Rob Thacker
@robthacker.bsky.social
Astrophysicist & photo geek✨Graduate Coordinator of astrophysics at SMU. Regular co-host of Science Files on CityNews Halifax and Science Wire on CFRA Ottawa. You are made of the ♥ of stars. Halifax/K'jipuktuk (he/him)
When you spend about 1 hour 10 mins on food prep caramelizing, and you still have to sit through another hour of the casserole cooking in the oven... Sorry, have a mouth full of saliva right now. 😋It smells so goooood.
December 28, 2025 at 9:55 PM
When you spend about 1 hour 10 mins on food prep caramelizing, and you still have to sit through another hour of the casserole cooking in the oven... Sorry, have a mouth full of saliva right now. 😋It smells so goooood.
The structures that nature puts together always draw your eye in and in and in... Here's a few quick pics from #Hemlockravine park in #Halifax on a - not so cold for once - Sunday afternoon. #photography
December 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
The structures that nature puts together always draw your eye in and in and in... Here's a few quick pics from #Hemlockravine park in #Halifax on a - not so cold for once - Sunday afternoon. #photography
Just a little reminder that in the space of two years the Maritimes were treated to a total solar eclipse, and then this year a partial solar eclipse at sunrise. Incredibly (and it really is!) the sky co-operated for both! Here's the partial sun rising on March 29th 2025 over Halifax harbour.
December 25, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Just a little reminder that in the space of two years the Maritimes were treated to a total solar eclipse, and then this year a partial solar eclipse at sunrise. Incredibly (and it really is!) the sky co-operated for both! Here's the partial sun rising on March 29th 2025 over Halifax harbour.
Reposted by Rob Thacker
White on white! 🎄🐿🤍❄️🌲
Very glad to see the local Frog Pond leucistic squirrel still active!
All the best for the holiday break.
Very glad to see the local Frog Pond leucistic squirrel still active!
All the best for the holiday break.
December 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
White on white! 🎄🐿🤍❄️🌲
Very glad to see the local Frog Pond leucistic squirrel still active!
All the best for the holiday break.
Very glad to see the local Frog Pond leucistic squirrel still active!
All the best for the holiday break.
If you are celebrating Christmas Eve, sincerely hope it is full of fun & laughter. Got out to #oakfieldprovpark for a walk in today's chill. Lots of beauty ❤️, but a few limbs waiting to fall on the paths (be careful!) Beech leaves, ice and some intentional camera movement. #photography #mikmaki
December 24, 2025 at 8:45 PM
If you are celebrating Christmas Eve, sincerely hope it is full of fun & laughter. Got out to #oakfieldprovpark for a walk in today's chill. Lots of beauty ❤️, but a few limbs waiting to fall on the paths (be careful!) Beech leaves, ice and some intentional camera movement. #photography #mikmaki
Here's really fun entry by student Matt Corbett in the SMU Science Xmas Dec comp. One of the hardest things we do in the 3rd year classical mech course is the spinning top. The final part the analysis is to plot behaviours of the spin axis (below). Matt turned the diagrams into a bauble! #scicomm
December 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Here's really fun entry by student Matt Corbett in the SMU Science Xmas Dec comp. One of the hardest things we do in the 3rd year classical mech course is the spinning top. The final part the analysis is to plot behaviours of the spin axis (below). Matt turned the diagrams into a bauble! #scicomm
Well, I'm standing by a river
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison
You can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief
Way down in the shadows
"Road to Hell" - RIP Chris Rea, one of the "truly human" people of music.
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison
You can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief
Way down in the shadows
"Road to Hell" - RIP Chris Rea, one of the "truly human" people of music.
December 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Well, I'm standing by a river
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison
You can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief
Way down in the shadows
"Road to Hell" - RIP Chris Rea, one of the "truly human" people of music.
But the water doesn't flow
It boils with every poison
You can think of
And I'm underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief
Way down in the shadows
"Road to Hell" - RIP Chris Rea, one of the "truly human" people of music.
The little bit of snow this morning has settled on top of the @smuhalifax.bsky.social Atrium roof. We half jokingly call this the "igloo effect!" - it makes the light inside really soft. Imaged with a superwide lens, hence the off-axis distortion. #photography #halifax
December 15, 2025 at 1:17 PM
The little bit of snow this morning has settled on top of the @smuhalifax.bsky.social Atrium roof. We half jokingly call this the "igloo effect!" - it makes the light inside really soft. Imaged with a superwide lens, hence the off-axis distortion. #photography #halifax
It's that time of year. The feathery touch of winter is upon us. #photography #mikmaki
December 6, 2025 at 12:13 AM
It's that time of year. The feathery touch of winter is upon us. #photography #mikmaki
There's gotta be a ringette pun about this image! 😊On the @smuhalifax.bsky.social campus this morning. #Halisky
December 1, 2025 at 5:58 PM
There's gotta be a ringette pun about this image! 😊On the @smuhalifax.bsky.social campus this morning. #Halisky
At the request of Canada Post, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick, in 1969 Nebraska agreed to change its shortening from NB to NE.
November 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
At the request of Canada Post, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick, in 1969 Nebraska agreed to change its shortening from NB to NE.
The source of bias in a probabilistic system lies in its construction, not in its use of probability.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AI can easily be biased. Please don't argue because it is probabilistic it isn't biased. That's just not true. With that logic you'll end up arguing a loaded die is fair.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AI can easily be biased. Please don't argue because it is probabilistic it isn't biased. That's just not true. With that logic you'll end up arguing a loaded die is fair.
