Meredith Rawls
@merrdiff.bsky.social
Astronomer at UW, data pipeline wrangler for Rubin Observatory, satellite mitigation leader via IAU CPS SatHub, mom, violist, Ballardite (Seattle), family cargo e-bike evangelist, Episcopalian, etc. Opinions all mine
Pinned
Meredith Rawls
@merrdiff.bsky.social
· Aug 7
Sometimes instead of going to bed at a reasonable hour you take pictures with your astronomer mom in matching @startorialist.com shirts featuring the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Lagoon Nebula "first look" image she helped make happen 🔭
Reposted by Meredith Rawls
You have to send this link to everyone you know who voted I Seattle: info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/... It takes like 30 seconds to make sure your vote was counted. Folks on here have all seen this probably, but your friends and family might not have!
King County Elections
Led by Director Julie Wise, King County Elections conducts accurate, secure, and accessible elections for King County's over 1.4 million registered voters.
info.kingcounty.gov
November 10, 2025 at 11:58 PM
You have to send this link to everyone you know who voted I Seattle: info.kingcounty.gov/kcelections/... It takes like 30 seconds to make sure your vote was counted. Folks on here have all seen this probably, but your friends and family might not have!
If you voted in Seattle
Are you sure it was counted???
Now would be the time to check on that
Are you sure it was counted???
Now would be the time to check on that
Incredible. Progressive challenger Katie Wilson now has a 91-vote lead in Seattle’s race for mayor. She had been steadily gaining on incumbent Bruce Harrell.
There are about 8,000 ballots left to count.
There are about 8,000 ballots left to count.
November 11, 2025 at 12:13 AM
If you voted in Seattle
Are you sure it was counted???
Now would be the time to check on that
Are you sure it was counted???
Now would be the time to check on that
Seattle area space nerds! Join me at UW's Space Diplomacy Symposium and help me feel a little less like the only scientist in the room (which was last year's vibe). It's Fri Nov 7 and costs $45 ($20 for students), which I think includes lunch and def includes coffee. www.law.uw.edu/academics/pr...
Space Diplomacy Symposium 2025 | UW School of Law
The University of Washington School of Law is a top-ranked public law school.
www.law.uw.edu
October 31, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Seattle area space nerds! Join me at UW's Space Diplomacy Symposium and help me feel a little less like the only scientist in the room (which was last year's vibe). It's Fri Nov 7 and costs $45 ($20 for students), which I think includes lunch and def includes coffee. www.law.uw.edu/academics/pr...
Just stumbled across an astophotographer's timelapse reel of Comet Lemmon, and it clearly shows what we've done to the sky in the last 5 years
A screenshot does not do it justice; the reel is on both fb and insta www.instagram.com/reel/DQcijH0...
Credit: Lars Leber Photography, larsleber.com/info
A screenshot does not do it justice; the reel is on both fb and insta www.instagram.com/reel/DQcijH0...
Credit: Lars Leber Photography, larsleber.com/info
October 31, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Just stumbled across an astophotographer's timelapse reel of Comet Lemmon, and it clearly shows what we've done to the sky in the last 5 years
A screenshot does not do it justice; the reel is on both fb and insta www.instagram.com/reel/DQcijH0...
Credit: Lars Leber Photography, larsleber.com/info
A screenshot does not do it justice; the reel is on both fb and insta www.instagram.com/reel/DQcijH0...
Credit: Lars Leber Photography, larsleber.com/info
An appropriately terrifying story for Halloween — and why "we need to hire a crossing guard!" cannot fix school traffic safety. Fewer drivers and slower drivers could, but we're pretty awful at that!
Hundreds of school crossing guards have suffered injuries on the job after being hit by a vehicle, and dozens of them have died, according to an investigation by AP and Cox Media Group Television Stations.
Crossing guards face life-threatening dangers on the job
An investigation by The Associated Press and Cox Media Group Television Stations found that school crossing guards face dangerous conditions, with many injured or killed on the job.
bit.ly
October 31, 2025 at 2:57 PM
An appropriately terrifying story for Halloween — and why "we need to hire a crossing guard!" cannot fix school traffic safety. Fewer drivers and slower drivers could, but we're pretty awful at that!
Driving tomorrow?
