Kim Wesney
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kimw.bsky.social
Kim Wesney
@kimw.bsky.social
Stargazer, Dark Sky advocate, working artist, light & ladder wrangler at the wonderful Waiheke Community Art Gallery.
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Context: this knocks back Marsden funding levels next year a whole two decades to (inflation adjusted) the same level funding as the 2005 Budget.
More cuts to the Marsden Fund. This time $20 million from the annual budget cut starting next year. This is on top of previous cuts by this government. They are trying to skip the 'priming the pump' step of public research as a driver of the economy. How well that is going to work?
#NZPOL
Fewer Marsden Fund grants after government cuts
A major research fund has been forced to slash its grant allocation by more than $20 million next year.
www.rnz.co.nz
September 6, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Sad news, the founder of one of the greatest longitudinal studies ever undertaken has passed away.

Over 1300 research papers have been derived from this incredible body or work.

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...
Study founder dies
Founder of the Dunedin Study, Dr Philip (Phil) Silva, has died, aged 84. Dr Silva founded the study, which followed the lives of 1037 babies born...
www.odt.co.nz
June 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
This looks like important work on the impact of rocket launches on the upper atmosphere.
New paper day! In 'Near-future rocket launches could slow ozone recovery', we show that scaling up use of launch vehicles 🚀 has a point where the healing of the ozone layer is affected 🧪🛰️
Open access, free to read & share
Near-future rocket launches could slow ozone recovery
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science - Near-future rocket launches could slow ozone recovery
rdcu.be
June 10, 2025 at 6:04 AM
On the outskirts of Oneroa, this little corner of the universe features Kim's paintings, drawings and photography, Sarah's jewellery and Nats astro!
Tickets $12:50 for the whole weekend at the @waihekeartgallery
#openstudioswaiheke #waihekeartists #astrophotography #creativeartisland
May 30, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Waiheke abounds with unique, skilful and creative artisans in the upcoming Open Studios Waiheke 2025! Early bird tickets just $12:50, selling fast!
Over 30 artists and studios open their doors for a long weekend, get your tickets now! www.waihekeartgallery.org.nz/shop/tickets...
May 21, 2025 at 4:37 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Just look at our galaxy. We live in a magnificent place at a magnificent time.
Milky Way over the GTC and the TNG - From Ángel López-Sánchez - https://flic.kr/p/JWSpFb
April 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
It's heartbreaking how easily this was taken away from so much of the world, and how doable it is to return it
April 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
An epic review by the founder of the Te Araroa trial of a Nelson writer's amazing account of walking it
Book of the Week: Naomi walks the earth
newsroom.co.nz
April 16, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Final vote 112-11. Only Act in support of their scurrilous Bill. #nzpol
April 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Euclid first data release

The team behind the Euclid observatory released their first data yesterday, and Zooniverseprojects and participants were especially prominent. Euclid’s mission is to make a map ofthe whole sky which can be used for cosmology, to determine the factors governing…
Euclid first data release
The team behind the Euclid observatory released their first data yesterday, and Zooniverseprojects and participants were especially prominent. Euclid’s mission is to make a map ofthe whole sky which can be used for cosmology, to determine the factors governing theevolution of the Universe on the grandest scales – and along the way it is capturing new…
daily.zooniverse.org
March 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Comment: Focused on 'growth, growth, growth', our political leaders are painting nature as a hindrance to economic growth and bemoaning environmental protections as annoying bureaucratic hurdles, writes Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb.
Nature is our greatest asset, not 'green tape'
newsroom.co.nz
March 13, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
NOAA is literally getting decimated:

“The two rounds of departures together represent about 10 percent of NOAA’s roughly 13,000 employees.”
Hundreds Are Said to Resign From NOAA (Gift Article)
The resignations came a day after a wave of firings at the agency, a world center of climate research.
www.nytimes.com
March 3, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Here's a couple of sunsets on our frkn awesome planet.. with our telescope..:)
March 1, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Beautiful evening! Come and see the exhibitions!🤩
www.facebook.com/share/p/167i...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
February 19, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Please don't use change dot org.

Please, please use the official NZ parliament petitions site - it carries more weight and over a certain number of petitioners, Govt has to respond.

With all the other sites, government can ignore the results.

petitions.parliament.nz/a22e0d59-7da...
Petitions are addressed to the House of Representatives and ask that the House do something about a policy or law, or put right a local or private concern.
petitions.parliament.nz
February 17, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Rainbows are cool 🌈

Astronomers use spectrographs to break light into its component wavelengths, like a rainbow.

This reveals clues to celestial objects' state, temperature, speed, quantity, distance, and composition. 🔭🧪

ViewSpace interactive slider:
viewspace.org/interactives...
February 12, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
The Regulatory Standards Bill is an attempt to deregulate and to deconstruct public institutions and services. Seymour’s speech underlines the privatisation corollary, for anyone who hadn’t already made the connection
January 24, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Got it!:)
January 25, 2025 at 2:19 AM
January 24, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde

Hero.
January 22, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Beautiful quiet night walking…:)
January 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
Happy publication day to me! Gorgeous paperback copies of ‘Our Accidental Universe’ are now available so you can read about how astronomers stumble upon the truth but in softer covers! blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro... (also the annoying mistake on p174 is corrected). Please buy! Tell your friends!
January 9, 2025 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
This is a great explanation of the Regulatory Standards Bill and why it REALLY sucks.
Duncan ‘constitutional entrenchment of neoliberal principles..’
Me ‘it really sucks’
We can both be right!

#nzpol
The Ministry for Regulation is consulting on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill - As it is currently conceived it is a constitutional entrenchment of neoliberal principles, with an accumulation of power in the hands of the Minister for Regulation.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-re...
Why the Regulatory Standards Bill is a Very Bad Idea
The individualism and private property protection Bill David Seymour’s proposed Regulatory Standards Bill seeks to give primacy to two things: individualism and private property. Those two things are ...
www.linkedin.com
January 5, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
20 years ago today, a tiny neutron star reached halfway across the galaxy and slammed our planet with a gamma-ray hammer.

www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-e...

🧪🔭
An Earth-Rocking Cosmic Explosion Turns 20
Twenty years ago today a magnetar’s epic tantrum made our planet ring like a bell from tens of thousands of light-years away
www.scientificamerican.com
December 27, 2024 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Kim Wesney
The Minister of Finance and the Treasury released its Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update today, and with it – its ‘plan’ for the Budget in 2025 in the Budget Policy Statement. The indicators show very clearly that it’s not working for anyone. A long thread (apologies) #nzpol
December 17, 2024 at 2:40 AM