Sign in

Dr. Sierra Ferguson

@saturnsierra.bsky.social
529 followers 687 following 268 posts

Planetary Scientist/ Runner/ Baker/ Climber (she/her)

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Jess Keating @jesskeatingbooks.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Hey yeah, friendly reminder that men denying or minimizing the work of women and taking credit for it themselves happens so much we have a NAME for it. (It’s the Matilda Effect.) 2nd fun fact: I’ve written many bios of women in STEM at this point and this is *always a factor in their history*
8363123
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
56119723555
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
For the second fiscal year in a row, NASA awarded ~20% fewer grants than the recent historical average. That's about 500 fewer grants going out to scientists around the country.
Line chart showing the running sum of new grant awards in FY 2026 compared to the average between 2021-2025, which is about 20% higher.
34724
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
The Verge @theverge.com · 02/09/2026
As a new Harry Potter trailer makes the rounds, it bears repeating that there’s no way to watch this show without supporting J.K. Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on the trans community.
theverge.com
There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series
You can’t without supporting Rowling’s transphobic bigotry.
367201329888
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
No shit, when I was “recovering” from my knockout case of Omicron and beginning treatment for PASC, a researcher looked at my records, saw Moderna there, tapped it with a finger and said, there’s every chance you owe Dolly Parton your life. I loved her before and I love her still.
249287
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dan Larremore @danlarremore.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
🎉 New paper (and data) on editorial & peer review at Science and Science Advances, two elite general science journals. With a wonderful team! @samzhang.bsky.social, @nicklaberge.bsky.social, Quinten and @aaronclauset.bsky.social. 1/ www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Screenshot of the title page: 

Elite general science journals shape scientific discourse, public policy, and scientific careers. However, expectations of confidentiality in most editorial proceedings has limited efforts to understand and improve the review process. Here, we describe and release deidentified data on 110,303 manuscript submissions over 5 years at Science and Science Advances, two elite general science journals. Analyzing evaluation dynamics across the initial editorial review and subsequent peer review stages, we find strong selective effects associated with higher institutional prestige, larger team size, and certain topics and countries. Corresponding authors who are men exhibit a small but significant advantage at Science, while authors based in China have a significant disadvantage. These associations are generally stronger in editorial review than in peer review, even as final editorial decisions correlate strongly with reviewer advice. These patterns highlight the complexity of multistage evaluations at elite journals and the importance of open data to better understand them.
39439
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
🚨URGENT ADVOCACY ACTION - We can pause OMB's harmful rewrite of grant rules that insert political appointees into the funding process, but only if enough of us speak up THIS WEEK. 🚨 This is our best shot before senators leave for August recess. Send your letter: www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...
planetary.org
Advocacy Action Center
The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.
03024
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Aftermath @aftermath.site · 27/07/2026
Stop talking to me, Google search aftermath.site/google-search-...
A google search bar with the words "please leave me alone"
1362995
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Came for the Adobe hating, stayed for the photoshop alternative!
010
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Grant Stoner @supercrip1994.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
With layoffs at Xbox, sources indicate accessibility efforts have also been affected. What was once a champion of accessibility is now a shell of its former self, unsure if accessibility even has a place at the new Xbox. Read my first report for @aftermath.site here: aftermath.site/xbox-layoffs...
aftermath.site
Layoffs Leave The Future Of Xbox’s Award-Winning Accessibility Efforts In Doubt
Former workers say Xbox cuts leave less resources and experts to make sure games are developed, labelled, and tested with accessibility in mind
5447227
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Kat Volk @katvolk.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Y’all. There is still one hour left if you haven’t submitted your comment yet. Their website says 340k submitted comments as of yesterday (only 52k posted so far). But if your comment isn’t among them, there’s still a very little bit of time!
014
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The Planetary Society has submitted its official response to the OMB's proposed rules change to federal grantmaking. We believe the changes would result in concrete harms to The Planetary Society and to the public. We recommended that the fully OMB withdraw this proposal.
