iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Exoplanet folks: What are your favorite opposing / contradicting papers?? I'm teaching an under/graduate class on Exoplanets and I'm setting them up to do a paper debate in class. I have a few possibilities but curious to see what others are excited for, especially to get a variety of topics. 😃

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Roman launch! Holy crap!! So amazing and the sonic booms were incredibly wild. We also saw both boosters land. 🤩🚀🔭🔬🛰️🧪👩‍🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Today, in the year of our lord two thousand and twenty-six, using electronic mail, did I just spend multiple exchanges with someone discussing today's date: "since the report is due today" "The expected due date is tomorrow the 20th" "Correct, the due date is the 20th and today is Wed May 20th" 🫤

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Feeling overwhelmed? Need a break? (Yeah you do). Rest your eyeballs here: rockstarsmerch.printful.me We have shirts, mugs, etc! Why? Because I have many pretty logos for @hypatiacatalog.bsky.social and SAKHMET, plus a new RockStars design by Joe Schulze, and they need to be shared with the world.

rockstarsmerch.printful.me

The RockStars Merch Shop

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Britt Lundgren @brittlundgren.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Just released: "Mission Aborted: How NASA Illegally Implemented the President's Budget Request Without Congressional Approval" - Minority Staff Report Prepared for Members of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, US House of Representatives democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/do...

"Mission Aborted: How NASA Illegally Implemented the President's Budget Request Without Congressional Approval" - Minority Staff Report Prepared for Members of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, US House of Representatives - April 2026

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Barack Obama @barackobama.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Are you submitting an XRP this round? And are you afraid that the weekend snow storm will shut down your work, preventing your org from submitting your proposal? Me too! Orgs can email the PO (hq-xrp@mail.nasa.gov) and SARA@nasa.gov to make an official request that NASA delay the due date! So...

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Thinking of my Tatertot (Tot) today, on what would have been her 19yr adoption anniversary. She passed in Dec at 20.3yrs old. I had her for nearly half of my life, she was my constant companion, my buddy. And now her absence is so loud. Miss you always, my babycat.

Little brown cat passed out in a bit hotel bed surround by white sheets. The walls are yellow and there is a lamp and TV in the background. This is one of my favorite pictures of Tatertot.

Tatertot is in a ball, licking the face of a white woman with blonde and brown hair, wearing a maroon shirt. There is a print of painting in the background.

A brownish-orange cat with green eyes sits on a grey couch and white blanket.

A brown cat with green eyes sits in the foreground in front of a computer which shows a Zoom window with many smaller windows.

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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

It's over. Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

dailynebraskan.com

BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.

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David Grinspoon @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Why are planetary scientists, astrobiologists and and SETI scientists so negative (pissed off, even) about Avi Loeb’s repeated claims that 3I/Atlas may be an invading alien spaceship? 🧵 🧪🔭🛸 (1/7)

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 17/11/2025

Abstracts submitted to LPSC 2026 are required to comply with White House (non-legally binding) executive orders forbidding mention of topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. At least USRA/LPI isn't hiding it. But is this what our community wants? Or deserves? I don't think so.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

I'm finally getting a real* office at work! I'm looking for couch recommendations and links (note: internal rules say I have to buy through Amazon, sigh). Also, other recommendations for Things You Could Not Live Without are appreciated! *Current office is 6x9 ft and was meant for a postdoc. ☹️

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Tania Lombrozo @tanialombrozo.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Laypeople often learn about science from expert explanations & those explanations often contain JARGON. Does jargon make explanations better or worse? In a paper out today in Nature Human Behaviour, @cruzf.bsky.social and I find that jargon can support illusions of understanding...

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Astrobites @astrobites.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

From Skylar Grayson @skylargrayson.bsky.social : This post summarizes the proposed major cuts to NASA and the NSF and the impacts they would have, and provides resources to help fight back against this wasteful and unnecessary attack on science. 🔭✨☄️ astrobites.org/2025/06/02/b...

astrobites.org

NSF and NASA Budget Requests Pose an Unprecedented Threat to Astronomy

The president's budget requests for NASA and the NSF were released last week. This post summarizes the major cuts and the impacts they would have, and provides resources to help fight back against thi...

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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

Don't miss our new NASA Science spending and economic impact resource at dashboards.planetary.org/nasa-science.html — see space science spending in every state and congressional district and custom reports for each region. A unique resource.

