Matt Reece
@mreece.bsky.social
physicist, obsessed with axions. Boston resident. never had a twitter or a mastodon, but here I am, inexplicably.
Reading another fine example of the Air Bud school of particle physics model-building, which rests not on physical principles (established or otherwise) but on "There's nothing in the rule book that says I can't..."
January 8, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Reading another fine example of the Air Bud school of particle physics model-building, which rests not on physical principles (established or otherwise) but on "There's nothing in the rule book that says I can't..."
Some news: Harvard is the 8th institution to receive a gift for theoretical physics from the Leinweber Foundation. We're excited to have a new, stable source of support for PhD students and postdocs, at a time when young researchers have been especially anxious about careers in science in the US.
New institute to strengthen fundamental physics research, collaboration— Harvard Gazette
Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics made possible by $20 million gift from the Leinweber Foundation.
news.harvard.edu
December 23, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Some news: Harvard is the 8th institution to receive a gift for theoretical physics from the Leinweber Foundation. We're excited to have a new, stable source of support for PhD students and postdocs, at a time when young researchers have been especially anxious about careers in science in the US.
Interesting to see Jeffrey Wigand's name in the discourse. To me, he was the 9th grade science teacher who took a class full of kids excited about science and did his best to make us hate it. Gave us challenging assignments with no explanation and refused to even point us to a book. 1/
December 22, 2025 at 4:36 AM
Interesting to see Jeffrey Wigand's name in the discourse. To me, he was the 9th grade science teacher who took a class full of kids excited about science and did his best to make us hate it. Gave us challenging assignments with no explanation and refused to even point us to a book. 1/
Reposted by Matt Reece
European particle physics strategy update summary 😅
December 12, 2025 at 4:08 PM
European particle physics strategy update summary 😅
Reposted by Matt Reece
Love when we order delivery from a restaurant, our food never arrives, the restaurant tells us we have to ask the delivery service for a refund, and the delivery service tells us we have to ask the restaurant for a refund, so we accept the loss and cobble together a quick meal ourselves like chumps.
December 5, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Love when we order delivery from a restaurant, our food never arrives, the restaurant tells us we have to ask the delivery service for a refund, and the delivery service tells us we have to ask the restaurant for a refund, so we accept the loss and cobble together a quick meal ourselves like chumps.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Congestion pricing in NYC has worked and has become popular. Cities like Boston should follow.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/05/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/05/o...
Three takeaways for Boston from NYC’s congestion pricing scheme - The Boston Globe
After a year of the first American program of its kind, there’s enough data to recommend the idea.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Congestion pricing in NYC has worked and has become popular. Cities like Boston should follow.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/05/o...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/05/o...
The Nobel Committee, seeking nominations: "We encourage you to take a wide perspective, including e.g. inventions and female candidates."
🤨
🤨
December 4, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The Nobel Committee, seeking nominations: "We encourage you to take a wide perspective, including e.g. inventions and female candidates."
🤨
🤨
The DOE's new "Genesis Mission"? Every time I see it mentioned I can't help but think "rich, Corinthian leather."
November 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The DOE's new "Genesis Mission"? Every time I see it mentioned I can't help but think "rich, Corinthian leather."
As I keep telling people, no, large gauge transformations aren't physical.
FFS 😡
FINLAND IS NOT RE-GAUGING ITS RAILWAYS
Just because an urbanist influencer has posted a 6 months old piece (that was anyway inaccurate) about it does not mean it is happening!
Finland *might* lay some additional standard gauge track from Sweden to Oulu
FINLAND IS NOT RE-GAUGING ITS RAILWAYS
Just because an urbanist influencer has posted a 6 months old piece (that was anyway inaccurate) about it does not mean it is happening!
Finland *might* lay some additional standard gauge track from Sweden to Oulu
November 25, 2025 at 3:50 AM
As I keep telling people, no, large gauge transformations aren't physical.
Reposted by Matt Reece
![Comic. [Person with ponytail pointing at diagram while speaking to three other people] PERSON: If the emergency stop is activated, any riders on the waterslide will be diverted into the beam dump, a large graphite block which will safely absorb their momentum. [caption] We regretted hiring an accelerator physicist to design our water park.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreicnzdnpjdz4clfa2uhx6isbdwgu72oku5pee4av7paavbjmqpyoiu@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Kind of charmed by all the people on here who think Harvard would fire a famous, senior professor for being a terrible person who is wrong all the time, or even for serial misconduct. That’s not the Harvard I know, unfortunately.
November 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Kind of charmed by all the people on here who think Harvard would fire a famous, senior professor for being a terrible person who is wrong all the time, or even for serial misconduct. That’s not the Harvard I know, unfortunately.
Remembering this for some reason
Apropos of nothing: Last year, one day I found my path through Harvard Yard blocked by a slow-moving group of a dozen or so students and two econ profs, one of whom was Larry Summers. He was holding forth about how other people's inflation expectations were wrong. 1/
November 14, 2025 at 1:42 AM
Remembering this for some reason
Reposted by Matt Reece
The American people aren't interested in boring process stories like "was the world's most notorious sex trafficker providing underage girls to the President?", they wanted to know more about whether Claudine Gay followed best citation practices for her dissertation.