SLOW DOWN
Kids and pedestrians deserve to live
SLOW DOWN
Kids and pedestrians deserve to live
Your annual reminder that US streets and vehicles are generally not designed to keep pedestrians, especially small ones, safe.
So wonderful Halloween is the most likely day you’ll kill a child with your car, and someone will kill a child you care about with theirs.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
So wonderful Halloween is the most likely day you’ll kill a child with your car, and someone will kill a child you care about with theirs.
www.vox.com/future-perfe...
October 31, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Driving tomorrow?
SLOW DOWN
Kids and pedestrians deserve to live
SLOW DOWN
Kids and pedestrians deserve to live
Some days you take your kid to gymnastics and the next thing you know someone says your name and it turns out to be YOUR HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHERS
(They're married, now retired, one taught me AP Calc and the other Pre-Calc & AP Stats)
They planned this Seattle visit to watch grandkids for the week
(They're married, now retired, one taught me AP Calc and the other Pre-Calc & AP Stats)
They planned this Seattle visit to watch grandkids for the week
October 29, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Some days you take your kid to gymnastics and the next thing you know someone says your name and it turns out to be YOUR HIGH SCHOOL MATH TEACHERS
(They're married, now retired, one taught me AP Calc and the other Pre-Calc & AP Stats)
They planned this Seattle visit to watch grandkids for the week
(They're married, now retired, one taught me AP Calc and the other Pre-Calc & AP Stats)
They planned this Seattle visit to watch grandkids for the week
Right up there with "Wilson gets help from her parents with childcare because it's otherwise unaffordable" tbh
i cannot believe that “mamdani calls a close adult relative an ‘aunt’ even if they are not literally their parent’s sister” is what counts as a “scandal” these days
October 28, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Right up there with "Wilson gets help from her parents with childcare because it's otherwise unaffordable" tbh
Hello and happy October 2025
I just registered my kiddo for one week of summer sleepaway camp
For August 2026
😵💫
I just registered my kiddo for one week of summer sleepaway camp
For August 2026
😵💫
October 28, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Hello and happy October 2025
I just registered my kiddo for one week of summer sleepaway camp
For August 2026
😵💫
I just registered my kiddo for one week of summer sleepaway camp
For August 2026
😵💫
(Briefly dons church nerd hat)
I encouraged my Diocese to pass a resolution banning AI from pastoral work at our recent convention; a couple folks spoke against banning things we don't understand, so it was punted to Diocesan Council
I fear folks are already doing this & not interested to ban it 😫
I encouraged my Diocese to pass a resolution banning AI from pastoral work at our recent convention; a couple folks spoke against banning things we don't understand, so it was punted to Diocesan Council
I fear folks are already doing this & not interested to ban it 😫
it is always nerve-wracking to take a position on a question not-yet-resolved, but that's the only time when taking a position can actually be meaningful, so
I think that using AI to "automate pastoral work" is an indefensible abdication of, and damning misunderstanding of, one's duty as a cleric
I think that using AI to "automate pastoral work" is an indefensible abdication of, and damning misunderstanding of, one's duty as a cleric
“AI assistants for automating pastoral work”
October 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
(Briefly dons church nerd hat)
I encouraged my Diocese to pass a resolution banning AI from pastoral work at our recent convention; a couple folks spoke against banning things we don't understand, so it was punted to Diocesan Council
I fear folks are already doing this & not interested to ban it 😫
I encouraged my Diocese to pass a resolution banning AI from pastoral work at our recent convention; a couple folks spoke against banning things we don't understand, so it was punted to Diocesan Council
I fear folks are already doing this & not interested to ban it 😫
It's fine, most of my meetings include people from Arizona, and many pertain to one or more telescopes in Chile
Clocks go back in the UK tonight. They change in the US on November 2nd. Welcome to the Week When No One Knows What Time It Is 😆
October 25, 2025 at 9:30 PM
It's fine, most of my meetings include people from Arizona, and many pertain to one or more telescopes in Chile
Anarcho-Urbanists UNITE
You can come if you're in an adjacent square, too, so long as you bike there
You can come if you're in an adjacent square, too, so long as you bike there
Turns out the real political spectrum is just how people feel about free parking 😂
Tag yourself!
Tag yourself!