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Mark Popinchalk @markpopinchalk.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Astronomy is in trouble, but you can help! 🔭🧪 I made this video as part of the @aas.org #savescience week of action. Check out their resources on how you can help here aas.org/advocacy/get...

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I know there are SO SO SO so sooo many things going on right now. But y'all, I went to the airport Baton Rouge TWICE today. 2 times, round trip. And I will still be sleeping in my own bed tonight. The storm in Dallas caused two of my flights to be cancelled. 🤬🚫✈️

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NASAWATCH @nasawatch.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

NASA Is Terminating The GISS Lease In Five Weeks nasawatch.com/personnel-ne... "NASA’s lease of Columbia University’s Armstrong Hall in New York City, home to the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, will end effective May 31, 2025."

nasawatch.com

NASA Is Terminating The GISS Lease In Five Weeks

This was just sent to all NASA Goddard and GISS employees by Makenzie Lystrup

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The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

There are reports The White House is considering a 50% cut to NASA’s science programs, and 25% of its overall budget, which would be catastrophic for both current and planned missions. But, there is still time for the administration to reconsider. Read our full statement ⬇️

planetary.org

The Planetary Society: reported cuts to NASA would amount to an…

The Planetary Society, the world’s largest independent space interest organization, issued a statement in response to recent reports that the White House…

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Truly sad to see, although not unexpected. I was able to do 2 REUs, UMich and UCLA, which was incredibly important coming from a small undergrad (Oberlin). I often credit the REUs as giving me the varied research understanding/skills that I needed to get into and later use in grad school. 💔🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an Antarctic balloon mission! www.forbes.com/sites/bruced... Thanks to @bdorminey.bsky.social for talking with me about my team's high res, near infrared spectrograph proposal to measure M-dwarf compositions for planets and galactic chemistry! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀🔬

forbes.com

How A Balloon-Borne Antarctic Telescope Could Help Detect An Earth 2.0

An LSU-led team would like to use a high-flying Antarctic balloon-borne infrared telescope to detect the chemical makeup of some 300 red dwarf stars.

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Hypatia Catalog @hypatiacatalog.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

All of the new data, upgrades, and changes from beta have been pushed to the main website: hypatiacatalog.com! So, if you go to the "new" page, it will either redirect you or give you a certificate warning. Thanks to all of our users and for the great feedback. 😃 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀🔬

hypatiacatalog.com

Hypatia Catalog Database Website

The Hypatia Catalog Database features an interactive table and multiple plotting interfaces that allow easy access and exploration of data within the Hypatia Catalog, a multidimensional, amalgamate da...

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

✨ You Too Can Database: A Roadmap for Creating Specialty Databases & Web Portals ✨ Creating astro databases is like building higher and higher stories in a castle which can eventually reach the castle towers, or NASA observatories, which can see the furthest! 🤩 bit.ly/41gkxGI 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀🔬

bit.ly

You Too Can Database: A Roadmap for Creating Specialty Databases & Web Portals

Data access, or the availability of new and archival data for use by other scientists and the public, is key to scientific advancement. How data is presented, searched, and formatted determines access...

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Science friends -- here are some great ways to make data more available and accessible! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Has this ever been you: You have a bunch of stars you want to understand, but the data is scattered making it hard to cross-correlate, so you think, "Wow, I really wish there was a database for this." Well now you can make your own niche database! arxiv.org/abs/2411.13308 1/5

media.tenor.com

a man in a suit and tie stands in front of a bookshelf and says " has this ever happened to you "

ALT: a man in a suit and tie stands in front of a bookshelf and says " has this ever happened to you "

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Hypatia Catalog @hypatiacatalog.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Hello! I was born in 2010 and now, thanks to a lot of time, effort, and self-care, I am here for your stellar elemental abundance needs! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀 I am the bringer of stellar compositions, compiler of SO much data, plotter of all the things, illuminator of planetary interior makeup! hypatiacatalog.com

media.tenor.com

patrick star from spongebob is holding a sword in his hand

ALT: patrick star from spongebob is holding a sword in his hand

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Hello friends!👋 If you're excited about stars, planets, & their insides, then you're in luck 'cause that's most of what I think about. Also cats, scifi, traveling. Plus I run the Hypatia Catalog (@hypatiacatalog.bsky.social) which has just had a major, glorious update! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️🚀 new.hypatiacatalog.com

new.hypatiacatalog.com

Hypatia Catalog Database Website

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

The Hypatia Catalog has had a major overhaul! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️ new.hypatiacatalog.com We updated services, improved features, faster views, new datasets (keep 'em coming), and a brand-spankin' new API! Info at: hypatiacatalog.com/hypatia/defa... Why wait -- come check us out! You know you wanna. 😉

media.tenor.com

a cartoon of homer simpson talking to marge simpson with the words hurry up below him

ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson talking to marge simpson with the words hurry up below him

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 10/10/2024

Ya know what's great about stellar abundances in the Hypatia Catalog...a fresh beta-release! new.hypatiacatalog.com Like the adorable Moo Deng, sink your teeth into updated services, improved features, faster views, and a brand-spanking new API! Info at: hypatiacatalog.com/hypatia/defa... 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️

Image of the baby hippo Moo Deng (with the words "Hypatia Users" above her) taking a big ole chomp on her handler's leg (with the words "Our Sweet New API"). Aww, da baby.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 15/08/2024

Please join me in wishing Tatertot a very Happy 19th Birthday! She loves chicken, only 2 people in the world, and screaming heinously when her pet-quota is short. She is not as graceful as she used to be, but can still be surprisingly spry. She is my loud babycat. 😻

A brown tabby cat with greenish-yellow eyes and a white muzzle, sits regally on a bed with striped sheets. Her expression shows that she gives no fucks...because she is too old to care. And she will let you know.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 18/06/2024

You know what time it is? Time to register for an amazing interdisciplinary workshop....that comes complete with ✨travel support✨! To apply for funding, fill this out forms.gle/F8QkqKuPhqCT... by June 23 for full consideration. Workshop registration deadline is July 1, 2024. 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 26/04/2024

Is your brain ready for a LOT of interdisciplinary exoplanet knowledge! You know it is! 🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪🛰️ 🧵In Jan 2021, Keith Putirka, Siyi Xu, and I joined forces to put together 15 chapters (and a workshop!**) written by experts in their field, where the core of each chapter was:

Screenshot of an email excerpt that Keith sent to Natalie and Siyi, outlining what he thought the focus of the RiMG chapters should be. These sentiments ended up being the crux of all of the chapters. The text says: ' "What do I want and need to learn from other disciplines?" and "What do other disciplines need to know about mine"? '

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 26/03/2024

Chandra, the space-based observatory that brings us incredible x-ray images of the most extreme environments in the cosmos, is at risk of cancellation. It’ll be a huge loss to astronomy if the mission ends prematurely for budget reasons. Go to www.savechandra.org to find out how to help #SaveChandra

A ghostly-looking image of powerful jets of radiation coming from a galaxy. (This is Chandra’s view of the galaxy Centaurus A.) There are wispy blue bubbles in the upper left and lower right and a bright blue jet of radiation emanating from the center of the image up to the upper left.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 25/03/2024

Exoplanets! Formation! Evolution! And you! Participate in a great interdisciplinary workshop with talks+discussions from experts in astronomy and geology to bridge the gap in exoplanet characterization. 🛰️🧪👩🏻‍🔬🪐 Aug 17-18 in Chicago, right before Goldschmidt2024 tinyurl.com/Goldschmidt24Exoplanets

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 13/02/2024

🪅Happy Mardis Gras, all! 🪅I'm hiring an Interdisciplinary Postdoc for Star-Planet Chemical Interplay to work with me in my group at LSU! I'm interested in a wide variety of topics and people. See below for details or reach out to me with questions. 😃🛰️🪐👩🏻‍🔬🧪 jobregister.aas.org/ad/b4d744ca

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 19/01/2024

This semester I am teaching the same students as the fall. But over the weekend, LSU somehow deleted my class. Like, the whole thing. My students were like, "There's no way she'd cancel class and not tell us." Y'all. They thought I died. One student even looked up my obituary. 😵😂 🔭🧪👩🏻‍🔬🪐🛰️

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 10/11/2023

I'm not going to say that this is 100% the ✨most adorable✨ (and educational) recursion photo series you've ever seen.... but I'm also not NOT going to say that. 🥹 You have been warned. Presenting: Lasagnas and the Sun.

