michaelmurphy.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Incase anyone was still worrying about the "city-killer" asteroid, today's #2024YR4 update reduces the chances of impact to 1-in-59000 (99.9983% chance it will miss 🥳). There will be other asteroids in the future, but you can rest easy knowing that astronomers are watching the skies for you! 🔭🧪

submitted 1 day ago • 15 comments

"Cutting 36,000 public servants does not remove the need for the work they do - it simply pushes it into the hands of private consultants, at a higher cost to taxpayers and with less transparency." www.canberratimes.com.au/story/889061... #auspol

submitted 9 days ago • 20 comments

The hole in the roof of the protective 'New Safe Confinement' containment shell over destroyed Reactor 4 of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine after a Russian drone targeted it last night. #MSC2025

submitted 11 days ago • 10 comments

Thanks to the more than 1100 members of the scientific community who have signed the letter to insist that the Royal Society remains true to values that we all hold dear but that Musk FRS has ridden roughshod over. Please keep signing & sharing. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

submitted 13 days ago • 6 comments

I have resigned my Fellowship of the #RoyalSociety due to their Council's inability to act proportionately on #ElonMusk. See fediscience.org/@A_J_Millar/...

submitted 13 days ago • 7 comments

2nd Royal Society fellow resigns over Musk’s membership, citing the Council’s “inability to take proportionate action on Musk’s promotion of disinformation and attacks on evidence-based policies and science advice”. FRS Andrew Millar, prof of engineering bio at Uni of Edinburgh, confirmed to me.

submitted 13 days ago • 5 comments

I am no longer accepting the argument "there are bigger problems than this!" unless you are personally working to stop the ultimate Heat Death of the Universe.

submitted 13 days ago • 345 comments

Cool change has passed Laverton now. Should be in Melbourne by about 17:40. Yay 😅

submitted 13 days ago • 1 comment

If the Aust Govt does not denounce this immediately, we are complicit in approving ethnic cleansing of a historic level

submitted 21 days ago • 99 comments

When wind turbines were partially involved in a state-wide blackout in 2016 in South Australia that was primarily caused by a storm knocking out powerlines, it reshaped the country's energy politics for years. This? Absolute nothingburger. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

submitted 22 days ago • 7 comments

These statistics are crazy yet every single announcement or proposed active transport infra project is inundated with people complaining about how many potholes existing roads have, cyclists being entitled and how its all a waste of money.

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

@royalsociety.org why are you still honouring Elon Musk with a Fellowship of your society? He and his cronies are tearing down US science, blocked USAid that’ll result in the deaths of thousands from disease, and supports the Far Right. Why still honour him?? 🔭🧪⚛️ royalsociety.org/people/elon-...

submitted 22 days ago • 5 comments

hi @royalsociety.org - thousands of vulnerable people will die because your Fellow of the Royal Society is cutting all aid with immediate effect. How can Elon Musk remain an FRS without destroying your reputation irrevocably?

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

Hm, so now that Elon Musk’s unvetted interns have a backdoor into US government servers, has any journo asked the Australian government yet whether it’s suspending intelligence-sharing with US agencies under the Five Eyes setup ? 🧐 Or are y’all just too busy amplifying Dutton’s talking points ?

submitted 25 days ago • 2 comments

Every disaster movie starts with scientists being ignored. Good thing we’re not doing that.

submitted 26 days ago • 307 comments

Today, the Australian reported that Bill Shorten will receive a "shocking" remuneration package of $860k in his new job as VC at the Uni of Canberra. Our research found that the VCs of leading unis in Australia receive on average nearly $1.3 million each year in remuneration. Is this fair?

submitted 28 days ago • 27 comments

$20.8 BILLION. All to do less work for more money. All so the LNP could pretend to have cut govt spending on the public service. When public service is carried out by the private sector the motive is profit, not service.

submitted 28 days ago • 7 comments

I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service. “Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.

submitted 29 days ago • 1664 comments

Grace Tame Asked for her message to News Corp mogul Rupert Murdoch, she said: “You’ve ruined the world.” Via ABC News

submitted 30 days ago • 14 comments

Comet C/2024 G3 Atlas captured from a plane! ☄️ As Virginia Cuomo & Annagrazia Puglisi were flying to the workshop on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion for the Chilean astronomical community at ESO-Vitacura, they alerted the cabin crew and passengers to this spectacle in the sky! 📷 Annagrazia Puglisi

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

Boy, do we miss this kind of brilliant, calm and humane man, heading towards the 21st c. "There's two kinds of dangers - Carl Sagan"

submitted 31 days ago • 2 comments

A bit of a personal note. I’m working on a paper on wage theft from staff at Australian universities at the moment. The level of wrongdoing is nuts. We’re up to $265m in underpayments that have been admitted to by Australian public universities. No university VCs have faced any consequences

submitted 34 days ago • 81 comments

Yep, when you hear that mining is huge, remember they mean the profits are huge... The Hospitality industry pays more wages to Australians than does mining.

submitted 34 days ago • 24 comments

Devastating for scientists and their research, and everyone who benefits from that research. I’m not sure if everyone outside academia is aware that a delay or “pause” in grant funding often means the researchers themselves are lost from the field, along with their expertise.

submitted 34 days ago • 835 comments

NASA web pages this morning vs this afternoon

submitted 34 days ago • 29 comments

Fracking sucks. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...

submitted 42 days ago • 7 comments

The ESA #Gaia mission has delivered the best Milky Way maps to date and taken its last starlight before spacecraft retirement 🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

submitted 41 days ago • 48 comments

The amazing @esa.int Gaia telescope is taking its last measurements today Gaia has had a tremendous impact on astronomy. Without the easy to access (and use) data releases, a lot of the work I do would be impossible Thank you, Gaia and team! Can't wait for the future data releases! 🔭🧪

submitted 42 days ago • 3 comments

You know who believes in climate change...house insurance companies

submitted 45 days ago • 169 comments

Your periodic reminder that Musk a self proclaimed arse remains a fellow of the Royal Society @royalsociety.org do something about it. It’s a disgrace.

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Jenn Burt & Sam Halverson are wonderful astronomers doing it tough in these fires - I hope we can help them out as a community

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Hello @bsky.app, here's to looking into more #bluesky and beyond... 😉

submitted 47 days ago • 164 comments

Calls/emails from reporters asking for a comment on last's years temperature are coming earlier than normal this year. Time to dust off my "last year was hot" auto-response.

submitted 420 days ago • 6 comments