David Rothery
@daverothery.bsky.social
Professor of Planetary Geosciences at the Open University (UK). BepiColombo science team and volcanologist.
Reposted by David Rothery
Glad the Apollo 13 movie is getting reruns lately.
This scene is even more moving today: right, Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell; left, cameo appearance by actual Jim Lovell (1928 Mar 25 - 2025 Aug 7).
This scene is even more moving today: right, Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell; left, cameo appearance by actual Jim Lovell (1928 Mar 25 - 2025 Aug 7).
August 8, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Glad the Apollo 13 movie is getting reruns lately.
This scene is even more moving today: right, Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell; left, cameo appearance by actual Jim Lovell (1928 Mar 25 - 2025 Aug 7).
This scene is even more moving today: right, Tom Hanks playing Jim Lovell; left, cameo appearance by actual Jim Lovell (1928 Mar 25 - 2025 Aug 7).
RIP Jim Lovell, a man from a time when the USA did things we could all admire www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jim Lovell, who guided Apollo 13 safely back to Earth, dies aged 97
Commander of Apollo 13, who rescued his men from a near certain death in space, has died aged 97.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 8, 2025 at 8:41 PM
RIP Jim Lovell, a man from a time when the USA did things we could all admire www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A newly minted Open University PhD. Congratulations Dr Annie Lennox!
June 30, 2025 at 5:05 PM
A newly minted Open University PhD. Congratulations Dr Annie Lennox!
Nice article featuring issues of diversity and inclusivity in planetary nomenclature by my student Annie Lennox. If folk don’t see their like represented, they are likely to feel excluded from the field. That’s unfair, but also we need all the talent we can get. geoscientist.online/sections/une...
Representation bias on Mercury - GEOSCIENTIST
Tell us about your research Annie Lennox: For geological mapping, Mercury is split into fifteen areas called quadrangles. I’ve mapped a quadrangle in the south polar region as part of my PhD research....
geoscientist.online
May 12, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Nice article featuring issues of diversity and inclusivity in planetary nomenclature by my student Annie Lennox. If folk don’t see their like represented, they are likely to feel excluded from the field. That’s unfair, but also we need all the talent we can get. geoscientist.online/sections/une...
Reposted by David Rothery
youtu.be/pvT3aQjLxdE
Here's a 🎶 twist on Coldplay's thumping #VivaLaVida we're calling "Puppets on a Kremlin String?"
It reflects on the grotesque media spectacle hosted by #Trump & #Vance yesterday at the White House. In solidarity with Zelensky & Ukraine.
#SlavaUkraini
#Dontabandonthem
Here's a 🎶 twist on Coldplay's thumping #VivaLaVida we're calling "Puppets on a Kremlin String?"
It reflects on the grotesque media spectacle hosted by #Trump & #Vance yesterday at the White House. In solidarity with Zelensky & Ukraine.
#SlavaUkraini
#Dontabandonthem
"Puppets on a Kremlin String?" - Marsh Family adaptation of Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" on Trump/Vance
YouTube video by Marsh Family
youtu.be
March 1, 2025 at 10:24 PM
youtu.be/pvT3aQjLxdE
Here's a 🎶 twist on Coldplay's thumping #VivaLaVida we're calling "Puppets on a Kremlin String?"
It reflects on the grotesque media spectacle hosted by #Trump & #Vance yesterday at the White House. In solidarity with Zelensky & Ukraine.
#SlavaUkraini
#Dontabandonthem
Here's a 🎶 twist on Coldplay's thumping #VivaLaVida we're calling "Puppets on a Kremlin String?"
It reflects on the grotesque media spectacle hosted by #Trump & #Vance yesterday at the White House. In solidarity with Zelensky & Ukraine.
#SlavaUkraini
#Dontabandonthem
#PlanetParade had been overhyped, but here are Mars, Jupiter, Venus and last of all Mercury lurking at the lower edge of the band of grey cloud at tree top height. Video shot at 18:37 this evening.
February 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
#PlanetParade had been overhyped, but here are Mars, Jupiter, Venus and last of all Mercury lurking at the lower edge of the band of grey cloud at tree top height. Video shot at 18:37 this evening.
#PlanetParade has been grossly overhyped by lazy journalists and colleagues keen to get on air. I caught sight of Mercury at 18:27 but Saturn was already too low. See pics. Venus is easy in the first 2, but you won’t spot Mercury except in the 3rd, magnified view. (Mars & Jupiter were lovely though)
February 27, 2025 at 7:14 PM
#PlanetParade has been grossly overhyped by lazy journalists and colleagues keen to get on air. I caught sight of Mercury at 18:27 but Saturn was already too low. See pics. Venus is easy in the first 2, but you won’t spot Mercury except in the 3rd, magnified view. (Mars & Jupiter were lovely though)
Reposted by David Rothery
Worried about losing access to US federal data that may go off-line, or already is? You’re not alone—but duplication isn’t the answer.
