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Peter Scicluna

@peterscicluna.bsky.social
309 followers 360 following 30 posts

Astronomer, data scientist, underqualified programmer Senior Lecturer in Data Science and Astronomy at the University of Hertfordshire

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Reposted by Peter Scicluna
Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
As expected, the Prime Minister's promise to sort out the mess of funding for Jodrell actually meant nothing - it seems the government would like it to be some sort of heritage theme park when you can go and see where we used to do science. 🔭
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Ryan CrawCour @ryan.crawcour.social · 01/10/2026
BREAKING NEWS: Tensions between Thor and the Care Bears have escalated rapidly overnight.
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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 01/10/2026
The death penalty is a moral abomination. State-sanctioned barbarism pushed by incompetent morons and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Absolute ghoul shit. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
The lone woman on Tennessee's death row was still alive after she was administered two lethal injections, her lawyer said in a motion seeking to halt her execution Wednesday night, a stunning development after the Supreme Court had stepped in to allow the state to put her to death.
At 8:26 p.m. local time, witnesses said
"executioners had injected both syringes of lethal injection chemicals and Pike is still alive and snoring," her lawyers said in a federal court filing.
They said Pike "has not lost consciousness and still has a heartbeat," and that curtains to the death chamber "have gone down twice."
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John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful.

Review process

As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. 

This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review.  Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it.

Feedback on your application

Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage.  To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
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Dr Dave Clements @davecl.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
New NASA far-IR space telescope selected! www.nasa.gov/news-release... This is great news for all IR astronomers!
nasa.gov
NASA Selects Far-Infrared Telescope as First in New Mission Class - NASA
NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to
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Steve Gale @stevewg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Colley Hill, Surrey: coffee break from birding the steep scrub. Love the plaque on the bench I’m sitting on
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John Ma 🇺🇦 @nakhthor.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Why would Edinburgh need Celtic
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Kirsti Miller @kirstimiller30.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
During my upbringing in Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, it was a common sentiment among those I encountered especially our politicians that Australia represented the world's most successful multicultural society.
mckellinstitute.org.au
Why Australia is the world's most successful multicultural society - The McKell Institute
Australia is often referred to as the ‘most successful multicultural country on earth’. But what does this really mean? And how is this success measured?
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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
People - including children - will die. Only a question of how many and when.
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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:
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But Andrew Hickey Died Ten Years Ago This Very Night @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 14/09/2026
None of this covers the real real reason. Twenty years ago, gigs were cheap promotional tools to sell expensive records. Now most people listen to music via streaming and don't buy it, records are free promotional tools for expensive gig tickets.
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Dr. Natalie Mendoza @drmendozan.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
🗃️ Some of us have been saying this for awhile (like Lindsay and OP). It’s simple. Give faculty time and resources to teach, per basic pedagogy practices, no innovation needed. It’s a matter of prioritizing this as necessary for the university to do well as an institution of higher learning.
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Dr. Lindsay Stallones Marshall (she/her) @lindstorian.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Yep. Every university could choose to do this. The solution is shockingly simple - hire enough faculty to keep class sizes small and make sure they have the resources they need.
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Roxana Hadadi @roxana-hadadi.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Help! Parton Community Council has 60 days to raise £70k to buy Parton Kirk (resting place of James Clerk Maxwell). They plan to turn it into a visitor centre celebrating our great hero! The other buyers could turn it into long-term storage 😬 Even £5 would help 🙏🧪⚛️ www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
justgiving.com
Help raise £70000 to Save Parton Kirk – JustGiving Crowdfunding
Iʼm raising money to Save Parton Kirk. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is shocking to hear! Einstein kept a picture of Maxwell on his office wall and admired him more than any other scientist. Every fall I teach a whole course about his work. This is like hearing that Westminster Abbey might be purchased so a new car rental place can built on Newton’s grave.
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Laura Kreidberg @lkreidberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Applications are open for Max Planck Research Groups - these are a great gig: six years of funding with support for the group leader + students and postdocs (up to 2.9 MEuro). Contact me if you have any questions about applying for one hosted at MPIA!
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Markus Pössel @mpoessel.de · 10/09/2026
When we do outreach or education, astronomers frequently claim that public and student interest in astronomy is greater than in other sciences, making it an ideal entry way for science. My article analyzing Wikipedia page views which (somewhat) supports this claim is out in the CAP Journal. 🔭⚛️🧪🎢
capjournal.org
English-speaking Wikipedia users’ interest in astronomy
Wikipedia users’ interest in astronomy is examined using data available for pageviews over the period 2016–2025. Interest, as measured by the level of engagement, is gauged by examining the top 30 ast...
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Clément Canonne @ccanonne.github.io · 08/09/2026
ARC: "Further details on how the assessment process works can be found here." Me: clicks on "here" ARC: haha no @arc-gov-au.bsky.social
After clicking on the "here" in the sentence "Further details on how the assessment process works can be found here", one gets to an official webpage which says


