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Sandpiper

@spg21212.bsky.social
373 followers 605 following 252 posts

Editor. Science writer. Astronomer. Birder.

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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The Cycle 6 JWST Call for Proposals deadline has been extended to October 1, at 5 pm Eastern Time (US). For updates, please check: JWST Help Desk stsci.service-now.com/jwst Late Breaking News at the Call for Proposals jwst-docs.stsci.edu/jwst-opportu... #jwst #astronomy #astronomers
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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 24/04/2026
Well, isn’t this a sight for sore eyes! 😍 Our beloved Hubble appears in this amazing image from one of Vantor's WorldView Legion satellites. It was 36 years ago today that Hubble was launched in the bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Vantor.
A detailed image of the Hubble Space Telescope floating in space, showing its solar panels and cylindrical body in space.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Markarian’s Chain, in Virgo, is such an amazing patch of sky! I imaged it last night with a Nikon Z6II, telephoto lens, and star tracker. In my light-polluted Bortle 7 back yard. There are at least 90 galaxies in the image!
A star field with a black background. In it are many galaxies. The bright ones form a slight curve in the middle of the image. The same image except it is annotated with the names of the galaxies.
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Sarah Sweet @sarahsweet.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
NASA failed to predict the real splashdown risk.
Tabby stands on hind legs with one paw outstretched toward a TV displaying a capsule above water.
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Morgan Moschetti @morganmp.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Southern California folks! Artemis II will splash down off the coast of San Diego a little after 5pm PT tonight. There may be a sonic boom as the spacecraft enters Earth’s atmosphere. If you experience shaking, rattling windows, etc. you can report it here: earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/...
earthquake.usgs.gov
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Whirlpool Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also known as NGC 5194. It is gravitationally bound to its little friend, NGC 5195. Taken with a Nikon Z6II with 400 mm lens and 1.4x extender (focal length 560 mm).
A white swirling galaxy with a small companion galaxy near it, against a backdrop of small stars.
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 24/03/2026
zurl.co/VgkIJ When leading scientists at National health agencies call the HHS Secretary corrupt, we should all be worried. Stand up for public health at the Accessible No Kings 3 Rally hosted by Stand Up for Science on Saturday, March 28th, at 12:30 - 2:00pm CT. standupforscience.net/sufs-nk3
zurl.co
Takeaways From The Times’s Inside Look at the C.D.C.
Many current and former employees say the actions of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are undermining the agency’s role in safeguarding public health.
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Friends Of Midway Atoll (FOMA) @friendsofmidway.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
#Wisdom is back! The world’s oldest known living banded bird, Mōlī (Laysan albatross) queen, has returned to Kuailhelani (Midway Atoll). #Birds
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Sangeeta Malhotra @astrodame.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Nancy Grace Roman telescope is out of the thermal vacuum chamber and getting ready to launch in 2026
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Dr. Jeffrey Kavanaugh 🇨🇦 @jlkavanaugh.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
55 years ago today, the Oregon State Highway Division had a whale of a problem on its hands. How it solved it is the stuff of legends. In other words: Happy Exploding Whale Day!
youtu.be
The Exploding Whale: An infamous moment in Oregon history creates a strangely beloved icon
YouTube video by KATU News
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Peter Morley ♿️ @petermorley.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Here's my full conversation with Congressman @morelle.house.gov My last meeting of the day. I was exhausted, Anjelika was exhausted but we did it ALL for YOU! The Congressman cares a great deal about his constituents & EVERY American & wants to stop the BIG UGLY BILL! www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-9...
youtube.com
Rep. Joe Morelle and Peter Morley
YouTube video by Rep. Joe Morelle
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Whoa! Rubin Observatory ... you first light overachievers!!! 😍🔭
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
For secret reasons, I’m making a list of types of exoplanet. What should I add? My list starts: hot jupiters hot neptunes lava worlds Earth-like places comet-like planets planets around young stars planets around old stars planets around pulsars (eh?) 🔭 🛰️
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Claudio Paganini @thehappyproton.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Kip Thorne's final message in his AEI anniversary lecture.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
#StandUpforScience @standupforscience.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/06/03/c... (gift article)
nytimes.com
The White House Gutted Science Funding. Now It Wants to ‘Correct’ Research.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Today's sun image, dedicated to the memory of Mr. Eclipse, Fred Espenak. RIP. #astrophotography
An orange disk, darker along the edges. There are two clusters opf dark spots on the right. Those are sunspots.
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Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)
NSF, NASA and NIH budgets per year, inflation adjusted from 2000-2025 along with the proposed cuts. NSF includes research component only. Massive cuts across all sectors, well below support spanning 25 years.
