Phil Plait

@philplait.bsky.social

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Bad Astronomer, SciCommer, Dork. Crash Course Astronomy guy. He/him. Newsletter: badastronomy.beehiiv.com

I'm self-employed so my opinions do represent my company's.

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Saw an AI fireworks show and a guy lost all 7 fingers on one hand.

My oh my do I hope November goes the same way. Congrats to the UK!

Britain's Labour Party is projected to win a historic landslide victory — knocking the Conservatives out after 14 years of power in a brutal wipeout

Labour Party To Win U.K. General Election, Exit Polls Showwww.huffpost.com The center-right Conservative Party has governed Britain for the past 14 years.

Twice in the past month I have been asked to do an interview for the New York Times. Citing their hard right turn, I declined both. Everything I have seen from that paper in the past month has only bolstered my confidence in those decisions.

I recently read her first "Lady Astronaut" book and it was really good, so this is an exciting project!

We unlocked another stretch goal overnight! Now all tiers with a patch set will get a sticker sheet of the patch designs and the sheet will be available for a $7 add-on! Next up, more upgrades to both the soft & hard cover edition of the book. www.kickstarter.com/projects/mar...

Instead of accidentally blowing off a finger or two today and scaring dogs in the meantime, how about you let the Universe deliver some fireworks to you? I'll even explain the colors! badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/fireworks-... 🔭 🧪

Fireworks on a cosmic scale: The curious case of the gas shell around CI Cambadastronomy.beehiiv.com A professional/amateur collaboration finds a previously unknown nebula. It’s weird, and gorgeous.

Hey UK, please keep us apprised today on how the head of lettuce is doing

C'mon, baby bears. Now is not the time to stand down.

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How I signed off my letter to the Heritage Foundation

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There are a lot of untested, bold-claim products that claim to repel insects. Here's why to use DEET (for skin) and permethrin (for clothes) and a very few other things that actually work. Better living through chemistry 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

The Best Mosquito Repellents, according to Sciencewww.scientificamerican.com Mosquito experts break down how to choose and use the best mosquito repellents

China recently performed a locked-down static fire on a rocket, and there was one problem: the rocket wasn't locked down. It shot up, fell down, and exploded. Orbital Index has the story, and links to spectacular (and terrifying) video. orbitalindex.com/archive/2024...

Issue No. 276orbitalindex.com The Orbital Index

This is a very cool find, and the article is beautifully done. Well worth scrolling to the end.

⚒️🧪 Serendipity! How a 2.4 billion year-old rock “picked up by chance” turned out to contain surprisingly complex microfossils from the time of the Great Oxidation Event. https://news.unsw.edu.au/en/erica-picked-up-a-rock-10-years-ago-it-might-hold-the-oldest-form-of-complex-life-on-earth

BTW, anyone who doesn't include the season 3 credits theme as one of the best TV themes of all times is overlooking a banger. John Williams! The French horn part still slays me. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp1b...

A giant cyclops holding a rock over its head to smash a human vehicle MUST have inspired the same scene from the original "Lost in Space" that terrified me as a kid. Must have.

[Intro] Lost in Space - Season 3www.youtube.com YouTube video by gabyhqi

A giant cyclops holding a rock over its head to smash a human vehicle MUST have inspired the same scene from the original "Lost in Space" that terrified me as a kid. Must have.

Some more Frank R Paul cover art from 1929/1930. The 1st is his artwork for the September 1929 Science Wonder Stories:

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#SciArt 🐡

AAAS has just released an amazing set of comic book stories about women scientists, including physicist Dr. Jessica Esquivel & astronomer Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil. And the art by @juaneletamal.bsky.social is amazing. Please check them out! #EduSky #AstroSky #comics🎢 sciall.org/projects/?fb...

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This is predictable but so important: Pasteurizing milk kills the H5N1 bird flu virus that is circulating widely in dairy cattle. It's easy to take a 150-year-old technique that has saved countless lives for granted, but don't fool around with unpasteurized dairy products. 🧪

Pasteurization Kills Bird Flu Virus in Milk, New Studies Confirmwww.scientificamerican.com Flash pasteurization destroyed H5N1 viral particles that were highly concentrated in raw milk, confirming that standard techniques can keep dairy products safe from bird flu

Oh, the indognity

Today's newsletter (for paid subscribers) is about SPIDERS ON THE MOON. Kinda. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/spiders-mo...

