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ben-likes-mars.bsky.social
Ben (he/him)
@ben-likes-mars.bsky.social
420 followers 200 following 21 posts
Queer Planetary scientist
PhD student studying ice in craters on Mars

Lover of Mars and Titan
Into hiking, reading and 40k
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ben-likes-mars.bsky.social
Ben (he/him) @ben-likes-mars.bsky.social · Nov 10
Figured I'd do an about me section.
I'm currently studying a PhD in planetary glaciology - specifically looking at ice in craters on mars (features called Concentric Crater Fill or CCF). CCFs are so beautiful and have this amazing display of surface patterning. #planetaryscience #mars #glaciology
Concentric Crater Fill within a Martian crater. The surface displays a complex concentric pattern repeating of ridges and troughs
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
3peaksphoto.bsky.social
As I stood in complete darkness to get the shots for this image, a huge fish jumped and scared the hell out of me. #photography #astrophotography #stars #Colorado #nightskyphotography #photographersofbluesky #weareroamers #photographersunited #nightsky #starry #milkyway #panophotos #msmambassador
Milky Way, mountains and star reflections in a river pool.
July 30, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
iceybethan.bsky.social
A rather disappointing article in the guardian, presenting a one pretty sided review of geoengingeering solutions to climate change. The scientific community needs to do more to vocally challenge these ideas and promote cutting carbon to combat climate change. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Mirrors in space and underwater curtains: can technology buy us enough time to save the Arctic ice caps?
A conference in Cambridge this week will explore a raft of geoengineering ideas to cool the region down – and attempt to address the fears of those who argue the risks outweigh the benefits
www.theguardian.com
June 26, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
theonion.com
NASA Announces Bold Plan To Still Exist By 2045
NASA Announces Bold Plan To Still Exist By 2045
WASHINGTON—In what is being described as the most ambitious mission ever undertaken in the space agency’s history, NASA officials announced at a press conference Tuesday their bold new plan to still e...
theonion.com
April 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
art-h-ropod.bsky.social
This week on #Strataday we're at remote Surprise Ck in the #HudsonBayLowlands, n. #Manitoba & the type section of the Surprise Creek Fm, overlain (just under the lip of the waterfall) by the Caution Creek Fm; Bad Cache Rapids Gp, Late #Ordovician (~450 MYA) - not an easy area to get to or work in! 🇨🇦
March 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
art-h-ropod.bsky.social
Digging into the old 35 mm slide archives for #Strataday: summer 1993 & paleontological fieldwork at remote Grand Rapids on the Mattagami River. Checking mid #Devonian (~394 MYA) marine carbonates of the Kwataboahegan Fm -best vertical exposure in the #HudsonBayLowlands of #Ontario 🇨🇦 #Canada 🇨🇦
A person carrying a large backpack is wading away from the camera through shallow water along the rocky shore of a large river. To their left is a vertical cliff face (about 10 metres high) of well-bedded, tan-coloured limestone, topped by brush and spruce trees. On their right is the main river channel, with water breaking over submerged rocky ledges that form a series of rapids reaching to the far densely wooded shore. An inflatable river boat with outboard motor is hauled up and tied on the rocky shore of the river. A vertical cliff of bedded limestone rises to the left of the boat, partly shadowed by overhanging brush. Behind the boat, rough water of the river rapids can be seen extending across to the far shore. Sun reflects off the river under a partly clouded sky.
March 29, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
art-h-ropod.bsky.social
For #Strataday I take you to the remote Cat Head Peninsula, Lake Winnipeg, #Manitoba 🇨🇦, source of the Cat Head-McBeth Pt #Lagerstatte & yesterday's Winnipegia post. Here, Late #Ordovician (~450 MYA) Cat Head Mbr (Red River Fm) dolostones outcrop in extensive wave-cut cliffs. More in alt text.
Images are a series of slide scans from 1997 during joint fieldwork with personnel from the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social. This first photo shows a shoreline view of a long line of cliffs (about 10 metres high) in well-bedded and joint-fractured pale grey dolostone. The cliffs are shaded beneath spruce trees and brush, but the foreground of a broad beach of water-rounded cobbles is in bright sun. Low waves break on the shore, which continues in the distance around a curving embayment. Two persons dressed in field gear stand on a talus apron of angular blocks of buff-grey dolostone, looking left towards a sheer face of bedded and joint-fractured rock of the same composition. The cliff is about 10 metres in height. At the top of the image, spruce trees and aspens stand at the cliff edge against a blue sky. Where the cliff has collapsed to produce the talus apron, an uprooted spruce has fallen and lies at an angle above the two people. A view from below the cliff face of thin-bedded grey-buff dolostone, showing a dangerous curving overhang produced by intense shoreline erosion. In the background, blue lake water gives way to shoreline trees, as the cliffs diminish in height under a bright hazy sky. A view from beneath one of the many overhanging rock ledges of the shoreline cliffs. On the underside of the exposed buff-coloured bedding plane are darker brown fossil thalli of the probable ochrophyte alga, Winnipegia cuneata. The field of view is about 15 cm across.
April 12, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
geohenning.bsky.social
Beautiful Moon tonight, at nearly 94% illumination. #Photography #astrophotography 🔭

