mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 12/10/2026make your initial errors while you have a way to get back to earth in only 3 days. There was only one problem- Buzz Aldrin wanted to go to Mars directly, and who was I to question Aldrin?. As a consequence, I was never vocal with my opinion. Years later, Aldrin changed his mind and I got to resolve 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 12/10/2026@adambecker.bsky.social I've got a funny story about the likelihood of large-scale human presence on Mars. When the Moon-Mars debate started I thought about it for about 30 minutes and concluded that, if you were dedicated to a human presence in space, you would start with the Moon because you could 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Did you try printing to a PDF with the correct format (A4) and then printing the new document? 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Many of our environmental public policy debates come down to a misunderstanding of 1) the order of magnitude of the variables involved 2) very basic physics (e.g. the second law of thermodynamics), and 3) high school level chemistry. 030
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026With respect to climate change, a topic I'm reasonably informed on (PhD in Environmental Science, multiple graduate level atmospheric science classes) the science gives you an understanding of the order of magnitude of the problem and the absurdity of trying to do free air direct capture of CO2 240
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Something you said bears on this and I think of it often: gains in our understanding don't necessarily mean gains in our ability to do things. Relativity (your example) was a gain in understanding that illuminates our limits (e.g. no faster than light travel) and constrains what we can do. 140
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Let's go #Uruguay They are charging those cars with 99% renewable energy on their grid too! 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I'm just one person, with a single voice, but if it helps, i love my trans brothers and sisters and I support your fight to be treated with dignity 020
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 03/10/2026what's happened and try to make some advances. That means a full frontal assault which will require more research, writing, lobbying and outreach to the American people than at any time in my life. That's going to require an army of aides, enforcement of party discipline and a plan in place before 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Depending on what Congress looks like we'll want to give many of those EOs the force of law. If we get and hold into Congress this year and in 2028, we can only depend on two years of Democratic rule. We can't afford to make Obama's mistake again, so that gives us two years to mitigate the worst of 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I've been thinking about this, specifically with respect to the amount of personnel support a hypothetical democratic president needs in 2028. Trump has signed 508 executive orders and his term isn't half over. At that rate, we'll need to review 1200 executive orders and determine which to overturn 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Your article reminds me of a saying I like to use with respect to American Exceptionalism. America is exceptional- at the end of WW2 the infrastructure of every industrial economy was in ruins - with the exception of the United States 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 03/10/2026I'm assuming you mean the post-WW2 period although that's not stated up front. Us old folk (58) need to keep in mind that the young people don't have the same temporal milestones. 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 30/09/2026We're lucky that we have photos from as far back as 1937. Very few countries do. 010
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I was once on a conference call with Google programmers and they took 10 minutes to set up their projector, desktop microphone, etc. It felt validating 001
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 29/09/2026#racism Why would anyone not want this child to be a citizen of their country? Oh right, #racism 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 29/09/2026I've never understood why the automakers don't partner with a Chinese firm. Chinese designs, American workers, the Chinese get a way into the US market, everyone wins 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It shouldn't be radioactive- it was exposed to a dose of X-rays and such, but the radioactive materials never touch the food 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Human intelligence here: any AI worth being called "intelligent" would just tell you to implement all the solutions proposed by @projectdrawdown.bsky.social as fast as profile. Beyond that, there is no magic technological fix. 010
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Is there an organization like this for the non religious? 110
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026To georeference Landsat images we would have to mount multiple topo maps and hand digitize GCPs. 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I'm old enough to have learned how to digitize vector data from paper maps but ever since USGS released high quality georeferenced scans of their topo maps I've been all digital. That said, there is something magical about a paper map. 130
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Topographic maps were the standard wrapping paper in our house for years- they were thrown away by a college library 131
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Isn't this the way a mature species would handle it? 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 19/09/2026There's nothing wrong with AI that couldn't be fixed by eliminating the profit motive and turning to academics and professional scientists to research each advance. Scientists do work with deadly viruses, they do it in a controlled environment and they don't rush. 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 17/09/2026With respect to cases like that of Luigi Mangione, have any of you read a rigorous argument supporting his action? 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 17/09/2026That may just be anthropocentrism though. Specide doesn't roll off the tongue. 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Genocide is the commission of specific acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. In the #AI debate we are talking about the same but for our entire species. What do we call that? Extinction doesn't quite capture it for me. 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Given the amount of time that a successful researcher puts into grant writing, a simplified system for proposals would be more efficient than the current system 120
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 12/09/2026An oversight on my part, yes Canada and plenty of other places as well. My point was that just because it isn't happening here (in the US) doesn't mean it isn't happening. It's obvious but it's also a necessary shift in perspective for those who center the US 000
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 11/09/2026My mother and niece died from melanoma. I'll take the jab whether it's from the US, China, Europe, etc. 130
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The only thing that consoles me when I think of the lost opportunities for MRNA vaccine development in the US is that it provides opportunities for scientists in other countries to do the work. 150
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 11/09/2026You are so talented- I've sent the link to your Etsy shop to my friends 010
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Why is it important to do it before bear season? 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Are South Asians supposed to be poor drivers or are they inventing new stereotypes? 130
Reposted by @mlefsky.bsky.socialAndre Jalobeanu @ BayesMap Solutions @bayesmap.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Celebrating the release of WavEx 2.0 - finally a stable version that works on large production volumes, extracting points from Riegl and GeoLAS full waveform #LiDAR raw files in a single pass! 132
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 05/09/2026And exactly how am I supposed to read the heading for my clipper ship directly from a map using the Equal Earth projection? /s 100
mlefsky.bsky.social @mlefsky.bsky.social · 04/09/2026That reminds me- I was going to watch Dune: Prophecy 010