October 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Anarcho-Urbanists UNITE
You can come if you're in an adjacent square, too, so long as you bike there
You can come if you're in an adjacent square, too, so long as you bike there
These feel so close to reclaiming parking lots for community… yet so far
If I had time I'd sign up and bring candy on my cargo bike! The folks who do this are the real heroes we need.
(I'd rather have a more walkable alley that trick-or-treaters visited, though, as our front door faces said alley)
If I had time I'd sign up and bring candy on my cargo bike! The folks who do this are the real heroes we need.
(I'd rather have a more walkable alley that trick-or-treaters visited, though, as our front door faces said alley)
A few years ago I learned America has a thing called Trunk or Treat where people dress up, drive to a parking lot, and pretend it's ok we don't have walkable communities anymore.
October 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
These feel so close to reclaiming parking lots for community… yet so far
If I had time I'd sign up and bring candy on my cargo bike! The folks who do this are the real heroes we need.
(I'd rather have a more walkable alley that trick-or-treaters visited, though, as our front door faces said alley)
If I had time I'd sign up and bring candy on my cargo bike! The folks who do this are the real heroes we need.
(I'd rather have a more walkable alley that trick-or-treaters visited, though, as our front door faces said alley)
Reposted by Meredith Rawls
Trying to resist AI in everything feels so much like resisting car culture to me. AI and cars can be useful tools, but in extremely limited applications with tight regulation. 1/2
October 23, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Trying to resist AI in everything feels so much like resisting car culture to me. AI and cars can be useful tools, but in extremely limited applications with tight regulation. 1/2
Hey I got this email today, I guess I'm a week or so less exclusive, or just further down the alphabet 😒
I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.
October 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Hey I got this email today, I guess I'm a week or so less exclusive, or just further down the alphabet 😒
Remembered too late that I should have gone and looked for the comet earlier in the evening 😭
Last clear night for a while, Seattle - the Pleiades through binocs is a delight 🔭
Last clear night for a while, Seattle - the Pleiades through binocs is a delight 🔭
October 22, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Remembered too late that I should have gone and looked for the comet earlier in the evening 😭
Last clear night for a while, Seattle - the Pleiades through binocs is a delight 🔭
Last clear night for a while, Seattle - the Pleiades through binocs is a delight 🔭
take your escooters on the sidewalk hand wringing and shove it up your SUV
this isn't my school/city/county/state, but it shouldn't be anyone's!!!
so much had to go wrong for 100 kids to be hit by cars in 2 months 🤯
yes fix the infrastructure but also SLOW DOWN and park the battering ram far away
this isn't my school/city/county/state, but it shouldn't be anyone's!!!
so much had to go wrong for 100 kids to be hit by cars in 2 months 🤯
yes fix the infrastructure but also SLOW DOWN and park the battering ram far away
Jeebus, this is horrible. The purpose of a system, man. Tear it down and start from scratch.
www.reviewjournal.com/local/educat...
www.reviewjournal.com/local/educat...
Why CCSD says reports of kids hit by vehicles have doubled
The Clark County School District, citing law enforcement agencies, says at least 108 child pedestrians have been involved in crashes so far in the 2025-26 school year.
www.reviewjournal.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:06 AM
take your escooters on the sidewalk hand wringing and shove it up your SUV
this isn't my school/city/county/state, but it shouldn't be anyone's!!!
so much had to go wrong for 100 kids to be hit by cars in 2 months 🤯
yes fix the infrastructure but also SLOW DOWN and park the battering ram far away
this isn't my school/city/county/state, but it shouldn't be anyone's!!!
so much had to go wrong for 100 kids to be hit by cars in 2 months 🤯
yes fix the infrastructure but also SLOW DOWN and park the battering ram far away
For me it was Venmo - I'm unable to contribute to my kid's soccer coach thank you fund - and Brightwheel - the main form of communication for my other kid's preschool
Hope satellites don't just spontaneously start deorbiting 😅
Hope satellites don't just spontaneously start deorbiting 😅
The AWS outage made it impossible to pay for parking outside the courthouse this morning.
Amazon should not have that kind of influence.
Amazon should not have that kind of influence.
