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opticist.bsky.social
opticist, sometime photographer, evolutionist (yes, that is a word), author of books and articles, retired physics professor, atheist (or at least strong agnostic), contributor to The Panda's Thumb, victim advocate, nudnik
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I posted the finalists of the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest here, below. If you want to vote, you have till July 6 (yeah, I dragged it out a little too long). I will post the winner on July 7 and the runner-up the following Monday. Thereafter I will post a picture every other Monday.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

This New Mexico century plant owned by Ronald Whitmann blooms for the first time in 25 years. Also, please remember the Panda's Thumb Photography Contest. Entries close Friday, June 20. You may find rules by following the 2nd link. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

We (well, more precisely, I) just invited entries to the XVIth Panda's Thumb photography contest. See the link for the rules. Entries close June 20, 12:00 MDT. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... The photograph is an Olympus OM-1 that I used for 27 y and then never again exposed a single frame.

submitted 27 days ago • 0 comments

Unbelievably horrified by this attack in Boulder. We don’t know the full story of the attacker, but no matter what it is, let me be clear: Senseless, antisemitic attacks do not help Palestinians, Jews, or Israelis. Committing terror attacks against people standing for hostages is disgusting.

submitted 28 days ago • 1 comment

A silverfish, my post on Panda's Thumb the other day. pandasthumb.org/archives/202... Keep an eye out for our photography contest, beginning Monday.

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 34 days ago • 741 comments

✨Please share! COVID & Health Newsletter is out✨ In this issue: 💉COVID vax limitations for fall 🧬Long COVID linked to FOXP4 gene 🥱Damaged gut and Long COVID fatigue 😃Physics Girl video on Long COVID improvement and much more drruth.substack.com/p/covid-and-... #medsky #pedsky #IDsky 🛟😷🧪 📷:YLE

submitted 35 days ago • 7 comments

Just ran this picture of Silver Cord Cascade in Yellowstone National Park, by Jim Kocher, on The Panda's Thumb. pandasthumb.org/archives/202.... It was an Honorable Mention in one of our annual photography contests.

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

I'm a Democrat. Yes. That's how I vote. I don't sit it out. But @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social and @schumer.senate.gov are just fucking up royally. We need leadership. They bring the dither, the whine, the excuses. We're ready to fight. The @democrats.org? AWOL.

submitted 50 days ago • 11 comments

Some of this article, by Gregg Gonsalves, is simply astonishing. Russell Vought's own child takes a "miracle drug" (Mrs. Vought's words) developed with NIH funds, yet Mr. Vought does a hatchet job on NIH funding. Stunning, amoral incompetence. Read the article for more.

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Picture of the giant sunspot, along with a very short commentary cribbed mostly from EarthSky, on Panda's Thumb. Handheld camera with filter made from cardboard eclipse glasses from 2017 eclipse. I plan to check it in about 27 d. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

submitted 54 days ago • 1 comment

Joe Felsenstein has posted an article on Panda's Thumb: "Intelligent Design advocates buy into Platonic nonsense." The title is self-explanatory. There is a nice discussion in the comments, including the observation that Plato had it backward.

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

On Panda's Thumb, here, pandasthumb.org/archives/202..., "Safeguarding Sound Science, Climate Change Edition," a new podcast by National Center for Science Education. Provides contents and links.

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

I just ran a longish piece, "Retraction of Biblical Literalist Paper on Destruction of Sodom by Comet Infuriates Coauthors," by Mark Boslough, on The Panda's Thumb, here: pandasthumb.org/archives/202....

submitted 66 days ago • 0 comments

Do not insult the people you need to win over. Just say "HE fooled you," and let him take the blame

submitted 72 days ago • 2 comments

This book is essential reading or anyone who is trying to make sense of what is happening in America (and, alas, in much of the rest of the world) today. It traces the intellectual roots of Trumpism back to its fascist (or perhaps more accurately Nazi) roots. It anatomizes

submitted 73 days ago • 2 comments

In honor of the Passover and Easter seasons, my snapshot of a bunch of European pasqueflowers growing in a xeric garden, Chautauqua, Boulder, Colorado, April, 2025. (Pasque is the old French word for Easter.) pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

submitted 76 days ago • 0 comments

On Panda's Thumb the other day, I linked to an article concerning scientists who withdrew a paper rather than call attention to themselves. Though I cannot blame them, I fear that they are (like certain law firms) obeying in advance. Overall, not a good development. pandasthumb.org/archives/202...

submitted 76 days ago • 0 comments

Just ran a nice synopsis on Panda's Thumb, If Noah were alive today, the Ark story would be vastly different, pandasthumb.org/archives/202..., by Robert Zink of the U of Nebraska-Lincoln. You may access the full article here: doi.org/10.1186/s120...

submitted 76 days ago • 0 comments