Pauline Barmby
@pbarmby.bsky.social
Science: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2767-0090. Fiction: https://www.galacticwords.com Words in Year’s Best Cdn F&SF Vols 2&3, Nature:Futures, Analog, Utopia SF, MNRAS, ApJ, etc. Runner, knitter, curler. 🇨🇦 & minor planet 281067. She/her.
Pinned
Pauline Barmby
@pbarmby.bsky.social
· Nov 18
The Apparatus Almanac: Gizmology & Technomancy
www.amazon.com
Time for the round-up of my 2025 published stories!
(1) What if there was a government office that dealt with unhinged amateur scientists?
“GENIUS Act Response” in @jayhengepub.bsky.social’s The Apparatus Almanac: Gismology & Technomancy
www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2J9L6BH
(1) What if there was a government office that dealt with unhinged amateur scientists?
“GENIUS Act Response” in @jayhengepub.bsky.social’s The Apparatus Almanac: Gismology & Technomancy
www.amazon.com/dp/B0F2J9L6BH
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
tell your friends, enemies, and anyone else in the vicinity who might have two dollars and ninety-nine cents.
url-shortener.me/ABSD
url-shortener.me/ABSD
February 1, 2026 at 12:12 PM
tell your friends, enemies, and anyone else in the vicinity who might have two dollars and ninety-nine cents.
url-shortener.me/ABSD
url-shortener.me/ABSD
On the @locusmag.bsky.social Recommended Reading List, and for good reason. (Do heed the content warnings.)
it's that time of the year again!
this award season, i want to highlight a story that was very difficult for me to write, but i am glad is out there. you can read or listen to Mavka by following the link below. thank you @yelenacrane.bsky.social for the narration!
this award season, i want to highlight a story that was very difficult for me to write, but i am glad is out there. you can read or listen to Mavka by following the link below. thank you @yelenacrane.bsky.social for the narration!
February 1, 2026 at 3:00 PM
On the @locusmag.bsky.social Recommended Reading List, and for good reason. (Do heed the content warnings.)
Excited to see Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol 3, ed @ourmankoto.bsky.social, on the 2025 @locusmag.bsky.social
Recommended Reading List!
www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/...
locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...
Recommended Reading List!
www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/...
locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...
Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three ebook by Stephen Kotowych - Rakuten Kobo
Read "Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three" by Stephen Kotowych available from Rakuten Kobo. “Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction belongs on every Canadian reade...
www.kobo.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Excited to see Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction Vol 3, ed @ourmankoto.bsky.social, on the 2025 @locusmag.bsky.social
Recommended Reading List!
www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/...
locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...
Recommended Reading List!
www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/...
locusmag.com/2026/02/2025...
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
Spitzer image of Arp 16, also known as M66.
The blue core and bar has a concentration of blue older stars, and the pink bar ends and spiral arms show dust heated by actively forming stars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
Source
The blue core and bar has a concentration of blue older stars, and the pink bar ends and spiral arms show dust heated by actively forming stars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
Source
February 1, 2026 at 12:31 PM
Spitzer image of Arp 16, also known as M66.
The blue core and bar has a concentration of blue older stars, and the pink bar ends and spiral arms show dust heated by actively forming stars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
Source
The blue core and bar has a concentration of blue older stars, and the pink bar ends and spiral arms show dust heated by actively forming stars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Kennicutt (University of Arizona) and the SINGS Team
Source
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
The years are no longer showing up and asking previous years to "hold my beer."
They are chugging then smashing the bottle on their head before wreaking havoc.
They are chugging then smashing the bottle on their head before wreaking havoc.
February 1, 2026 at 12:44 PM
The years are no longer showing up and asking previous years to "hold my beer."
They are chugging then smashing the bottle on their head before wreaking havoc.
They are chugging then smashing the bottle on their head before wreaking havoc.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
Imo the arXiv should impose an automatic ban the first time someone submits a preprint with a hallucinated reference in it. Zero tolerance policy.
