Brian D. Wade
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astrobrian.bsky.social
Brian D. Wade
@astrobrian.bsky.social
Father, husband, and scientist. Interested in astrobiology, evolution, microbes, and all things space exploration. he/him/his
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Your enemies are counting on you to lose hope. Despair is one of their greatest weapons, for it leads you to stop fighting for yourself. Hold on to hope, no matter how hard it is, and refuse to join your enemy in bringing you down.
November 11, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
A real president does this.

Thank you to every veteran who’s worn the uniform and carried the weight for the rest of us — just respect 🇺🇸
November 11, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Why are planetary scientists, astrobiologists and and SETI scientists so negative (pissed off, even) about Avi Loeb’s repeated claims that 3I/Atlas may be an invading alien spaceship?
🧵
🧪🔭🛸
(1/7)
November 10, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Breaking news: A UPS cargo plane with three crew members on board crashed shortly after departing Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.

A shelter-in-place order was issued for all locations within five miles of the airport. https://wapo.st/49lird1
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
OTD in 1977 Carl Woese and George Fox redrew the tree of life. They proposed a third “urkingdom”—the “archaebacteria”—in addition to eukaryotes and bacteria. Woese later called this taxon “Archea.”

AFAIK, he didn’t publish his famous tree diagram until the late 80s.

🐋🌱🧪 #HistSTM 🗃️🧠 #evobio 🐡
November 2, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
In a World Series for the ages that went back and forth again and again, Will Smith delivered the biggest swing of all for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“You dream of those moments,” Smith said after the 4-hour, 7-minute thriller. “I’ll remember that for forever.”
https://to.pbs.org/47SaBGi
11th-inning homer lifts Dodgers over Blue Jays to become first repeat World Series champion in 25 years
In a World Series for the ages that went back and forth again and again, Will Smith delivered the biggest swing of all for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
www.pbs.org
November 2, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Tucked in and ready for flight ✅

Our two spacecraft for NASA & UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory's ESCAPADE mission have been successfully encapsulated into the rocket fairing. This is the last time they'll be seen on Earth before their mission to Mars.

Next stop: The launch pad. 🚀
October 31, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
A personal reflection on the destructive erosion of ethics, norms and respect for law at NASA:
🧪🔭

🧵
October 31, 2025 at 2:16 PM
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
#NASA #SaveNASA

www.space.com/space-explor...
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
October 31, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Oxygen isotopic evidence that Gale crater, Mars, was home to an Early Hesperian water reservoir that underwent significant evaporation
#Mars #astrobiology

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Oxygen isotopic evidence that Gale crater, Mars, was home to an Early Hesperian water reservoir that underwent significant evaporation | PNAS
Simultaneous measurements of HDO, H218O, and H216O in water evolved during pyrolysis of powdered rock samples acquired by the Curiosity rover withi...
www.pnas.org
October 31, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Melissa was a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level, when it made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica. It was the strongest to hit the island since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. https://to.pbs.org/4oFSl8G
3 things to know about Hurricane Melissa
Melissa was a Category 5 hurricane, the highest level, when it made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica.
www.pbs.org
October 28, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Carbon Reduction Powered by Natural Electrochemical Gradients under Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Conditions
#OriginsOfLife #PrebioticWorld

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Carbon Reduction Powered by Natural Electrochemical Gradients under Submarine Hydrothermal Vent Conditions
Energy metabolism at the emergence of life has been the topic of intense theoretical and experimental study. Alkaline hydrothermal vents (AHVs) may have facilitated energy transfer and carbon fixation...
pubs.acs.org
October 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
'I promised my dad – now I've got a PhD at 69'
#academicSky

www.bbc.com/news/article...
PhD at age 69: 'I studied until there were no exams left to take'
Needyanand Raya says continued his doctoral studies following a decades-long break to keep a promise.
www.bbc.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Just gave this a spin on a paper I've been working on for too long and WOW. Even though it was outside its topic domains, the feedback it highlighted was oh so constructive and insightful. Highly recommended and congrats @odedrechavi.bsky.social and team on an awesome tool!
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT📣: I haven’t been this excited to be part of something new in 15 years… Thrilled to reveal the passion project I’ve been working on for the past year and a half!🙀🥳 (thread 👇)
October 26, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon, 48.5 minutes of exposure across 97 images taken from Bear Divide in Los Angeles. This is the first time I’ve processed a comet observation like this so I had to do some quick learning and experimentation. Hopefully I’ll improve on this in the future.

flic.kr/p/2rBGQZv
October 26, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
A SPOTLIGHT ON AEM’S PLANETARY MICROBIOLOGY SPECIAL COLLECTION

Guest editor Betül Kaçar guides us through articles in AEM’s Planetary Microbiology collection, highlighting the transformative microbial innovations and singularities that make Earth what is today. doi.org/10.1128/aem....
Planetary microbiology: microbes, planets, and the search for life | Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Life on Earth has existed for nearly 4 billion years, and for most of that time, it was microbial (1). The diverse world we see around us today owes its entire existence to a few foundational events c...
doi.org
October 26, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Postdoc vacancy: Microbial dormancy in the cryosphere
@erc.europa.eu #ERC_SIESTA
📢 PLEASE RT

🧬 Single cell microbial activity measurements, flow cytometry, cell sorting, omics, ecological interpretation

☀️ Marseille, France
‼️ Apply ASAP & before 7 Nov
Link: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/U...
October 21, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Brian D. Wade
Fresh JWST view of Uranus taken Oct 6 2025 with NIRCam.

Full size & more info: flic.kr/p/2rByidu 🔭🧪
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Andrea Luck CC BY

Proposal PI: Varun Bajaj
Proposal ID: 8975
Filters: F150W2-F162M, F410M
October 26, 2025 at 2:04 PM