barbylon
@barbylon.bsky.social
Category 1 mind, Category 4 attitude. 🧪🔭🚀
Reposted by barbylon
BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.
This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.
This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.
February 18, 2026 at 5:39 PM
BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.
This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.
This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.
Reposted by barbylon
Dr. Ross Beyer studies planetary surfaces, working on ways to quantitatively analyze the meter-scale topography and surface roughness via remote sensing. This work has been used to help plan landing sites on Mars and the Moon. 🧪 🔭
#Geoscience #Space #Science #SETI #NotJustAliens
#Geoscience #Space #Science #SETI #NotJustAliens
February 19, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Dr. Ross Beyer studies planetary surfaces, working on ways to quantitatively analyze the meter-scale topography and surface roughness via remote sensing. This work has been used to help plan landing sites on Mars and the Moon. 🧪 🔭
#Geoscience #Space #Science #SETI #NotJustAliens
#Geoscience #Space #Science #SETI #NotJustAliens
Reposted by barbylon
I just realized that today is Chinese New Year, the 1st day of Ramadan, AND Fat Tuesday. That means the Chinese new moon lined up with the Ramadan crescent and also fell exactly the right amount of time before the Easter full moon.
An extremely rare lineup of 3 major moon-based traditions!
An extremely rare lineup of 3 major moon-based traditions!
February 18, 2026 at 6:57 AM
I just realized that today is Chinese New Year, the 1st day of Ramadan, AND Fat Tuesday. That means the Chinese new moon lined up with the Ramadan crescent and also fell exactly the right amount of time before the Easter full moon.
An extremely rare lineup of 3 major moon-based traditions!
An extremely rare lineup of 3 major moon-based traditions!
Reposted by barbylon
1. Never incentivize people to not take their meds.
2. Never incentivize people to lie to or withhold from their doctors.
3. Never assume that a disability is the same every day.
4. Err on the side of giving too many benefits, not too few. The consequences are asymmetrical.
2. Never incentivize people to lie to or withhold from their doctors.
3. Never assume that a disability is the same every day.
4. Err on the side of giving too many benefits, not too few. The consequences are asymmetrical.
I told you they’d come after Veterans’ benefits. www.stripes.com/veterans/202...
Veterans slam new VA rule for determining disability ratings
The new rule states that a disability level must be based on how well a veteran functions while on medication and not on the underlying impairment.
www.stripes.com
February 18, 2026 at 12:42 PM
1. Never incentivize people to not take their meds.
2. Never incentivize people to lie to or withhold from their doctors.
3. Never assume that a disability is the same every day.
4. Err on the side of giving too many benefits, not too few. The consequences are asymmetrical.
2. Never incentivize people to lie to or withhold from their doctors.
3. Never assume that a disability is the same every day.
4. Err on the side of giving too many benefits, not too few. The consequences are asymmetrical.
Reposted by barbylon
February 17, 2026 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by barbylon
What could go wrong using AI to help stage a few listing photos?
February 16, 2026 at 10:10 PM
What could go wrong using AI to help stage a few listing photos?
Reposted by barbylon
NASA will attempt a second Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal on Thursday: www.nasa.gov/blogs/missio...
NASA Eyes Next Wet Dress Rehearsal for Artemis II - NASA
NASA is targeting Thursday, Feb. 19, as the tanking day for the second wet dress rehearsal ahead of the agency’s Artemis II test flight.
www.nasa.gov
February 16, 2026 at 8:45 PM
NASA will attempt a second Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal on Thursday: www.nasa.gov/blogs/missio...
Reposted by barbylon
Me as a child: it must be very hard to become a CEO and be very hard work once you get the job
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
February 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Me as a child: it must be very hard to become a CEO and be very hard work once you get the job
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Guy obviously on drugs speaking at a conference: the next five years of the economy should be about a dream I had where a dog spoke to me
Reposted by barbylon
Reposted by barbylon
This past Wednesday a U.S. Marshal shot and killed Julian Bailey in the Mayfair neighborhood of Ward 7. This shows us yet again that DC must end cooperation between MPD and federal forces.
Tomorrow at 6 PM join Julian’s family for a vigil and remembrance in his honor.
Tomorrow at 6 PM join Julian’s family for a vigil and remembrance in his honor.
February 15, 2026 at 4:32 PM
This past Wednesday a U.S. Marshal shot and killed Julian Bailey in the Mayfair neighborhood of Ward 7. This shows us yet again that DC must end cooperation between MPD and federal forces.
Tomorrow at 6 PM join Julian’s family for a vigil and remembrance in his honor.
Tomorrow at 6 PM join Julian’s family for a vigil and remembrance in his honor.
Reposted by barbylon
My mother was 18 when Black women were able to vote openly. 23 when Roe v. Wade passed. 24 when women were allowed bank accounts in their own names
I was 29 when I lost my right to an abortion. I am 33 & about to lose my right to vote
A pox on every Trump supporter. Hell ain’t hot enough for you.
I was 29 when I lost my right to an abortion. I am 33 & about to lose my right to vote
A pox on every Trump supporter. Hell ain’t hot enough for you.
February 14, 2026 at 9:25 PM
My mother was 18 when Black women were able to vote openly. 23 when Roe v. Wade passed. 24 when women were allowed bank accounts in their own names
I was 29 when I lost my right to an abortion. I am 33 & about to lose my right to vote
A pox on every Trump supporter. Hell ain’t hot enough for you.
I was 29 when I lost my right to an abortion. I am 33 & about to lose my right to vote
A pox on every Trump supporter. Hell ain’t hot enough for you.
Coming so soon after the Superb Owl Sunday. It truly is an auspicious week.
