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Rachel Rayner

@raynerexplainer.bsky.social
417 followers 49 following 68 posts

Science Communicator, performer, comedian, podcaster, writer, sometime poet. She/her

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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Anyone want to see my brain? We'll be talking brain imaging and statistics in our Sunday show for @melbcomedyfestival.bsky.social. Tickets are free, but you'll need to register: www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows...
A moving mri image of the brain. Text reads: I'm so grossed out by this, but at the same time it's so cool. What we can do in medical science is incredible."
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Can't wait for this exploration of science and art crossovers to foster some beautiful moments of creativity. #sciencepoetry
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
New ep! Corey Tutt, founder of DeadlyScience, knows the power of representative educational resources & role models. "Indigenous kids used to say they wanted to be a deadly footballer now they want to be a deadly scientist.” Hear Corey's story & his steadfast vision to make STEM a place for all.
Man with glasses discusses a book with students at a school
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Thanks for the shout out @scienceinpublic.bsky.social!
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
There be nerds here... especially as the new episode of Australian Highlights has an #LOTR connection... australianhighlights.com.au/vanessamoss #ASKAP #SAURON @iamseizure.bsky.social
Text panel that reads: AH reaction ten, "Goddamn nerds." Seizure KaiserA telescope dish in the outback under a starry sky
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Something beautiful for the weekend: the story of Harriet & Helena Scott. Dr Vanessa Finney, Australian Museum, shares the lives & works of our first professional female illustrators & how they continue to inspire: australianhighlights.com.au/scottsisters Image: Watercolour by Harriet Scott.
Finely detailed image of three moths and a caterpillar amongst a flowering gum. A sketch of colonial Sydney in the background. At the bottom are sketches of antenna and legs
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Ah! Just remembered I have to do the splits on stage for the New Zealand International Science Festival in June... not sure that range of motion exists anymore...why do I do this to myself??!
media.tenor.com
a man wearing shorts and an anchor saloon shirt stands in front of a large t
ALT: a man wearing shorts and an anchor saloon shirt stands in front of a large t
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
New episode in time for #IWD where I get to talk to @astrokatross.bsky.social about the work of #IncludeHer - giving credit where credit is due for the science we're learning about today. australianhighlights.com.au/katross
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Tomorrow at Adelaide Fringe!
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Say what???! This Saturday in Adelaide, we discuss past and future innovators, and the joy of storytelling. It's free and you don't need a ticket! Come to... I forget... Ah, just google it: Australian Highlights Adelaide Fringe...if the copy-paste isn't too fiddly.
Text: the impact of AI - cognitive offloading - will have some bearing on whether we've got a hope in he'll of doing any sort of useful innovating. - Mark ThomsonPictures of guests Claire Ford and Mark ThomsonText: our ability to think critically may atrophy horribly - Mark Thomson on the rise of LLMs and AI.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
👀
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Join us on Sun, 9 Feb at 7:30pm, Scitech for an exploration of the questions tackled by science communicators everyday: 🎓What makes someone an expert & how do we know? 🧪Do people trust scientists & what is trust anyway? 📑Why can't we just educate people? #SciComm #Fringe
Woman with dark hair in white shirt in a natural landscape smiles at the camera.Image of text: AH Moment Live
"That experience really opened my eyes to the disconnect between sci comm research and practice."
Dr Heather Bray
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
#Perth! It's Fringe season! Tickets still available to the LIVE launch events for the series Australian Highlights this weekend: fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/aus...
fringeworld.com.au
Australian Highlights - Live | FRINGE WORLD Festival - 17 Jan to 16 Feb 2025
The Australian Highlights podcast and article series is the place where we find the innovative people and ideas which are not – yet! – common knowledge. Join us for a live recording where we'll be bri...
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Two episodes of my new podcast series, Australian Highlights, is launching Saturday, 8 February. Our exceptional highlight is innovator Mik Jade, one of the most amazing people I've had the privilege to speak to.
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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · 15/01/2025
Check out this new cosmic weirdo discovered using @csiro.bsky.social's ASKAP telescope! It spins so slowly that you could watch both the Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers and still have time leftover before it finishes a full rotation Read more: theconversation.com/blinking-rad...
theconversation.com
Blinking radio pulses from space hint at a cosmic object that ‘shouldn’t exist’
The slowest ‘cosmic lighthouse’ ever found challenges our understanding of how neutron stars work.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Instagram's Twitter-like fall begins...
Instagram notification list that reads "elonmusk.625 has started following you"
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Using new, advanced telescopes like CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope has shown this supernova remnant to be closer than previously thought. Discovered in 1988, G278.94+1.35 is estimated to be 8,800 light years away. Now, this figure is at 3,300 light years. Credit: Filipović et al., 2024
A wobbly bubble expands from a central point. Dots are scattered across the background, each one another galaxy.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
Our trailer is here! Give it a listen and subscribe on your favourite podcast app! australianhighlights.com.au/trailer
australianhighlights.com.au
Australian Highlights
and celebrating the people behind them
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Last minute Chrissy gift for the Perth set? Why not tickets to Fringe World? Why not this show... Across two nights of laughter with Perth's finest thinkers, discover the fields where Australia is leading the way: we'll head into space on Sat, 8 Feb, then bring science to life on Sun, 9 Feb.
fringeworld.com.au
Australian Highlights - Live | FRINGE WORLD Festival - 17 Jan to 16 Feb 2025
The Australian Highlights podcast and article series is the place where we find the innovative people and ideas which are not – yet! – common knowledge. Join us for a live recording where we'll be bri...
