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owlice.bsky.social
owlice
@owlice.bsky.social
200 followers 61 following 330 posts
Trained in med sciences, worked in IT, retired into astronomy, now faculty at R1 uni and still astonished at that.
Dark skies, travel, music, wildlife, research software & transparency.
Sometimes I take pictures.
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owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶 #BrownIsBeautiful

Four #birds

Wood Duck
Brown Snake-Eagle
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Brown Pelican
A female Wood Duck stands on a stump in water that is sticking up about 8 inches, its back to the viewer. The bird is looking over its right shoulder, and the stump and bird are reflected in the still water. The rich browns of the greater secondary coverts contrast with the iridescent blue speculum edged in white. A Brown Snake-Eagle is perched at the top of a dead tree. It is a uniform dark brown, with only subtle tonal variation on the wings and body. Its head is rounded, and its bill is deeply hooked. A Brown-crowned Tchagra is perched on a thorny branch against green foliage; it is facing to the right so we see only its right side. The bird has gray underparts, a rich rufous wing panel, black tail, and a pale face with a dark eye stripe. A Brown Pelican floats on calm water, showing brown body, pale head, and long gray bill with a throat pouch.
January 27, 2026 at 3:23 PM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶
#paddling

Wood Ducks
Little Egret
Goliath Heron
Spur-winged Goose
Four Wood Ducks in a lake; they are roughly in a row. A Little Egret stands at the edge of a bed of water hyacinths. A Goliath Heron stands in still grey water that is reflecting the gray sky. A Spur-winged Goose in water; it is facing to the left and looked a bit like a right triangle with a neck and head.
January 26, 2026 at 9:06 AM
Reposted by owlice
astrokatie.com
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
January 25, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by owlice
margaret.bsky.social
Another question I came here with was: how effective are the whistles and honking? Does it stop abductions? And the answer is, surprisingly to my cynical self, yes, and often. I have talked to so many people who have successfully interrupted kidnappings.
January 23, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by owlice
atrupar.com
All of this is fucking senseless. Minnesota did not have an immigration problem. Trump sent his Nazi thugs here because he's racist against Somali people and to own libs like Tim Walz. Now two Minnesotans are dead and Minneapolis is on the verge of going up in flames. None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.
January 24, 2026 at 4:55 PM
owlice.bsky.social
@washingtonpost.com, why aren't you reporting on today's ICE shooting in Minneapolis?
January 24, 2026 at 4:57 PM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶

Eight #swans (some a-swimming)
Three Mute Swans in a lake. One is upright and facing the camera; we can see only its graceful neck and head. Immediately in front of the upright swan are two others, both with their heads submerged and their butts up, which makes them appear to be the upright swan's wings. Two Trumpeter Swans resting, one with its head tucked into its wings and its eyes closed, the other with its head up and beak open, because clearly this bird had something to say. Two Black Swans plopped down on a grassy hill. They look as though they may be conversing with one another. A lone Whooper Swan walking into a lake.
January 24, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by owlice
add-hawk.bsky.social
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.

As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.

Here's what happened:
January 22, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by owlice
minnmax.com
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
January 23, 2026 at 4:01 PM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶
Four #birds #walking

White-crowned Lapwing
Rusty Blackbird
Wattled Lapwing
Northern Lapwing
A White-crowned Lapwing facing to the right, so we see its right side. Its wings and tail are black and white, the back is light brown and its underparts white. The bird's head is mainly grey, but with a white crown and foreneck. The eyering and facial wattles are yellow, and its legs are light greenish yellow. The bird has a white eye. A Rusty Blackbird in its brownish winter plumage sashays away from us on a boardboard handrail, looking like a model on a runway. The sunlight on the bird makes its brownish face, head, and upper back glow a dark copper. The bird's head is slightly angled to the right, so we can see its pale yellow eye. This Wattled Lapwings is walking to the right. It is primarily brown, with brown-streaked cheeks, nape, and throat, a white forehead, and yellow facial wattles. The tail is black with white tips and the long legs are yellow. A Northern Lapwing is walking on a mudflat with lifted wings, allowing us to see the snowy white underwing, body, and tummy. There is a touch of rufous on the vent, and we can see just a hint of the beautiful greenish iridescence of its rounded upper wings. It has a crest and a black crown. The black on its chest resembles a breastplate and contrasts with its mostly white face.
January 23, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by owlice
danielskatz.org
The new NSF public access policy adds software to what must be publicly shared, and must be described in the data management and sharing plan (DSMP)

