Benjamin Pope
@benjaminpope.bsky.social
Australian astronomer
he/him
Sydney/Gadi
he/him
Sydney/Gadi
Pinned
🚨 #DiscoveryProjects #DP26 announcement:
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...
/bot
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...
/bot
Absolutely delighted to read this news after an anxious wait - Christian Schwab and I will be looking for a postdoc on extremely precise radial velocities at Macquarie soon!
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
I think the almost zealous commitment to 'Lore' and 'The Canon' that has risen over the past decade is the most frustrating and restrictive cultural movement we've seen, on par with how streaming means no one commissions tv beyond one series at a time anymore.
November 11, 2025 at 11:18 AM
I think the almost zealous commitment to 'Lore' and 'The Canon' that has risen over the past decade is the most frustrating and restrictive cultural movement we've seen, on par with how streaming means no one commissions tv beyond one series at a time anymore.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
No university should be in bed with dirty industries destroying the climate or profiteering from war. The Greens will keep pushing to end these partnerships.
November 11, 2025 at 6:15 AM
No university should be in bed with dirty industries destroying the climate or profiteering from war. The Greens will keep pushing to end these partnerships.
An appalling waste of talent and vandalism of an important institution
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 4:19 AM
An appalling waste of talent and vandalism of an important institution
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
Today marks 50 years since the most outrageous event in Australia's democracy. They "maintained the rage" and we are beneficiaries of that.
Yet, for a time in 1975, Australian democracy appeared a fragile thing. It proved robust in the end – thanks in large part to the creativity of ordinary Australians who agitated for their country’s democratic culture, system and institutions.
In a world with democracy in decline, we have much to learn from those who rallied against Whitlam’s dismissal | Frank Bongiorno and James Watson
In 1975, few Australians believed the dismissal of a democratically elected government was business as usual
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Today marks 50 years since the most outrageous event in Australia's democracy. They "maintained the rage" and we are beneficiaries of that.
αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν for finance bros
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 1:58 AM
αἰὲν ἀριστεύειν for finance bros
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
Has “performative” become the new “liminal” in that it’s a term that is very useful but its misuse on social media is rendering it difficult to use
November 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Has “performative” become the new “liminal” in that it’s a term that is very useful but its misuse on social media is rendering it difficult to use
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
More h-alpha solar timelapses. Here's a loop of plasma twisting off AR4247 from yesterday around 21:30UTC. This might have been part of a small C-class flare. I think it looks like a tornado on the Sun!
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
November 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM
More h-alpha solar timelapses. Here's a loop of plasma twisting off AR4247 from yesterday around 21:30UTC. This might have been part of a small C-class flare. I think it looks like a tornado on the Sun!
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
"Bipartisanship and political ease are not things that occur when you are trying to change the country to help those without power."
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Gough dreamed of a country that never was, and asked why not?
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 PM
"Bipartisanship and political ease are not things that occur when you are trying to change the country to help those without power."
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Fifty years ago we were interrupted in building a free and equal society in Australia. Every day we can continue the work.
November 10, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Fifty years ago we were interrupted in building a free and equal society in Australia. Every day we can continue the work.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
Lest we forget the horrors and the human and global costs of war. Never again.
The white poppy is included in this image to represent our commitment to peace, non-violence, and meaningful justice.
The white poppy is included in this image to represent our commitment to peace, non-violence, and meaningful justice.
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Lest we forget the horrors and the human and global costs of war. Never again.
The white poppy is included in this image to represent our commitment to peace, non-violence, and meaningful justice.
The white poppy is included in this image to represent our commitment to peace, non-violence, and meaningful justice.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
The Trump regime recruits Proud Boys and Oath-Keepers as ICE thugs.
The Albanese govt engages bikies as enforcers for Australia's secretive offshore detention system.
Both avoid scrutiny and enable corruption.
"Shared values" @albomp.bsky.social ? #auspol
The Albanese govt engages bikies as enforcers for Australia's secretive offshore detention system.
Both avoid scrutiny and enable corruption.
"Shared values" @albomp.bsky.social ? #auspol
The govt is spending billions to keep 100 asylum seekers on Nauru, a nation of 12 000 people the size of Tullamarine airport. Reports implicating the Finks bikie gang in those deals are deeply concerning. Public servants have risked their livelihoods to speak out.
‘Dirty deals’: Nauru rorting, bikie gang allegations to be referred to NACC
Allegations of rorting, graft and bikie gangs infiltrating critical border security operations are set to be referred to the national anti-corruption watchdog.
www.theage.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 9:02 PM
The Trump regime recruits Proud Boys and Oath-Keepers as ICE thugs.
The Albanese govt engages bikies as enforcers for Australia's secretive offshore detention system.
Both avoid scrutiny and enable corruption.
"Shared values" @albomp.bsky.social ? #auspol
The Albanese govt engages bikies as enforcers for Australia's secretive offshore detention system.
Both avoid scrutiny and enable corruption.
"Shared values" @albomp.bsky.social ? #auspol
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
"Whitlam was a rarity in modern Labor leaders in that he was not afraid of power. Not of it and crucially, not of using it." @amyremeikis.bsky.social
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Whitlam’s legacy is one of possibility and hope. He showed us what a brave, grown up Australia could look like.
Whitlam showed us what a brave, grown up Australia could look like. And 50 years later, you have to wonder – is it even possible to make Australia brave again?
thepoint.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 PM
"Whitlam was a rarity in modern Labor leaders in that he was not afraid of power. Not of it and crucially, not of using it." @amyremeikis.bsky.social
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
The Whitlam Sacking: A View from the Rose Garden
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
My post on Gough: "Gough dreamed of a country that never was, and asked why not?"
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Gough dreamed of a country that never was, and asked why not?
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM
My post on Gough: "Gough dreamed of a country that never was, and asked why not?"
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
twitter being bought and turned into a propaganda machine for fascism, which is directly pumped into every journalist in the world's brain, is one of the worst things to happen in the last few years. we might not survive it.
I'm guessing the BBC 'scandal' has been big on X this week as this was the first I had heard of it...
November 9, 2025 at 8:17 PM
twitter being bought and turned into a propaganda machine for fascism, which is directly pumped into every journalist in the world's brain, is one of the worst things to happen in the last few years. we might not survive it.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
Offshore detention is a moral and financial black hole, bought to you by the Labor Party.
November 10, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Offshore detention is a moral and financial black hole, bought to you by the Labor Party.
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
More “Magellanic Clouds” in the sky—because I’m so good at running the simulation in my head—and what-not for sure. What I love is the notion that living in a just-before-cosmic-noon MW would mean we would never predict the coming turnover in the SFRD.
November 10, 2025 at 2:26 AM
More “Magellanic Clouds” in the sky—because I’m so good at running the simulation in my head—and what-not for sure. What I love is the notion that living in a just-before-cosmic-noon MW would mean we would never predict the coming turnover in the SFRD.
Has anyone done a simulation of what the night sky would look like at cosmic noon
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Has anyone done a simulation of what the night sky would look like at cosmic noon
Reform UK
The cliché is that every American is a temporarily embarrassed millionaire. But the median British citizen would happily trade a million pounds just for the chance to feel shit about their society
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reform UK
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
November 9, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
bluesky branding refresh unveiled
November 8, 2025 at 9:18 PM
bluesky branding refresh unveiled
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
What’s happening to British universities right now is a tragedy www.bbc.com/news/article...
University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses
Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.
www.bbc.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
What’s happening to British universities right now is a tragedy www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Benjamin Pope
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...