Seth Jacobson
@sethajacobson.bsky.social
Planetary Scientist @MSU www.planetarymakerspace.org
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Final Budget Reduction Plan | Budget Process | Nebraska
budgetprocess.unl.edu
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Why do childcare costs seem to endlessly rise faster than anything else? Same answer.
For good reasons, we mandate classroom sizes but this means no efficiency gains and always rising prices.
For good reasons, we mandate classroom sizes but this means no efficiency gains and always rising prices.
**Why does it seem like healthcare costs and teacher pay seem to always increase at rates higher than anything else?** It's not a mystery. It's called the Baumol Effect (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_...) and the world would likely be a better place if everyone understood this concept from economics.
Baumol effect - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Why do childcare costs seem to endlessly rise faster than anything else? Same answer.
For good reasons, we mandate classroom sizes but this means no efficiency gains and always rising prices.
For good reasons, we mandate classroom sizes but this means no efficiency gains and always rising prices.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Is there ever going to be an interviewer who pushes back and tells him that immigrants seeking asylum is different than insane asylums?
O'DONNELL: Are we going to war against Venezuela?
TRUMP: I doubt it. They emptied their mental institutions and insane asylums into the United States of America
TRUMP: I doubt it. They emptied their mental institutions and insane asylums into the United States of America
November 3, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Is there ever going to be an interviewer who pushes back and tells him that immigrants seeking asylum is different than insane asylums?
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
**Why does it seem like healthcare costs and teacher pay seem to always increase at rates higher than anything else?** It's not a mystery. It's called the Baumol Effect (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_...) and the world would likely be a better place if everyone understood this concept from economics.
Baumol effect - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
**Why does it seem like healthcare costs and teacher pay seem to always increase at rates higher than anything else?** It's not a mystery. It's called the Baumol Effect (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_...) and the world would likely be a better place if everyone understood this concept from economics.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Perhaps, I'm too influenced by Karl Popper, but I think we must recognize that *all scientific claims are wrong*. Science is a process towards truth. The scientific literature is a public record of this process and so it is filled with claims that have and will someday be shown to be wrong. 2/2
July 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Perhaps, I'm too influenced by Karl Popper, but I think we must recognize that *all scientific claims are wrong*. Science is a process towards truth. The scientific literature is a public record of this process and so it is filled with claims that have and will someday be shown to be wrong. 2/2
**Why does it seem like healthcare costs and teacher pay seem to always increase at rates higher than anything else?** It's not a mystery. It's called the Baumol Effect (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_...) and the world would likely be a better place if everyone understood this concept from economics.
Baumol effect - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
**Why does it seem like healthcare costs and teacher pay seem to always increase at rates higher than anything else?** It's not a mystery. It's called the Baumol Effect (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol_...) and the world would likely be a better place if everyone understood this concept from economics.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
October 11, 2025 at 3:11 PM
ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.
He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.
Houston, Texas
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows
The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.
The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.
October 4, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows
The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.
The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), top Democrat on Senate Commerce Cmte, is out with a Democratic staff report: "The Destruction of NASA's Mission: Whistleblowers Reveal OMB's Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency."
www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...
www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...
September 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), top Democrat on Senate Commerce Cmte, is out with a Democratic staff report: "The Destruction of NASA's Mission: Whistleblowers Reveal OMB's Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency."
www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...
www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...
This is not how you reform. This is how you do damage. We've too quickly forgot how during the 2025 cycle, NSF dropped the ground out from many applicants by deeming entire paths and topics of study as ineligible after students had already spent time applying. 1/2
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
This is not how you reform. This is how you do damage. We've too quickly forgot how during the 2025 cycle, NSF dropped the ground out from many applicants by deeming entire paths and topics of study as ineligible after students had already spent time applying. 1/2
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.
September 23, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.
Yes, this does sum up the entire current US populist moment, Trump et al.
September 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Yes, this does sum up the entire current US populist moment, Trump et al.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
BBC interview with one of the Korea workers who was shackled and imprisoned. This was nothing but an American own goal. Attempting to blow up the largest economic development project in Georgia history. Billions in investment, thousands of jobs for Americans. youtu.be/fcwJtWU4fn4?...
South Korean detained in US Hyundai factory raid speaks to BBC | BBC News
YouTube video by BBC News
youtu.be
September 16, 2025 at 11:45 PM
BBC interview with one of the Korea workers who was shackled and imprisoned. This was nothing but an American own goal. Attempting to blow up the largest economic development project in Georgia history. Billions in investment, thousands of jobs for Americans. youtu.be/fcwJtWU4fn4?...
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Ed Dept has pulled funding for programs in eight states aimed at supporting students who have hearing & vision loss. They got caught in Trump admin’s attacks on DEI, with Ed Dept spokesperson citing concerns about “divisive concepts” and “fairness” in acknowledging decision to withhold the funding.
Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push
Citing concerns about DEI, the U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states. “How low can you go?” one advoc...
www.propublica.org
September 15, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Ed Dept has pulled funding for programs in eight states aimed at supporting students who have hearing & vision loss. They got caught in Trump admin’s attacks on DEI, with Ed Dept spokesperson citing concerns about “divisive concepts” and “fairness” in acknowledging decision to withhold the funding.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
September 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 1:02 PM
We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
Old enough to remember when NYT couldn’t remember the word torture now they can’t remember the word murder.
