Andrew J. Steinmetz
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ajsteinmetz.com
Andrew J. Steinmetz
@ajsteinmetz.com
Physics PhD, Academic Professional at #GeorgiaTech, fmr. Global Professor at the #UniversityOfArizona. I love ⚛️ physics, 🌌astronomy and all 🧪 sciences! (views my own) https://ajsteinmetz.github.io/
There's a famous Feynman interview where he explains why ice is slippery. It turns out there's more to the story involving shear-stress and slippage of disordered ice layers. Things we experience every day still generate novel thought and research. #Science #Physics

journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
December 29, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
A pair of happy hammerhead sharks
(ca. 1735 Edo period Japan)
December 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Hey Martians, did I mention we now also have a video of epic Phobos passing over a Martian dust storm near Pavonis Mons? 🌪️🌋🥔

Video & full info: flic.kr/p/2rNN8wk
Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY

@esa.int Mars Express HRSC
300 MP Photo quoted below
Easy zoom: easyzoom.com/image/674026
December 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"Faculty would prefer more emphasis on teaching and somewhat more on service than they observed in practice. The largest disconnects were the overvaluation of publication numbers and grants and undervaluation of publication quality in research" #Science #AcademicSky #EduSky

doi.org/10.1007/s442...
Science faculty perceptions of the promotion and tenure process at major research universities in the United States - Discover Education
The tenure and promotion process defines the standards and expectations for faculty at research universities. To explore faculty values and perceptions related to this process, we conducted a survey o...
doi.org
December 26, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
✨This NASA/ESA/CSA #Webb Space Telescope image shows the Westerlund 1 cluster, a group of massive stars located in our galaxy which are nearly as bright as a million Suns each. 🌌🎄🧪🔭

🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/10/The_exotic_stellar_population_of_Westerlund_1
December 24, 2025 at 11:11 AM
What's next? We'll be allowing young earth creationism in astronomy 101?
#Science #AcademicSky #EduSky
Instructor who gave U of Oklahoma student a zero on anti-trans paper removed from teaching
Graduate assistant Mel Curth found Samantha Fulnecky's paper unscientific and offensive in referring to trans people as "demonic."
www.advocate.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
A fairwell to #3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor, as now it is moving away both from the Sun and Earth. It has dimmed to about mag 12 and has a tail pointing towards the Sun. It will continue getting dimmer and won't be visible in just a few months. #cometWatch #astrophotography
December 21, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
No raptors this morning but I did find this handsome specimen 🪶
(ID in alt-text)
December 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
The Core (2003) is a guilty pleasure movie for me. It makes like zero scientific sense, and yet I kinda love it. #Science #Geology #Movies #xkcd
December 18, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
When Star Trek the Movie came out back in '79 it had a much criticized sequence of shots where the camera basically drools over the Enterprise (1701A) in dry dock. But I was the target audience.

I hope we get a Bird of Prey next. We probably also have enough […]

[Original post on mathstodon.xyz]
December 7, 2025 at 5:40 AM
We got to the final listed track, track 15 "The Fate of Thomas Light" and it's the saddest bit of music I've listened to in awhile. Everybody in the Bandcamp livestream was devastated. This can't be the end of Act III. #Protomen #Music #RockOpera
December 6, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
The stanning of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in this account continues

Image credit: Victor Sabet, Julien De Winter
December 5, 2025 at 1:02 AM
We're almost to the end of Act III. It's been a wonderful journey. #Music #RockOpera #Protomen
December 2, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Comet 240P/NEAT has now a small fragment (B) that is bright enough to be seen with modest telescopes. The nucleus shines at about mag 12 while B is two magnitudes fainter. #cometWatch #astrophotography
November 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by Andrew J. Steinmetz
Join arXiv! Want to make an impact on open science? Come help lead the team working on arxiv.org, one of the most integral websites for open scholarly communications and scientific discovery.

blog.arxiv.org/2025/11/24/w...

#arXiv
arXiv.org e-Print archive
arxiv.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I love #Quasars! This is 3C 273, brightest in the sky, by #HST #Hubble, 2.5 billion light-years away. The bottom blocks out the supermassive #BlackHole showing more detail. The "L" is a jet, possibly from a disrupted dwarf galaxy. #Science #Astronomy #Space.

See: esahubble.org/images/opo24...
November 21, 2025 at 11:24 PM
This week's Act III #Protomen is "The Dream." Amazing call back to Act III and it's cool to hear Emily again in the story, even only as a memory. #Music #ConceptAlbum #RockOpera.

We're getting to the endgame now.
November 21, 2025 at 1:00 AM
I missed last week's #Protomen Act III drop. Last week was “The Redline” + “A Show Of Force” #Music #ConceptAlbum #RockOpera
November 21, 2025 at 12:56 AM
This is a gorgeous photo of SN 1987A taken by the Hubble. #NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #Physics

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Su...
November 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Should #PeerReview in STEM be paid work? I'd think so. I read this blog with fair reasoning. #AcademicSky #Science #EduSky

Blog: jamesheathers.medium.com/the-450-move...

I also found a journal article which tried this exact thing and found benefits: doi.org/10.1257/jep....
The 450 Movement
I do peer review and I want you to pay me four hundred and fifty dollars. I’ll even say please.
jamesheathers.medium.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Here's the @archive.org webpage since the official website is down now: web.archive.org/web/20251105...

Absolute disgrace.
November 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
New #Protomen! I'm so thrilled to post each and every drop until #ActIII is fully out. theprotomen.bandcamp.com/track/hold-o...
November 4, 2025 at 10:41 PM
This is why I don't trust charter schools to replace public education. The greed and mismanagement without public oversight is horrifying. #AcademicSky #EduSky #Education
Faith Family Academy is one of eight Texas charter school districts on track to be shut down at the end of the year after receiving an “F” rating.

Board members paid its superintendent a peak annual compensation of $560,000 in recent years.

With @texastribune.org
These Charter Superintendents Are Some of the Highest Paid in Texas. Their Districts Are Among the Lowest Performing.
Three charter school districts in Texas underreported the compensation paid to their top leaders. The same three districts have also had failing or near-failing performance ratings in recent years.
www.propublica.org
October 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
It turns out you can order free hard copies of the NRL Plasma Formulary book from the US Navy. www.nrl.navy.mil/News-Media/P...

The PDF is also freely available.

Making my tax dollars work lol. Though with the shutdown, I don't know if they'll respond. #Physics #Science 🧪⚛️
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 PM