November 16, 2025 at 9:03 PM
The source of bias in a probabilistic system lies in its construction, not in its use of probability.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AI can easily be biased. Please don't argue because it is probabilistic it isn't biased. That's just not true. With that logic you'll end up arguing a loaded die is fair.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
AI can easily be biased. Please don't argue because it is probabilistic it isn't biased. That's just not true. With that logic you'll end up arguing a loaded die is fair.
Delighted to announce the 2025 Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecturer in Astronomy as Dr Laurie Rousseau-Nepton of the University of Toronto. Her talk (Fri Nov 21st 7pm) title is: Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future. All ages welcome. Free event (with tix): www.eventbrite.ca/e/dan-maclen...
Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecture in Astronomy
Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future
www.eventbrite.ca
November 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Delighted to announce the 2025 Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecturer in Astronomy as Dr Laurie Rousseau-Nepton of the University of Toronto. Her talk (Fri Nov 21st 7pm) title is: Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future. All ages welcome. Free event (with tix): www.eventbrite.ca/e/dan-maclen...
It's been a crazy fall with new course preparation on top of additional things like contract negotiations. But can't complain too much when you have amazing places like Shaw Wilderness just a few mins drive away. Here's a couple of fun little reflections. #photography #mikmaki
November 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
It's been a crazy fall with new course preparation on top of additional things like contract negotiations. But can't complain too much when you have amazing places like Shaw Wilderness just a few mins drive away. Here's a couple of fun little reflections. #photography #mikmaki
I'm not sure if getting chores done counts as procrastinating on work work 😅but got a new garlic bed assembled today and @lmcampbell.bsky.social got our next crop of garlic planted. Shout out to allthingscedar.ca for their cedar planters (yes could do it cheaper with pine or by hand, no time!)
October 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
I'm not sure if getting chores done counts as procrastinating on work work 😅but got a new garlic bed assembled today and @lmcampbell.bsky.social got our next crop of garlic planted. Shout out to allthingscedar.ca for their cedar planters (yes could do it cheaper with pine or by hand, no time!)
Have to admit this was a pretty awesome combination of the fall colours. The reds are so vivid this year! The yellow is a ginko, the red is a maple behind it, while the tree that is still green is an oak. #halifax #photography
October 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Have to admit this was a pretty awesome combination of the fall colours. The reds are so vivid this year! The yellow is a ginko, the red is a maple behind it, while the tree that is still green is an oak. #halifax #photography
As the northern hemisphere feels the first few portents of winter coming, got out to #Oakfieldprovpark this afternoon for the first time in ages. Such a beautiful place, the colours are vibrant already & will likely be stronger in a few days. Here are a few small vignettes. #photography #mikmaki
October 5, 2025 at 7:40 PM
As the northern hemisphere feels the first few portents of winter coming, got out to #Oakfieldprovpark this afternoon for the first time in ages. Such a beautiful place, the colours are vibrant already & will likely be stronger in a few days. Here are a few small vignettes. #photography #mikmaki
Here's a callery pear on the SMU campus blooming in late September. I had a minor freak out on seeing this, but apparently the trees will do this after periods of stress, most notably drought. It's only a couple of blooms as well, most of the rest of the buds are dormant.
September 29, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Here's a callery pear on the SMU campus blooming in late September. I had a minor freak out on seeing this, but apparently the trees will do this after periods of stress, most notably drought. It's only a couple of blooms as well, most of the rest of the buds are dormant.
A truly spectacular morning at Mellon Udrigle beach in the scottish #highlands. It really is pretty pretty amazing to see the sun rise over the mountains to the east, in turn lighting up the sea mist. #photography
August 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM
A truly spectacular morning at Mellon Udrigle beach in the scottish #highlands. It really is pretty pretty amazing to see the sun rise over the mountains to the east, in turn lighting up the sea mist. #photography
Here's a farmer sowing gulls 😉They grow very quickly and are quite mobile. #photography
August 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Here's a farmer sowing gulls 😉They grow very quickly and are quite mobile. #photography
Treated to a truly amazing sky this morning. Clouds were breaking up and letting shafts of light through. #photography
August 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Treated to a truly amazing sky this morning. Clouds were breaking up and letting shafts of light through. #photography
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
August 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
And here we go - ruby-throated hummingbirds feeding on the crocosmia as well as landing on the tomato cages and giving us a stare down! 😀Little bit windy tonight so they weren't able to hover for long periods in the same place...
July 20, 2025 at 10:52 PM
And here we go - ruby-throated hummingbirds feeding on the crocosmia as well as landing on the tomato cages and giving us a stare down! 😀Little bit windy tonight so they weren't able to hover for long periods in the same place...
Crokey-bees 😉 An awesome #crocosmia spray alongside some bee-balm in the garden. As always @lmcampbell.bsky.social is doing a fantastic job of shepherding everything to bloom. Will see if we can get some hummingbird pics tonight. #photography #bloomscrolling
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Crokey-bees 😉 An awesome #crocosmia spray alongside some bee-balm in the garden. As always @lmcampbell.bsky.social is doing a fantastic job of shepherding everything to bloom. Will see if we can get some hummingbird pics tonight. #photography #bloomscrolling
Doe with three fawns walking around the neighbourhood tonight (quick phone pic). They weren't even remotely scared of me watering the garden. Not good in that it means ticks are going to be spread around peoples' gardens. halisky
July 13, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Doe with three fawns walking around the neighbourhood tonight (quick phone pic). They weren't even remotely scared of me watering the garden. Not good in that it means ticks are going to be spread around peoples' gardens. halisky