Kevin Olsen
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drksolsen.bsky.social
Kevin Olsen
@drksolsen.bsky.social
Martian science at Oxford
Birds and food too.
Reposted by Kevin Olsen
Happy #ArtemisII wet dress day 🚀

On deck:
Weather briefing ~0915 ET (currently 35°F/ 2°C; expected high 56°F/ 13°C)

Full L-minus/ T-minus list(s) in 🔗

🔭🧪 #PlanetaryScience
Countdown Begins for Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal - NASA
The countdown for the Artemis II wet dress rehearsal is underway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
www.nasa.gov
February 2, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Where is the protest song??
Found an article about revisiting post 9/11 protests songs... and it's a journey of discovery through our beloved Sleater Kinney discog
interminablerambling.medium.com/dissents-not...
“Dissent’s not treason, but they talk like it’s the same”: Revisiting Post-September 11 Protest…
Sleater-Kinney in 2006
interminablerambling.medium.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Eye-bleach to help us deal with the news:
Another #oxfordpubreview!!
The Trout, a happy jaunt up the river Isis (Thames) all the way across Port Meadows, was doing a steak platter for two!
Steak, chips, and béarnaise sauce are among my favorite things!
January 31, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Moved my college teaching into here for the term! The second floor has some offices and teaching spaces for the college still.
It is actually from 14th century, was built as the New Inn.
The windows are wonky, but it's warm in the winter!!! 🧪🔭
January 30, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Anthropic's road to Claude destroyed million of books.
This was literally a plot point in Vernor Vinge's Rainbow's End.
www.msn.com/en-us/techno...
January 27, 2026 at 5:43 PM
Read an article in the globe and mail declaring it 'leave the owls alone season.'
The ravens didn't get the memo🤣🤣🤣!
Two common ravens drove this short eared owl off their turf, Hinton AB 🪶🦉
January 25, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Presenting our @oxfordphysics.bsky.social remote sensing capabilities and tech at the CEOI Technology Showcase at IET, London.
Great day !!
🔭🧪 #space
January 21, 2026 at 2:46 PM
CEOI has made a case study for the @oxfordphysics.bsky.social thermal imaging system development that lead to our Broad Horizons Earth-observing prototype and the BEBOP/LightShip Mars mission.
Check our Broad Horizons here:
ceoi.ac.uk/technologies...
🔬🔭 #planetsci
Technologies – Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation
ceoi.ac.uk
January 16, 2026 at 9:38 PM
With Ariel facing delays, @esa.int Comet Interceptor has found a new ride with a commercial Arian 6 launch customer.
Comet Interceptor will carry MIRMIS being built by @oxfordphysics.bsky.social
🔭🧪 #planetsci

spacenews.com/esas-comet-i...
ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission moves up launch
A delay in one European Space Agency mission is creating an opportunity for an earlier, and more capable, launch for another ESA spacecraft.
spacenews.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:54 PM
An incredibly rough week of news....
Distractions: another #Oxfordpubreview
This time in Edmonton, an old haunt, the Sugarbowl near @ualberta.bsky.social
Goat cheese lamb-burger for the win.
January 10, 2026 at 10:21 PM
There's a semi-silver lining in the new us budget, only a 1% cute in finding from last year. Not good news, but not as grim as things have been....
🧪🔭 #planetsci
www.science.org/content/arti...
NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is dead
Congress backs Trump administration’s efforts to kill project that would ferry martian rocks to Earth
www.science.org
January 7, 2026 at 7:15 AM
As Google had a calculator, I used to use it to check time zone conversions. AI has ruined it, it fails!
Relevant:
Renowned mathematician Joel David Hamkins expressed strong doubts about LLM's utility in mathematical research: "garbage" and "mathematically incorrect".
Agree! 👏🧪
tinyurl.com/4apc7xw9
January 6, 2026 at 5:16 PM
The Electrifying Science Behind Martian Dust
A news article about my collaborator Alian Wang's new paper on dust-induced shocks in the Martian atmosphere breaking down its chemistry!
🔭🧪 #planetsci
mcss.wustl.edu/news/electri...
The Electrifying Science Behind Martian Dust
The Martian surface is a dynamic and electrical environment where dust storms and dust devils frequently stir up the terrain.
mcss.wustl.edu
January 5, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Way to go Finland 🇫🇮!!
#WorldJuniors hockey quarterfinals advance!!
January 3, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Reposted by Kevin Olsen
FYI - Bob Smith tried to rewrite this one. The song was ultimately forgotten by public at large, but its another one showcasing him in a rare optimistic mood

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7F9...

bsky.app/profile/timt...
January 1, 2026 at 7:39 PM
New year, new birds!
One of the little downy woodpeckers wintering at the cabin this year. Out in the cold! 🥶
🪶🦉
January 1, 2026 at 7:52 PM
The Boxing Day special: JGR Planets published my commentary article about HCl on Mars!!
This was requested by JGR and my first time writing a commentary, which is also fairly new for the journal!
dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025...
🧪🔭 #planetsci
Chlorine on the Surface, Chlorine in the Air, What Is the New Global View of the Martian Chlorine Cycle?
HCl, a gas of potentially volcanic origin, is present on Mars, verified by satellite and terrestrial observatories The near-global spatial distribution of HCl is revealed and compared to water va...
dx.doi.org
December 30, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The final South African birds before Christmas: the Cape Wagtail!
There are wagtails in England, adorable to watch running around and bobbing their butts up and down! These ones are so similar with such softer colouration! Yellow underneath, the dramatic chest crest....
🪶🦉
December 23, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Kevin Olsen
What a FUN-GI!!!!! A mushroom playing music, brought to you by the YouTube page "BionicandtheWires".

youtu.be/NbP2DgDp890?...
Mushroom in the Wild Playing Keyboard
YouTube video by BionicandtheWires
youtu.be
October 23, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Ostriche🪶🦉
December 23, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Tonight's SA bird is the Speckled Pigeon.
Look at that eye!! 🪶🦉
December 22, 2025 at 4:01 AM
South African birds of the day are ibises!
The Hadada Ibis and the African Sacred Ibis.
Shot in Hermanus last spring.
This one is the Hadada.
🪶🦉
December 20, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Today we have the helmeted guineafowl.
Cape Town, spring.🪶🦉
December 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Time for another #oxfordpubreview
But not in Oxford, and not a pub.
Big #YEG welcome to marlo tacos in old Strathcona. Been open since 2023, I think, but where were tacos like this my whole life growing up here!?
Will eat again!!
December 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM