have some kind of dynamo pretty much always whereas terrestrial planets are more on the edge of not having enough heat flux and/or chemically driven convection to sustain a dynamo. There are more ways a terrestrial planet can fail to sustain a dynamo…though rotation rate is not one of them.
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Yes and no? Gas giants of solar system size are more similar to terrestrial planets than stars wrt how their dynamos work (or the magnitude of the dimensionless quantities used to parameterize them). The major difference between gas giants and terrestrial planets is that gas giants are expected to
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Sorry for the multiple comments, it’s just kinda my thing :)
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Getting the observations is hard and probably a long way off for Earth-sized planets (unless they’re weird ! They could be weird !), but without any observations to weed out at least some models…I think it’s too soon to make strong conclusions about magnetic field effects on atmospheres.
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The consensus has been that rotation isn’t really a major driver in planets like it is in stars. I’ll have to read more of this paper to see if there’s something new here. This is a biased perspective given my research, but I’m disinclined to get excited about modeling results with no observations.
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
“While the role of stellar activity has been widely studied, the impact of tidal locking on the planetary dynamo remains largely unexplored” ??? I feel like the field has been arguing about this since the first hot Jupiters were discovered…
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 20/08/2026
Turns out that right now, it is very hard to find a job if you ethically refuse to work on Murder or Mass Surveillance
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Can you say more about the Swift ops model (and/or point me to a paper)? I’m always interested to learn about innovative spacecraft operations concepts.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 18/08/2026
"You were riding in the morning, or at night, or on a quiet road, or a main road. The only time and place to ride a bike is a time beyond time and a place beyond place, where the space-time continuum is bent so strangely that you are both everywhere and nowhere." buff.ly/bSa1Wm5
mcsweeneys.net
You’re a Cyclist Who Was Just Struck by a Car Driver. Here’s Why It Was Your Fault
You were riding during rush hour Why were you riding then? There are way too many cars on the road. If you were commuting, you should have contacted your bos...
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Shecky @shecky.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
He's back in the ICU with "low blood pressure" now, and frankly, this is looking like it might be it. Please, friends, if you or someone you know has a safe, comfortable, loving landing zone for his two cats, please please *please* speak up ASAP.
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Biking through Colorado was a way of easing tensions, experiencing nature, and mentally just being more centered and happy. Of course MAGA is against it. Rebecca has way more details.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
not a conspiracy and other researchers are documenting and developing www.theamericanvandal.com/p/against-te...
theamericanvandal.com
Against Technofeudal Education
Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI
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Seven Machina Rasmussen @toomanyspectra.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
meanwhile there’s a hundred smart young science communicators who are actually in touch with the real world and work to meet their communities on level ground. platform them instead! we can do better than NDT! we deserve better than NDT!
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Sin Archbishop of Sloth Kendo D. Smith @kendomakesfilms.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Lots of folks I know use Partiful and you should stop
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Daniel Carlson @danielwcarlson.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This site lets you scan barcodes to see if they’re part of Taylor Farms: www.taylordetector.com
taylordetector.com
Taylor Detector — Scan for Taylor Farms brands
Wondering if a product is made by Taylor Farms? Scan any barcode to instantly check brand ownership and affiliations. Free, no signup required.
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Mary Knapp @mknapp.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I’m reading this too! And yeah a couple of chapters in I had to get the Moby Dick audio book. I think I’ll read them in parallel to enjoy the…parallels
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ro (they/them) @littlegreenslug.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
my beloved senior cat had a health scare recently, and i need help getting out of the red after paying the vet bill! i designed a bonfire shirt fundraiser and would love if you could help share & support us. #blackcat #mutualaid #rocreates
bonfire.com
Eternally Tired | Bonfire
Just like my sleepy senior cat Obi, I too am eternally tired and always queer.. Hi! My name is Rowan and I'm a disabled queer artist who has been struggling with unemployment...
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💜TheeAfroLesbian💜 @zisshit.com · 05/08/2026
URGENT: I have to raise this *before* MONDAY 8/10 Carrot has an urgent vet appt. on 8/10 that is going to cost me $344 The gov. garnished my wages so I DO NOT HAVE THAT (Im BIG stressin). Hes having kidney issues 😭‼️ please share!! He has thumbs!! Hes super sweet 😭💜🥹 Venmo: zzz22 CA: $ziizzzii
Carrot sleeping in a lil ball. His lil fang tooth is visible and so is his thumb. He’s sleeping on a purple sweatshirt on top of the bed
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Katherine Addison/Sarah Monette @pennyvixen.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Safe Haven is a Green Bay WI nonprofit for special needs cats & dogs (FIV, diabetes, tripods, etc). On 6/24 a storm collapsed their roof. Everyone(!) is safe & they have a temp space, but they are raising $ for a new bldg. @catsofyore.bsky.social can you share? www.gofundme.com/f/help-safe-...
gofundme.com
Donate to Help Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary Recover, organized by Dana Arendt
Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary, founded by Elizabeth Feldhausen, has been a safe space for… Dana Arendt needs your support for Help Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary Recover
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 01/08/2026
The fact that it grossly misleads you 8% of the time is a small price to pay for a life untroubled by uppity pismires who insist that your ideas be connected to base reality as they understand it. 66/
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