Andrew Cole
@aacole42.bsky.social
Astronomer, ultimate frisbee player, freelance beer critic, bass guitar enthusiast. Constructively irreverent. "In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."
Just in the middle of fighting this fight, again
Neither undergrad nor graduate physics degrees are job-training programs, and that’s part of what makes them so valuable on the job market.
so yeah, your students should learn basic physics, not just what's immediately required for their specialty
November 20, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Just in the middle of fighting this fight, again
Stealing this quote: "Comets are like cats: they have tails and they do as they please"
I've summarized the truth about Loeb's 10 "anomalies" about 3I/ATLAS in one post.
Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Thanks to @deschscoveries.bsky.social @michael-w-busch.bsky.social @cometary.org and @marshall-eubanks.bsky.social for contributing their expertise!
Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS “Anomalies” Explained
Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it “might” be an alien spacecraft. He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...
sites.psu.edu
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Stealing this quote: "Comets are like cats: they have tails and they do as they please"
Reposting because I assume that the fundamental arguments are no different whether the stadium is in the US or Australia...
Cover just dropped. Coming in 2026 from Oxford University Press.
November 6, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Reposting because I assume that the fundamental arguments are no different whether the stadium is in the US or Australia...
More and more these days, science communication is about correcting misinformation. Luckily, this post does so very well!
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
This is not the quality of pseudoscience infotainment to which I have grown accustomed
Teasing the public with fraudulent or self-deluded promises of aliens used to mean something. It took work. It meant slapping together…
medium.com
August 9, 2025 at 3:25 AM
More and more these days, science communication is about correcting misinformation. Luckily, this post does so very well!
Thread.
How to go about seeing if an operational spacecraft can observe an interstellar object:
- Look at the close approach distance
- Consider the spacecraft's instrument suite
- Write a very polite email to a senior person on that mission about the opportunity
- Wait for the mission team to assess
- Look at the close approach distance
- Consider the spacecraft's instrument suite
- Write a very polite email to a senior person on that mission about the opportunity
- Wait for the mission team to assess
August 2, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Thread.
Discovering an old Tom Lehrer record in my parents' collection when I was about 10 set the tone for my whole worldview... this is a great anecdote.
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 28, 2025 at 2:04 AM
Discovering an old Tom Lehrer record in my parents' collection when I was about 10 set the tone for my whole worldview... this is a great anecdote.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Public engagement cannot just be the job of a couple of celebrity professors at Princeton and a small cohort of impoverished contingents whose projects can't be sustained against the cruel winds of adjunctcy.
It has to be a major priority for the whole field.
It has to be a major priority for the whole field.
July 9, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Public engagement cannot just be the job of a couple of celebrity professors at Princeton and a small cohort of impoverished contingents whose projects can't be sustained against the cruel winds of adjunctcy.
It has to be a major priority for the whole field.
It has to be a major priority for the whole field.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Dr Lucia McCallum shares "If we want satellite navigation to work, our supermarkets to be stocked and our online money transfers arriving safely, we need to make sure we have a clear view of black holes in distant galaxies – and that means clearing up the radio highway."
Read more: utas.au/hd
Read more: utas.au/hd
Scientists look to black holes to know exactly where we are in the Universe. But phones and wifi are blocking the view
utas.au
June 30, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Dr Lucia McCallum shares "If we want satellite navigation to work, our supermarkets to be stocked and our online money transfers arriving safely, we need to make sure we have a clear view of black holes in distant galaxies – and that means clearing up the radio highway."
Read more: utas.au/hd
Read more: utas.au/hd
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Huge congratulations to @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social Director Prof. Matt King @deformedearth.bsky.social and Chief Investigator Prof. Anya Reading on being awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship!
@utas.edu.au @imas-utas.bsky.social | ARC | www.arc.gov.au/australian-l...
Project details below ⬇️
@utas.edu.au @imas-utas.bsky.social | ARC | www.arc.gov.au/australian-l...
Project details below ⬇️
June 26, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Huge congratulations to @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social Director Prof. Matt King @deformedearth.bsky.social and Chief Investigator Prof. Anya Reading on being awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship!
@utas.edu.au @imas-utas.bsky.social | ARC | www.arc.gov.au/australian-l...
Project details below ⬇️
@utas.edu.au @imas-utas.bsky.social | ARC | www.arc.gov.au/australian-l...