News Analysis: By ordering the U.S. military to summarily kill a group of people aboard what he said was a drug-smuggling boat, President Trump used the military in a way that had no clear legal precedent or basis, according to specialists in the laws of war and executive power.
Trump Claims the Power to Summarily Kill Suspected Drug Smugglers
The move to treat criminals as if they were wartime combatants escalated an administration pattern of using military force for law enforcement tasks at home and abroad.
nyti.ms
September 5, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Old enough to remember when NYT couldn’t remember the word torture now they can’t remember the word murder.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
This isn’t bad luck or coincidence or predestination.
This is our choice. To live in a nation where our leaders teach hate, and military style guns are everywhere.
This is our choice. To live in a nation where our leaders teach hate, and military style guns are everywhere.
August 27, 2025 at 7:32 PM
This isn’t bad luck or coincidence or predestination.
This is our choice. To live in a nation where our leaders teach hate, and military style guns are everywhere.
This is our choice. To live in a nation where our leaders teach hate, and military style guns are everywhere.
I still often take cold showers in the morning because of this article: www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/b...
The Benefits of Getting an Icy Start to the Day (Published 2016)
www.nytimes.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I still often take cold showers in the morning because of this article: www.nytimes.com/2016/03/15/b...
Alternatively might be sed, grep, regex, etc. expressions that
The true academic use case for LLMs is asking statistics questions that you're too embarrassed to ask your colleagues.
August 20, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Alternatively might be sed, grep, regex, etc. expressions that
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
I spent the week tracing how HHS Secretary RFK Jr. canceled $500 million in mRNA research and reporting on a(nother) very chaotic week inside HHS.
Let me introduce you to the fringe doctors, anti-vaccine activists, and MAHA operatives behind the mRNA “debacle.”
www.msnbc.com/news/news-an...
Let me introduce you to the fringe doctors, anti-vaccine activists, and MAHA operatives behind the mRNA “debacle.”
www.msnbc.com/news/news-an...
How RFK Jr. alienated MAGA, MAHA and the White House in a single week
The botched announcement about mRNA vaccines reveals a health department full of dysfunction and infighting.
www.msnbc.com
August 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I spent the week tracing how HHS Secretary RFK Jr. canceled $500 million in mRNA research and reporting on a(nother) very chaotic week inside HHS.
Let me introduce you to the fringe doctors, anti-vaccine activists, and MAHA operatives behind the mRNA “debacle.”
www.msnbc.com/news/news-an...
Let me introduce you to the fringe doctors, anti-vaccine activists, and MAHA operatives behind the mRNA “debacle.”
www.msnbc.com/news/news-an...
Yes! 10x the number of congress people and have proportional representation for all parties that cross 10% threshold.
If you want to get rid of gerrymandering, the best way to do it is getting rid of single member districts.
Congress could change the law which requires single member districts for House seats. Multi-member seats can’t be gerrymandered and would lead to more parties in Congress.
Congress could change the law which requires single member districts for House seats. Multi-member seats can’t be gerrymandered and would lead to more parties in Congress.
Proportional representation and gerrymandering
Proportional electoral systems largely eliminate both the built-in bias inherent to the single-seat model and the effects of partisan manipulation.
protectdemocracy.org
August 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Yes! 10x the number of congress people and have proportional representation for all parties that cross 10% threshold.
Reposted by Seth Jacobson
Everybody studying #exoplanets needs to be aware of this incredibly important point! 🔭
We have a grand total of 0 actual Earthlike planets confirmed in the habitable zone of a sunlike star, determining eta Earth requires extrapolation. We need to start filling in the longer period gap, even if we don't get out to the habitable zone. TESS and PLATO long period searches will help #HWO25
July 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Everybody studying #exoplanets needs to be aware of this incredibly important point! 🔭
This happened to @astroyami.bsky.social, @carolineszcz.bsky.social and myself but it was a Toyota Hi-lux. We were in northern Namibia and I was driving. www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6kV85NW/
A passenger on a flight that required an emergency exit via an inflatable slide describes to NBC News' @georgexsolis the moment he watched a wheel come flying off the #plane during takeoff at the #Den...
TikTok video by nbcnews
www.tiktok.com
July 27, 2025 at 9:51 PM
This happened to @astroyami.bsky.social, @carolineszcz.bsky.social and myself but it was a Toyota Hi-lux. We were in northern Namibia and I was driving. www.tiktok.com/t/ZT6kV85NW/
For whatever its worth, I disagree with the decision by Science to retract a paper because it was wrong. Retraction is a tool to identify and remove works created by willful malfeasance. When scientific claims are wrong, the reason why is important, and Science's decision muddles them. 1/2
Retraction
The Research Article “A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorus” by F. Wolfe-Simon et al. (1) has been the subject of discussion and critique since its online publication in 201...
www.science.org
July 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
For whatever its worth, I disagree with the decision by Science to retract a paper because it was wrong. Retraction is a tool to identify and remove works created by willful malfeasance. When scientific claims are wrong, the reason why is important, and Science's decision muddles them. 1/2