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Thinking about devastating cuts to NSF: US gov-funded science has been the engine upon which most of the tech wealth was generated. But the oligarchs (currently hoarding much of that $) think it’s their own brilliance & not the accident of standing close to the scientific engine that made them rich.
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Liz (or Lizzie) Kim 김혜성 💫 @lizzielizliz.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Here’s a video of Bernie Sanders 21 years ago explaining how the Republicans win even though no one likes their policies. How Republicans split and divide and win. #MomSky #Voices4Victory
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.
"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?"
"Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 03/05/2025
Election results in Australia and Canada show that many places emphatically reject the politics of fear, bigotry, and division that have infected the US. You do not have to accept governments that operate on destruction and chaos. Another world is possible!
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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 02/05/2025
The Human Genome Project cost taxpayers $3 Billion. Two decades on, it has generated a staggering return on investment of $1 Trillion, with benefits in medicine, agriculture, energy, the environment, & more. If you want to boost the economy, funding science is one of the best things you could do.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Spiral galaxy Messier 101 is about 21 million light years away, located in the constellation Ursa Major. It has about one trillion stars (1 with 12 zeros), and is almost 3 times the width of the Milky Way. This image was taken with a Nikon mirrorless camera and telephoto lens. #astrophotography
A nebulous white spiral, with some brighter areas and a bright center. The spiral is not symmetrical due to gravitational interactions with nearby companion galaxies (not visible in the image). The background is black and studded with faint foreground stars.
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Foreign Attaché: One of our scientist friends had a grandmother who received this medal from the Nazi state. Non-Jewish mothers received it for birthing 4 or more children. If you think the US administration won’t target certain demographics with incentives, look to history. The vibes will match.
Cross of Honour of the German Mother
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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · 23/04/2025
@mariashriver.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Every woman, should raise their voice about this.  Women’s health research cannot afford to be canceled.
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Mike Brown @plutokiller.com · 21/04/2025
Check out the little asteroid Donaldjohanson. It's about 9 km across and looks like two little blobs connected by a interesting looking little neck. And soooo many craters. Fun stuff. science.nasa.gov/image-articl...
science.nasa.gov
NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Images Asteroid Donaldjohanson - NASA Science
In its second asteroid encounter, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft obtained a close look at a uniquely shaped fragment of an asteroid that formed about 150 million
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 20/04/2025
Breaking: “I DID NOT HAVE SIGNAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN [wife]” -SecDef
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Alexander Howard @digiphile.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
“Most of us will be lost to history, but we will, nonetheless, move the story forward, even if just a little bit. And once in a great while, someone will light a lantern—or even 2—that will shine forth for democratic principles that are under siege, & set the world ablaze”- @hcrichardson.bsky.social
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
April 18, 2025
Tonight I had the extraordinary privilege of speaking at the anniversary of the lighting of the lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church, which happened 250 years ago tonight.
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
I just submitted a budget request for NASA to my Maryland senators following Brett's simple step-by-step instructions. Great weekend project and it won't take long!
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Tom Megeath @megadeath.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The data produced by this group has been an essential resource for so much great science. We use their data and websites to interpret our JWST spectra of protostars. It is exactly the kind of foundational investments the US should be making to advance science. www.change.org/p/oppose-the...
change.org
Sign the Petition
Oppose the layoff of the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group
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Sarah Hörst @planetdr.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Sarah’s rules of looking for life with only chemical signatures: 1) the smaller the molecule(s) the more likely they can also be produced by abiotic processes 2) one molecule, if it can be produced by any abiotic process, will never be enough to definitively claim detection of life
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 14/04/2025
Pull up, Dorks! Ready to join like-minded SUFS’ers in our Summer Campaign? This action info session is for you! This week’s national virtual gathering is Wednesday 7:30pm ET – sign up here for a Zoom link & see you there: bit.ly/SUFSActionIn... #StandUpForScience #SummerCampaign #SummerSendoff
bit.ly
Stand Up For Science--Information Session Registration
Please fill out this quick registration form and we will send over the zoom link for the Summer Campaign Info Sesh on April 16th at 7:30pm (Eastern time).
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Very sad news from Fred Espenak. www.facebook.com/fred.espenak He announced that his Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis has progressed significantly and he will enter hospice tomorrow. Please see the full message at his Facebook page. #astronomy #astrophotography #eclipse
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Ternie Sanders and Albatrossia-Cortez today: Ternie: “We flew nonstop to be here today, and let us tell you: our wings are tired, but our souls are on fire! They say the system is frozen. That nothing will change. But I’m here to tell you: THE ICE IS CRACKING, AND A MOVEMENT IS HATCHING! 1/3
Ternie sanders the tern with floofy hairAlbatrossia-Cortez an albatross with serious face
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Science for Good ☀️ @sciforgood.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Take Action NOW to defend academic freedom and higher education. Say no to politics in our research. Sign our Open Letter below in support of institutions that are speaking out, and calling for others to join. ⬇️ sciforgood.org/support-academic-freedom/ #scienceforgood #defendresearch
Orange background with the text "Defend Academic Freedom" and a photo of Harvard University.