Spiders on the Moon! Sorta.badastronomy.beehiiv.com These weird features may be due to sinkholes. Also some news on ISS and spacesuits and asteroid hunters.

I have always loved Michael Whelan's style (literally since I discovered his work when I was in high school) and this is seriously chilling. I am not a climate doomer, so instead I present this as inspiration; a future we must fight to prevent.

HARBINGER (2015) Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 54" My initial inspiration, I believe, grew out of concern for the destabilizing and immense effects of global climate change, a sense of nature out of control and giving birth to unnatural and cataclysmic phenomena. 1/3

Dangit. I misread an article and said a company had tested refueling on orbit. The testing was done on the ground. Oops. Sorry about my error. Here's the article, anyway: payloadspace.com/orbit-fabs-r...

Orbit Fab’s Refueling Tech Passes the Testpayloadspace.com The company is ready to take on missions in space after successfully wrapping up testing on its automated GRIP refueling mechanism.

I know, I know, but I still have to make a living, too. So here's today's newsletter about renaming the Magellanic Clouds, plus black hole and Mars news. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/renaming-m... 🧪 🔭

Renaming the Magellanic Cloudsbadastronomy.beehiiv.com Time to rethink some more astronomy names. Plus a distant huge black hole, and Mars gets whacked a lot

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"With fear for our democracy, I dissent," is about as bedrock and terrifying and vital a statement as you're going to get. That's a line you spraypaint on walls, that you ink into your skin. And it's chilling that it is necessary to say at all.

Justice Sotomayor, in conclusion.

The immunity decision from SCOTUS may be the worst in the history of our country, and may very well end that history.

SCOTUS is telling us that it has completely signed on to the project of a second Trump administration, which is establishing an elected autocracy.

Worst white rapper I ever heard

In 2001 coal + methane made up 97% of the power produced for Colorado. Now together they're only 63%. That's real progress. Methane (natural gas) did grow, but renewables outpaced it.

Sometimes it feels like nothing is changing: as if we’re climbing the tallest mountain in the world, and the summit is no closer than when we started. But if we stop for a minute and turn around and look back, we can see how far we’ve actually come. Progress is happening, step by step.

I've never seen one of my books at an airport store, but this'll do just fine.

Hey, have you ever seen the Face on Mars? No, you haven't. You're been tricked by pareidolia. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-... 🔭 🧪

The Face on Mars and Other Cases of Cosmic Pareidoliawww.scientificamerican.com The human brain loves seeing patterns, even when they aren’t really there

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Dammit, I have the Carrington Event BEFORE Kessler Cascade in the office fantasy apocalypse league. www.theguardian.com/science/arti...

Astronauts take cover as defunct Russian satellite splits into nearly 200 pieceswww.theguardian.com The six US astronauts aboard International Space Station rush to their spacecrafts in case of emergency departure

ⁿᵒ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ˢᵗᵒᵖ ᵈᵒⁿ'ᵗ ᵍᵒ

Looking for astronomers to followon Bluesky? Step 1: Update the app to the latest version. Step 2: Click this. Despite the very convincing rumor*, they are not listed by coolness. * which I just started right here

Ok, starter packs are SERIOUSLY cool. I am so happy with this feature! Thank you, @bsky.app! Here's my v1 Astronomy starter pack: go.bsky.app/KfuFR5s (N.B: when I'm back from holiday I'll make the list of included accounts more equitable, for now it's just people who I can remember post a lot)

Astronomy on Bluesky Starter Packbsky.app Join the conversation

This Hubble image of a young trinary protostar system is simultaneously eerily gorgeous and gorgeously eerie. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/hubble-tak... 🔭 🧪

Hubble takes a look a very young trinary star systembadastronomy.beehiiv.com The stars are so young they’re not even really stars yet