Adrian Fraser
@fraserlaser.bsky.social
I study turbulence in stars and other things at CU-Boulder but really I’m just here for some funny posts. NSF AAPF fellow on the job market
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
If only Americans had a recent way to know how crucial immigrants were for the success of the Manhattan Project. A big Hollywood movie where a lot of the nuclear scientist characters speak with accents and talk about fleeing Europe that makes tons of money and wins a bunch of Oscars, perhaps.
Immigrant-hating Stephen Miller talks about Americans being "first to harness the atom." But the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was conducted by a team led by Italian immigrant Enrico Fermi, who didn't become a U.S. citizen until a year and a half later.
December 29, 2025 at 5:29 AM
If only Americans had a recent way to know how crucial immigrants were for the success of the Manhattan Project. A big Hollywood movie where a lot of the nuclear scientist characters speak with accents and talk about fleeing Europe that makes tons of money and wins a bunch of Oscars, perhaps.
Imagine getting into nuclear fusion as a physics/engineering PhD student because you’re passionate about climate and energy, getting a job at one of the first handful of fusion startups, and 5 years later waking up to find that Trump is now your boss
December 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Imagine getting into nuclear fusion as a physics/engineering PhD student because you’re passionate about climate and energy, getting a job at one of the first handful of fusion startups, and 5 years later waking up to find that Trump is now your boss
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
*scratching head*
Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, agreed to merge with a nuclear fusion company in a deal worth $6 billion.
Truth Social Parent to Merge With Nuclear Fusion Firm in $6 Billion Deal
Trump Media & Technology Group, the social media and crypto company in which President Trump holds a large stake, said it would help develop a “utility-scale fusion power plant.”
nyti.ms
December 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
*scratching head*
A friend points out: Maybe someone told dear leader you can fuse gold
December 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
A friend points out: Maybe someone told dear leader you can fuse gold
Is it April fool’s day? Waiting for the NYT to post an update saying “sike!”
This was not on my Trump 2 bingo card
This was not on my Trump 2 bingo card
December 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Is it April fool’s day? Waiting for the NYT to post an update saying “sike!”
This was not on my Trump 2 bingo card
This was not on my Trump 2 bingo card
Why is there not enough content on Bluesky this morning talking about how absolutely wild this news is www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/b...
Truth Social Parent to Merge With Nuclear Fusion Firm in $6 Billion Deal
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Why is there not enough content on Bluesky this morning talking about how absolutely wild this news is www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/b...
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
Would be an absolutely devastating blow for science on an international scale, not just within the US. Hard to comprehend.
Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
bit.ly
December 17, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Would be an absolutely devastating blow for science on an international scale, not just within the US. Hard to comprehend.
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 2:26 AM
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
(Oops, switch “upper” and “lower” in the above)
October 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
(Oops, switch “upper” and “lower” in the above)
Hey astrophysicists, a presence (absence) of KH billows in some astrophysical shear flow doesn't always imply a lower (upper) bound on the local magnetic field strength! See arxiv.org/abs/2510.031...
Nonmodal growth and optimal perturbations in magnetohydrodynamic shear flows
In astrophysical shear flows, the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability is generally suppressed by magnetic tension provided a sufficiently strong streamwise magnetic field. This is often used to infer up...
arxiv.org
October 6, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Hey astrophysicists, a presence (absence) of KH billows in some astrophysical shear flow doesn't always imply a lower (upper) bound on the local magnetic field strength! See arxiv.org/abs/2510.031...
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
Trump is pronouncing "acetaminophen" the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
September 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Trump is pronouncing "acetaminophen" the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
Friends, colleagues, my heart is heavy as I share with you some deeply saddening news: “asymptotically spicy” will not, in fact, survive to final publication of this manuscript. But it will live on in the arXiv preprint, at least
I’ve been looking at salt fingers in a particular limit where it becomes technically correct to describe the flow as “asymptotically spicy” and thus I am of course obligated to somehow state this in the paper
September 15, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Friends, colleagues, my heart is heavy as I share with you some deeply saddening news: “asymptotically spicy” will not, in fact, survive to final publication of this manuscript. But it will live on in the arXiv preprint, at least
Where do people study MHD turbulence in The Netherlands? Asking for a friend looking for a job
September 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Where do people study MHD turbulence in The Netherlands? Asking for a friend looking for a job
It was a good point, though! There were some pertinent examples on academic twitter ca. 2020ish where the same point could’ve been made
September 5, 2025 at 4:23 PM
It was a good point, though! There were some pertinent examples on academic twitter ca. 2020ish where the same point could’ve been made
Just trying to prepare myself to argue why my research actually does align with the WH’s priorities
August 25, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Just trying to prepare myself to argue why my research actually does align with the WH’s priorities
Like most modern astrophysicists, Trump is quickly realizing that he can’t keep neglecting magnetic fields
Trump: "China intelligently went in and they sort of took a monopoly of the world's magnets. Nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago, 'let's all do magnets.' There were many other ways that the world could have gone ... we're heavily into the world of magnets now."
August 25, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Like most modern astrophysicists, Trump is quickly realizing that he can’t keep neglecting magnetic fields
Suddenly thinking this old proposal idea might have a chance
August 25, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Suddenly thinking this old proposal idea might have a chance
Accepted for publication in JFM Rapids 🎉
August 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Accepted for publication in JFM Rapids 🎉
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
If this continues, the most talented American students will want to study abroad, because they'll want to study with the most talented students and faculty from around the world, and those people won't want to come to the United States even if they can. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/u...
Trump’s Tactics Mean Many International Students Won’t Make It to Campus
www.nytimes.com
August 20, 2025 at 3:17 PM
If this continues, the most talented American students will want to study abroad, because they'll want to study with the most talented students and faculty from around the world, and those people won't want to come to the United States even if they can. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/u...
NYT spelling bee takes all kinds of niche words but NOT “adiabatic”??? Anti-science sentiments from NYT in the Trump era, you hate to see it
August 17, 2025 at 1:56 PM
NYT spelling bee takes all kinds of niche words but NOT “adiabatic”??? Anti-science sentiments from NYT in the Trump era, you hate to see it
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
BREAKING: The NIH director has ordered an immediate review of all the agency's research activities. Any projects that don't fit agency priorities "may be restricted, paused, not renewed, or terminated." My story:
NIH chief calls for immediate research review, dangling threat of project termination
Jayanta Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has called on the agency’s scientific leadership to immediately review all of their current and planned resea | ...
www.fiercebiotech.com
August 15, 2025 at 9:10 PM
BREAKING: The NIH director has ordered an immediate review of all the agency's research activities. Any projects that don't fit agency priorities "may be restricted, paused, not renewed, or terminated." My story:
Reposted by Adrian Fraser
So bad.The EO institutionalizes and intensifies the politicization of federal research funding. The provisions weaken scientific expertise in funding decisions and effectively cede control to political appointees. The basic logistics here will also further slow walk release of federal research funds
August 7, 2025 at 9:04 PM
So bad.The EO institutionalizes and intensifies the politicization of federal research funding. The provisions weaken scientific expertise in funding decisions and effectively cede control to political appointees. The basic logistics here will also further slow walk release of federal research funds
Inspired by a certain program I’m submitting to requiring TEN PAGES for TWO YEARS of support for ONE PERSON, while the RSURF requires FOUR PAGES for like 4-8 years plus additional support for a student and postdoc. Wild range
August 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Inspired by a certain program I’m submitting to requiring TEN PAGES for TWO YEARS of support for ONE PERSON, while the RSURF requires FOUR PAGES for like 4-8 years plus additional support for a student and postdoc. Wild range