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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
🧪🔭☄️ All hands on deck - here are ways to help: astrobites.org/2025/04/15/h... ✨
astrobites.org
NASA Needs Your Help!
NASA is facing severe budget cuts that would cancel missions ready to be launched, put tens of thousands out of a job, and set science back decades. We need your help to ask congress to prevent these ...
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Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
I'll say it again: in a country where due process is individually denied and then broadly eroded and eventually eliminated, being a citizen will not protect you from the terror of this administration.
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SpaceNews @spacenewsinc.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Maryland congressmen vow to block proposed NASA science budget cuts Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation expressed confidence that Congress will ultimately reject sharp cuts in NASA science programs proposed by the White House, citing competition with China as one factor.
spacenews.com
Maryland congressmen vow to block proposed NASA science budget cuts
Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation expressed confidence that Congress will ultimately reject sharp cuts in NASA science programs proposed by the White House, citing competition with China as one factor.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
A reminder that the techMAGAts are not your grandfather's fascists. They are a (relatively) new breed of malevolence: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
The rise of end times fascism
The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
From our Treasury: “We’re moving from the hard currency of pebbles to the 21st century of currency known as “Cryo-currency”. We will be releasing a Gov supported memechunk of ice, which may become valuable, or may melt tomorrow. It’s really an exciting gamble that’s sure to pay off for a few of us.”
Gentoo placing a pebble on others pebblesHeard Island beach with small chunks of ice
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American Astronomical Society (AAS) @aas.org · 11/04/2025
The American Astronomical Society is gravely concerned by the deep cuts to NASA science funding reported to be in the draft President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2026. Read more here: aas.org/press/aas-st... and take action now: aas.org/urge-nasa-su...
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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
This month, Dallas-based biotech company #Colossal announced the birth of 3 pups bearing the DNA signatures of dire wolves, an iconic predator last seen over 10,000 years ago. But they're not really dire wolves. So what are they? Read more and watch a video: buff.ly/0N67MPJ 📸 Colossal Biosciences.
Two white pups, one with its nose buried in the other's cheek.
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
ADMIN REVEAL: Our tireless Gov Social media manager (also our sec of finance), has had quite the week. Pingu the chinstrap penguin has learned alt text, created a commerce merch store, and has become worryingly sage on the topic of guano’s chemical and economic value. Thank you Pingu
Silly chinstrap penguin with head upside down
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Heard Island Government @heardislandgov.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Defence Ministry Update: Border surveillance has not detected any abnormal activity. We stand rock-hop-ready to rock, set to defend ourselves against all threats both foreign and domestic (elephant seals mainly)
Penguin looking through telephoto camera lense
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
The Leo triplet: Messier 65 (top right), Messier 66 (bottom right), and NGC 3628 (left), at 35, 31, and 35 million light years away, respectively. 10 hours total exposure, over 4 nights, from a Bortle 7 site. Nikon Z6II, Nikkor 400 mm with 1.4x teleconverter. #Astrophotography
Three small galaxies in a triangle against a black backdrop of stars.
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RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
WORLD-FIRST: Ground-breaking research published today in the Ornithologist Journal has, for the first time, translated common UK bird vocalisations into equivalent phrases in the human language. The results tell us a lot! Extracts below... 🧵
The front cover of a scientific journal titled Ornithologist, dated 1 April 2025. The main headline reads: “BIRDS: DECODED - Groundbreaking New Science.” Below that, a subheading says: “What are the UK’s birds really saying? Pioneering new research provides the answers.”
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Sandpiper @spg21212.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Squirrel! (Also pretty much describes my attention span.)
A grey squirrel, its bushy tail facing the camera, holds two peanuts in its mouth. It is poised to jump off a platform bird feeder.
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David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Geriatric Penguins Get a ‘Retirement Home’ at New England Aquarium - The New York Times
nytimes.com
Geriatric Penguins Get a ‘Retirement Home’ at New England Aquarium
Six African Penguins at the New England Aquarium in Boston have made a new home on an island designed to address the aches and pains of aging.
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Herman Wong @hermanywong.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
A vulture arrived on Martha Midgette’s porch before dawn, then collapsed and died. Before she could figure out how to dispose of the dead bird Midgette saw an unexpected sight. www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cl...
thebaltimorebanner.com
Vultures in mourning? Bizarre bird behavior spotted in Maryland
Vultures are intelligent and complex birds who form lasting relationships, according to one vulture expert.
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