Caz
@timberwind.bsky.social
she/her | 1998 | seattle | icy moon enthusiast | married
sometime hard SF illustrator
just the art: @timberwindart.bsky.social
header: "Green Mars", Peter Elson (1993)
sometime hard SF illustrator
just the art: @timberwindart.bsky.social
header: "Green Mars", Peter Elson (1993)
Pinned
Reposted by Caz
🔭 A Year of Sunspots
Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: Şenol Şanli & Uğur İkizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26021...
Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: Şenol Şanli & Uğur İkizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26021...
February 11, 2026 at 9:47 AM
🔭 A Year of Sunspots
Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: Şenol Şanli & Uğur İkizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26021...
Image Credit: NASA, SDO; Processing & Copyright: Şenol Şanli & Uğur İkizler; Text: Cecilia Chirenti (NASA GSFC, UMCP, CRESST II)
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap26021...
heartbreaking: worst guy you know does exactly what you've been thinking 'why doesn't he just do that, wouldn't that be more sensible?' about for a decade
February 11, 2026 at 1:40 AM
heartbreaking: worst guy you know does exactly what you've been thinking 'why doesn't he just do that, wouldn't that be more sensible?' about for a decade
Reposted by Caz
Well that would be something. A millisecond pulsar orbiting the black hole at the center of our galaxy would enable incredibly precise measurements of the gravitational field in that extreme environment. Let’s hope it checks out.
news.columbia.edu/news/researc...
news.columbia.edu/news/researc...
Researchers Announce Discovery of a Possible Pulsar in the Milky Way’s Center
Confirming a pulsar star would enable unprecedented tests of General Relativity. Such a discovery would revolutionize physics.
news.columbia.edu
February 10, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Well that would be something. A millisecond pulsar orbiting the black hole at the center of our galaxy would enable incredibly precise measurements of the gravitational field in that extreme environment. Let’s hope it checks out.
news.columbia.edu/news/researc...
news.columbia.edu/news/researc...
Reposted by Caz
arxiv.org/abs/2602.08879
Today's arXiv brings us this preprint about estimating age of Alpha Centauri. One of the parameters involved is metallicity "Z" of the star.
An important issue struck me: we cannot even agree on the Sun's actual metallicity values! There are high-Z and low-Z models.
(1/n)
Today's arXiv brings us this preprint about estimating age of Alpha Centauri. One of the parameters involved is metallicity "Z" of the star.
An important issue struck me: we cannot even agree on the Sun's actual metallicity values! There are high-Z and low-Z models.
(1/n)
A mapping method of age estimation for binary stars: Application to the $α$ Centauri system A and B
Given the wealth of data provided by Gaia and the upcoming PLATO mission, it is essential to improve stellar models to obtain accurate stellar ages. Our objective is to apply a mapping technique to es...
arxiv.org
February 10, 2026 at 5:08 AM
arxiv.org/abs/2602.08879
Today's arXiv brings us this preprint about estimating age of Alpha Centauri. One of the parameters involved is metallicity "Z" of the star.
An important issue struck me: we cannot even agree on the Sun's actual metallicity values! There are high-Z and low-Z models.
(1/n)
Today's arXiv brings us this preprint about estimating age of Alpha Centauri. One of the parameters involved is metallicity "Z" of the star.
An important issue struck me: we cannot even agree on the Sun's actual metallicity values! There are high-Z and low-Z models.
(1/n)
Reposted by Caz
fed Claude a pdf of Edward Tufte’s “Envisioning Information” in setting up a viz advice skill and this is that it wanted to make afterwards
historical sunspot activity in latitudinal bands, midline is sun equator, in an ultraviolet color palette
historical sunspot activity in latitudinal bands, midline is sun equator, in an ultraviolet color palette
February 9, 2026 at 8:38 AM
fed Claude a pdf of Edward Tufte’s “Envisioning Information” in setting up a viz advice skill and this is that it wanted to make afterwards
historical sunspot activity in latitudinal bands, midline is sun equator, in an ultraviolet color palette
historical sunspot activity in latitudinal bands, midline is sun equator, in an ultraviolet color palette
people are straight up playing the saxophone outside this super bowl stuff is serious business
February 9, 2026 at 3:25 AM
people are straight up playing the saxophone outside this super bowl stuff is serious business
Barbarella is kind of like if dragon ball z was about orgones
February 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Barbarella is kind of like if dragon ball z was about orgones
Reposted by Caz
Claude Code on Mars. From the article:
"The engineers estimate that using Claude in this way will cut the route-planning time in half, and make the journeys more consistent," NASA said.
"The engineers estimate that using Claude in this way will cut the route-planning time in half, and make the journeys more consistent," NASA said.
insane I never hear about this stuff on bsky www.engadget.com/ai/nasa-used...
NASA used Claude to plot a route for its Perseverance rover on Mars
This past December, Perseverance successfully completed a route through a section of the Jezero crater plotted by Anthropic's Claude chatbot, marking the first time NASA has used a large language mod...
www.engadget.com
February 1, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Claude Code on Mars. From the article:
"The engineers estimate that using Claude in this way will cut the route-planning time in half, and make the journeys more consistent," NASA said.
"The engineers estimate that using Claude in this way will cut the route-planning time in half, and make the journeys more consistent," NASA said.