23213
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
If you have time to browse bluesky this weekend, you have time to submit your comment on the proposed OMB rule to politicize science funding agencies. This one is important. Here's my comment if some inspiration will help. 🧪 scienceforeveryone.science/submit-your-...
scienceforeveryone.science
Submit your OMB comment this weekend.
This one is important. It's due on Monday.
9173128
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Who should decide what science gets funded: scientists or political appointees? Right now, it's scientists. A new OMB rule would hand that power to political appointees instead. Comment by July 13 to stop it. ⬇️ www.planetary.org/ombgrantrules
planetary.org
Advocacy Action Center
The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.
3187103
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Check out the cool work some of my friends just finished up!
151
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Kat Volk @katvolk.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Reminder that there is just one week left to post your comments about the OMB's disastrous proposed rule changes to federal grants: www.regulations.gov/document/OMB... (there's a handy guide about it from the @planetarysociety.bsky.social that can help you planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/pdfs/...)
regulations.gov
Regulations.gov
067
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Ash Parrish, Kotaku's LeBron James @adashtra.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
the horrors persist, but so do we chat, so do we Trans Rights
41233331
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 02/07/2026
🧪 Members of the scientific community: the comment window is still open.
13627
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Alex Elizabeth Byrne McMillan @undeniablyalex.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
YOU’RE LISTENING TO SISYPHUS FM, THE HOME OF NON-STOP ROCK
6115448116364
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
You may have heard about the OMB rule change that will put politics over federal grants. However bad you think it is? It's probably worse. Thanks to @theverge.com for letting me report this one out. There is still time to comment. bit.ly/4v2X4nQ
bit.ly
The war against ‘woke’ could end US science as we know it
“Everyone will be affected, not just scientists. Every community in the country.“
311363788
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Stellbound: Stellraiser II @antlervel.vet · 21/11/2025
ASTRONAUT: Houston, we are back in visual range. Feasting our eyes on that big blue marble :) MISSION CONTROL, OFF MIC: Oh fuck. Oh fuck. They’re supposed to see EARTH. Why can they see a huge marble?? Fuck. Fuck! They must’ve got shranked by space rays. Goddamn space rays made them so teeny! Fuck!!
1070099
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/06/2026
I want fewer publications with worse graphics made by scientists who are paid more to work less and I’m not kidding
13510
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/06/2026
You cannot have an "equal partnership with AI"! That is not possible to do because AI cannot think, and thus cannot enter into a partnership of any kind! This is also why you should not be "leveraging" LLMs to teach!! Please just do your job regular-style, I am BEGGING you.
23611
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
I definitely saw number 3 when I was reviewing something and it was so disheartening.
1195
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Divya (🔔 logged out) @divyampersaud.com · 17/06/2026
Mkay pals we’re ✨ hopemaxxing ✨ Yall already know Spark, a youth-led mutual aid project in Gaza City. They’re hosting dozens of high school students prepping for exams this month! We’re collecting YOUR notes of encouragement for these amazing kids! Send hope: form.jotform.com/261667705466...
A graphic stylized as yellow notepaper with a hand-drawn grid and purple hearts down the margin. Large purple text says: Send notes of encouragement to kids in Gaza studying for their exams! Orange text says: tiny.cc/sparkstudents, with a drawn arrow pointing at it. In the corner is a logo of a colorful lightbulb with the caption “Spark Space.”
44741
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
AGU Science Policy @aguscipolicy.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
🚨Proposed OMB rule could let political appointees override peer review, cancel grants mid-project, ban certain research topics, restrict publishing and more.🚨 Stand up for science! Learn more and use our resources to submit a public comment today ⬇️ agu.quorum.us/campaign/163...
agu.quorum.us
Stop OMB From Erasing Federal Research
A new proposed rule rewrites the terms of U.S. science
01110
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Truly lessons from video game development that can be ported to many different industries.
000
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
HALF of all federally funded clinical trials would be “illegal” under the new OMB rule. LEAVE YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT AND YELL AT YOUR CONGRESS CRITTERS.