Happy Valen's Time Day
Valen, Minbari not born of Minbari, who is the reason for the season.
Valen, Minbari not born of Minbari, who is the reason for the season.
February 14, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Coming so soon after the Superb Owl Sunday. It truly is an auspicious week.
LLMs are terrible for science. please use your highly trained and very capable brains.
Authors were interested to find out why it's all so awful, and try to estimate how 'outdated' AI content is vs. scientific literature, using complicated computational methods.
This finds chron changes in scientific abstracts over time, but ultimately we don't know what AI training materials are.
This finds chron changes in scientific abstracts over time, but ultimately we don't know what AI training materials are.
February 14, 2026 at 5:41 PM
LLMs are terrible for science. please use your highly trained and very capable brains.
Reposted by barbylon
"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." —Carl Sagan
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
![The "pale blue dot" photo. It shows three or four colored beams of light – optical artifacts – passing from the left side of the image to the right. The background is dark, empty space. In the topmost light beam is a single pale blue pixel. That's Earth. Sagan's quote is printed on the image. It reads ""We succeeded in taking that picture [from deep space], and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every superstar, every supreme leader, every saint and sinner in the history..."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/bafkreicpbthbsbsmlfm3fjysre3sbt3gyu2gjxmacrnofhibatrts2xwga@jpeg)
February 14, 2026 at 1:12 PM
"That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives." —Carl Sagan
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Voyager 1 captured the "Pale Blue Dot" image #OTD in 1990. 🧪 🔭 🔵
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Reposted by barbylon
Bovino advanced all the way to within eyesight of Paisley Park, but his supply lines were stretched too thin and ultimately his frozen troops were encircled by Will Stancil and wine moms with whistles
February 12, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Bovino advanced all the way to within eyesight of Paisley Park, but his supply lines were stretched too thin and ultimately his frozen troops were encircled by Will Stancil and wine moms with whistles
Reposted by barbylon
never get involved in a land war in Minnesota
Bovino advanced all the way to within eyesight of Paisley Park, but his supply lines were stretched too thin and ultimately his frozen troops were encircled by Will Stancil and wine moms with whistles
February 12, 2026 at 4:13 PM
never get involved in a land war in Minnesota
Reposted by barbylon
Reposted by barbylon
Really vital piece from @andreapitzer.bsky.social on the Trump admin's plans to build concentration camps around the country. And as she explains (again) that's what they are
Importantly has a great section on "What we can do" cause this is "something truly vile and something we have to stop"
Importantly has a great section on "What we can do" cause this is "something truly vile and something we have to stop"
When I got the contract to write a history of concentration camps in 2014, I hoped to keep the US from ending up here. That didn't work out! But now it's critical to understand how much is already in process and the enormity of what's coming. The sooner we act to stop it, the more people we'll save.
Building the camps
The warehouseification of detention and initial thoughts on stopping it.
degenerateart.beehiiv.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Really vital piece from @andreapitzer.bsky.social on the Trump admin's plans to build concentration camps around the country. And as she explains (again) that's what they are
Importantly has a great section on "What we can do" cause this is "something truly vile and something we have to stop"
Importantly has a great section on "What we can do" cause this is "something truly vile and something we have to stop"
Reposted by barbylon
you could simply leave the “Jewish” part out of this
it is a choice and it is a bad one and I would really, truly prefer that people ostensibly on my side of the political spectrum not make it
it is a choice and it is a bad one and I would really, truly prefer that people ostensibly on my side of the political spectrum not make it
I have to say, I do not love this new trend of large liberal accounts with millions of followers identifying Jews.
February 11, 2026 at 5:42 AM
you could simply leave the “Jewish” part out of this
it is a choice and it is a bad one and I would really, truly prefer that people ostensibly on my side of the political spectrum not make it
it is a choice and it is a bad one and I would really, truly prefer that people ostensibly on my side of the political spectrum not make it
Reposted by barbylon
Three different rockets on pads at Cape Canaveral at once, two of them two different crewed spacecraft! Is that a record?
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Falcon 9 and Dragon on pad 40 for the Crew 12 mission aiming to launch on Friday (in the last 10 days its launch has gone 14th, 11th, 12th, 13th 🤷♂️)
February 11, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Three different rockets on pads at Cape Canaveral at once, two of them two different crewed spacecraft! Is that a record?
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Reposted by barbylon
Hey y'all. I'm hiring. Are you interested in building instruments for astrophysics?
wd5.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...
wd5.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...
Research Scientist/Engineer 2 (E S UAW Research)
Job Description The University of Washington (UW) Astronomy Department has an outstanding opportunity for a researcher who will have responsibilities in the design, development, construction, and test...
wd5.myworkdaysite.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:51 PM
Hey y'all. I'm hiring. Are you interested in building instruments for astrophysics?
wd5.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...
wd5.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/u...
Reposted by barbylon
They said If you screamed “Ricky!” during the halftime show, your AARP welcome packet is in the mail. 🤣🤣
Some people said they screamed “Menudo!”, which means your wheelchair 🦽 is on the way! 😩
Some people said they screamed “Menudo!”, which means your wheelchair 🦽 is on the way! 😩
February 9, 2026 at 5:26 PM
They said If you screamed “Ricky!” during the halftime show, your AARP welcome packet is in the mail. 🤣🤣
Some people said they screamed “Menudo!”, which means your wheelchair 🦽 is on the way! 😩
Some people said they screamed “Menudo!”, which means your wheelchair 🦽 is on the way! 😩
This is the recap thread I needed. 🩵
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
February 9, 2026 at 3:05 PM
This is the recap thread I needed. 🩵
Reposted by barbylon
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...