www.nsf.gov/policies/doc...
Policy Notice: Implementation of Policy Changes to Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 24-1, Supplement 2
The information set out in this notice takes precedence over existing policies and procedures in PAPPG 24-1. It applies for all financial assistance awarded on or after Jan. 22, 2026.
www.nsf.gov
January 23, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by owlice
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 Planetary Nebula Abell 7

Image Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26012...
Very faint planetary nebula Abell 7 is about 1,800 light-years distant. It lies just south of Orion in planet Earth's skies toward the constellation Lepus, The Hare. Posing with scattered Milky Way stars, its generally simple spherical shape about 8 light-years in diameter is revealed in this deep telescopic image. The beautiful and complex shapes seen within the cosmic cloud are visually enhanced by the use of long exposures and narrowband filters that capture emission from hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Otherwise Abell 7 would be much too faint to be appreciated by eye. A planetary nebula represents a very brief final phase in stellar evolution that our own Sun will experience 5 billion years hence, as the nebula's central, once sun-like star shrugs off its outer layers. Abell 7 itself is estimated to be 20,000 years old. But its central star, seen here as a fading white dwarf, is some 10 billion years old.
January 23, 2026 at 8:00 AM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶
Four #birds with #TailsUp

American Redstart
Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
Western Swamphen
Cape Rockjumper
A female American Redstart is on a tree branch; she is facing the viewer. Though she is mostly head-on, we see her left side. Her tail is sunlit. A Scaly-breasted Hummingbird feeds from a sugar-water feeder; the bird is hovering. We see its right side; the bird is keeping its right eye on the photographer. A Western Swamphen is standing in water; its wings and tail are up, and we see its white vent. Mostly appearing black, the bright blue of its cheek and neck and the red bill and frontal shield stand out. A male Cape Rockjumper perched on a rock with russet splotches that match the bird's russet chest and rump. The bird's head is dark grey and black; it has a thin white supercilium and a broad white malar stripe. The back and wings are dark grey, and its tail is black with white tips. The bird's red eye is staring into the camera.
January 22, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by owlice
astrowright.bsky.social
Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin’s autobiography is just amazing. Every astronomer should read it.

Here she is talking about her memories of Annie Jump Cannon.
January 22, 2026 at 12:30 AM
Reposted by owlice
apod.shinyakato.dev
🔭 LDN 1622: Dark Nebula in Orion

Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Fellows

apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26012...
The silhouette of an intriguing dark nebula inhabits this cosmic scene. Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic exposures of the region. In contrast, a brighter reflection nebula, vdB 62, is more easily seen just above the dusty dark nebula. LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close on the sky to Barnard's Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission nebulae found in the Belt and Sword of Orion. With swept-back outlines, the obscuring dust of LDN 1622 is thought to lie at a similar distance, perhaps 1,500 light-years away. At that distance, this 3 degree wide field of view would span about 100 light-years. Young stars do lie hidden within the dark expanse and have been revealed in Spitzer Space telescope infrared images. Still, the foreboding visual appearance of LDN 1622 inspires its popular name, the Boogeyman Nebula.
January 22, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by owlice
claesdevreese.bsky.social
And now something positive:

solar and wind energy production in the EU surpasses fossil energy for the first time.

☀️ 💨

#TippingPoint

Source: dr.dk
January 22, 2026 at 6:41 AM
owlice.bsky.social
Glad I didn't need bread!