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Prof Sam Illingworth @samillingworth.com · 17/12/2024
Issue 19 of the science, poetry, & art journal Consilience, has just been published! This issue features poetry and artwork that explores the scientific topic of ‘Insects’. www.consilience-journal.com/issue-19 #SciComm #SciArt 🧪 #Poetry
consilience-journal.com
Consciousness (Issue 19) — Consilience
Issue 19 of Consilience features poetry and artwork that explores the topic of 'insects'.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
I've been hiding away working on a big project that I'm so nervous about! It's a podcast and article series that I'll be touring around the festivals next year. It's also online at www.australianhighlights.com.au
Dark green square with text: Australian Highlights, our stories of innovation with host Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer. Launching 8 Feb
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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 14/08/2024
We've heard of spiral galaxies, elliptical galaxies, lenticular galaxies, even irregular galaxies. BUT HAVE YOU HEARD OF CORKSCREW GALAXIES?! Awesome work from CSIRO friends using #ASKAP. @raynerexplainer.bsky.social covers: www.instagram.com/p/C-myBWpMJR... academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... 🔭🧪📡
academic.oup.com
ASKAP reveals the radio tail structure of the Corkscrew Galaxy shaped by its passage through the Abell 3627 cluster
ABSTRACT. Among the bent-tail radio galaxies common in galaxy clusters are some with long, collimated tails (so-called head-tail galaxies) shaped by their
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 19/05/2024
My goodness, what a fucking fantastic night. You guys were amazing! Thank you for coming, you absolutely made it a blast.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 10/05/2024
Calling all nerds, dorks and the curious... come hang out with me (described as Dr Karl meets Barbie) next weekend - there will be puns, jabs at the patriarchy, yoga and quantum physics!! Tix: sydneycomedyfest.com.au/event/rachel-r…
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 31/03/2024
Happy Easter to all those who celebrate! Especially to those who celebrate the hatching of the Bunny from the Egg. A famously mammalian thing to do.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 28/03/2024
Anyone here have Melb International Comedy Festival recommendations, or something they would love to go to but just can't make?
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 22/03/2024
Alright - what's your favourite science puns? Next week is the Victorian debut of my show, Atomically Correct for the Melb Int Comedy show. I can't wait to share my fave quantum puns and atomic entendre. Tickets: www.comedyfestival.com.au/2024/shows/a...
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 17/03/2024
It was so awesome to introduce to this crazy, zany world. Thank you for coming along and being so awesome on stage! 🤩
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 15/02/2024
A man on the street told me I had a lucky face, but I needed to think less. Did not ask me to smile though!
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 28/01/2024
Cheap science comedy tickets for Melbourne! Ends 31 Jan (that's Tuesday) www.comedyfestival.com.au/2024/shows/a...
Woman in Golden top holds mirror balls next to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival logo. Text reads: Atomically Correct. "Charm, chaos, and intelligence" - Fringefeed. 6:35pm, 27 Mar - 7 April, DoubleTree by Hilton. EARLY BIRD TICKETS.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 25/01/2024
My ex had an empathy score of sqrt(-1). Imagine!
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 25/01/2024
For any Sydneysiders here wanting a night of science debate, there are still tickets left for Sci-Fight at The Factory! www.factorytheatre.com.au/event/sci-fi...
A grid of seven people with the text: We are Living in a Simulation; Sci Fight Sydney
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 22/01/2024
Does this mean I can describe myself as a "divisive" comedian?
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 30/10/2023
I'm back to the stand up stage this week!
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 26/09/2023
I learnt today that wombats will make time to watch a sunset.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 25/08/2023
Hey Sydney people, My science comedy on language, lies and quantum level realities opens 31 Aug and is playing for 3 nights only for Sydney Fringe. Would love to see you there! "Do yourself a favour - you'll laugh and learn." Dr Karl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - AU Review Tix: sydneyfringe.com/events/atomica…
Poster with text: Atomically Correct, a quantum comedy by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer. 
Logo of Sydney fringe in bottom left corner, and winner wreath from Adelaide Fringe 2022 in top right corner. 
Women in Gold top and Gold lashes looks surprised while holding two disco balls.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 18/08/2023
This wind is not conducive to delivering show posters, but we have made the train relatively unscathed... Sydney Fringe is nearly here!
Hand holds a bag where the tops of posters can be seen. Background is the interior of a Sydney train.
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 22/07/2023
What social media does a horse use? ClipClop.
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Dennis Detwiller @drgonzo123.bsky.social · 06/07/2023
The bard really did coin every phrase...
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Adam Cerious @adamcerious.bsky.social · 07/07/2023
me: what do you know about atoms? them: very little me: besides that
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 07/07/2023
I do hope this is true 😊
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 28/05/2023
Most nebulae are fairly unorganized, but I know a messier one.
Hubble image of the Crab Nebula, the expanding debris from a supernova explosion, and it does look like an explosion. Tendrils of gas reach out from the center, and it has an overall oval shape with gas that's colored red, green, blue, and orange. The French astronomer Charles Messier (mezz-ee-ay) made this the first entry in his famous catalog, and we still call it Messier 1.

Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester and A. Loll (Arizona State University)
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Rachel Rayner @raynerexplainer.bsky.social · 02/07/2023
Beautifully pairing the ex's khaki shirt with a lavender turtle neck today. Using the spoils of war well.
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Sophia Gad-Nasr @astropartigirl.bsky.social · 29/06/2023
Wow, you know how we have an image of the Milky Way in various bands of light? Now we have a neutrino image of the Milky Way too! How cool! 😀
Milky Way in different wavelengths and neutrinos
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