Revisiting Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter's "Sunstorm" recently - one of the first hard SF novels I ever read (c. 2009). It's fun! Slightly workmanlike prose and not super deep on characterization, but definitely an endearingly colorful Clarke-y twist on the vibes of a late 1990s disaster movie.
February 8, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Revisiting Arthur Clarke and Stephen Baxter's "Sunstorm" recently - one of the first hard SF novels I ever read (c. 2009). It's fun! Slightly workmanlike prose and not super deep on characterization, but definitely an endearingly colorful Clarke-y twist on the vibes of a late 1990s disaster movie.
Types of mass driver to Earth-Moon L2 trajectory:
- the bwoop
- the nyoop
- the squiggle
- the bwoop
- the nyoop
- the squiggle
February 8, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Types of mass driver to Earth-Moon L2 trajectory:
- the bwoop
- the nyoop
- the squiggle
- the bwoop
- the nyoop
- the squiggle
extremely Orion's Arm wiki coded book cover
February 8, 2026 at 4:01 AM
extremely Orion's Arm wiki coded book cover
Evil but shockingly kind of good culinary fusion experience: pad thai loaded fries...
February 8, 2026 at 3:52 AM
Evil but shockingly kind of good culinary fusion experience: pad thai loaded fries...
Reposted by Caz
and- you guessed it- ejection seats fail to save the crew
February 7, 2026 at 7:54 AM
and- you guessed it- ejection seats fail to save the crew
Reposted by Caz
believe it or not there was a full 1/12 chance of this happening in OTL!
February 7, 2026 at 7:47 AM
believe it or not there was a full 1/12 chance of this happening in OTL!
LRT... who could that possibly be!
February 7, 2026 at 4:59 AM
LRT... who could that possibly be!
Reposted by Caz
The RASV 'Husky' sled-launched SSTO with hot superalloy structure and LOX-filled wet wings. A neat design!
#space #art by CazArt
timberwind.tumblr.com/post/7156157...
#space #art by CazArt
timberwind.tumblr.com/post/7156157...
February 7, 2026 at 4:12 AM
The RASV 'Husky' sled-launched SSTO with hot superalloy structure and LOX-filled wet wings. A neat design!
#space #art by CazArt
timberwind.tumblr.com/post/7156157...
#space #art by CazArt
timberwind.tumblr.com/post/7156157...
www.organism.earth/library/docu... revisiting the classics
Simulation, Consciousness, Existence
Like organisms evolved in gentle tide pools, who migrate to freezing oceans or steaming jungles by developing metabolisms, mechanisms, and behaviors workable in those harsher and vaster environments, ...
www.organism.earth
February 6, 2026 at 11:34 PM
www.organism.earth/library/docu... revisiting the classics
Greg Egan, Distress (1995)
February 6, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Greg Egan, Distress (1995)
Reposted by Caz
I think that you could probably see this one coming a mile away.
There are definitely so many weird travelogs and adventure stories in TTT. Obviously, all English text here is non-diegetic.
There are definitely so many weird travelogs and adventure stories in TTT. Obviously, all English text here is non-diegetic.
February 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
I think that you could probably see this one coming a mile away.
There are definitely so many weird travelogs and adventure stories in TTT. Obviously, all English text here is non-diegetic.
There are definitely so many weird travelogs and adventure stories in TTT. Obviously, all English text here is non-diegetic.
I wonder if this old design for advanced space solar arrays - a little PV panel with a thin-film fresnel lens concentrator - will ever see its day in the sun. It cropped up in the 1990s in the 'SunTower' study, and subscale demos were built, but it seems to have got its lunch eaten by UltraFlex.
February 6, 2026 at 11:05 AM
I wonder if this old design for advanced space solar arrays - a little PV panel with a thin-film fresnel lens concentrator - will ever see its day in the sun. It cropped up in the 1990s in the 'SunTower' study, and subscale demos were built, but it seems to have got its lunch eaten by UltraFlex.
Reposted by Caz
A Turtle Orbital Transfer Vehicle in high-Earth orbit
February 6, 2026 at 4:20 AM
A Turtle Orbital Transfer Vehicle in high-Earth orbit
Somehow it's only just hitting me that like, wow, crewed lunar missions are like actually happening again huh - one of those things that has been oscillating around variously distant 'Real Soon Now's for my whole life. You get used to something being on the horizon!
February 5, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Somehow it's only just hitting me that like, wow, crewed lunar missions are like actually happening again huh - one of those things that has been oscillating around variously distant 'Real Soon Now's for my whole life. You get used to something being on the horizon!
enhanced XUV driven volatile escape around red dwarfs is a lie promoted by astronomers to hide the fact that they drinked all the water
February 5, 2026 at 8:30 AM
enhanced XUV driven volatile escape around red dwarfs is a lie promoted by astronomers to hide the fact that they drinked all the water
Reposted by Caz
hey just in case you haven't seen
baby minecraft fox
baby minecraft fox
February 4, 2026 at 11:01 AM
hey just in case you haven't seen
baby minecraft fox
baby minecraft fox
something about the visual style of USCSB's (very interesting) disaster analysis videos always makes me think 'they should make a Deus Ex remake that looks exactly like this'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3b...
Deadly Dust: Explosions at Didion Milling
YouTube video by USCSB
www.youtube.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:24 AM
something about the visual style of USCSB's (very interesting) disaster analysis videos always makes me think 'they should make a Deus Ex remake that looks exactly like this'. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h3b...