David R. Rice
@davidrrice.bsky.social
Astrophysicist and rock-enjoyer. Slartibartfast's apprentice. Postdoc Fellow at UW-Madison. PhD from UNLV. Northwestern University Alumni.
Pinned
David R. Rice
@davidrrice.bsky.social
· Apr 24
Our new planet interior paper is accepted and up on arXiv, arxiv.org/abs/2504.16201! Explore all the knobs you can twist when modeling an Earth-like planet, in this case Trappist-1 f.
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
A memorable breakout session at #RockyWorlds4 someday we’ll answer this question; for now it’ll keep us up at night. (After we catch up on sleep from a busy conference week)
January 23, 2026 at 8:33 PM
A memorable breakout session at #RockyWorlds4 someday we’ll answer this question; for now it’ll keep us up at night. (After we catch up on sleep from a busy conference week)
Best conference hack: take photos of your friends presenting.
Great talk Hannah!
Great talk Hannah!
Had a great time at #RockyWorlds4 this week - presenting my PhD work on magnetic field generation in planetesimals 🧲 and learning lots about magma oceans 🔥ready for my post doc project. Thanks to everyone for such great discussions and @rockyworlds.bsky.social for organising a fantastic meeting!
January 23, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Best conference hack: take photos of your friends presenting.
Great talk Hannah!
Great talk Hannah!
Frankie mouse made it to Groningen. Coming to #RockyWorlds4 tomorrow! And check out Magrathea for your MR relationship or planet composition needs: github.com/Huang-CL/Mag... v2 live now and v3 already on the horizon
January 19, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Frankie mouse made it to Groningen. Coming to #RockyWorlds4 tomorrow! And check out Magrathea for your MR relationship or planet composition needs: github.com/Huang-CL/Mag... v2 live now and v3 already on the horizon
Reposted by David R. Rice
Wondering why we've been so quiet this month? That's because we're busy preparing to welcome everyone *next week* to Groningen 🇳🇱 for...
🌋✨🚀 The ROCKY WORLDS 4 Conference 2026! 🪐✨☄️
Updates will be posted throughout the week from this account & others using the #RockyWorlds4 hashtag – stay tuned! 🔭🧪
🌋✨🚀 The ROCKY WORLDS 4 Conference 2026! 🪐✨☄️
Updates will be posted throughout the week from this account & others using the #RockyWorlds4 hashtag – stay tuned! 🔭🧪
January 16, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Wondering why we've been so quiet this month? That's because we're busy preparing to welcome everyone *next week* to Groningen 🇳🇱 for...
🌋✨🚀 The ROCKY WORLDS 4 Conference 2026! 🪐✨☄️
Updates will be posted throughout the week from this account & others using the #RockyWorlds4 hashtag – stay tuned! 🔭🧪
🌋✨🚀 The ROCKY WORLDS 4 Conference 2026! 🪐✨☄️
Updates will be posted throughout the week from this account & others using the #RockyWorlds4 hashtag – stay tuned! 🔭🧪
I was looking for my folder of posters I like, and found the 2019 Sagan Workshop poster page. Wow blast from the past, crazy how well I remember so many of the faces even though many I've only seen once or twice.
nexsci.caltech.edu/workshop/201...
nexsci.caltech.edu/workshop/201...
nexsci.caltech.edu
January 8, 2026 at 12:12 PM
I was looking for my folder of posters I like, and found the 2019 Sagan Workshop poster page. Wow blast from the past, crazy how well I remember so many of the faces even though many I've only seen once or twice.
nexsci.caltech.edu/workshop/201...
nexsci.caltech.edu/workshop/201...
Officially started my postdoctoral fellowship at UW-Madison! Collaborating with Prof. Juliette Becker funded by the university's AI initiative. I haven't watch Big-10 football in ~10 years, but I think I'll have to get back into it (Go Cats!)
January 4, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Officially started my postdoctoral fellowship at UW-Madison! Collaborating with Prof. Juliette Becker funded by the university's AI initiative. I haven't watch Big-10 football in ~10 years, but I think I'll have to get back into it (Go Cats!)