Access denied
You are not authorized to access this page.
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Nick Stroustrup @nstroustrup.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Did you know that the cells of old animals contain much less mRNA than the cells of young ones? Let me share with you some results from an ongoing project in the lab, where we are finding that a progressive depletion of total mRNA abundance is a crucial part of aging 1/22
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Uitlander @uitlander.co.uk · 04/09/2026
Oh? Are we not hounding a corrupt Cambridge Academic this morning? Is it possibly because he is .... [checks notes] ...white and a poster boy for the far right?
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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Rabies is 100% fatal if untreated. Please help spread the word about the exposure at the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo in North Carolina. The vaccine is incredibly effective and will save your life. Also…. Rabies at a petting zoo!?!? www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
nbcnews.com
Four baby goats at mobile petting zoo in North Carolina test positive for rabies
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said the petting zoo held events involving children and elderly people between July 28 and Thursday.
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Kirsti Miller @kirstimiller30.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
There were no trans women athletes at the Paris Olympics. & there is no trans women athletes competing in the WNBA.  So the bigots manufactured them.   www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...
msnbc.com
There are no trans women athletes at the Paris Olympics. So bigots manufactured them.
The true story is much more complex than can be explained clearly in a handful of rage tweets.
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Another UK Prime Minister, this time a Labour one, who has not read the Good Friday Agreement. The Northern Ireland Act also expressly provides there must be a referendum if certain conditions are met.
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Rocketpilot 🇵🇸 @rocketpilot.xyz · 28/08/2026
Now that immigration appears to be the only thing that voters care about, governments everywhere have decided to let higher education collapse. Genuinely depraved from end to end but I can't figure out any other reason for this to be the state of affairs
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Rocketpilot 🇵🇸 @rocketpilot.xyz · 28/08/2026
Seems like western governments had settled into the following position on higher education: Universities are "nice to have", but only if we don't need to fund them, and even then, only while the population isn't insanely negatively polarised against the overseas students that do fund them
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
What will it take to make the would-be oligarchs understand that the money they make ultimately comes from less-wealthy people buying their products, and if all those people have less money to spend, they will also be less well off?
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades idp.nature.com/authorize?re... Donald Trump and Republicans are anti-science and anti-innovation.
idp.nature.com
Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades
The US science-funding agency is withholding $1 billion of its budget so that the money can go to a special White House project.
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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
A windfall tax on the big banks. Support our small businesses.
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mat @matrees.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Funny, isn't it. I can't see this policy announcement at the top of the BBC news homepage. Whereas the big Reform Ltd announcement on Monday was all over their news...
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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The Swift re-boost mission has failed. www.nasa.gov/news-release...
nasa.gov
NASA Updates Next Steps for Commercial Swift Boost Mission - NASA
Due to an ongoing commercial spacecraft attitude control issue, NASA and Katalyst Space announced Wednesday the LINK spacecraft will not capture or boost an
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Heather Paterson @heatherpaterson.co.uk · 18/08/2026
The Russian LGBT Network spent 20 years protecting queer people. Now, branded ‘extremist,’ it’s dissolving itself to protect them.
meduza.io
The Russian LGBT Network spent 20 years protecting queer people. Now, branded ‘extremist,’ it’s dissolving itself to protect them. — Meduza
The Russian LGBT Network, a public movement, announced that it is shutting down, according to a statement its representatives posted on Telegram. The organization said its “extremist” designation made...
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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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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
We are advertising a Lecturer in Radio Astronomy continuing position at @sydney.edu.au! Looking for someone to broaden and complement our existing research in #RadioAstro, and teach undergraduate #Physics. usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E... Deadline October 11th
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com
Lecturer in Radio Astronomy
A full-time Level B continuing position, located on the Camperdown Campus at the School of Physics Exciting opportunity to join one of the leading physics schools in the country, with outstanding staf...
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Benjamin Ibañez @bibanez.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Nothing ominous about UK media doing fascist tropes right after hounding a black academic to suicide.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 15/08/2026
These gloves don't cause neuromuscular incapacitation the way that a taser does. In fact, they only work when applied directly to bare skin. These aren't made for apprehending anyone. These have one and only one use: causing extreme pain to already-restrained captives. In plain language: torture.
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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 15/08/2026
