John Bird
@johnbird001.bsky.social
Ph.D. atmospheric scientist🌎, nuclear engineer☢, 📰 #antarctica
South Pole Station 🐧 http://amzn.to/2klpv3b 🐧
South Pole Station 🐧 http://amzn.to/2klpv3b 🐧
The strongest gravitational wave signal yet. GW250114 was detected by both arms of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana USA earlier this year.
October 10, 2025 at 8:47 PM
The strongest gravitational wave signal yet. GW250114 was detected by both arms of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in Washington and Louisiana USA earlier this year.
New approach uses observed local supervoid to give expansion of the universe an extra push and solve the Hubble tension phys.org/news/2024-11... via
@physorg_com
@physorg_com
August 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
New approach uses observed local supervoid to give expansion of the universe an extra push and solve the Hubble tension phys.org/news/2024-11... via
@physorg_com
@physorg_com
Scientists may have solved a chemistry mystery about Jupiter's ocean moon Europa. www.space.com/astronomy/ju...
July 24, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Scientists may have solved a chemistry mystery about Jupiter's ocean moon Europa. www.space.com/astronomy/ju...
On July 9, 2025, Earth spun faster than usual, enough to make the day 1.6 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24 hours. Add a leap day every 4 years, except: Years divisible by 100, unless they’re also divisible by 400, giving 365.2425 days/year, which is very close to the real 365.2422.
July 13, 2025 at 1:41 AM
On July 9, 2025, Earth spun faster than usual, enough to make the day 1.6 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24 hours. Add a leap day every 4 years, except: Years divisible by 100, unless they’re also divisible by 400, giving 365.2425 days/year, which is very close to the real 365.2422.
A dedicated search for upward-going air showers at energies >0.1 EeV has been performed using the Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. arxiv.org/abs/2502.04513
June 28, 2025 at 12:49 AM
A dedicated search for upward-going air showers at energies >0.1 EeV has been performed using the Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. arxiv.org/abs/2502.04513
Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager at 17.4 nanometres, viewing the Sun from a latitude 11.4° below the equator at a distance of 77 million km.
May 23, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager at 17.4 nanometres, viewing the Sun from a latitude 11.4° below the equator at a distance of 77 million km.
Model suggests impact of global warming on AMOC has led to increased flooding along US Northeast Coast phys.org/news/2025-05...
May 20, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Model suggests impact of global warming on AMOC has led to increased flooding along US Northeast Coast phys.org/news/2025-05...
Two separate axion-hunting groups have turned their gaze to a new potential source: starburst galaxies physics.aps.org/articles/v18...
May 12, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Two separate axion-hunting groups have turned their gaze to a new potential source: starburst galaxies physics.aps.org/articles/v18...
Scientists discover a new colour by laser stimulation of only M cones and not L or S, which in principle would send a colour signal to the brain that never occurs in natural vision. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
May 4, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Scientists discover a new colour by laser stimulation of only M cones and not L or S, which in principle would send a colour signal to the brain that never occurs in natural vision. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The NSF Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the largest solar telescope globally, with the Visible Tunable Filtergraph (VTF), has taken its first images.The new VTF has an unparalleled combination of imaging, spectral, and polarimetric capabilities.
April 27, 2025 at 3:34 AM
The NSF Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the largest solar telescope globally, with the Visible Tunable Filtergraph (VTF), has taken its first images.The new VTF has an unparalleled combination of imaging, spectral, and polarimetric capabilities.
Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica covers an area about the size of Florida. It has the largest ocean front of any glacier in the world.
April 9, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Thwaites Glacier, Antarctica covers an area about the size of Florida. It has the largest ocean front of any glacier in the world.
JWST’s Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) analyzed 263 galaxies from the early universe and revealed a significant asymmetry: roughly 66% spin clockwise, while only about 33% rotate counterclockwise. Does this mean the universe is in a spinning black hole? academic.oup.com/mnras/articl...
March 25, 2025 at 3:20 AM
JWST’s Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) analyzed 263 galaxies from the early universe and revealed a significant asymmetry: roughly 66% spin clockwise, while only about 33% rotate counterclockwise. Does this mean the universe is in a spinning black hole? academic.oup.com/mnras/articl...