January 31, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Imo the arXiv should impose an automatic ban the first time someone submits a preprint with a hallucinated reference in it. Zero tolerance policy.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
This is brilliant www.physicsmatt.com/blog/2025/12...
The Dumbest Thing I’ve Seen This Week — physicsmatt
Given that it is 2025, the dumbest thing I’ve seen this week is some stiff competition, but “AI datacenters in space” is some impressive idiocy. I’ve seen a few breathless media reports on how AI comp...
www.physicsmatt.com
January 31, 2026 at 7:40 PM
This is brilliant www.physicsmatt.com/blog/2025/12...
Increasingly difficult to resist the urge to kick at the wheel well glaciers of every parked vehicle I walk past.
January 31, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Increasingly difficult to resist the urge to kick at the wheel well glaciers of every parked vehicle I walk past.
Pattern link down thread.
A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community. n.pr/4thWiUr
A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota
A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community.
n.pr
January 31, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Pattern link down thread.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
"[I]f you value the cost of dry cleaning your clothing after inevitably upchucking all over it during the end credits, then you should stay home, cancel your Prime Video account in protest, and send hopes and prayers that 2028 arrives sooner than later." -- Barry Hertz, reviewing "Melania" in G&M.
January 31, 2026 at 3:34 PM
"[I]f you value the cost of dry cleaning your clothing after inevitably upchucking all over it during the end credits, then you should stay home, cancel your Prime Video account in protest, and send hopes and prayers that 2028 arrives sooner than later." -- Barry Hertz, reviewing "Melania" in G&M.
The thing about that X ad for a creative writer: non-writers can’t believe someone like that would work for as little as $40/hr.
Fiction writers know that most people with those quals have *never even approached $40/hr from their writing* (& wouldn’t take the job anyway.)
Want art? Pay artists.
Fiction writers know that most people with those quals have *never even approached $40/hr from their writing* (& wouldn’t take the job anyway.)
Want art? Pay artists.
January 31, 2026 at 12:32 PM
The thing about that X ad for a creative writer: non-writers can’t believe someone like that would work for as little as $40/hr.
Fiction writers know that most people with those quals have *never even approached $40/hr from their writing* (& wouldn’t take the job anyway.)
Want art? Pay artists.
Fiction writers know that most people with those quals have *never even approached $40/hr from their writing* (& wouldn’t take the job anyway.)
Want art? Pay artists.
Grad students, this means you too (even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer)
Fellow writers: I am deeply saddened to share that if we want the rewards of having written, we must submit to the mortifying ordeal of writing
January 30, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Grad students, this means you too (even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer)
Gee Google Docs, changing “wavelengths” to “tablecloths” without asking me is unhelpful.
January 30, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Gee Google Docs, changing “wavelengths” to “tablecloths” without asking me is unhelpful.
“LLMs are great! They save me so much time!” Well, they’re also wasting a lot of other people’s time..
Research Notes of the AAS in particular, which was set up to handle short, moderated contributions especially from students, is getting swamped. Often the authors clearly haven’t read what they’ve submitting, (Descriptions of figures that don’t exist or don’t show what they purport to)
January 29, 2026 at 2:35 PM
“LLMs are great! They save me so much time!” Well, they’re also wasting a lot of other people’s time..
Whatever else one might say about this weather, I am happy for the opportunity to wear my handknits every day.
January 28, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Whatever else one might say about this weather, I am happy for the opportunity to wear my handknits every day.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
hi friends, i've put together a short collection of SFF stories and set it free—i hope it can give you some encouragement, a smile, or even just a pause in the doomscrolling. art is resistance. <3 🐺 📚
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
January 28, 2026 at 3:26 AM
hi friends, i've put together a short collection of SFF stories and set it free—i hope it can give you some encouragement, a smile, or even just a pause in the doomscrolling. art is resistance. <3 🐺 📚
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
ko-fi.com/s/f0da603a0d <— support/PWYW (free!)
tiny.cc/2q7y001 <— direct download
A tremendous loss for Canada, for science, for her family and friends. Vale Dr Duncan. You will be remembered, and missed.