18881471
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Bríd 🇮🇪🇵🇸🇺🇦 @brid.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Obsessed with this 1735 illustration of hammerhead sharks from Japan
As per Wikipedia: Hammerhead shark illustration from 1735, Japan, from the Illustrated Guide to the Products of Oki Province
7157681297
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Planetary Crater Consortium @planetarycraters.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Come join us in Flagstaff!
013
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
If anyone happens to be at #JpGU26 - #AGU joint meeting in Japan and has questions about publishing with JGR Planets, please feel free to reach out and come chat! I’m an associate editor for Planets and would be happy to answer any questions related to publishing’
Photo showing an AGU Editor badge ribbon with AGU post-it notes and pen.
041
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Ethan Plaut @ethanplaut.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
“…hallucinated references disproportionately assign credit to already prominent and male scholars, suggesting that LLM-generated errors may reinforce existing inequities in scientific recognition…” 🧪 arxiv.org/abs/2605.07723
arxiv.org
LLM hallucinations in the wild: Large-scale evidence from non-existent citations
Large language models (LLMs) are known to generate plausible but false information across a wide range of contexts, yet the real-world magnitude and consequences of this hallucination problem remain p...
13429160
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Michael Busch @michael-w-busch.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
The National Academies literally exist so that scientists and engineers who understand science and engineering better than elected officials & their appointees do are available to report on those things. Yet again, USA: Require that Congress do its job, end all of this, and #ImpeachTrump.
213356
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 11/05/2026
"Scientists don't want you to know-" Buddy there are so many things I, as a scientist, want you to know and the only thing stopping me from writing more papers and posts about it and then starting a podcast to tell you even MORE things is that I am limited by hours in the day
5508116
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Tony 🎃👻 @shintonty.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
hey man can you just walk into my suspiciously boss-arena sized room. don't worry about the save point outside that's just to give you a break haha. just walk in. walk into this room right now
1144082038
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Emily Hunt @emily.space · 30/04/2026
instead of "planet" or "dwarf planet", we instead could have: 🪨 tiny rock (comets, asteroids, etc) 🌑 smol rock (makemake to mercury) 🌍 earth-like rock (mars upto a bit bigger) 🌕 super-rock 🔵 mini gas fren (neptune, uranus) 🪐 gas fren! (saturn, jupiter) 🟤 large gas fren!!!
811318
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Whenever I'm asked about Pluto this is the response I give. Pluto is such an incredible world in its own right and that's what people should see instead of this endless classification debate.
0123
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I don't often post about my reality TV show thoughts, but tonight's Survivor showed me why Jimmy Fallon is my least favorite of the late night Jimmys 🫠.
010
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Planetary Crater Consortium @planetarycraters.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Happy Earth Day! The Earth has hundreds of confirmed impact craters, which provide a key reference point for impact cratering research. Field and laboratory studies of terrestrial impact craters are a key part of how we learn about craters, including how they form and decay through time.
Meteor Crater from the southeast; the uplift around the rim can be seen. USGS/D. Roddy.Popigai impact structure in northern Siberia, Russia. Satellite image of South Africa's Vredefort Crater.The Sudbury impact crater is the large, elliptical structure in this image (60 x 30 km).
2188
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 22/04/2026
Instead of doomering about the NASA budget proposal, I am going to focus on the fact that it's Earth Day and the Earth has many excellent impact craters. My top 3 are Meteor Crater, Manicouagan, and (of course) Chicxulub, but there's a whole lot of excellent craters out there.