The emails that you’re seeing now are news in themselves, but that’s because of how they’re coming out—a congressional committee released them—& the context in which they’re being viewed. A guy emailing a reporter talking about old girlfriends or saying someone is “dirty” is not a whole news story.
November 13, 2025 at 4:56 PM
The American people aren't interested in boring process stories like "was the world's most notorious sex trafficker providing underage girls to the President?", they wanted to know more about whether Claudine Gay followed best citation practices for her dissertation.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Oo! Interesting #GravitationalWave candidate #S251112cm potentially from a *subsolar* mass source
If real, the source is probably has chirp mass ~0.1–0.87 solar masses
False alarm rate 1 in 6.2 yr
GraceDB gracedb.ligo.org/superevents/...
GCN gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/42...
Rating 📏🍬
[🧪🔭⚛️]
If real, the source is probably has chirp mass ~0.1–0.87 solar masses
False alarm rate 1 in 6.2 yr
GraceDB gracedb.ligo.org/superevents/...
GCN gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/42...
Rating 📏🍬
[🧪🔭⚛️]
November 12, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Oo! Interesting #GravitationalWave candidate #S251112cm potentially from a *subsolar* mass source
If real, the source is probably has chirp mass ~0.1–0.87 solar masses
False alarm rate 1 in 6.2 yr
GraceDB gracedb.ligo.org/superevents/...
GCN gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/42...
Rating 📏🍬
[🧪🔭⚛️]
If real, the source is probably has chirp mass ~0.1–0.87 solar masses
False alarm rate 1 in 6.2 yr
GraceDB gracedb.ligo.org/superevents/...
GCN gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/42...
Rating 📏🍬
[🧪🔭⚛️]
Somehow simultaneously thinking "Larry Summers sent this email in *2017*? incredible" and "this isn't surprising at all."
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Somehow simultaneously thinking "Larry Summers sent this email in *2017*? incredible" and "this isn't surprising at all."
Reading this Harvard Gazette article about how our new Dean of Science is co-teaching a class partly premised on how deep expertise doesn't matter now because students can talk to ChatGPT instead of to professors. Thanks, I hate it.
No one knows the answer, and that’s the point — Harvard Gazette
“Genuinely Hard Problems” pilots novel approach to scientific education.
news.harvard.edu
November 12, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reading this Harvard Gazette article about how our new Dean of Science is co-teaching a class partly premised on how deep expertise doesn't matter now because students can talk to ChatGPT instead of to professors. Thanks, I hate it.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Whenever some sanctimonious Dem announces that America needs a functioning Republican Party, I always think “I’d settle for a functioning Democratic Party.”
November 10, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Whenever some sanctimonious Dem announces that America needs a functioning Republican Party, I always think “I’d settle for a functioning Democratic Party.”
Reposted by Matt Reece
This. MA's senators are generally among the best but I will vote for Ayanna Pressley @pressley.house.gov in a primary without any hesitation.
Since the Democrats worked extra hard to hide who actually supported this, I think the No Kings/Resistance position should be to primary every Democrat unless they publicly call for Schumer's ouster this week
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
Either they go into total rebellion mode, which they won't, or the people will
November 10, 2025 at 3:00 AM
This. MA's senators are generally among the best but I will vote for Ayanna Pressley @pressley.house.gov in a primary without any hesitation.
A shameful choice from Cornell.
BREAKING: Cornell University reaches a deal with the Trump administration to restore withheld federal funding.
Cornell University announces deal with Trump administration to restore withheld federal funding
Cornell University has agreed to pay $60 million and accept the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights laws in order to restore federal funding and end investigations into the Ivy League school.
bit.ly
November 7, 2025 at 9:14 PM
A shameful choice from Cornell.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Judge McConnell basically walked them through the math, called all their arguments bullshit, and entered the order that the gov't stop playing games with the money while kids go hungry.
Didn't even give the gov't the chance to respond.
Didn't even give the gov't the chance to respond.
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Judge McConnell basically walked them through the math, called all their arguments bullshit, and entered the order that the gov't stop playing games with the money while kids go hungry.
Didn't even give the gov't the chance to respond.
Didn't even give the gov't the chance to respond.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Reposted by Matt Reece
I'm happy that Mamdani won. But I won't let that get in the way of my celebrating Cuomo losing.
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I'm happy that Mamdani won. But I won't let that get in the way of my celebrating Cuomo losing.
Reposted by Matt Reece
Residents, businesses, food pantries to try to ensure nobody starves because of President Golden Ballroom (tried to list some resources; if you know of others, let me know)
www.universalhub.com/2025/residen...
#Boston #SNAP
www.universalhub.com/2025/residen...
#Boston #SNAP
October 30, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Residents, businesses, food pantries to try to ensure nobody starves because of President Golden Ballroom (tried to list some resources; if you know of others, let me know)
www.universalhub.com/2025/residen...
#Boston #SNAP
www.universalhub.com/2025/residen...
#Boston #SNAP