Many ongoing efforts have already archived key datasets and many more are ongoing. Check out these existing resources and, if you can, support their work. 🧵
Many ongoing efforts have already archived key datasets and many more are ongoing. Check out these existing resources and, if you can, support their work. 🧵
a man in a black shirt is looking at a screen with a red background
Alt: a man in a black shirt is looking at a screen with a red background
media.tenor.com
February 6, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Worried about losing access to US federal data that may go off-line, or already is? You’re not alone—but duplication isn’t the answer.
Many ongoing efforts have already archived key datasets and many more are ongoing. Check out these existing resources and, if you can, support their work. 🧵
Many ongoing efforts have already archived key datasets and many more are ongoing. Check out these existing resources and, if you can, support their work. 🧵
Reposted by David Rothery
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
So, the same week that an asteroid is discovered with a small chance of hitting Earth, the government shuts down one of the primary ways planetary scientists advise NASA.
February 1, 2025 at 12:16 PM
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Authors, if you see this it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
“Unless you are in the tropics (or witness a total solar eclipse) you will never see Mercury in a completely dark sky”
Planet Mercury: from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer Praxis 2015)
“Unless you are in the tropics (or witness a total solar eclipse) you will never see Mercury in a completely dark sky”
Planet Mercury: from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer Praxis 2015)
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
"Our canoe floats quietly in the darkness, a tiny drifting speck dwarfed by the starry sky."
Blue Machine: www.penguin.co.uk/books/441190...
"Our canoe floats quietly in the darkness, a tiny drifting speck dwarfed by the starry sky."
Blue Machine: www.penguin.co.uk/books/441190...
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
“The world is awash with bullshit, and we are drowning in it.”
“The world is awash with bullshit, and we are drowning in it.”
February 2, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Authors, if you see this it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
“Unless you are in the tropics (or witness a total solar eclipse) you will never see Mercury in a completely dark sky”
Planet Mercury: from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer Praxis 2015)
“Unless you are in the tropics (or witness a total solar eclipse) you will never see Mercury in a completely dark sky”
Planet Mercury: from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer Praxis 2015)
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book. “It would be meaningless to write about the discovery of our moon, the one that goes round the Earth - ‘the Moon’, as I shall call it from now on because that’s its name”
- Moons: A Very Short Introduction
- Moons: A Very Short Introduction
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
"Curiosity began in the wreckage of NASA’s Mars hopes."
- The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job
"Curiosity began in the wreckage of NASA’s Mars hopes."
- The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book.
The sky outside the port resembled a brindled jewel.
- The Folded Sky
The sky outside the port resembled a brindled jewel.
- The Folded Sky
February 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Authors, if you see this, it’s a sign to post the first line of your book. “It would be meaningless to write about the discovery of our moon, the one that goes round the Earth - ‘the Moon’, as I shall call it from now on because that’s its name”
- Moons: A Very Short Introduction
- Moons: A Very Short Introduction
Reposted by David Rothery
Alan Sugar: "The biggest disaster in my lifetime was us leaving the European Union."
"If I was Prime Minister I'd be coming along on bended knee asking to be let back in."
"If I was Prime Minister I'd be coming along on bended knee asking to be let back in."
January 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Alan Sugar: "The biggest disaster in my lifetime was us leaving the European Union."
"If I was Prime Minister I'd be coming along on bended knee asking to be let back in."
"If I was Prime Minister I'd be coming along on bended knee asking to be let back in."
Who else is wearing a #Churchill scarf today?
January 24, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Who else is wearing a #Churchill scarf today?
This is “Mercury confiding the infant Bacchus to the nymphs” by F Boucher, which I saw today at the Wallace Collection. Note the snakes wrapped around Mercury’s staff, which is why faculae on the planet Mercury are named after “snake” in a different language each time.
January 15, 2025 at 7:49 PM
This is “Mercury confiding the infant Bacchus to the nymphs” by F Boucher, which I saw today at the Wallace Collection. Note the snakes wrapped around Mercury’s staff, which is why faculae on the planet Mercury are named after “snake” in a different language each time.
BepiColombo’s 6th Mercury flyby movie now online at youtu.be/Drh5agiQYzE?... Watch carefully and you will spot the planet reflected in the solar array too. This is the final visit to Mercury before we get into orbit on November 2026.
Timelapse of BepiColombo's sixth Mercury flyby
YouTube video by European Space Agency, ESA
youtu.be
January 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM
BepiColombo’s 6th Mercury flyby movie now online at youtu.be/Drh5agiQYzE?... Watch carefully and you will spot the planet reflected in the solar array too. This is the final visit to Mercury before we get into orbit on November 2026.
Mere twilight, or where the shadows lie.
Here’s a view of permanently shadowed Tolkien crater at Mercury’s North Pole from yesterday’s flyby by BepiColombo. Story at www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Here’s a view of permanently shadowed Tolkien crater at Mercury’s North Pole from yesterday’s flyby by BepiColombo. Story at www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
January 9, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Mere twilight, or where the shadows lie.
