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

AAS Alarmed by Rumored Deep Cuts to NASA and National Science Foundation Recent reports have indicated that the White House may soon be proposing drastic cuts to future budgets for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD). aas.org/posts/news/2...

submitted 5 days ago • 13 comments

It kills me that there's enough for everyone. Enough food. Enough housing. Enough medicine. Enough money. Enough everything. It takes active choices to stop everyone from having enough so a very, very few can have far too much.

submitted 13 days ago • 13 comments

friendly reminder that never in my lifetime has the GOP cared about deficits or debt they pretend they do to hobble useful programs, then when they can, they pass massive tax cuts and blow up the debt

submitted 14 days ago • 6 comments

JOBS: Calling all cloud, software and network engineers! Take a look at the variety of jobs available at @spacetelescope.bsky.social: recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/...

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Amazon's changing the way the Kindle works on Tuesday, so if you want to download and de-DRM your books, you have until the 26th to get it done. I wrote a quick how-to, for anyone who is interested: next.content.town/p/kindle-drm...

submitted 17 days ago • 43 comments

Get ready for a real impact on February 28th! We’re boycotting all corporate giants—If it’s not a small business, it’s off-limits! No gas, no fast food, no Amazon. If they can’t hear us, we’ll make them feel us. (PHASE 1)

submitted 17 days ago • 55 comments

I had installed a bird feeder not too long ago but was struggling to attract them. With a temporary modification (putting it on the floor), I now have tons of bird friends! 😄🐦

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Here's the story with more information on NASA's reprieve from cutting more than 1,000 employees today.

submitted 22 days ago • 5 comments

Changes in NASA's workforce, by year, since 1959. Today will mark the largest involuntary reduction in staffing since the end of Apollo. The difference is that, right now, NASA is trying to spin up a Moon program instead of end one.

submitted 22 days ago • 8 comments

Firings at the NSF included permanent employees who had already completed their one-year probationary period, as well as at-will workers.

submitted 22 days ago • 23 comments

NASA looks to be a few days behind everyone else. Folks in communities that have already been impacted- what are you doing to support each other? What do you wish you’d had prepared for when the layoffs hit?

submitted 25 days ago • 7 comments

Most people in the US have no idea about the attacks on federally funded science or our government institutions. Many (or most!) of your family, coworkers, neighbors, and friends have no idea. My own MAGA dad thinks DOGE is just identifying waste, and that nothing has been cut. We have to tell them.

submitted 25 days ago • 82 comments

New Blog Post: Book Review: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke An old classic about exploring a mysterious interstellar spaceship. strakul.blogspot.com/2025/02/book... #Books 💙📚

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

Thread: History Has a Warning for Us. Are We Listening? 1/ When governments start muzzling universities, censoring research, and punishing academics, history isn’t vague about what happens next. We’ve seen this before. We know exactly where this road leads.

submitted 32 days ago • 1 comment

submitted 36 days ago • 0 comments

Apparently all the PhD researchers holding prestigious NSF-funded research fellowships are having their salaries withheld until some unspecified time when the leadership figures out how to eliminate any grant funding that doesn’t align with the president’s political ideology.

submitted 41 days ago • 126 comments

Took care of my calls this morning thanks to this. Having a script really helps for someone like me who hates talking on the phone 😬

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

1/ ☄️ Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is gracing our skies, and we’d like to share some amazing images from ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile! This stunning shot by our friend Yuri Beletsky, with the comet next to an Auxiliary Telescope, is today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. Congrats, Yuri! 🔭 🧪

submitted 47 days ago • 7 comments

New year, new characters 🤣 #DnD

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

remember, the blitzkrieg is intended to make you feel like there is nothing you can do about it; that’s the only reason to go forward in this haphazard and sloppy manner all in the first week and the choice of that strategy tells you they are afraid you will do something about it

submitted 49 days ago • 202 comments

The local evergreen trees are a popular hangout for some of the wildlife here 🦊🦌

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

Read this whole thread - it’s amazeballs

submitted 50 days ago • 0 comments

A bit of snow from earlier in the day. Not sure exactly how much fell since it was initially rain but then switched to snow for several hours.

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

My Division is hiring! Do you have an astronomy backround and want to help lead the team designing and building cloud-based research platforms to support NASA missions? Applications are due Feb. 24th! You can also buy back time for personal research! 🔭 recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/...

