Rob Thacker
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robthacker.bsky.social
Rob Thacker
@robthacker.bsky.social
1.3K followers 450 following 840 posts
Astrophysicist & photo geek✨Graduate Coordinator of astrophysics at SMU. Regular co-host of Science Files on CityNews Halifax and Science Wire on CFRA Ottawa. You are made of the ♥ of stars. Halifax/K'jipuktuk (he/him)
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robthacker.bsky.social
At the request of Canada Post, to avoid confusion with New Brunswick, in 1969 Nebraska agreed to change its shortening from NB to NE.
November 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
The source of bias in a probabilistic system lies in its construction, not in its use of probability.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

AI can easily be biased. Please don't argue because it is probabilistic it isn't biased. That's just not true. With that logic you'll end up arguing a loaded die is fair.
November 16, 2025 at 9:03 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Delighted to announce the 2025 Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecturer in Astronomy as Dr Laurie Rousseau-Nepton of the University of Toronto. Her talk (Fri Nov 21st 7pm) title is: Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future. All ages welcome. Free event (with tix): www.eventbrite.ca/e/dan-maclen...
Dan MacLennan Memorial Lecture in Astronomy
Solving the Universe: Past, Present and Future
www.eventbrite.ca
November 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
It's been a crazy fall with new course preparation on top of additional things like contract negotiations. But can't complain too much when you have amazing places like Shaw Wilderness just a few mins drive away. Here's a couple of fun little reflections. #photography #mikmaki
Panoramic view of an inlet, the waterline cuts across the middle of the image. On the right is a stand of trees with a red maple that reflects in the water. On the left many of the leaves have fallen, revealing structure in the woodland that is reflected in the water. Looking out towards the centre of the lake, a single island is reflected in the water. Birches reach up to the sky and their reflection in the still water is equally strong. The distant shoreline presents a dark band across the horizon.
November 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
I'm not sure if getting chores done counts as procrastinating on work work 😅but got a new garlic bed assembled today and @lmcampbell.bsky.social got our next crop of garlic planted. Shout out to allthingscedar.ca for their cedar planters (yes could do it cheaper with pine or by hand, no time!)
A view of two cedar planters, each with the surface covered in straw. The new planter is on the left and the cedar is still it's new warm colour. The older planter on the right is going grey having weathered through many seasons.
October 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Have to admit this was a pretty awesome combination of the fall colours. The reds are so vivid this year! The yellow is a ginko, the red is a maple behind it, while the tree that is still green is an oak. #halifax #photography
Yellow branches of ginko leaves reach out beyond a bright red maple in the background. In the top left of the image some green oak leaves fill the corner.
October 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
As the northern hemisphere feels the first few portents of winter coming, got out to #Oakfieldprovpark this afternoon for the first time in ages. Such a beautiful place, the colours are vibrant already & will likely be stronger in a few days. Here are a few small vignettes. #photography #mikmaki
View of some maple leaves isolated against a dark green background. The maples leaves are a mixture of green and beautiful dark reds. A single delicate young tree grows in the shade, surrounded by much larger and older pines. It's leaves are yellowing and a single branch reaches up towards the light. Close-up of a single maple leaf. Down the centre-line of the leaf the red only exists on the right hand side, the left is green. A small dab of red also exist on the farthest most right part of the leaf. Looking through the shade of the canopy towards leaves in the light. A single hemlock stands in the middle, it's foliage reaching out to the edge of the image, while behind are maple leaves, a combination of oranges and red.
October 5, 2025 at 7:40 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Here's a callery pear on the SMU campus blooming in late September. I had a minor freak out on seeing this, but apparently the trees will do this after periods of stress, most notably drought. It's only a couple of blooms as well, most of the rest of the buds are dormant.
Six flowers protrude out of a bud, with one flower opened to reveal white petals of the callery pear flower. Two of the ornamental pears hang beneath the bud cluster. Twigs and a wall of blue fill the background.
September 29, 2025 at 12:25 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
A truly spectacular morning at Mellon Udrigle beach in the scottish #highlands. It really is pretty pretty amazing to see the sun rise over the mountains to the east, in turn lighting up the sea mist. #photography
The sun rises over distant mountains giving a yellow cast to the sky that peeps through the hard blue cloud cover. Sea mist is lit bright red by the off-axis sun, while waves beach towards the viewer.
August 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Here's a farmer sowing gulls 😉They grow very quickly and are quite mobile. #photography
A tractor drives down and across a brown field. Throughout the field are gulls, following the newly turned soil.
August 24, 2025 at 8:25 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Treated to a truly amazing sky this morning. Clouds were breaking up and letting shafts of light through. #photography
A break in the cloud ripples across the sky. Shafts of sunlight beam through the break in the cloud lighting up the landscape.
August 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been.
August 10, 2025 at 10:16 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
And here we go - ruby-throated hummingbirds feeding on the crocosmia as well as landing on the tomato cages and giving us a stare down! 😀Little bit windy tonight so they weren't able to hover for long periods in the same place...
A hummingbord that is mostly green hovers between sprays of bright red crocosmia flowers. A hummingbird rests on a metal cage looking towards the photographer intently. In the background is foliage.
July 20, 2025 at 10:52 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Crokey-bees 😉 An awesome #crocosmia spray alongside some bee-balm in the garden. As always @lmcampbell.bsky.social is doing a fantastic job of shepherding everything to bloom. Will see if we can get some hummingbird pics tonight. #photography #bloomscrolling
Several sprays of bright red crocosmia hang down together. The flowers are in pairs along a stem, with the tips yet to bloom. A single purple-headed bee-balm rises up from it's stem. Grass is in the background framing the flower.
July 20, 2025 at 3:55 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Doe with three fawns walking around the neighbourhood tonight (quick phone pic). They weren't even remotely scared of me watering the garden. Not good in that it means ticks are going to be spread around peoples' gardens. halisky
Looking towards a tree in front of a road. Three fawns are in the foreground while the doe is half-hidden by the tree in the centre of the image.
July 13, 2025 at 11:55 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
With it being a colder summer, blooms in our garden are about 4-6 days behind '24. However, the first strands of #crocosmia are out! We jokingly call it "hummingbird crack" as they will get pollen on their heads while feeding. @lmcampbell.bsky.social has seen one flit by so far. #bloomscrolling
A spray of bright red crocosmia flowers. The flowers themselves come in pairs along the stalk. The first flowers are open, while those toward the tip or the spray are still closed, showing red and yellow/green colours. In the background is green foliage.
July 11, 2025 at 12:52 AM
robthacker.bsky.social
A cute little dogwood spray on the SMU campus. It's pretty difficult to reproduce the delicate structure on the white petals, but doing the best I can with a phone cam. #photography
A cluster of five dogwood flowers forms a cross, updown and across. Behind are leaves supporting the flowers, while vegetation is in the background. The petals each have a point at their tip. The image is black and white.
July 1, 2025 at 3:46 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
I guess you call them the "Not so Jolly Rancher" sweets...