📷 Fujifilm X-T4 | XF 70-300mm
Telephoto of the almost full moon Telephoto of the almost full moon
April 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
assignedmale.bsky.social
Victim complex
April 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
matthias-huss.bsky.social
It's the first International Day of #Glaciers!
The ice worldwide is under threat due to rapid #climatechange. This day puts a spotlight on glaciers as a vulnerable but globally relevant element of the climate system. It is not yet too late to save them!
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social
March 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
bas.ac.uk
What happens in the secret world under the Antarctic ice? 🤔

The international team on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel, the 'Falkor (too)' have been investigating a newly exposed section of seafloor, never before accessible to humans.

Full story 👇
www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/t...
Thriving ecosystem discovered following iceberg calving - British Antarctic Survey
ANTARCTICA: Scientists have discovered vibrant communities of ancient sponges and corals on the newly exposed seafloor following the calving of the giant A-84 iceberg. This offers new insights into ho...
www.bas.ac.uk
March 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
elkement.art
This has maybe been the first time I saw mathematics as art. I just wanted to see and feel how the complex function e^(-1/z^2) really looks like. Fortunately I found the complex_plot function in SageMath!
#SciArt
Complex plot of the function exp(-1/z^2). Brightness indicates the magnitude of the complex number, the hue the argument (phase angle). Created with SageMath/mathplotlib. A colorful abstract cloverleaf.
March 16, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
drews.bsky.social
Yesterday a Sheffield gp surgery notified it’s trans patients that they would no longer provide them with hrt, regardless of their transition status. I have many friends who’ve been affected by this, including several post-op, putting their physical health at serious risk.
“Unfortunately, the practice has had to take the decision to cease our prescribing and monitoring of hormonal medication in adult transgender patients. This is not a decision we have taken lightly but due to the closure of NHS centres including the Tavistock, we feel we are not in a position to provide this additional service. This is because of a lack of support and the work being outside of our expertise. The changes will occur from 1st April 2025. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause patients and advise that you contact your specialist care provider to seek alternative arrangements.”
March 15, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
rami.spaceaustralia.com
Greedy 🪐
March 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
rami.spaceaustralia.com
Another excellent process pic from @andrealuck.bsky.social of Olympus Mons!

This is the biggest mountain/volcano in the Solar System.

The scale is hard to consider from orbit, but it's roughly the size of Poland and stands about 3 x the height of Everest.

It's huge!

📸 NordNordWest / Seddon
Graphic showing a top down view of Olympus Mons with an overlay graphic of the country of Poland, including several cities annotated.
March 8, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Comparison with deep image from UK Schmidt plates (AAO) - From Rolf Wahl Olsen - https://flic.kr/p/ooAjtj
This image is a comparison of the faint extensions and tidal tail regions of the Antennae Galaxies Extreme Deep Field - 75 Hours with a deep image by David Malin of the Anglo Australian Observatory (AAO) made from UK Schmidt plates.
March 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
uahirise.bsky.social
Why Is Mars Red? — skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...
Why Is Mars Red?
Martian dust is red because of rust — but the rust on Mars is not the same iron oxide mineral found on Earth.
skyandtelescope.org
March 6, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
drnereide.bsky.social
🧵
In this vibrant image, #Firefly’ s Blue Ghost lander has captured its first sunrise on the Moon, a unique moment that resonates with profound meaning, both practical and symbolic.