Image taken of Meteor Crater by the NASA Earth Observatory. It is a simple bowl-shaped crater ~0.737 miles (1.186 km) across. It is notably not circular but rather a bit polygonal - it looks a little more like a square. The Manicouagan reservoir (also known as the Manicouagan Impact Structure) in Quebec, a massive crater formed by a Late Triassic impact by a meteor 5 km diameter. The crater is a multiple-ring structure about 100 km (60 mi) across, with the reservoir at its 70 km (40 mi) diameter inner ring being its most prominent feature. It looks cool as shit. The lake and island are clearly seen from space and are sometimes called the "eye of Quebec"A computer-generated gravity map of the Bouguer gravity anomaly showing the immense Chicxulub crater, which resulted from an asteroid impact that is thought to have contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
1411425
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
BREAKING: A jury has found Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be an illegal monopoly that overcharges fans. After the federal government settled the case, 34 states kept pursuing the giant ticket and concert company. Now, the states have won.
143108382561
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I was going through my box of notebooks and binders from undergrad in prep for moving over to a condo and I found this paper from my brief foray into heliophysics during my REU. So wild to see this now that @craig.deforest.org is one of my coworkers!
Highlighted paper titled “Solar Coronal Structure and St ay Light in TRACE.
130
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Isaiah D. Colbert @shineyezehuhh.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Louder for the people in the back.
"Remember this, witch lady. The people that restrict your learning only seek to control you."
037041523
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 02/04/2026
How do we cherish the Moon? How can we best love the Moon? Good questions to ask when considering what it might be like to "return" to the Moon with people!
Slightly oblique view of crater Schiller on the Moon. The rim of Schiller has an elongated shape that makes it more like an oval than a circle.Plato crater on the Moon taken by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, made with Wide Angle Camera. Plato has a very wide, flat floor that makes it look like an ice skating rink.Wargentin is an unusual lunar impact crater, which has been filled to its rim with basaltic lava, forming a raised plateau. Because its floor is raised above the surrounding terrain, it looks like a pancake on the moon. Crater Gassendi (diam. 110 km) on the Moon, on the border of Mare Humorum. Gassendi A, a smaller crater, perches on its northern rim. The floor is covered in an array of fractures.
2153
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 02/04/2026
Many of us have the Moon/space exploration on the mind, and I encourage folks to consider how we want to explore the Moon in the context of how we interact with treasured places on the Earth, like the Grand Canyon. I think about these pictures I took of moonrise from inside the canyon often.
The full Moon rising over Grand Canyon. It is partially covered by the rim of the canyon. The setting sun illuminates the top of the canyon while the rest is in deep shadow.A zoomed-out version of the previous image. The Moon is rising slowly above the canyon but still partially covered by canyon rim. The Colorado river is now in the frame, a brilliant turquoise blue reflecting the shadows of the setting sun. The lower layers of the canyon are in reds, greens, and yellows.Moonrise over Grand Canyon has progressed, and the Moon is now fully rising above the rim of the canyon. Sunset has put most of the canyon in shadow, and the top of the rim is a brilliant red-orange. A thin strip of blue Colorado river peeks out between the rocks.A final picture of the rising full Moon over the canyon as sunset reaches its peak. The full canyon is in shadow, turning the the walls a deeper red and orange. The Colorado river looks almost green at the bottom of the canyon. The sky is fades from blue to orangish-pink
15813
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 26/03/2026
The actual reality of what’s going on with NASA is a real trip when juxtaposed with what a hit the NASA-saturated “Project Hail Mary” film seems to be. I wonder how many people who enjoyed the film are aware of just how much this admin has shanked all the cool real-world research it featured.
181548433
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 25/03/2026
The PCC is a great community organization for those of us on the cratering side of planetary science! For students, their annual meeting is a wonderful and friendly place to present new work. Check them out!
082
Reposted by Dr. Sierra Ferguson
Aftermath @aftermath.site · 25/03/2026
Games Done Quick's long, difficult journey to a better gaming future aftermath.site/games-done-qui...
51035360
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I've been playing through Final Fantasy 9 for the first time and it's truly such a treat to experience. The NPC names are fantastic, with "Jobless Jeff" being one of the standouts for sure 🫡. Jobless Jeff trying to figure out what comes next at South Gate
131
Dr. Sierra Ferguson @saturnsierra.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Devastated to learn that what I thought was helping with clenching my jaw (chewing gum) was actually making it worse by strengthening the muscles 🥲.
130