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Rob Lillis: the Irishman leading NASA's ESCAPADE mission.

This is v. interesting from @keithcowing.bsky.social Stoer Group is a really clever analogue for Jezero Crater's Bright Angel formation, predating plant life. We have nice reduction spots in Dingle's Devonian Old Red Sandstone - but 500 MY younger. astrobiology.com/2026/10/01/n...

(A) Location of study area in NW Scotland and position of Outer Hebrides thrust fault (OHFZ). (B) Geological map of NW Scotland showing Stoer Group and location of geochronology sample locations. (C) Geologic map at Bay of Stoer showing location of Stac Fada Member sample 14SF03 used in this study. Latitude and longitude are given in decimal degrees (WGS84). Samples GY96-2, GY96-11, GY96-55, and GY96-62 (Rainbird et al., 2001), samples 15BSK001, 15BSK006, 15BSK008, and 15BSK009 (Kenny et al., 2019), and samples LL-02 and LL-09 (Lebeau et al., 2020) are also denoted as white circles. Ar-Ar samples reported by Parnell et al. (2011) are denoted as green circles.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 18h

Sad to hear of the death of my friend and colleague @news.rte.ie Andy Sheppard - a survivor of the (Allied) blitz of Berlin. An intensely serious journalist, peerless in his analysis of European affairs. Yet he had a childlike delight in mischief of all sorts. www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

rte.ie

Former RTÉ Foreign Editor, Andrew Sheppard, dies aged 88

Former RTÉ Foreign Editor and London Correspondent Andrew, or Andy, Sheppard has died.

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Commissioner for Human Rights @commissionerhr.coe.int · 25/09/2026

I am alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Oleshky, a town in the temporarily occupied parts of the Kherson region of Ukraine. 1/4 #humanrights #Ukraine #Oleshky #Kherson #humanitarianlaw

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Astonishing lapse in fact-checking @nytimes.com . What next, "FDR, America's forgotten president" ? Gráinne Mhaol (Grace O'Malley or Granuaile in English) is one of Ireland's most revered historical figures. Her castles dot the Atlantic seaboard. Do better, NYT.

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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Apparently the commander of the International Space Station brought her dancing pants to space with her

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Buíochas ó chroí le Donal Fallon as an ómós máistriúil a thug sé do Frank McDonald. Bheadh Frank an-sásta leis. Many thanks to Donal Fallon for his lovely tribute to Frank McDonald. Frank would be very very pleased! podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/t...

podcasts.apple.com

A Tribute to Frank McDonald (1950-2026)

Podcast Episode · Three Castles Burning · 7 September · 36min

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Met Eireann - ireland's excellent weather service - has issued a Status Orange warning. This is not a joke. People in affected areas should pay attention. I repeat, this is not a joke 😂

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

OTD in 1966 Ireland changed forever: Education Minister Donogh O’Malley announced Ireland’s Free Education Scheme. He told nobody in the Cabinet, and he certainly didn't tell the bishops. Irish students' stellar performance in this week's PISA report is part of his legacy.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Nice to see Ireland dominating the cover of the "latest" UK space strategy 😬.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

This indeed is very big news. I feel sure that Baron George Gabriel Stokes of Skreen in County Sligo would be much amused. He was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics (think Stephen Hawking) for most of the 1800s. @dculibrary.bsky.social named a building after him @dias.ie

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

My selfie tonight with "the other woman" at #EPSC . I mean of course the other woman who was passed over for a Nobel prize, while her male colleagues basked in the glory. In one case, there is still time to repair that 😉. @dias.ie @europlanetmedia.bsky.social

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DutchSpace @dutchspace.eurosky.social · 05/09/2026

Meanwhile Isar Aerospace is going to have another go at trying to launch their Spectrum Mission ‘Onward and Upward' tonight at 20:00 UTC Subject to weather, safety and range clearance. Stream: www.youtube.com/live/Ss1DUqL... Source: Isar Aerospace on the other site.

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Joe Callingham @astrojoe.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

ASTRON is excited to advertise two positions: the Bell Burnell Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher in Space Weather. Both positions are due 6th of November. Let me know if you have any questions! Bell-Burnell Fellow Ad: aas.org/jobregister/... Radio Star Postdoc Ad: aas.org/jobregister/...

aas.org

Bell Burnell Postdoctoral Fellowship | American Astronomical Society

ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, is proud to invite applicants to apply for the Bell Burnell Postdoctoral Fellowship. The fellowship is named in honour, and with support of, Dame...

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Thomas Appéré @thomasappere.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Phobos, la destination de la sonde japonaise MMX, photographiée par le rover Perseverance depuis la surface de Mars.

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Rêves d'espace @revesdespace.eurosky.social · 28/08/2026

🧑🏻‍🚀 CSS : Zhu Yangzhu et Zhang Zhiyuan de la mission #Shenzhou23 ont réalisé une sortie spatiale ce 28 août. Pendant 5,5 heures, ils ont effectué des opérations de maintenance sur l'un des panneaux solaires et installé des dispositifs de protection contre les débris

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Sophie is now in a classic EVA "surge" - the 4th @esa.int astro to do at least 3-in-a-row. And three of the four were French 🤔. Surges make sense: cutting many hours off the prep time for each individual EVA.