Project details below ⬇️
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Exoplanets are planets outside our Solar System 🌞 But how many are there? What do they look like? How do we find them? Do they contain other life 👾? We have so many questions!! Fortunately, Dr Erica Thygesen is here to tell us all about these magnificent far-off worlds 🪐 🔭 🛰️
June 9, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Exoplanets are planets outside our Solar System 🌞 But how many are there? What do they look like? How do we find them? Do they contain other life 👾? We have so many questions!! Fortunately, Dr Erica Thygesen is here to tell us all about these magnificent far-off worlds 🪐 🔭 🛰️
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Happy doomsday fish day to all who celebrate. In news totally unrelated to apocalyptic portents, the Premier will address the media at 9.45... #politas #auspol
BEAST FROM THE DEEP - Rare 3-metre ‘doomsday fish’ found on remote beach
A massive deep-sea "doomsday" oarfish has washed up on a remote beach in Tasmania.
tinyurl.com
June 4, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Well fore-warned is fore-armed 😊. Some new work from a UTas PhD project on the motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud is on the way as well. That will improve our understanding of Local Group Dynamics even more.
June 3, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Well fore-warned is fore-armed 😊. Some new work from a UTas PhD project on the motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud is on the way as well. That will improve our understanding of Local Group Dynamics even more.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Sure, there are caveats, but for me the operating position is getting closer and closer to "there are no legitimate uses for ChatGPT in college classes," and I'm not really encountering any compelling arguments to the contrary.
May 14, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Sure, there are caveats, but for me the operating position is getting closer and closer to "there are no legitimate uses for ChatGPT in college classes," and I'm not really encountering any compelling arguments to the contrary.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
New day, new #reentry forecast for the #Kosmos 482 Descent Craft, a failed 1972 Soviet Venus lander set to reenter in a few days.
Latest #TUDAT reentry forecast: 10 May +/- 21h (nominal: 7:51 UTC +/- 20.6h).
Details in blogpost: sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/04/kosm...
Latest #TUDAT reentry forecast: 10 May +/- 21h (nominal: 7:51 UTC +/- 20.6h).
Details in blogpost: sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/04/kosm...
Kosmos 482 Descent Craft reentry forecasts [PERIODICALLY UPDATED]
classified military Space (spy satellites) and Missiles
sattrackcam.blogspot.com
May 7, 2025 at 8:02 AM
New day, new #reentry forecast for the #Kosmos 482 Descent Craft, a failed 1972 Soviet Venus lander set to reenter in a few days.
Latest #TUDAT reentry forecast: 10 May +/- 21h (nominal: 7:51 UTC +/- 20.6h).
Details in blogpost: sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/04/kosm...
Latest #TUDAT reentry forecast: 10 May +/- 21h (nominal: 7:51 UTC +/- 20.6h).
Details in blogpost: sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/04/kosm...
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Objectively, being able to make things without AI makes us better at making things than the people who can't.
I'm better than the kids who copied my homework, and you're the same person pulling the same crap 30 years later.
I'm better than the kids who copied my homework, and you're the same person pulling the same crap 30 years later.
"you're not better than me for not using ai."
no, i am. i am better, smarter, funnier, hotter, and all around less obnoxious than you for that one reason.
no, i am. i am better, smarter, funnier, hotter, and all around less obnoxious than you for that one reason.
April 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Objectively, being able to make things without AI makes us better at making things than the people who can't.
I'm better than the kids who copied my homework, and you're the same person pulling the same crap 30 years later.
I'm better than the kids who copied my homework, and you're the same person pulling the same crap 30 years later.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Australia could be taking advantage of the millions of students now too scared to go to university in America.
Instead both Dutton and Albanese are threatening to *massively reduce* intl student numbers.
Instead both Dutton and Albanese are threatening to *massively reduce* intl student numbers.
Even without ICE's horrible abuses, a pattern of arbitrarily revoking student visas makes the US no longer a viable schooling option for international students.
Bringing them to the US has been one of our strongest sources of soft power.
Everything this fucking guy does benefits Putin.
Bringing them to the US has been one of our strongest sources of soft power.
Everything this fucking guy does benefits Putin.
