Spencer Drake
@spencerdrake.bsky.social
Oxford PhD candidate in the history of science and religion. SETI researcher, beekeeping instructor. 📡👽🐝📚
Pinned
I helped out a little with the archival research and fact checking on this documentary which just premiered, do check it out! There's a whole lot of wild things to learn about our history of messaging extraterrestrial intelligence 👽📡
I helped out a little with the archival research and fact checking on this documentary which just premiered, do check it out! There's a whole lot of wild things to learn about our history of messaging extraterrestrial intelligence 👽📡
November 4, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I helped out a little with the archival research and fact checking on this documentary which just premiered, do check it out! There's a whole lot of wild things to learn about our history of messaging extraterrestrial intelligence 👽📡
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA’s next-gen Habitable Worlds Observatory may be our best chance to find alien life. But can a nation busy ripping itself apart unite to launch a mission to solve life’s cosmic mysteries? By @nadiadrake.bsky.social (and me).
www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
NASA’s First-Ever Alien-Hunting Space Telescope Could Enlighten Our New Dark Age
The Habitable Worlds Observatory is poised to tell us whether Earthlike planets are common—if it can get off the ground
www.scientificamerican.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA’s next-gen Habitable Worlds Observatory may be our best chance to find alien life. But can a nation busy ripping itself apart unite to launch a mission to solve life’s cosmic mysteries? By @nadiadrake.bsky.social (and me).
www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...
Reposted by Spencer Drake
UK universities take note: “95% of organisations see no measurable return on their investment in these technologies.”
September 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
UK universities take note: “95% of organisations see no measurable return on their investment in these technologies.”
Reposted by Spencer Drake
And here is the table of contents.
September 16, 2025 at 4:22 PM
And here is the table of contents.
Reposted by Spencer Drake
"You’re punching a generation-size hole, maybe a multigenerational hole, in the scientific and technical workforce. You don’t just Cryovac these people and pull them out when the money comes back. People are going to move on.”
www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...
This Budget Plan Would Devastate U.S. Space Science
Scientists are rallying to reverse ruinous proposed cuts to both NASA and the National Science Foundation
www.scientificamerican.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
"You’re punching a generation-size hole, maybe a multigenerational hole, in the scientific and technical workforce. You don’t just Cryovac these people and pull them out when the money comes back. People are going to move on.”
www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/prop...
I was very excited to see some of my granddad's research represented in the latest history of space showcase at the Rothermere! @raioxford.bsky.social @vhllib.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I was very excited to see some of my granddad's research represented in the latest history of space showcase at the Rothermere! @raioxford.bsky.social @vhllib.bsky.social
Reposted by Spencer Drake
📢 HMC student @spencerdrake.bsky.social, 24, a DPhil candidate in History, featured prominently in an article this weekend in the FT on a Victorian and Edwardian men's clothing supplier.
🔗Check out the article (may require subscription)
🔗Check out the article (may require subscription)
Clothes fit for an Edwardian
In the Sussex countryside, one company makes historical menswear for film, television — and modern customers
f.mtr.cool
May 6, 2025 at 2:29 PM
📢 HMC student @spencerdrake.bsky.social, 24, a DPhil candidate in History, featured prominently in an article this weekend in the FT on a Victorian and Edwardian men's clothing supplier.
🔗Check out the article (may require subscription)
🔗Check out the article (may require subscription)
Reposted by Spencer Drake
An astonishing headline reporting on new observations from a team led to Nikku Madhusudhan claims they’ve found ‘hints of life’ on a planet orbiting a dwarf star some 124 light years away. What’s going on? (1/n) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🔭 🧪
Promising hints of life found on distant planet K2-18b
Scientists find new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.
www.bbc.co.uk
April 17, 2025 at 3:24 AM
An astonishing headline reporting on new observations from a team led to Nikku Madhusudhan claims they’ve found ‘hints of life’ on a planet orbiting a dwarf star some 124 light years away. What’s going on? (1/n) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Spencer Drake
On Shrove Tuesday, 2022, I got myself into heaps of trouble posting the following; so naturally I will post it again, along with the things I learned after posting it.
Original post:
Whispers very, very softly: what English people call pancakes are not actually pancakes they are crepes.
