Carl Rodriguez
@carlrodriguez.bsky.social
Professor of astrophysics at UNC, studying colliding black holes, swarming stars, and other things that go bump in the night. Big fan of transit, biking, climbing, Durham NC, he/him
dynamics.unc.edu
dynamics.unc.edu
Intrusive thought, but I would pay real money for a special episode of The Pitt where every character, except Noah Wyle, was played by a Muppet.
February 13, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Intrusive thought, but I would pay real money for a special episode of The Pitt where every character, except Noah Wyle, was played by a Muppet.
Lot of great astronomers on the list this year! Congrats @yymao.bsky.social, among others!
RCSA welcomes 24 early career teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy as recipients of its 2026 #CottrellScholar Awards. Each awardee receives $120,000. Congratulations to this exceptional class!
2026 Cottrell Scholar Awards
Research Corporation for Science Advancement, America's first foundation dedicated wholly to science, has named 24 early career scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy as recipients of its 2026 ...
rescorp.org
February 12, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Lot of great astronomers on the list this year! Congrats @yymao.bsky.social, among others!
Damn ADS is struggling....
February 11, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Damn ADS is struggling....
Bold of someone to send me a manuscript to review without actually asking me if I will review it, then getting annoyed when I haven't reviewed it yet.
February 9, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Bold of someone to send me a manuscript to review without actually asking me if I will review it, then getting annoyed when I haven't reviewed it yet.
Bad Bunny’s pan-Americanism has me once again pondering the Worldwide Latina belt.
February 9, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Bad Bunny’s pan-Americanism has me once again pondering the Worldwide Latina belt.
Praise him
The Sermon on the Mount, by Beryl Lewis, before 1965, 📸 by @ScottStrazzante
February 9, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Praise him
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
I recently heard someone say the key to recovering from deep burnout is becoming comfortable with being unremarkable, which I think is really good advice for former academics coming from spaces where the primary currency is individual accolades within an interminable productivity arms race.
February 3, 2026 at 3:30 AM
I recently heard someone say the key to recovering from deep burnout is becoming comfortable with being unremarkable, which I think is really good advice for former academics coming from spaces where the primary currency is individual accolades within an interminable productivity arms race.
This is crazy, you can apparently find whole email conversations between Krauss and the Arizona State dean and legal team in these files as he was forwarding them to Epstein (and Woody Allen?) for advice.
Unsurprisingly, it seems there are more mentions of Jeffrey Epstein in the newly released Lawrence Krauss files.
February 1, 2026 at 3:05 PM
This is crazy, you can apparently find whole email conversations between Krauss and the Arizona State dean and legal team in these files as he was forwarding them to Epstein (and Woody Allen?) for advice.
Playing life on hard mode (giving a colloquium that doesn't mention LIGO).
January 30, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Playing life on hard mode (giving a colloquium that doesn't mention LIGO).
Seeing AI-generated images for anything scientific, even conference advertising, is really starting to raise my bullshit alarm.
January 28, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Seeing AI-generated images for anything scientific, even conference advertising, is really starting to raise my bullshit alarm.
Janna Levin?!?!
The new CBS contributors:
Elliot Ackerman, Peter Attia, Masih Alinejad, Arthur Brooks, Caroline Chambers, Clare de Boer, Niall Ferguson, Roland Fryer Jr., Andrew Huberman, Coleman Hughes, Mark Hyman, Janna Levin, Casey Lewis, HR McMaster, Patrick McGee, Reihan Salam, Lauren Sherman, Derek Thompson
Elliot Ackerman, Peter Attia, Masih Alinejad, Arthur Brooks, Caroline Chambers, Clare de Boer, Niall Ferguson, Roland Fryer Jr., Andrew Huberman, Coleman Hughes, Mark Hyman, Janna Levin, Casey Lewis, HR McMaster, Patrick McGee, Reihan Salam, Lauren Sherman, Derek Thompson
January 27, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Janna Levin?!?!