There's actually research on this and it involves scrutiny. If you're Black people are going to look at your work looking for mistakes in a way they would never for white people.
theatlantic.com
Black Workers Really Do Need to Be Twice as Good
African American employees tend to receive more scrutiny from their bosses than their white colleagues, meaning that small mistakes are more likely to be caught, which over time leads to worse perform...
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alyson “october” greaves @badambulist.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The British press will not ever stop.
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A reminder that UGent hired Richard Hanania’s good friend Nathan Cofnas a race scientist to do race science at their university this year. These guys shouldn’t be finding work anywhere. Especially not at prestigious papers and universities.
vrt.be
"IQ hangt samen met ras": dit is Nathan Cofnas, de 'rassenrealist' die ophef veroorzaakt aan UGent | VRT NWS Nieuws
De aanstelling van de Amerikaanse filosoof en ethicus Nathan Cofnas aan de UGent leidt al enkele weken tot beroering. Waarom eigenlijk? Wie is Cofnas, waar komt hij vandaan en welke ideeën predikt hij...
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Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
My uni have just withdrawn Geography, History & Geography and Politics & Geography undergrad courses run from our Penryn campus. Terrible for Cornwall. How did the staff find out? When UCAS clearing opened at 8am 😡
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Not to be some wild-eyed innocent, but I think it should be slightly bigger news that The Lancet have crunched the numbers and found that Musk's USAID cuts will kill 14 million people. And that's just by 2030. That's 9,600 people a day, every day, until the next world cup rolls around.
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
“A whistleblower at Cambridge University who alleged bullying of female staff inside the Institute of Astronomy has won a tribunal against his employer.” This is hopefully a turning point in tackling problem of bullying in academia theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
University of Cambridge whistleblower who reported alleged bullying wins employment tribunal
Prof Wyn Evans, who raised concerns over treatment of female staff at Institute of Astronomy, was subject to ‘baseless’ investigation, judge rules
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Earl Grey Screams Club @earlgreymemes.club · 13/08/2026
curated comic by known author using a scene from DS9 of Miles and Julian having a pint in Quark's; Julian: Ive been feeling like I dont belong. That I don't deserve being where I am and doing what I do; Miles: Ah. The old impostor syndrome. I've been there; Miles: The key is to remind yourself that everyone else is an impostor, too. And you damn well deserve your share in whatever scam they are all running! Julian: Did you... did you just fix impostor syndrome... with spite?! Miles: You wouldnt believe how many things I fix with spite; *Miles and Julian clink glasses*
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Charlynn Schmiedt @ohtheprofanity.com · 08/08/2026
#StarTrekProdigy update from #STLV: Dan and Kevin Hageman, as well as Kate Mulgrew, are fighting for a third season behind the scenes.
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Riding With Robots @ridingrobots.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Maybe the current NASA administrator is a Trumpism true believer. Maybe he's just an Olympic-class bootlicker. Either way, he dishonors the agency every time he uses his official social accounts (in violation of federal law) to praise the most openly corrupt and anti-science White House of all time.
Screenshot of a post on the NASA Administrator's official X account that reposts a Trump admin statement from Marco Rubio advocating for the president's war in IranScreenshot of a post on the NASA Administrator's official X account that reposts Trump claiming the disarmament of HamasScreenshot of a post on the NASA Administrator's official X account advocating for the controversial appointment of Todd Blanche. Screenshot of a post on the NASA Administrator's official X account that reposts claims from Tim Sheehy that the rash of recent forest fires are due to "bad forest management"
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ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
#ARCSenateOrder Jul26: The ARC made no grant recommendations to the Minister in July. See www.arc.gov.au/about/our-organisati… /bot
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Ashley Nova — Unfiltered, Unhinged, Uncaring @ashleynova.space · 08/08/2026
Actually offensive to think this is a good idea at a time when it just became dramatically less safe for trans people to walk the streets in London and use public services.
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Shaily Patel @vox-magica.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
to the folks telling me how shitty higher ed is: yeah, i know. we went through a department closure last AY. you don’t have to tell me things are dire. but i do wish we, as faculty, had massive, totally unreasonable dreams for any future academy. you can do a lot with dreams. i know that too.
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Feena van @feenavan2099.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"A coalition of leftwing councils has agreed to defy new rules around single-sex spaces on the grounds that they are “harmful to the rights of trans people”."
novaramedia.com
Leftwing Councils Pledge to Defy Transphobic Code on Single-Sex Spaces
A coalition of leftwing councils has agreed to defy new rules around single-sex spaces on the grounds that they are “harmful to the rights of trans people”.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
What we should grasp is that this is what Trump is *for*. It's why fossil fuel companies and the ultra-rich backed him. The kleptocracy, the cruelty, the culture wars, all these, while real & grim enough, distract us from seeing the true purpose of his presidency. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump administration to pay German firm $1.22bn to cut offshore wind leases
Agreement with RWE is fifth deal Trump team has made with energy companies, offering payouts to give up projects
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