barbylon
@barbylon.bsky.social
Category 1 mind, Category 4 attitude. 🧪🔭🚀
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Authors were interested to find out why it's all so awful, and try to estimate how 'outdated' AI content is vs. scientific literature, using complicated computational methods.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...
Reposted by barbylon
Reposted by barbylon
Left Shark was in the house for today’s Gorman Overpass protest!
Tomorrow it’s national pizza day. Join us from 3:00 to 5:00 pm to celebrate with a slice.
#ProtestMarathon
#Resist
@indivisiblehocomd.bsky.social
Tomorrow it’s national pizza day. Join us from 3:00 to 5:00 pm to celebrate with a slice.
#ProtestMarathon
#Resist
@indivisiblehocomd.bsky.social
February 8, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Left Shark was in the house for today’s Gorman Overpass protest!
Tomorrow it’s national pizza day. Join us from 3:00 to 5:00 pm to celebrate with a slice.
#ProtestMarathon
#Resist
@indivisiblehocomd.bsky.social
Tomorrow it’s national pizza day. Join us from 3:00 to 5:00 pm to celebrate with a slice.
#ProtestMarathon
#Resist
@indivisiblehocomd.bsky.social
who's the Super Bowl halftime performer? wrong answers only
February 9, 2026 at 1:03 AM
who's the Super Bowl halftime performer? wrong answers only
Reposted by barbylon
it's #SuperbOwl Sunday! Best day of the year. For your consideration, the Blakiston's fish owl. Largest owls in the world (six-foot wingspans, weigh close to a bald eagle), salmon eaters, live year-round in remote forests of northeast Asia. 🦉
February 8, 2026 at 10:15 PM
it's #SuperbOwl Sunday! Best day of the year. For your consideration, the Blakiston's fish owl. Largest owls in the world (six-foot wingspans, weigh close to a bald eagle), salmon eaters, live year-round in remote forests of northeast Asia. 🦉
I have kept my Super Bowl streak going - this is my 54th consecutive year of not being invited to a Super Bowl party.
February 9, 2026 at 12:39 AM
I have kept my Super Bowl streak going - this is my 54th consecutive year of not being invited to a Super Bowl party.
Reposted by barbylon
Every Thursday night I live stream nail art. For my first stream of Black History Month I asked chat to choose between 4 Black scientists I’d pre-selected. Chat, in their usual fashion, said “all 4, please”. Hence: Margaret Collins, Kathrine Johnson, Sophie Lutterlough, and Charles Henry Turner.
February 8, 2026 at 4:03 AM
Every Thursday night I live stream nail art. For my first stream of Black History Month I asked chat to choose between 4 Black scientists I’d pre-selected. Chat, in their usual fashion, said “all 4, please”. Hence: Margaret Collins, Kathrine Johnson, Sophie Lutterlough, and Charles Henry Turner.
Reposted by barbylon
Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart, mission specialists on the Space Shuttle Challenger during STS-41-B, used nitrogen-propelled maneuvering units to perform the first untethered spacewalks #OTD in 1984. 🧪 🔭 🚀
(1/n)
Images: NASA
(1/n)
Images: NASA
February 7, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart, mission specialists on the Space Shuttle Challenger during STS-41-B, used nitrogen-propelled maneuvering units to perform the first untethered spacewalks #OTD in 1984. 🧪 🔭 🚀
(1/n)
Images: NASA
(1/n)
Images: NASA
Reposted by barbylon
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted by barbylon
No wonder the orange toddler is unhinged once again.
The Obamas are competent, classy, loving, Harvard and Princeton graduates, loved by many, not on the Epstein files, got the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave us a steady economy to boot.
Repost this if you agree they are AMAZING and an inspiration!
The Obamas are competent, classy, loving, Harvard and Princeton graduates, loved by many, not on the Epstein files, got the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave us a steady economy to boot.
Repost this if you agree they are AMAZING and an inspiration!
February 6, 2026 at 5:23 PM
No wonder the orange toddler is unhinged once again.
The Obamas are competent, classy, loving, Harvard and Princeton graduates, loved by many, not on the Epstein files, got the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave us a steady economy to boot.
Repost this if you agree they are AMAZING and an inspiration!
The Obamas are competent, classy, loving, Harvard and Princeton graduates, loved by many, not on the Epstein files, got the Nobel Peace Prize, and gave us a steady economy to boot.
Repost this if you agree they are AMAZING and an inspiration!
Reposted by barbylon
If you were to actually take his white supremacy and racism seriously, you would evaluate their impacts on every single decision and policy advanced by the administration. And you would be on board for future reparations.
February 6, 2026 at 12:32 PM
If you were to actually take his white supremacy and racism seriously, you would evaluate their impacts on every single decision and policy advanced by the administration. And you would be on board for future reparations.
Reposted by barbylon
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:09 AM
No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...