Original post:
Whispers very, very softly: what English people call pancakes are not actually pancakes they are crepes.
March 4, 2025 at 9:19 AM
On Shrove Tuesday, 2022, I got myself into heaps of trouble posting the following; so naturally I will post it again, along with the things I learned after posting it.
Original post:
Whispers very, very softly: what English people call pancakes are not actually pancakes they are crepes.
Original post:
Whispers very, very softly: what English people call pancakes are not actually pancakes they are crepes.
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Last week, federal employees were sent an email titled “Fork in the Road”, inviting their resignations. Their deadline to respond is today. I wrote an op-ed for Scientific American explaining Musk’s preoccupation with the “fork in the road”, its connections to SETI, & why it’s a misguided idea.
Here's Why Elon Musk's 'Fork in the Road' Is Really a Dead End
Elon Musk’s Fork in the Road isn’t just a sculpture—it’s a monument to the tech world’s obsession with civilizational survival, which has its roots in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
www.scientificamerican.com
February 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Last week, federal employees were sent an email titled “Fork in the Road”, inviting their resignations. Their deadline to respond is today. I wrote an op-ed for Scientific American explaining Musk’s preoccupation with the “fork in the road”, its connections to SETI, & why it’s a misguided idea.
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Fantastic! Episode 7 is titled "Crystal Palace" ("Suisyo-kyu"; 水晶宮)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbN...
(Again, we must remind people to NOT go onto the dinosaur island to impress or mansplain to your sweetheart)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbN...
(Again, we must remind people to NOT go onto the dinosaur island to impress or mansplain to your sweetheart)
January 22, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Fantastic! Episode 7 is titled "Crystal Palace" ("Suisyo-kyu"; 水晶宮)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbN...
(Again, we must remind people to NOT go onto the dinosaur island to impress or mansplain to your sweetheart)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JbN...
(Again, we must remind people to NOT go onto the dinosaur island to impress or mansplain to your sweetheart)
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Excellent piece - offers a depth of historical understanding about Canadian-US relations that is sadly lacking in modern politics on both sides of the border. We have been here before. On the whole, this sort of bullying strengthens a Canadian identity that otherwise struggles to define itself…
Wrote about why Canadians have often feared and sometimes dreamed of being bought up by Americans
unherd.com/2025/01/anne...
unherd.com/2025/01/anne...
Annexation has always haunted Canada
unherd.com
January 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Excellent piece - offers a depth of historical understanding about Canadian-US relations that is sadly lacking in modern politics on both sides of the border. We have been here before. On the whole, this sort of bullying strengthens a Canadian identity that otherwise struggles to define itself…
Reposted by Spencer Drake
If you (or anyone you know!) is interested in doing a PhD in the history of science and/or technology, and being based in London for 3-4 years, we have scholarships at CHoSTM at King's: www.kingschostm.com/funding-oppo...
Funding | KingsCHoSTM
Funding Opportunities within King's CHoSTM
www.kingschostm.com
December 2, 2024 at 3:42 PM
If you (or anyone you know!) is interested in doing a PhD in the history of science and/or technology, and being based in London for 3-4 years, we have scholarships at CHoSTM at King's: www.kingschostm.com/funding-oppo...
Reposted by Spencer Drake
Absolutely gorgeous and heart-string-tugging piece by @nadiadrake.bsky.social featured in SciAm this morning. Happy Arecibo Day!
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the Arecibo Message, humanity's 1st deliberate transmission to the stars.
You can read all about it today, tho, in this reflective piece from @nadiadrake.bsky.social (her dad, Frank Drake, spearheaded the message!).
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
You can read all about it today, tho, in this reflective piece from @nadiadrake.bsky.social (her dad, Frank Drake, spearheaded the message!).
www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
The Arecibo Message, Earth’s First Interstellar Transmission, Turns 50
In 1974 we beamed a radio transmission into space that changed the way we think about our place in the cosmos
www.scientificamerican.com
November 15, 2024 at 4:59 PM
Absolutely gorgeous and heart-string-tugging piece by @nadiadrake.bsky.social featured in SciAm this morning. Happy Arecibo Day!