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Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 21/08/2026

#FridayLidar of The King’s Stables: an artificial pool from Bronze Age Ireland. Containing fragments of sword moulds, articulated animal remains and a portion of a human skull, it may have been a place for the deposition of votive offerings. 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

Lidar image of a circular pool filled with water, flanked by earthen banks.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

When America sneezes, Ireland and Britain catch a cold. For aspiring science writers pitching to outlets in "these islands" , the best advice I can give is to join either @istja.ie or @absw.bsky.social . My humble opinion: the future of science journalism depends on such organisations

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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

JAXA has announced Oct. 20 as the launch date for the Martian Moons eXploration mission (MMX). Such a cool expedition: it will study the moons Phobos and Deimos, then return a sample of Phobos to Earth. NASA built one of the spacecraft's instruments. global.jaxa.jp/press/2026/0...

Illustration showing the MMX robotic spacecraft near the small, lumpy moon Phobos above Mars. MMX has a pair of solar panels, landing struts, and a robotic arm. Credit: JAXA

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Historic moment: the first French woman to conduct a space walk! This one is real grunt work, as in: there's a lot of grunting going on to unscrew sticky cable connectors. (The dish antenna is in "birdbath mode", locked in position facing "up" away from the space station)

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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Astronomers! STScI just advertised vacancies for ESA/AURA Astronomer positions. These are 50/50 mission support/research positions, funded by ESA via an AURA contract (so you don't need to be an ESA member state citizen). Full details here: recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/...

recruiting2.ultipro.com

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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

have we tried releasing the beavers into capitalism

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Luca Malatesta @geoluca.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Very interesting, thanks for the clip. At that site, we measured 90cm drop to the west and 105cm fault parallel. Report here: irides.tohoku.ac.jp/media/files/... And a colleague found the likely original footage on threads: www.threads.com/@m.m.s.k.a.a...

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

A good friend has just pointed out that my very modest photo looks like the Ukrainian flag 🇺🇦 . I am reposting it in honour of our remarkable Captain, who made the photo possible: Viacheslav Kolesnykov, of Ambassador Cruise Lines' "Ambition" . As I said: Ukrainians know no fear.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Dodging icebergs in the Denmark Strait, just off the coast of Greenland. Viacheslav Kolesnykov, the Ukrainian captain of Ambassador Cruise Lines' "Ambition" - with his crew and with @avertedvision.bsky.social - did extraordinary work finding maybe the only gap in the clouds. Respect!

A post-eclipse view of an iceberg as we head back into the cloudbank. It was way closer than it looks 😳

This is my pathetic effort on an iPhone 6e. With eclipse glasses in front of the lens. Don't zoom in too closely, because you will be disappointed: rolling of the ship and of yours truly did not help! But there will be spectacular pictures from this ship.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Typically thoughtful piece from the legendary John Flannery of the Irish Astronomical Society. A proud Nenagh man!

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Research Ireland @researchireland.ie · 11/08/2026

Dr Laura Hayes from @dias.ie discusses research on solar flares and space weather, and how the @royalsociety.org - Research Ireland University Research Fellowship has had an impact on her career to date. Applications remain open until 9th September - see more: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGRc...

youtube.com

Dr Laura Hayes - Royal Society – Research Ireland University Research Fellowship

YouTube video by Research Ireland

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DIAS Dunsink Observatory @diasdunsink.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

"Why can't I look at the sun during the eclipse?" is a question we have been getting a lot so with only a few days to go we wanted to answer this very important question! 😎 @dias.ie @researchireland.ie

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

@irishtimes.com I would've thought they have bigger problems.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This seems to very nicely align with the elongated "smudge" in the LUTI image, which I read as evidence of an oblique impact. There are hints of directionality.

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ESO @eso.org · 05/08/2026

Earlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact. 🔭 🧪 📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al. 1/4

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Kirsty Grainger @kirstygrainger.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Earlier this year UKRI launched a funding call to invest £40M in ONE AI lab. www.ukri.org/opportunity/... For some unknown reason they decided to fund TWO AI labs at the cost of £60M. An extra £20M. Just found. That's the equivalent of 7 more years of Jodrell Bank. www.ukri.org/news/ukri-la...

ukri.org

UKRI launches two AI research labs to stay ahead in global race

Two new labs will back British researchers to develop next generation artificial intelligence (AI) systems, helping secure the UK’s position as a global leader.

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Josef Aschbacher @josefaschbacher.esa.int · 26/07/2026

My teams have completed all necessary checks and testing of the Cebreros station. After careful review, we have declared the antenna GREEN for nominal operations as of 27 July.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

This extraordinary project to make an Apennine village unshakable is mentioned en passant in today's Saturday FT [Postcard from Italy: in the flower fields of Castelluccio]. The ghost of seismology founder Robert Mallet is smiling. @dias.ie @financialtimes.com crocee.grad.hr/event/2/cont...

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Honorary Irishman - and more particularly Corkman - doing his bit for US democracy. Dan Tani doesn't have to buy a pint in Kinsale!

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David @puca.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Extent of the gorse fire in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains, visible in Sentinel 2 false colour.

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

They buried the UK Space Agency (inside DSIT)* Now they are abolishing DSIT ? *I say they "abolished" UKSA, but am called to task by Brit space industry types. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

theguardian.com

Andy Burnham’s plan to scrap technology department triggers backlash

MPs and industry experts say potential reorganisation will waste time at critical moment for AI and economic growth

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Leo Enright @ollopa11.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Lovely coverage of the late great Brenda Fricker. The video and audio is worth checking out. Réalta nach n-imeoidh choíche.

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