It is a dawn both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical one:

Credit: Firefly Aerospace

#BlueGhost 🔭 🧪 1/4
In this incredible image from Firefly Aerospace, the Sun slowly rises above the lunar horizon, a dazzling disk emerging from the black void, casting sharp, razor-sharp shadows across the crater-pocked surface. There is no atmosphere to diffuse the light, no soft twilight, just a brutal transition from darkness to revelation. And there, the Blue Ghost lander begins to experience its “first lunar sunrise.”
March 4, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
bas.ac.uk
This #PancakeDay here's our recipe for pancake ice:

🧊 Get some ice forming on the top of your water
🌊 Bump bits of ice together with small waves
♻️ This rounds their edges as they freeze!
🥞 Grow the disc edges with trapped frozen foam

These pancakes will be up to 3m wide + 10m thick.
Bon Appétit 👩‍🍳
The surface of the ocean is frozen, but in a layer of round patches that all tesselate together.
March 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
ben-likes-mars.bsky.social
It's crazy how much a good view with friends and some sunshine can really make the world seem okay
March 3, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
watershedlab.bsky.social
Pro tip: add a swear and get rid of the AI results in Google. You’re fucking welcome.
Google search result for “when will the world end?” That shows artificial intelligence results at the top Google search result for “when will the world fucking end?” That does not show artificial intelligence results at the top
February 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
drnereide.bsky.social
🔭 🧪 #planetsci #histsci 🧵
1/
Here's a psychedelic Pluto's heart for a cosmic #ValentinesDay!

New Horizons scientists made this false color image to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions.

Source➡️ www.nasa.gov/image-articl...
This image features a false color image of Pluto with a vaguely psychedelic appearance in hues of pink, red-orange, and various nuances of green. The famous heart-shaped feature is clearly visible in the foreground.
February 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
hbhammel.bsky.social
Such a solid scientific use of this fabulous resource: Hubble’s blue-sensitive cameras are the ONLY ones that can detect Neptune’s rapidly-evolving Great Dark Spots. 🔭 #planetsci
stsci.edu Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Dec 9
🔭 🧪 For a decade, Hubble has kept an eye on the outer planets, making global studies of their cloud coloration, activity, and atmospheric motion to understand the underlying mechanics of their weather and climate systems: bit.ly/3VmSyS6
A montage of Hubble views of our solar system’s four giant outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, taken from 2014 to 2024. From upper left toward the center: The hazy white polar cap on the three teal-colored Uranus images appears more face-on as the planet approaches northern summer. Center-right to far-center right: Three images of the blue planet Neptune show the coming and going of clouds as the Sun’s radiation level changes. Seven views of yellow-brown Saturn stretch across the center of the mosaic in a triangle, showing the tilt of the ring plane relative to the view from Earth. From left to right shows from an oblique angle to nearly edge-on, with colorful changes to bands of clouds in the turbulent atmosphere. Bottom center: Three images of Jupiter spanning nearly a decade form a triangle. Notable changes are seen in Jupiter’s colorful white and brown striped cloud structure. The Great Red Spot, seen at southern latitudes, is prominent in each photo.
December 9, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Reposted by Ben (he/him)
drspacejunk.bsky.social
'This study evaluated potential habitats on Mars by considering factors such as temperature, wind, radiation, terrain, dust, and water ice.' 🧪 #PlanetaryScience
Habitat site selection on Mars: Suitability analysis and mapping
Growing interest in extraterrestrial colonization has increasingly centered on Mars, bolstered by extensive environmental data from Mars exploration m…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 10, 2024 at 12:05 AM
ben-likes-mars.bsky.social
New version of Jmars just before winter break? Perfect Christmas present
elevenpointtwo.bsky.social Paul Wren @elevenpointtwo.bsky.social · Dec 7
Hey, JMARS is on Bluesky! They recently released version 5.5.0.

Give them a follow! #JMARS #PlanetaryScience #Mars #GIS
December 7, 2024 at 10:26 AM