Kristin Dormuth
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kdormuth.bsky.social
Kristin Dormuth
@kdormuth.bsky.social
43 followers 220 following 1.3K posts
Computer programmer, reader (esp SF/F), mom to 3 cats, interested in science (esp astronomy) and history. Also a little bit goth 🦇
Mostly lurking
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
theradr.bsky.social
Sending big Diwali blessings to everyone who celebrates!!

🌟🪔🌟🪔🌟🪔🌟🪔🌟
a happy diwali greeting card with a lit candle and flowers
Alt: a happy diwali greeting card with a lit candle and flowers
media.tenor.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
theradr.bsky.social
#Landback today, and every day.
fun fact: columbus is in the Bad Place because of all the raping, slave trade and genocide Every day is Indigenous Peoples' Day Landback flag
October 13, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
mcnees.bsky.social
Mathematician Katherine Johnson was born #OTD in 1918.

Her orbital mechanics computations played a vital role in many early NASA missions. Astronaut John Glenn trusted her calculations more than those of his onboard flight computer. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬

Image: NASA
A black and white photo of Katherine Johnson sitting at her desk. She is wearing glasses and white or light dress with short sleeves and a collar. Johnson is looking to the right of the photographer. An analog adding machine sits on the desk in front of her, along with several papers and a translucent globe with multiple axes used for orbital calculations. She is holding a pen or pencil in her right hand, and wearing a bracelet or watch on her left wrist.
August 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
seananmcguire.bsky.social
I am increasingly sick and tired of businesses trying to force me to install their proprietary apps! My phone is full! Let me print my boarding pass at the airport! Let me get a posted paper schedule for the con! YOU ARE NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN 5,000 PICTURES OF MY CATS!
July 30, 2025 at 5:46 PM
kdormuth.bsky.social
Hello, I'm a programmer in a film. I work in a dark room surrounded by monitors that reflect off my glasses. I type without stopping, and when I finally hit "enter" a whole series of programs run flawlessly on the first try.
scalzi.com John Scalzi @scalzi.com · Jul 29
Hello, I'm an author in a film. I will be seen doing anything but writing a book, because typing is boring. Then I will have a 30-second montage of clicking away at a keyboard, I will hand a ream of paper to my editor who will declare it to be genius and a week later I will be atop the NYT list.
misterjayem.bsky.social MisterJayEm @misterjayem.bsky.social · Jul 29
Hello, I'm an attorney in a film. I have a pure and perfect knowledge of every area of practice in every jurisdiction. Nevertheless, I will be corrected by a plucky law school grad who just passed the bar. After some stubborn resistance, I will silently nod and take her under my wing.
July 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
kdormuth.bsky.social
I go to the library for a meeting, telling myself firmly that I won't get anything because I already have several at home plus another hold on the way.
But we all know that was a lie.
July 24, 2025 at 10:28 PM
kdormuth.bsky.social
Close-up of a gray cat paw, against an armrest that has clearly been clawed by said cat
July 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
kdormuth.bsky.social
My office assistant
June 27, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
meghanbartels.bsky.social
Perhaps for no particular reason you might be interested in long-term access to a handy guide to US vaccine guidelines as they stood at the end of 2024: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-...
Here’s Your Cheat Sheet for Vaccine Recommendations Backed by Science
These graphics will guide you through science-based vaccine guidelines for children and adults
www.scientificamerican.com
June 25, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
This looks nice but I’m worried it might cost me an arm
June 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
vrubinobs.bsky.social
The Virgo Cluster is about 55 million light-years away from Earth, and is the nearest large collection of galaxies to our own Milky Way.🔭🧪

Rubin captured this stunning image in "survey mode" using the 3200-megapixel LSST Camera.
A sprawling, textured field of galaxies is scattered across the deep black of space. It is filled with the delicate smudges and glowing cores of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At center left lies a large elliptical galaxy that is dense and smooth, like a polished stone glowing with golden light. At center top, another smooth elliptical galaxy is oriented horizontally, with a wispy tail extending right. At right, a group of interacting galaxies is connected by delicate streams of stars like spider silk. All throughout the image, millions of galaxies gather in clusters or are spread throughout, like glittering gems strewn on a table. Some are sharp-edged and spiral, like coiled ribbons; others round and diffuse, like polished pebbles. Still others are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. The background is peppered with pinpoint stars in reds, yellows, and blues, crisp against the velvet black.
June 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
vrubinobs.bsky.social
A new view of two old friends 🤩

Feast your eyes upon NSF–DOE Rubin's view of the Trifid & Lagoon Nebulae!

This image shows what makes Rubin unique: its wide field of view, & speed that allows it to take lots of big images quickly. 🔭🧪

rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-first-look/trifid-lagoon
A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars.
June 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
kdormuth.bsky.social
Thread
apod.shinyakato.dev Astronomy Picture of the Day 🪐 @apod.shinyakato.dev · Jun 15
🔭 Two Worlds, One Sun

Left Image Credit & Copyright: Damia Bouic; Right Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Digital processing: Damia Bouic

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25061...
Two images are shown side by side. On the left is a sunset seen from Earth, while on the right is a sunset seen from Mars. The Earth sunset is quite orange, while the Mars sunset is quite blue. The Sun appears angularly smaller from Mars than from the Earth. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
June 15, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
qasimrashid.com
Happy No Kings Day!

