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funfactscience.com
Fun Fact Science with Kovi
@funfactscience.com
3.8K followers 180 following 1.1K posts
Astrophysics PhD candidate studying stars that go snap, crackle, and pop - communicating scientist - meme aficionado.
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funfactscience.com
Fun Fact Science with Kovi @funfactscience.com · Nov 12
Woke up to a bunch of new followers so it might be worth reintroducing myself:

My name is Kovi (pronounced like ☕️) and I'm an #astrophysics PhD candidate with a passion for #science communication. I search the skies with radio #telescopes to find and study weird (and often exploding) stuff 📡🌌
Context: Photo of me at the MIT radio stars conference next to my poster about periodic radio emission from an ultracool brown dwarf. Description: Photo of man with olive skin and brown hair/beard wearing green/black flannel shirt, jeans and white sneakers. Next to man is landscape scientific poster in the style of Windows 95 computer desktop with images and text.
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
taramurphy.bsky.social
This is your final week to apply for the Professor Harry Messel Research Fellowship. A 3 year position open to women in any area of #Physics or #Astronomy at the University of Sydney @sydney.edu.au

Deadline: 16th November

⚛️ 🔭 ☄️
November 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
funfactscience.com
you can enjoy watching the lightning with me live on this website: www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/weather/ligh...
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 AM
funfactscience.com
spending Friday night waiting for a thunderstorm to pass so that I can start my telescope observations
mocking spongebob meme with the text "radio telescopes can observe in any weather"
November 7, 2025 at 10:08 AM
funfactscience.com
~ Frank, Destination Wedding
There are seven billion people in the world. So when one of them behaves badly toward you, he's actually doing you a great favor because he's saving you time. He's telling you that he's not worth your while. He's freeing you to say, "Thank you for the information. I will now move on to the 6,999,999,999 other people, some of whom may have some value.
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
astrolaura.com
I've been thinking a bit about how talking about aliens affects how we share new astronomy discoveries, so I wrote an article about it 👽🔭🧪 theconversation.com/is-it-aliens...
Is it aliens? Why that’s the least important question about interstellar objects
The alien question, while fun, generates misinformation and distracts from the science.
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:22 AM
funfactscience.com
can't believe we've been complaining for nearly 3000 years
lswisnom.bsky.social Dr Selena Wisnom @lswisnom.bsky.social · 9d
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
funfactscience.com
When you feel the irrepressible urge to constantly check the status of a recently submitted paper:
a picture of a fountain with the words it 's been seven hours and fifteen days below it
Alt: a GIF of a fountain and Sinéad O'Connor with the words "it 's been seven hours and fifteen days" below it
media.tenor.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 AM
funfactscience.com
surely this is just a temporary bug, right? RIGHT!?
October 29, 2025 at 3:47 AM
funfactscience.com
on to the next one I guess
a man in blue jeans, white sneakers, and a grey nasa tshirt throwing his paper into Nature
October 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
funfactscience.com
Looks like a decent round for astronomy!
arc-tracker.bsky.social ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · 15d
🚨 #DiscoveryProjects #DP26 announcement:

❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️

See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...

/bot
October 28, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
jwuphysics.bsky.social
Huge fan of Dr. Katie Mack, and much love for all she does for physics & astronomy + outreach.

With that said, this statement is incomplete and misleading. A thread...

> Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts
True! They don't "know" anything.
astrokatie.com Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
funfactscience.com
new correlator who dis?
grid of squares showing baseline pairs between the 6 dishes of the ATCA radio telescope. most of the squares display noisey red and white signals.
October 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
Yesterday I had the esteemed privilege of presenting my latest research in front of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell at a @sydney.edu.au science symposium.

What an incredible honour to speak about my work on unknown radio objects in the presence of the person who discovered pulsars!

📸 @cosmicrami.com
man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of a blueish star pulling material from a larger redder star. the title on the screen is "periodic radio and x-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary. - demystifying long period transients" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of kermit the frog with the word "phenomena" above his head. the title on the screen is "what are long period transients" and the text on the screen reads "phenomenon != class" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows still of magnetic field lines from interacting stellar binary system. the title on the screen is "emission mechanism" and the text on the screen reads "electron cyclotron maser, magnetospheric interaction, energetic electron flow"
October 21, 2025 at 2:35 AM
funfactscience.com
Yesterday I had the esteemed privilege of presenting my latest research in front of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell at a @sydney.edu.au science symposium.