Lasagna the Orange Cat, on the left side of the screen, next to my laptop. He is looking at my secondary monitor where I'm editing slides for class, the current slide reads "What is the Sun's Structure", with a picture of the orange Sun. Maybe orange likes orange? Or maybe my too smart cat was watching the mouse cursor.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 24/10/2023

Who is excited for a major update? Everyone!! Introducing the newest changes and upgrades that you've come to know and expect from the ✨Hypatia Catalog✨ Thanks so much to all of our amazing contributors and users. We couldn't do it without you! 💜👩🏻‍🔬🛰️🧪 hypatiacatalog.com

Latest update announcement from the Hypatia Catalog (hypatiacatalog.com).

The database now has:
11,160 stars
1477 planet hosts
2174 multistars
102 elements
294 datasets
~400,000 obs

Updates include:
• ~1200 new stars, +60 new datasets, 20 new elements for FGKM-stars
• Fully up-to-date with the latest, greatest abundances and star/planet properties!
• Improved pipeline for updates with planned rolling (instead of batch) updates in the future, so the database will always be current with published data.
• Fixed bugs that impacted the absolute abundances and edge-case data.
• All website data available via API.
• Improvements to the database engine and speed is on the horizon!

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 21/09/2023

I've counted at least 4 proposal calls that are "not solicited" this year. To say nothing of the VERITAS soft cancellation. NASA, you okay? [No, the answer is definitely that they are not okay.] 🔭🧪👩‍🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

Astronomy, exoplanet, planet, or moon-themed cocktail recipes please -- GO! 🧪🛰️👩🏻‍🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 19/09/2023

In Jan, I submitted a book chapter to a pretty big geochemistry series which is supposed to be published early next year. I've been anticipating getting the referee report for months now...👩🏻‍🔬🛰️🧪 I have a TONS of travel coming up in Oct, I'm willing to take bets it shows up then. Who wants in? 😉

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 18/09/2023

4 years ago I started weight lifting as a new way for me to exercise and an outlet for my thoughts/feelings. Today was the first workout in the new place and even though being a new professor is 100% KICKING my ass (only 4 weeks into the semester), I'm feeling WAY better about things. 🔭🧪👩‍🔬

Natalie is standing in the middle of the picture, wearing a shirt with the collar cut off, looking very sweaty but open-mouth-smiling. She has her hair pushed back with a bandana. Behind her is a small room, a window with a red curtain in front of it, and her exercise equipment on a mat on the floor.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 29/08/2023

Realized that I was going to finish class a little early today, so I decided to explain the heat death of the universe (which oddly made sense in context). I watched their brains melt and then they had ALL the questions. So we ended on time! Win. 🧪🛰️👩🏻‍🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 24/08/2023

I did it! I taught my first class (on planetary astrophysics) as an assistant professor with no major catastrophes! And now I would like to pass out please. 🛰️🧪👩🏻‍🔬

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 22/08/2023

🎶 On the second day of classes, my new school gave to me: A massive power outage (from a down transmission line) and everything is now cancelled! 🎶 Good thing I built some "slip days" into my syllabus. Weeee!! 🙃

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 21/08/2023

Ah, the first day of classes -- a day for new experiences and meeting new people. A day to get back to teaching and kick off this wild journey. A day to have a three hour orientation on job benefits. A day to be told I don't have insurance until Oct 1.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 15/08/2023

Guess who is starting her first day as an assistant professor at LSU? Hint: It's me.

Natalie is framed in the center of the photo with the LSU Tiger stadium in the background. She is wearing a white blouse with a blue flower pattern. She also has a very silly, open mouthed expression...as if to say "Guess what?!"

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 13/08/2023

Is Lasagna wearing a little fur hat made of his own fur that I brushed only today because that's how fluffy he is? Yes, he is. Happy Sunday from a dapper Lasagna.

Lasagna the cat (an orange 3 year old cat named in honor of Garfield) is on the floor under a small table, next to a window. He looks very handsome because he is a handsome boy. Today his handsomeness is accented by a small, light orange bower style hat, that fits just between his ears. The hat is rather fuzzy, because it's made of Lasagna's own fur.

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Dr. Natalie Hinkel @nataliehinkel.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

I wanna know the results of the Pioneers proposals!! 4 weeks ago there was a rumor we'd hear "any day now." No word. So do we get $20M to build and fly an IR spectrograph on a balloon around Antarctica to get M-dwarf abundances (the SAKHMET mission)? Or are we reapplying in March? 🔭🧪

Classic Anakin-Padme meme where Anakin is labeled as "NASA" in the first panel. Padme asks, "Pioneers today, right?" Anakin doesn't respond. In the last panel, Padme asks again, "Right?"

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