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

ITS STREAM DAY!!!!! DnD night come see if we survive!! we start @ 8pm est! twitch.tv/raspberryyum #vtuber #envtuber #indietuber #indievtuber #twitch #steamer #dnd

submitted 55 days ago • 0 comments

You know it's going to be an intense #DnD session when your DM tells you to be thinking about backup characters, just in case. 🤣 #TTRPG

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment

245th AAS meeting is jam-packed with scientific presentations, community-building workshops, town halls& career sessions. More than 3,000 astronomers & affiliates are in National Harbor, MD to #ExploreAstronomy! #AAS245 Photos by © CorporateEventImages/Todd Buchanan 2025 Please tag your friends :)

submitted 56 days ago • 0 comments

If you are at #AAS245, be sure to stop by the STScI booth and the MAST table there! Check out our mission tables (HST, JWST, Roman), see our accessible tactile displays and sonification options, talk to MAST staff on to see how to use our modern search tools to enable your research!

submitted 58 days ago • 0 comments

STOP 👏 DRIVING 👏 AROUND 👏 WITH 👏 SNOW 👏 ON 👏 YOUR 👏 CAR 👏 YA 👏 BIG 👏 DOOFUS

submitted 63 days ago • 1 comment

Working from home due to the winter storm. Got a nice shot of the local wildlife here. #Maryland #Snow

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

Happy New Year everyone. I having pleasing maths to share (courtesy of my 18yo who saw it on insta). 2025 is the only square this century! 🤓

submitted 70 days ago • 8 comments

Congratulations to my colleagues at STScI who built and won the "best float" prize in the 2024 Mayor's Christmas Parade in Baltimore city. The float included models of the Hubble, James Webb, and Roman Space Telescopes!

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

Spending part of my vacation with the typical blackouts in #PuertoRico 🙃⚡️

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

New Blog Post: Book Review: Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson Journey Before Destination; the conclusion to the first arc of The Stormlight Archive! strakul.blogspot.com/2024/12/book... #Books 💙📚

submitted 72 days ago • 1 comment

Another year, another #Steam #Gaming stat distribution! I think it's more accurate than last year's, in terms of the types of games I tend to play :D store.steampowered.com/replay/76561...

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

Some #DnD with friends today, featuring an impressive 3D-printed train one of them made with multiple cars our characters could walk around in. #TTRPG

submitted 87 days ago • 1 comment

A helpful gift shopping algorithm that I made for @theguardian.com a couple of years ago.

submitted 91 days ago • 17 comments

I-83 still closed in both directions. Wild. #Baltimore take note!

submitted 96 days ago • 2 comments

This young star cluster shines like a kaleidoscope thanks to #NASAWebb’s near- and mid-infrared instruments. NGC 602 is in our neighboring dwarf galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA. 🔭 🧪

submitted 99 days ago • 16 comments

What's a Sidereal day? Earth completes one full rotation relative to distant stars in 23 hours 56 minutes—this is a Sidereal Day. But, because of Earth's orbital motion, the Sun appears to shift position each day. To align with the Sun again, Earth needs an extra 4 mins, making a Solar Day 24 hours:

submitted 114 days ago • 6 comments

Finally back home! Such a very long travel day... 🙃🚅✈️🚗

submitted 110 days ago • 0 comments

It's been a rough few days in Rome. Between fevers and stomach problems I have generally had to stay in my hotel. 🤒 I did get to do some tours, but looking forward to returning home tomorrow and getting back to normal.

submitted 111 days ago • 2 comments

Getting sick right as I start the vacation portion of my trip (earlier was squeezing in sightseeing during conference events). 🤒 At least I'm not in a long flight while sick, but I'm in Rome with several tours booked. Here's hoping today is the worst day and my fever goes away 🙃

submitted 114 days ago • 1 comment

Went to visit two temples in Malta from the neolithic period, c. 3600 BCE- Hagar Qim and Mnajdra. Fascinating, and they had some bonus #astronomy! (alignment to the solstices)

submitted 115 days ago • 1 comment

Yesterday, I spent some time hacking on implementing LSST's Felis package in one of my science projects- not too hard to use but I'll need to explore it more. Today are a bunch of talks relevant to me, starting with Anastasia presenting on IRSA's VO & CAOM implementation. #IVOA

submitted 116 days ago • 0 comments