Here’s a view of permanently shadowed Tolkien crater at Mercury’s North Pole from yesterday’s flyby by BepiColombo. Story at www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Here’s a view of permanently shadowed Tolkien crater at Mercury’s North Pole from yesterday’s flyby by BepiColombo. Story at www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
Captain, my captain! Great to see Diarmaid MacCulloch on University Challenge after nearly 50 years, and this time with his name spelt right.
December 30, 2024 at 5:18 PM
Captain, my captain! Great to see Diarmaid MacCulloch on University Challenge after nearly 50 years, and this time with his name spelt right.
Reposted by David Rothery
I so enjoy Zoe's refreshing sanity.
We know for the last government keeping asylum seekers in hotels long term was weaponised incompetence.
What’s this government’s excuse for keeping Syrians & other refugees in limbo?
What’s this government’s excuse for keeping Syrians & other refugees in limbo?
December 29, 2024 at 7:40 PM
I so enjoy Zoe's refreshing sanity.
Dark comets and decametre asteroids. My ineteriew for @NakedScientists with Dr Chris Smith, who dont seem to be on BlueSky yet eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
December 13, 2024 at 4:27 PM
Dark comets and decametre asteroids. My ineteriew for @NakedScientists with Dr Chris Smith, who dont seem to be on BlueSky yet eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Reposted by David Rothery
New study shows majority of people who voted to leave EU would now accept return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market & similar support for a reciprocal youth mobility scheme.
So when will the government catch up? @europeanmovement.co.uk
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So when will the government catch up? @europeanmovement.co.uk
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Majority of Brexit voters ‘would accept free movement’ to access single market
Europe-wide polling finds UK and EU leaders now out of step with public opinion and pursue ‘ambitious reset’
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2024 at 11:15 AM
New study shows majority of people who voted to leave EU would now accept return to free movement in exchange for access to the single market & similar support for a reciprocal youth mobility scheme.
So when will the government catch up? @europeanmovement.co.uk
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So when will the government catch up? @europeanmovement.co.uk
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Well done team #OpenUniversity on tonight’s University Challenge! @oustudents.bsky.social
December 9, 2024 at 9:08 PM
Well done team #OpenUniversity on tonight’s University Challenge! @oustudents.bsky.social
New type of hydrated sodium chloride (salt) discovered by my #OpenUniversity colleagues www.open.ac.uk/blogs/news/s...
December 6, 2024 at 10:28 PM
New type of hydrated sodium chloride (salt) discovered by my #OpenUniversity colleagues www.open.ac.uk/blogs/news/s...
Reposted by David Rothery
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says
“We need to leave the ECHR so we can deport people that come illegally & take back control of our borders & that’s what the public wants”
Share if you disagree with his populist boll**** the UK should join Russia & Belarus outside the ECHR
youtu.be/iSTN-h8NoyY
“We need to leave the ECHR so we can deport people that come illegally & take back control of our borders & that’s what the public wants”
Share if you disagree with his populist boll**** the UK should join Russia & Belarus outside the ECHR
youtu.be/iSTN-h8NoyY
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says public want to leave the ECHR - let’s put the record straight
YouTube video by Peter Stefanovic
youtu.be
December 6, 2024 at 4:04 PM
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says
“We need to leave the ECHR so we can deport people that come illegally & take back control of our borders & that’s what the public wants”
Share if you disagree with his populist boll**** the UK should join Russia & Belarus outside the ECHR
youtu.be/iSTN-h8NoyY
“We need to leave the ECHR so we can deport people that come illegally & take back control of our borders & that’s what the public wants”
Share if you disagree with his populist boll**** the UK should join Russia & Belarus outside the ECHR
youtu.be/iSTN-h8NoyY
This is a lovely video, and makes the trilobite look so real :-)
Fantastic reconstruction from soft tissue preservation
Trilobite video's finally done, hope you'll give it a look ☺️
youtu.be/vGcsiJaz9kU?...
#sciArt #Trilobite #paleoart #3Danimation #paleontology
youtu.be/vGcsiJaz9kU?...
#sciArt #Trilobite #paleoart #3Danimation #paleontology
December 6, 2024 at 10:15 AM
This is a lovely video, and makes the trilobite look so real :-)
#BepiColombo MCCAM image from today’s (5th) #Mercury flyby at a range of 51000km. If you zoom into the pic you can see the whole of the Caloris basin. Its floor is covered by relatively bright lavas. The dark spot is Atget crater, exposing Low Reflectance Material. North is towards the bottom.
December 1, 2024 at 9:01 PM
#BepiColombo MCCAM image from today’s (5th) #Mercury flyby at a range of 51000km. If you zoom into the pic you can see the whole of the Caloris basin. Its floor is covered by relatively bright lavas. The dark spot is Atget crater, exposing Low Reflectance Material. North is towards the bottom.