From article: "The FSA is advising people who have any of the listed products to not eat them and dispose of them at home."

More details: www.bbc.com/news/article...
Several US Jolly rancher sweets unsafe to eat, FSA says
The FSA says chemical compounds in the sweets can increase the risk of cancer and damage DNA.
www.bbc.com
June 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Despite the cool spring, @lmcampbell.bsky.social's bearded irises are starting to bloom. Here's a quick pick from this morning in the overcast light. Halisky
A yellow bearded iris has two petals reaching upward, while two others lay outward from the stem. In the background is green foliage and another flower that is out of focus.
June 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Just finished hosting the annual Canadian astronomy research conference (CASCA) at Saint Mary's U. in Halifax. That's "Squinty" the conference mascot in the pic.

We loved hosting everyone and it was amazing to receive a standing ovation at the end. But I truly miss 2015 sci twitter. #CASCA2025
A happy lobster is looking through a telescope. One eye is closed while the other squints through the eyepiece of the telescope.
June 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Conference organizer dubious badge of pride:

28,000 steps today...

😅
June 3, 2025 at 1:04 AM
robthacker.bsky.social
Tough to see our awesome neighbours move out. After being friends for almost 15 yrs, & watching their kids grow up it's a truly bittersweet moment. Gave them a little piece of their (now) former neighbourhood as a house warming gift for their new place: A pic of Mt Olivet's stream. #photography
View of a framed black and white image. A stream bends around in the bottom right while the mid-ground is full of ferns lit by the evening Sun. Trees extend into the distance, the light dancing through the branches.
June 1, 2025 at 2:35 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Halifax constantly trims trees to avoid powerlines. As a result many trees in the city look "cut in 1/2". This is a tree at the corner of Robie and Quinpool. Consider this image a "sketch" as it really needs to be taken in near infra-red at higher res. @lmcampbell.bsky.social #photography
A black and white image showing the Atlantica hotel on the right and a tree reaching out into the middle of the image. On the left a crane appears to be reaching over. The leaves of the tree are lighter than the sky.
May 27, 2025 at 11:00 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
A little bit of beauty to brighten a dull day - a callery pear in full bloom outside the SMU Science building. Halisky #photography
A small tree stands between three green bushes on the ground. Behind is a building covered in panelling, grey at the bottom and then orange further up. The tree is covered in white blossom.
May 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
robthacker.bsky.social
Sunbeams and water streams. A little bit of urban #photography.
Looking towards a house two sprinklers send out streams of water that are backlit by the sun. In the upper right of the image an optical flare from the sun streaks across to the mid left of the image.
May 12, 2025 at 3:26 AM