October 20, 2025 at 8:49 PM
For me it was Venmo - I'm unable to contribute to my kid's soccer coach thank you fund - and Brightwheel - the main form of communication for my other kid's preschool
Hope satellites don't just spontaneously start deorbiting 😅
Hope satellites don't just spontaneously start deorbiting 😅
Reposted by Meredith Rawls
Many parents are now are forgoing minivans for greener alternatives: cargo bikes. They have been around for decades, but the advent of the electric bike motor has made them much more popular. n.pr/3WJyZn9
Why more parents are riding cargo bikes, skipping the minivan
Many parents are now are forgoing minivans for greener alternatives: cargo bikes. They have been around for decades, but the advent of the electric bike motor has made them much more popular.
n.pr
October 19, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Many parents are now are forgoing minivans for greener alternatives: cargo bikes. They have been around for decades, but the advent of the electric bike motor has made them much more popular. n.pr/3WJyZn9
My feed is half No Kings and half Aurora Borealis and if this isn't the energy 2025 needs I'm not sure what is
October 18, 2025 at 8:30 PM
My feed is half No Kings and half Aurora Borealis and if this isn't the energy 2025 needs I'm not sure what is
Hello Seattle it is election o'clock
FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS VOTE EXCLUSIVELY THE STRANGER BALLOT.
Vote for Clark over Smith for School Board. Clark has stuck her neck out over and over again publicly in a way that has over and over changed SPS policy. She knows the issues, has an excellent head start, and is a former SPS student.
Vote for Clark over Smith for School Board. Clark has stuck her neck out over and over again publicly in a way that has over and over changed SPS policy. She knows the issues, has an excellent head start, and is a former SPS student.
October 18, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Hello Seattle it is election o'clock
Reposted by Meredith Rawls
Lots of people with money who want to make more are telling you this is a tool you have to learn or you'll be Left Behind but as with all tools, you can use your own brain and experience to decide if it's a thing that helps you do your job better and a thing you think is ethical.
October 16, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Lots of people with money who want to make more are telling you this is a tool you have to learn or you'll be Left Behind but as with all tools, you can use your own brain and experience to decide if it's a thing that helps you do your job better and a thing you think is ethical.
Reposted by Meredith Rawls
Roohi Dalal used to study the distribution of dark matter. Now, as deputy director of public policy at @aas.org, she interfaces with government officials to ensure that the astronomical community's needs are met. #whatcanphysicistsdo #physics #astronomy
Roohi Dalal advocates on Capitol Hill for the astronomy community
physicstoday.aip.org
October 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Roohi Dalal used to study the distribution of dark matter. Now, as deputy director of public policy at @aas.org, she interfaces with government officials to ensure that the astronomical community's needs are met. #whatcanphysicistsdo #physics #astronomy
Ethan's piece on Reflect Orbital is today's required reading — he covers ✨every single reason🪩 giant mirrors in space is a bad idea!
The true cost of “solar power at night” with Reflect Orbital
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
If you played SimCity 2000, you might've loved the idea of "beaming power from space" down to Earth.
Reflect Orbital took that idea, tech-bro'd it, and now could end "night" as we know it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro
The true cost of "solar power at night" with Reflect Orbital
Solar power has the disadvantage that there's no Sun at night. Satellite startup Reflect Orbital wants to change that, but at what cost?
bigthink.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Ethan's piece on Reflect Orbital is today's required reading — he covers ✨every single reason🪩 giant mirrors in space is a bad idea!
Alrighty I'm on a train so gather round for a tale as old as time
♿️ADA curb paint wars: school edition💅
You may recall I formed a committee last year to improve traffic safety near my kid's school. We learned a lot, including that panting curbs can be done by volunteers, like for loading zones 🧵
♿️ADA curb paint wars: school edition💅
You may recall I formed a committee last year to improve traffic safety near my kid's school. We learned a lot, including that panting curbs can be done by volunteers, like for loading zones 🧵
October 10, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Alrighty I'm on a train so gather round for a tale as old as time
♿️ADA curb paint wars: school edition💅
You may recall I formed a committee last year to improve traffic safety near my kid's school. We learned a lot, including that panting curbs can be done by volunteers, like for loading zones 🧵
♿️ADA curb paint wars: school edition💅
You may recall I formed a committee last year to improve traffic safety near my kid's school. We learned a lot, including that panting curbs can be done by volunteers, like for loading zones 🧵