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
RCSA, @heisingsimonsfdn.bsky.social, the Leinweber Foundation, and Kevin Wells are funding the research of 7 collaborative teams in the 2nd year of #Scialog: Early Science with the #LSST, a 3-year initiative to ignite discovery with the @vrubinobs.bsky.social's Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
2025 Scialog: Early Science with the LSST Awards
RCSA, the Heising-Simons Foundation, the Leinweber Foundation, and Kevin Wells are awarding $1,254,000 total to support the research of seven collaborative teams of scientists from colleges, universit...
rescorp.org
January 21, 2026 at 5:32 PM
RCSA, @heisingsimonsfdn.bsky.social, the Leinweber Foundation, and Kevin Wells are funding the research of 7 collaborative teams in the 2nd year of #Scialog: Early Science with the #LSST, a 3-year initiative to ignite discovery with the @vrubinobs.bsky.social's Legacy Survey of Space and Time.
Prue is 86?!
Prue Leith, one of the judges of “The Great British Bake Off,” said on Wednesday that she was leaving the TV show after presiding over more than 400 challenges in nine seasons.
Prue Leith Says She Is Leaving ‘The Great British Bake Off’
Ms. Leith, 86, presided over more than 400 challenges in nine seasons of the TV baking competition, and said it “feels like the right time.”
nyti.ms
January 21, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Prue is 86?!
Our campus newspaper is On It®
January 20, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Our campus newspaper is On It®
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
how to join the maquis
January 9, 2026 at 11:22 PM
how to join the maquis
Amazing
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
January 9, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Amazing
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
Sounds about right lol
NASA Discovers Distant Planet With Conditions That Could Sustain Rocks https://theonion.com/nasa-discovers-distant-planet-with-conditions-that-could-sustain-rocks/
January 6, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Sounds about right lol
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
2025 was an eventful year for gravitational waves! Here is a brief round-up of some of the biggest gravitational wave news stories from last year:
January 6, 2026 at 3:44 PM
2025 was an eventful year for gravitational waves! Here is a brief round-up of some of the biggest gravitational wave news stories from last year:
When I worked as a waiter in Louisiana we’d get this woman who’d call once a week, immediately ask “yall hiring?”, and then hang up.
Gonna channel her vibe while looking at professor jobs in Canada this morning…
Gonna channel her vibe while looking at professor jobs in Canada this morning…
January 3, 2026 at 5:42 PM
When I worked as a waiter in Louisiana we’d get this woman who’d call once a week, immediately ask “yall hiring?”, and then hang up.
Gonna channel her vibe while looking at professor jobs in Canada this morning…
Gonna channel her vibe while looking at professor jobs in Canada this morning…
We need more drag queens with STEM degrees
January 3, 2026 at 1:40 AM
We need more drag queens with STEM degrees
Reposted by Carl Rodriguez
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
January 1, 2026 at 10:30 PM
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
I think we don’t talk enough about how *insanely wasteful* the money in politics is at all levels. If this campaign can actually use that money to improve people’s lives (and sell themselves in the process) that seems like a huge win?
🧵 Our mutual aid hub has been a HUGE draw for our immense volunteer base, many of whom have never wanted to be involved politics before now.
This model isn’t just about the immediate impacts: It’s about showing our values, building a community, and reaching voters — without selling our soul!
This model isn’t just about the immediate impacts: It’s about showing our values, building a community, and reaching voters — without selling our soul!
Turning campaigns into mutual aid hubs isn’t good for campaigns or mutual aid! Your campaign manager should be entirely too busy to schlep around 5600 tampons!
December 27, 2025 at 1:49 AM
I think we don’t talk enough about how *insanely wasteful* the money in politics is at all levels. If this campaign can actually use that money to improve people’s lives (and sell themselves in the process) that seems like a huge win?
The irony of this, while most of the board of governors and trustees have switched to signal to avoid public records requests, is both insulting and why no one is going to be putting real content into their syllabi anymore.
The UNC System's new syllabi policy not only requires the documents to be public records, but universities must also create a "readily searchable online platform" to display them.
www.wunc.org/education/20...
www.wunc.org/education/20...
It's official, North Carolina professors will have to publicly post syllabi
UNC System President Peter Hans' decision puts North Carolina in league with other Southern states like Florida and Texas, which legislatively mandate syllabi to be public records.
www.wunc.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
The irony of this, while most of the board of governors and trustees have switched to signal to avoid public records requests, is both insulting and why no one is going to be putting real content into their syllabi anymore.