#winterstorm
Empty shelves on Wednesday evening. A winter storm is forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
January 22, 2026 at 9:47 AM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶
Four #birds #singing
Carolina Wren
Spotted Towhee
Rattling Cisticola
Striped Pipit
Freakishly loud Carolina Wren on a snag. We see him in profile; he's facing left and is in mid-song. I don't know how these tiny little birds do it, but they almost always sound as if they come with megaphones. A somewhat-surprised-looking Spotted Towhee perched on a bare branch; he is singing. We see the front of this pretty bird; he has an entirely black head and throat, a white chest and tum, and rufous sides. We can see some of the black of his wings, but none of his spots. His left eye, which is a deep red, is visible. He is looking slightly to his right. A Rattling Cisticola perches on a bare acacia branch; we see his right side. He is singing, so we see the black hole that his open beak reveals. There is no dark like the inside of this bird's beak; no light escapes it! A Striped Pipit perches on a dirty wire and sings; he is facing to the left of the photo so we see only his left side. He is various shades of buff and brown with a heavily streaked chest and tummy (what we can see of them, anyway), and a hint of yellow along part of his wing.
January 21, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Reposted by owlice
musicologyduck.bsky.social
NO
marketing email from Greyhound with subject line "Want a weekend adventure to brag about?"
January 20, 2026 at 6:26 PM
owlice.bsky.social
Just had a vegetable samosa burrito for lunch and love everything about it, including that it's a samosa burrito. (Vegan, very tasty, should have picked up more than one!)
January 20, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by owlice
sumrtime.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky friends! I've been MIA for a while, but I'm coming back because I have some fun news...

I'm helping the Astronomical Society of the Pacific sell/rehome their library because they are downsizing their office space. There are sooooooo many cool finds. I'm going to share as many as I can! 🔭
Image of wooden bookshelf packed with space books. Three shelves are visiible with yellow and blue post-it notes on them.
November 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by owlice
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Every time Trump breaks the clear letter of the law, the NYT and WaPo write a story about how he’s “pushing boundaries” or “testing the limits of his authority”

He's not Chuck Yeager, guys. He's a crook.
January 19, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by owlice
standupforscience.bsky.social
ICE’s actions tear families apart, intimidate communities, & undermine the conditions that make education, research, healthcare, & public trust possible.

We’re calling on scientists to join the general anti-ICE strike in Minnesota on January 23rd.
Red protest-style graphic with bold white text reading “Scientists Against ICE.” Below, rows of black human silhouettes stand holding hands. Centered is the Stand Up for Science logo, followed by text: “Calls for a General Strike Jan 23, 2026, Minnesota.” Black starburst shapes frame the sides. Bottom text reads: “Mobilize the fight for science and democracy.”
January 19, 2026 at 10:22 PM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶 #birds #FeedingTime

Gray Heron
White-fronted Bee-eater
Harris's Hawk
Thief
Grey Heron holding its lunch: an enormous catfish. White-fronted Bee-eater on a bare branch tossing an insect into its beak Harris's Hawk getting the last morsel of its snack Eastern Fox Squirrel hanging from a branch by its back feet; it is fully stretched out. We see its underside. It is eating a sunflower seed from a bird feeder right next to it.
January 20, 2026 at 8:00 AM
owlice.bsky.social
🦉🪶#TwoOfAKind

Eurasian Griffon
Groove-billed Ani
Green Ibis
Two Eurasian Griffons on a rock ledge at the top of a vast wall of rock. One is perched at the top; his body is facing left, but he is looking behind in him to the right. The other griffon is slightly below the other with its back to us; this bird is looking to the right. These large raptors have heads and necks that are soft gray covered with very small feathers; their bodies have large shaggy light brown feathers, with the ones on the underside of the birds russet-tinged. The sky behind them is clear blue. Two Groove-billed Anis are perched on a branch; they are facing to the left; we see their fronts. They appear as a matched set, as they are in the same pose and perfectly aligned with one another. These birds are all black. Their large beaks are indeed grooved, they have dark eyes, and their large tails are wide. Two Green Ibises are standing at the end of what appears to be a corn field (or perhaps former corn field, as there are a lot of wild grasses, too). It is raining hard, and the birds are very wet. Even so, they appear to be smiling slightly, a Mona Lisa sort of smile. The birds look pretty uniformly grayish-brown except for their napes, which are covered with dark green shaggy feathers that give off a hint of iridescence.
January 18, 2026 at 11:53 PM