This is happening to students at colleges & universities nationwide. Their status is bring terminated & visa revoked. Often, the student has no obvious history to justify the govt's actions. Affected students should seek knowledgeable immigration counsel immediately.
April 6, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Australia could be taking advantage of the millions of students now too scared to go to university in America.
Instead both Dutton and Albanese are threatening to *massively reduce* intl student numbers.
Instead both Dutton and Albanese are threatening to *massively reduce* intl student numbers.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Men walked on the Moon - but women made the guidance computers that got them there and back. At the landing sites and command module crash sites the computers are evidence of a unique women's lunar heritage. 🧪🏺
The Apollo core rope memory and women's heritage on the Moon
Between 1969 and 1972 there were six Apollo human spaceflight missions to the Moon, each leaving a complex site behind. A common joke now is...
zoharesque.blogspot.com
April 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Men walked on the Moon - but women made the guidance computers that got them there and back. At the landing sites and command module crash sites the computers are evidence of a unique women's lunar heritage. 🧪🏺
Reposted by Andrew Cole
This piece from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social starts with a bang and just gets better and better. Gift link.
Opinion | The Tech Fantasy That Powers A.I. Is Running on Fumes (Gift Article)
A.I. is just what we need in the post-fact era: less research and more predicting what we want to hear.
www.nytimes.com
March 29, 2025 at 6:48 PM
This piece from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social starts with a bang and just gets better and better. Gift link.
Shambolic - adjective (informal, British): chaotic, disorganised, or mismanaged.
March 5, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Shambolic - adjective (informal, British): chaotic, disorganised, or mismanaged.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Very glad that the Australian government has announced they will extend funding of the Anglo-Australian Telescope until at least 2027. So many surveys depend on this facility - which for so long has been a vehicle for bringing wonderful astronomers to Australia to use it and growing our community.
February 19, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Very glad that the Australian government has announced they will extend funding of the Anglo-Australian Telescope until at least 2027. So many surveys depend on this facility - which for so long has been a vehicle for bringing wonderful astronomers to Australia to use it and growing our community.
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Hi Australian Researchers. I have a plan. Let's thank the amazing @arc-tracker.bsky.social for a decade of selfless work by nominating them for a Eureka Prize (Leadership in science). Are you with me? If so, repost this. Please also reply and state your support for this quest. We can do this people.
February 4, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Hi Australian Researchers. I have a plan. Let's thank the amazing @arc-tracker.bsky.social for a decade of selfless work by nominating them for a Eureka Prize (Leadership in science). Are you with me? If so, repost this. Please also reply and state your support for this quest. We can do this people.
Presumably the definition of “ilku-duty” could be expanded to include committee work…
In this ancient Assyrian letter, astronomers complain that they can’t do their jobs or teach astronomy “because of the ilku-duty”, a type of taxation in the form of labour.
“we cannot keep the watch of the king, and the pupils do not learn the scribal craft” cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts/33...
“we cannot keep the watch of the king, and the pupils do not learn the scribal craft” cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts/33...
February 10, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Presumably the definition of “ilku-duty” could be expanded to include committee work…
Reposted by Andrew Cole
Almost certainly being paranoid, but astronomers: someone outside the US has ADS backed up, right?
February 6, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Almost certainly being paranoid, but astronomers: someone outside the US has ADS backed up, right?
Very very interesting, since a black hole of this mass would be pretty elusive unless it happened to be accreting material from the surroundings. A spike in the velocity dispersion of stars within the dynamical sphere of influence of the BH? This is small, maybe a few to several tens of arc seconds.
A very fascinating paper went up on the arXiv today!
Jesse Han & El-Badry et al. reanalysed the 21 known 'hypervelocity' stars in the #milkyway.
They find strong evidence that the LMC (Large Milky/Magellanic Cloud) has a supermassive black hole at its core! 🤯 arxiv.org/abs/2502.00102
Jesse Han & El-Badry et al. reanalysed the 21 known 'hypervelocity' stars in the #milkyway.
They find strong evidence that the LMC (Large Milky/Magellanic Cloud) has a supermassive black hole at its core! 🤯 arxiv.org/abs/2502.00102
February 4, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Very very interesting, since a black hole of this mass would be pretty elusive unless it happened to be accreting material from the surroundings. A spike in the velocity dispersion of stars within the dynamical sphere of influence of the BH? This is small, maybe a few to several tens of arc seconds.