Reposted by David R. Rice
Hi all! If you are looking for a conference in exoplanet interiors in 2026, check out "Layers of Understanding: Model Intercomparisons of Exoplanet Interiors": layersofunderstanding2026.github.io
It will take place in MPIA's campus in April 13-17th. The registration deadline is 15 January 2026
It will take place in MPIA's campus in April 13-17th. The registration deadline is 15 January 2026
December 5, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Hi all! If you are looking for a conference in exoplanet interiors in 2026, check out "Layers of Understanding: Model Intercomparisons of Exoplanet Interiors": layersofunderstanding2026.github.io
It will take place in MPIA's campus in April 13-17th. The registration deadline is 15 January 2026
It will take place in MPIA's campus in April 13-17th. The registration deadline is 15 January 2026
If you invite me to give a talk, I will bring my rock collection.
November 18, 2025 at 5:36 PM
If you invite me to give a talk, I will bring my rock collection.
Fighting the intrusive thought of sending in "looks all good. QED." for a paper review.
October 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Fighting the intrusive thought of sending in "looks all good. QED." for a paper review.
Two of the first works I reviewed for the Journal of Emerging Investigators got published!
Galaxy rotation curves: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/25-...
X-ray binary classifications: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/24-...
Galaxy rotation curves: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/25-...
X-ray binary classifications: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/24-...
Examination of the rotation curve for the dark matter deficient relic galaxy NGC 1277 | Journal of Emerging Investigators
JEI is a scientific journal for middle and high school scientists
emerginginvestigators.org
October 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Two of the first works I reviewed for the Journal of Emerging Investigators got published!
Galaxy rotation curves: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/25-...
X-ray binary classifications: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/24-...
Galaxy rotation curves: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/25-...
X-ray binary classifications: emerginginvestigators.org/articles/24-...
I made a travel map generator ✈️🌍
Drop in a list of country codes or names → see your visited & planned trips on a world map.
Runs fully in-browser (GitHub Pages).
Try it here: davidrrice.github.io/TravelMap/
#Travel #Maps
Drop in a list of country codes or names → see your visited & planned trips on a world map.
Runs fully in-browser (GitHub Pages).
Try it here: davidrrice.github.io/TravelMap/
#Travel #Maps
September 29, 2025 at 7:59 AM
I made a travel map generator ✈️🌍
Drop in a list of country codes or names → see your visited & planned trips on a world map.
Runs fully in-browser (GitHub Pages).
Try it here: davidrrice.github.io/TravelMap/
#Travel #Maps
Drop in a list of country codes or names → see your visited & planned trips on a world map.
Runs fully in-browser (GitHub Pages).
Try it here: davidrrice.github.io/TravelMap/
#Travel #Maps
Our new hydrosphere phase diagram is live for Magrathea: github.com/Huang-CL/Mag.... H2O ices, liquid, vapor, and supercritical. Largely inspired by the AQUA phase diagram from Haldemann et al. 2020, but with a couple of our own tweaks and ready to update with future EOS measurements.
September 28, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Our new hydrosphere phase diagram is live for Magrathea: github.com/Huang-CL/Mag.... H2O ices, liquid, vapor, and supercritical. Largely inspired by the AQUA phase diagram from Haldemann et al. 2020, but with a couple of our own tweaks and ready to update with future EOS measurements.
I'm not sure why I've decided to die on this hill radius, but Pluto & Charon are not a "binary planet" because the barycenter lies outside Pluto. That’s a misconception. Binary just means two bodies bound together: binary stars, binary black holes, binary asteroids, binary planet.
September 15, 2025 at 12:27 PM
I'm not sure why I've decided to die on this hill radius, but Pluto & Charon are not a "binary planet" because the barycenter lies outside Pluto. That’s a misconception. Binary just means two bodies bound together: binary stars, binary black holes, binary asteroids, binary planet.
Spent a day re-convincing myself that I know what an orbit is. Here are the barycentric orbits of Pluto-Charon and Alpha Centauri AB with correct proportions. Fun is that the radii of Pluto and Charon are even to scale with the orbit. #planetsci
August 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Spent a day re-convincing myself that I know what an orbit is. Here are the barycentric orbits of Pluto-Charon and Alpha Centauri AB with correct proportions. Fun is that the radii of Pluto and Charon are even to scale with the orbit. #planetsci
My MIL handed me pharma-grade DMSO for mosquito bites. Not FDA approved, but my self-study found it more statistical significance than DMS on K2-18b. #exoplanets
July 21, 2025 at 2:06 AM
My MIL handed me pharma-grade DMSO for mosquito bites. Not FDA approved, but my self-study found it more statistical significance than DMS on K2-18b. #exoplanets
Reposted by David R. Rice
Effect of Galactic Chemical Evolution on Exoplanet Properties. Jason H. Steffen (UNLV) et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10942
July 16, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Effect of Galactic Chemical Evolution on Exoplanet Properties. Jason H. Steffen (UNLV) et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.10942
Our new preprint just hit the arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2507.10942 💥 We take a look at how the core mass fraction of planets may change through galactic time. My largest contribution is this plot with the planets from Weeks et al. 2025 reanalyzed with our interior model. 🔭🪐
July 16, 2025 at 3:13 AM
Our new preprint just hit the arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2507.10942 💥 We take a look at how the core mass fraction of planets may change through galactic time. My largest contribution is this plot with the planets from Weeks et al. 2025 reanalyzed with our interior model. 🔭🪐
Preparing to trade salt for fresh water—can you guess where I’ll be working next?