The world has lost one of its most courageous and passionate advocates for people + science.
Back in the days of Twitter, I saw her regularly send encouragement to people she’d never met. That was who she was: a model of joy, perseverance, courage, and kindness.
Kirsty, you will be so missed. 💔
Back in the days of Twitter, I saw her regularly send encouragement to people she’d never met. That was who she was: a model of joy, perseverance, courage, and kindness.
Kirsty, you will be so missed. 💔
Former Liberal cabinet minister Kirsty Duncan dead at 59 | CBC News
Former Liberal cabinet minister Kirsty Duncan has died at the age of 59 following a years-long battle with cancer.
www.cbc.ca
January 27, 2026 at 2:37 AM
A tremendous loss for Canada, for science, for her family and friends. Vale Dr Duncan. You will be remembered, and missed.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
Hey SFFH Bluesky! "DreamHaven specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, horror, film and media books, comics, and graphic novels." Sounds like exactly the kind of place we'd feel right at home. Let's show this guy and his store some love.
Remember the other day when I was saluting my friend Greg Ketter, owner of Minneapolis’ DreamHaven Books? This is him the following day. Greg will never say this, so I will — now is a great time to buy books from DreamHaven. Support Americans who stand up vs. 🧊. dreamhavenbooks.com
January 25, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Hey SFFH Bluesky! "DreamHaven specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, horror, film and media books, comics, and graphic novels." Sounds like exactly the kind of place we'd feel right at home. Let's show this guy and his store some love.
The EV’s range is not so good today..
January 24, 2026 at 2:47 PM
The EV’s range is not so good today..
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
look at him. where will he go
repost to send him on a journey
repost to send him on a journey
January 22, 2026 at 10:12 PM
look at him. where will he go
repost to send him on a journey
repost to send him on a journey
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
PSA: all readers should go immediately to @inkfoundry.bsky.social because it's an infinite treasure trove of fiction. You will be joyfully drowning in great reads.
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
PSA: all readers should go immediately to @inkfoundry.bsky.social because it's an infinite treasure trove of fiction. You will be joyfully drowning in great reads.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO ANYTHING BUT A GROUNDED, WALL SOCKET
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO ANYTHING BUT A GROUNDED, WALL SOCKET
January 22, 2026 at 7:45 PM
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO ANYTHING BUT A GROUNDED, WALL SOCKET
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO POWER STRIPS
DO NOT PLUG SPACE HEATERS INTO ANYTHING BUT A GROUNDED, WALL SOCKET
Stupidest nightmare ever: dreamed I’d been hired to teach UBC’s intro linear algebra course but couldn’t find the classroom because I couldn’t remember the couse number. (It’s Math 221, in case this ever happens to you.)
January 22, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Stupidest nightmare ever: dreamed I’d been hired to teach UBC’s intro linear algebra course but couldn’t find the classroom because I couldn’t remember the couse number. (It’s Math 221, in case this ever happens to you.)
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
Canadians you are not prepared for the temperature he tells you he is experiencing here.
January 21, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Canadians you are not prepared for the temperature he tells you he is experiencing here.
Reposted by Pauline Barmby
it's always a great fuckin day to read my short story about a plague that kills billionaires ✨
Escape Pod 1003: Billionaire’s Tears
I wake up to the sound of screaming, and know I’m going to die. I shoot out of bed, calling for my mother. First thing I’ve spoken clearly in two days. “Maria!” My mother bursts into my room. “Baby…
escapepod.org
January 21, 2026 at 12:30 AM
it's always a great fuckin day to read my short story about a plague that kills billionaires ✨