What an incredible honour to speak about my work on unknown radio objects in the presence of the person who discovered pulsars!

📸 @cosmicrami.com
man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of a blueish star pulling material from a larger redder star. the title on the screen is "periodic radio and x-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary. - demystifying long period transients" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of kermit the frog with the word "phenomena" above his head. the title on the screen is "what are long period transients" and the text on the screen reads "phenomenon != class" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows still of magnetic field lines from interacting stellar binary system. the title on the screen is "emission mechanism" and the text on the screen reads "electron cyclotron maser, magnetospheric interaction, energetic electron flow"
October 21, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
cosmicrami.com
Aside from this excellent opportunity to talk personally with a Titan from my field, heard lots of fantastic talks at the Science Symposium for JBB organised by @astrolaura.com and @manishacaleb.bsky.social — so good!

Got to share my research too!

📸 @funfactscience.com @astrokirsten.bsky.social
Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. I am looking towards the crowd. Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. This one shows an illustration of Jocelyn Bell Burnell Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk.
October 20, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
just wrapped another recording with another brilliant scientist!
(always looking for more nerdy guests 🤓)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Call for Podcast Guests
Here at the Nerd and the Scientist we love to nerd-out about all things science! We're looking for folks interested in chatting to us about their science-related research, work, or hobbies. While we a...
docs.google.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
funfactscience.com
I'm sure I don't know what you mean...
Text 1: reading for pleasure implies the existence of reading for pain Text 2: they're calling it a PhD
October 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
funfactscience.com
just wrapped another recording with another brilliant scientist!
(always looking for more nerdy guests 🤓)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Call for Podcast Guests
Here at the Nerd and the Scientist we love to nerd-out about all things science! We're looking for folks interested in chatting to us about their science-related research, work, or hobbies. While we a...
docs.google.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
museumofscience.bsky.social
A part of you has existed since almost the moment of creation. 🌌💥🧪

Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social ‬breaks down how the hydrogen in your body was formed within the first 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
October 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
posted without context to the #astro feed
screenshot of the MESA documentation FAQ page where the first question is "how do you say MESA?" and the answer is "Say 'MAY-sa`" Jar jar binks looking disappointed
October 15, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
setiinstitute.bsky.social
Radio observations with the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) have, as part of an international observing campaign, helped discover an unprecedented burst of radio activity from a tidal disruption event (TDE). 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

Image credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/P. Vosteen

Learn more: www.seti.org/news/allen-t...
Artist’s interpretation of two massive black holes (MBHs) within a galaxy. A tidal disruption event unfolds around the MBH that resides away from the galactic center and matter from a disrupted star swirls into a bright accretion disk, launching an energetic outflow and resulting in two bright radio flares.
October 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
funfactscience.com
posted without context to the #astro feed
screenshot of the MESA documentation FAQ page where the first question is "how do you say MESA?" and the answer is "Say 'MAY-sa`" Jar jar binks looking disappointed
October 15, 2025 at 11:43 AM
funfactscience.com
any other #astro folks having issues with VizieR?
🔭☄️
October 3, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
When a surprise trip to the pet dentist derails your paper-writing plans, but at least you have the bravest dog in the southern hemisphere
White fluffy Spitz/husky dog sitting on wooden floors with a white background. Next to him a hand is holding a certificate of bravery for "showing great courage and being the best boy"
September 30, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
fresh off the arXiv presses (and accepted to PASP): an absolutely stellar review paper by Lynn Matthews about the radio stars conference held at @haystack.mit.edu last year 📡✨
arxiv.org/abs/2509.21467
Radio Stars in the Era of New Observatories
An international conference Radio Stars in the Era of New Observatories was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory on 2024 April 17-19. The conference brought together ...
arxiv.org
September 29, 2025 at 10:59 AM