While NGC 1514 is an elliptical, but complex, planetary nebula at optical wavelengths, it was discovered to have a pair of infrared-bright, axisymmetric rings studied by JWST/MIRI. arxiv.org/abs/2502.21281
March 11, 2025 at 11:57 PM
While NGC 1514 is an elliptical, but complex, planetary nebula at optical wavelengths, it was discovered to have a pair of infrared-bright, axisymmetric rings studied by JWST/MIRI. arxiv.org/abs/2502.21281
The Veil Nebula is the remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded 10,000 years ago, situated about 2400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This view combines three filters of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.
March 2, 2025 at 3:44 AM
The Veil Nebula is the remnant of a star roughly 20 times as massive as the Sun that exploded 10,000 years ago, situated about 2400 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This view combines three filters of Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3.
JWST MIRI imaging filter curves. MIRI uses 3 arsenic-doped silicon (Si:As) IBC arrays.
February 17, 2025 at 10:48 PM
JWST MIRI imaging filter curves. MIRI uses 3 arsenic-doped silicon (Si:As) IBC arrays.
The expansion rate of the universe remains elusive. Using Type Ia supernovae, the rate was measured to be H0 = 73.24±1.74 (km/s)/Mpc arxiv.org/pdf/1910.02978
January 25, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The expansion rate of the universe remains elusive. Using Type Ia supernovae, the rate was measured to be H0 = 73.24±1.74 (km/s)/Mpc arxiv.org/pdf/1910.02978
JWST spectrum of K2-18b’s atmosphere. The detections of methane and carbon dioxide suggest the presence of an ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. There’s also a hint of DMS, which on Earth is tied to biological activity.
January 19, 2025 at 2:20 AM
JWST spectrum of K2-18b’s atmosphere. The detections of methane and carbon dioxide suggest the presence of an ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. There’s also a hint of DMS, which on Earth is tied to biological activity.
2024 was the first year in recorded history that Earth’s average temperature was higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima....
January 11, 2025 at 10:34 PM
2024 was the first year in recorded history that Earth’s average temperature was higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. climate.copernicus.eu/global-clima....
Chile's President Gabriel Boric has become the first leader in the Americas to visit the South Pole. www.bbc.com/news/article...
January 6, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Chile's President Gabriel Boric has become the first leader in the Americas to visit the South Pole. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Sea surface temperatures. Note 2023 and 2024.
January 2, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Sea surface temperatures. Note 2023 and 2024.
NASA Scientific Balloon Flights to Lift Off From Antarctica www.nasa.gov/missions/sci...
December 18, 2024 at 2:15 AM
NASA Scientific Balloon Flights to Lift Off From Antarctica www.nasa.gov/missions/sci...
Cascades of muons are byproducts of high-energy cosmic rays as they collide with nuclei in the upper atmosphere, and scientists see more muons at Earth's surface than standard physics models predict. phys.org/news/2024-11...
December 13, 2024 at 3:22 AM
Cascades of muons are byproducts of high-energy cosmic rays as they collide with nuclei in the upper atmosphere, and scientists see more muons at Earth's surface than standard physics models predict. phys.org/news/2024-11...
Acidification of the oceans as shown by the saturation state of aragonite (Ωarag), the free proton concentration ([H+]), pH on the total scale (pHT), and the anthropogenic carbon concentration. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 30, 2024 at 1:17 AM
Acidification of the oceans as shown by the saturation state of aragonite (Ωarag), the free proton concentration ([H+]), pH on the total scale (pHT), and the anthropogenic carbon concentration. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
South Pole Telescope measurements of the CMB polarization. arxiv.org/abs/2411.06000
November 25, 2024 at 10:50 PM
South Pole Telescope measurements of the CMB polarization. arxiv.org/abs/2411.06000
#Vela Supernova Remnant. Its parent Type II supernova exploded approximately 11,000–12,300 years ago. futurism.com/astronomy-pi...
November 22, 2024 at 2:32 AM
#Vela Supernova Remnant. Its parent Type II supernova exploded approximately 11,000–12,300 years ago. futurism.com/astronomy-pi...