I'm a human rights lawyer. If you're exercising your human right to protest today, here are 13 rules I recommend you follow.

No paywall. Free access. Please do read and share: www.qasimrashid.com/p/13-rules-t...
13 Rules to Protect Yourself While Protesting
Read & Share if you're joining the No Kings protest on June 14, or know anyone who is
www.qasimrashid.com
June 14, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
mcnees.bsky.social
Physicist and astronaut Sally Ride was born #OTD in 1951. She was the first American woman and the youngest American in space.

After NASA she worked on arms control and physics, investigated the Columbia and Challenger disasters, and promoted STEM through Sally Ride Science. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🔭 🚀

Image: NASA
Color photo of Sally Ride in the cockpit of the Space Shuttle Challenger during STS-7 in 1983. The front window is illuminated by blue-white light from the Earth below. Ride is seen in profile, from the wait up, floating in front of a console. A binder is open in front of her.
May 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
aliettedebodard.com
I mean, I credit Pratchett with teaching me that one could expect the worst and the best of humanity (but often the worst) and yet never lose hope or stop trying to make the world a fairer place.
Kind of "pragmatic pessimism"
aliettedebodard.com Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · May 2
👇
(I'm reminded of Terry Pratchett's "if you nail a sign that says 'absolutely do not open this door, the end of the world will follow', there will be people who'll open it just to see what the fuss is all about")
(Paraphrased, don't have the book at hand)
matociquala.bsky.social Elizabeth Bear @matociquala.bsky.social · May 2
We're in the Radium Vitalizer stage of learning to live with LLM technology.

It's all fun and games until your bones start to glow.

www.orau.org/health-physi...
May 2, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
stsci.edu
Explore the formation of a star, as only #NASAWebb can. This 3D tour exposes the structures around the protostar L1527 IRS in infrared light. Telescopes that observe visible light see L1527 as a dark, featureless cloud. 🔭 🧪
Webb Reveals the Protostar L1527 IRS — Visualization
YouTube video by Space Telescope Science Institute
www.youtube.com
April 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
mcnees.bsky.social
A late #OTD post. Georg Simon Ohm was born March 16th, 1789. He is known for his law stating proportionality of current & potential difference between two points: V=IR. ⚛️ 🧪

Bluesky: Why'd you do another OTD tweet

Me: Sorry, I couldn't...

Bluesky: No. Don't do this

Me: …resist
Black and white portrait of Georg Simon Ohm. He is heavyset, with wavy hair, wearing a charcoal suit with a white shirt underneath.
March 17, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
jwstfeed.bsky.social
Saturn in natural colours.
This image was taken by Hubble 26 years ago.
🔭 🧪
This Hubble Space Telescope image shows the planet Saturn in all its glory, set against a black, starless background. The planet itself is a mesmerizing golden hue, with subtle bands of light and dark shades swirling across its face, hinting at the turbulent atmosphere beneath. Most striking, however, are Saturn's magnificent rings, appearing bright and expansive, extending outward in a complex, concentric structure. The rings are illuminated by sunlight, revealing their intricate details, as they encircle the planet like a celestial crown. A few faint, smaller moons can be seen as tiny specks of light close to the rings, further emphasizing the grandeur and complexity of this iconic gas giant.
February 11, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
jwstfeed.bsky.social
Full size image of iconic Pillars of Creation.
By JWST.
🔭 🧪
This vertical image has layers of semi-opaque rusty red colored gas and dust that starts at the bottom left and goes toward the top right. There are three prominent pillars rising toward the top right. The left pillar is the largest and widest. The peaks of the second and third pillars are set off in darker shades of brown and have red outlines.
February 7, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
ninjafingers.bsky.social
Never again is a full sentence.

Never again.
January 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
freyablekman.bsky.social
Going over my old posts, I found these fantastic #CERN sugar sachet pictures. Yes, a bag of sugar contains a LOT of protons

! #scicomm on #sugar
January 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
jwstfeed.bsky.social
NGC 2070, a field of newborn stars.
Processed by @thocarp.bsky.social
www.flickr.com/photos/19746...
🔭 🧪
The Tarantula Nebula, also known as NGC 2070, is a star-forming region located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This image, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope's Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), showcases the nebula's intricate structure and vibrant colors. Red hues indicate the presence of hot, ionized hydrogen gas, while blue areas reveal cooler dust and gas.
January 20, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
astrowright.bsky.social
English Idiom of the Day:

"When HeII freezes over"

This is a euphemism for "never" because HeII only exists as a solid at pressures above 2.5 MPa, and even then only after it has recombined to form HeI, which basically never happens.
Phase diagram of helium showing the α (solid) phase existing only at pressures above 2.5 MPa and low temperatures.
January 7, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Kristin Dormuth
astrokatie.com
A lot of the science communication about quantum mechanics leans hard on it being "weird" and "fuzzy" and "spooky." I think a better framing is that it's counter-intuitive: things on the subatomic scale don't act like the physics of everyday life, but none of it is arbitrary or unconstrained.
🧵
January 6, 2025 at 3:58 PM