Big move next summer, big science starting sooner. Excited for what’s ahead in 2026!
Big move next summer, big science starting sooner. Excited for what’s ahead in 2026!
July 12, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Preparing to trade salt for fresh water—can you guess where I’ll be working next?
Big move next summer, big science starting sooner. Excited for what’s ahead in 2026!
Big move next summer, big science starting sooner. Excited for what’s ahead in 2026!
Reposted by David R. Rice
the woke mob killed SExtractor
June 5, 2025 at 6:23 PM
the woke mob killed SExtractor
Officially published today if you missed the arXiv drop a month ago!
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
Uncertainties in the Inference of Internal Structure: The Case of TRAPPIST-1 f - IOPscienceSearchopens in new tab
Uncertainties in the Inference of Internal Structure: The Case of TRAPPIST-1 f, Rice, David R., Huang, Chenliang, Steffen, Jason H., Vazan, Allona
iopscience.iop.org
June 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Officially published today if you missed the arXiv drop a month ago!
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
A lot of words to circle back to "go around the Sun".
So neat, but seriously this is how we get multiple comments saying "the Sun orbits the Earth" which is an entirely unhelpful and wrong description of nature.
So neat, but seriously this is how we get multiple comments saying "the Sun orbits the Earth" which is an entirely unhelpful and wrong description of nature.
The Earth doesn’t “go around the Sun” the Earth goes in a straight line through an area of spacetime that bends around the Sun and I think that’s neat.
May 12, 2025 at 5:31 AM
A lot of words to circle back to "go around the Sun".
So neat, but seriously this is how we get multiple comments saying "the Sun orbits the Earth" which is an entirely unhelpful and wrong description of nature.
So neat, but seriously this is how we get multiple comments saying "the Sun orbits the Earth" which is an entirely unhelpful and wrong description of nature.
I get a bit carried away with @matplotlib.org's hatching. But it's so helpful! The left plot you can pick any point in the middle and pretty quickly tell which 4 hatch marks are overlapping.
May 4, 2025 at 11:43 AM
I get a bit carried away with @matplotlib.org's hatching. But it's so helpful! The left plot you can pick any point in the middle and pretty quickly tell which 4 hatch marks are overlapping.
Reposted by David R. Rice
Uncertainties in the Inference of Internal Structure: The Case of TRAPPIST-1 f. David R. Rice et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.16201
April 24, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Uncertainties in the Inference of Internal Structure: The Case of TRAPPIST-1 f. David R. Rice et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.16201
Our new planet interior paper is accepted and up on arXiv, arxiv.org/abs/2504.16201! Explore all the knobs you can twist when modeling an Earth-like planet, in this case Trappist-1 f.
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
April 24, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Our new planet interior paper is accepted and up on arXiv, arxiv.org/abs/2504.16201! Explore all the knobs you can twist when modeling an Earth-like planet, in this case Trappist-1 f.
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
Don't miss the appendix where I detail the "correct" way to plot a ternary diagram (below)....
#exoplanets 🔭🧪🪐
Reposted by David R. Rice
don’t give Elsevier any ideas 😭😭😭😭😭😭
“PromoPlot: Covering open-access fees by filling wasted space in corner plots”
arxiv.org/abs/2503.24254
“PromoPlot: Covering open-access fees by filling wasted space in corner plots”
arxiv.org/abs/2503.24254
April 1, 2025 at 3:45 PM
don’t give Elsevier any ideas 😭😭😭😭😭😭
“PromoPlot: Covering open-access fees by filling wasted space in corner plots”
arxiv.org/abs/2503.24254
“PromoPlot: Covering open-access fees by filling wasted space in corner plots”
arxiv.org/abs/2503.24254