Brooke Simmons
@vrooje.net
Professor of Astrophysics: Galaxies, Black Holes, the Changing Sky. Also Zooniverse humanitarian and disaster relief lead. People first, then science. She/her
I hadn’t heard her before. That was incredible. Thank you for sharing
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I hadn’t heard her before. That was incredible. Thank you for sharing
Last time I flew, a FA explained during descent that there were 3 passengers with very short connections and asked the rest of us to stay in our seats when we arrived so they could rush off the plane. Everyone did, it was a nice reminder that humans can be ok to each other sometimes
November 23, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Last time I flew, a FA explained during descent that there were 3 passengers with very short connections and asked the rest of us to stay in our seats when we arrived so they could rush off the plane. Everyone did, it was a nice reminder that humans can be ok to each other sometimes
It’ll probably be ok; airlines will often hold a long-haul flight for a few minutes for connecting passengers. They can usually make up time in the air, so it costs them nothing vs e.g. paying for a hotel for you. Lot of stress/rushing though. Ask the FA for advice/help before you land @ CDG, maybe?
November 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
It’ll probably be ok; airlines will often hold a long-haul flight for a few minutes for connecting passengers. They can usually make up time in the air, so it costs them nothing vs e.g. paying for a hotel for you. Lot of stress/rushing though. Ask the FA for advice/help before you land @ CDG, maybe?
Definitely, in my opinion. Example: without at least some QM, it’s hard to grok why forbidden lines happen, including why we call them “forbidden”. And those (as part of radiative transfer) are bread and butter for a bunch of astro.
November 19, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Definitely, in my opinion. Example: without at least some QM, it’s hard to grok why forbidden lines happen, including why we call them “forbidden”. And those (as part of radiative transfer) are bread and butter for a bunch of astro.
💯💯💯 and the ridiculous broken keyboard too. I managed to skip those, but we still have some laptops in the group from the “one single USB-C port because fuck our customers” era
November 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
💯💯💯 and the ridiculous broken keyboard too. I managed to skip those, but we still have some laptops in the group from the “one single USB-C port because fuck our customers” era
Totally agreed, actually. “Design” seems to be hardware focused, in some design school way that forgets about usability.
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
November 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Totally agreed, actually. “Design” seems to be hardware focused, in some design school way that forgets about usability.
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
“You get one port only, you shouldn’t need more, that’s ugly. Slide your finger across this thing with no haptic feedback that changes every 20 seconds, nobody needs an escape key now, nerd! Here’s a new type of viz it’s called something cool you will love it I fomise”
November 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
“You get one port only, you shouldn’t need more, that’s ugly. Slide your finger across this thing with no haptic feedback that changes every 20 seconds, nobody needs an escape key now, nerd! Here’s a new type of viz it’s called something cool you will love it I fomise”
Yeah. People who came in afterward had an understandable desire to show they were different but they picked the wrong thing. They picked form over function, precise design over any other type of precision, again and again.
November 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Yeah. People who came in afterward had an understandable desire to show they were different but they picked the wrong thing. They picked form over function, precise design over any other type of precision, again and again.
Yeah, I haven’t been able to use it for years because annotations unpredictably just disappear sometimes. They’re still in the file, they just sometimes refuse to display. Apple has known about this breaking bug for years and refuse to fix it. Sucks to hear it’s getting worse now 😕
November 17, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Yeah, I haven’t been able to use it for years because annotations unpredictably just disappear sometimes. They’re still in the file, they just sometimes refuse to display. Apple has known about this breaking bug for years and refuse to fix it. Sucks to hear it’s getting worse now 😕
I think we just have to start making them watch Contact. It’s the only way forward
November 16, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I think we just have to start making them watch Contact. It’s the only way forward
I remember being in a plenary years ago and the speaker mentioned that the thinnest parts of Saturn’s rings was about the same height as the room we were in, and we collectively had a (polite, don’t interrupt the talk) 🤯🤯 moment
November 16, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I remember being in a plenary years ago and the speaker mentioned that the thinnest parts of Saturn’s rings was about the same height as the room we were in, and we collectively had a (polite, don’t interrupt the talk) 🤯🤯 moment
Thank you for taking the time to do another explainer thread 😊
November 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Thank you for taking the time to do another explainer thread 😊
Thank you! Yes, academia is a funny thing — you never know where you’re going to end up, but I’m very fortunate and happy to have ended up here. Lovely to hear from you. I hope you’re well!
November 12, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Thank you! Yes, academia is a funny thing — you never know where you’re going to end up, but I’m very fortunate and happy to have ended up here. Lovely to hear from you. I hope you’re well!
This feels like forced labor to me. Like, if you can’t continue without “passing”, you should be paid for it.
(This is one of the reasons we never went forward with making Galaxy Zoo into a CAPTCHA. It should be voluntary! You shouldn’t get punished for not wanting to do it!)
(This is one of the reasons we never went forward with making Galaxy Zoo into a CAPTCHA. It should be voluntary! You shouldn’t get punished for not wanting to do it!)
November 8, 2025 at 6:20 PM
This feels like forced labor to me. Like, if you can’t continue without “passing”, you should be paid for it.
(This is one of the reasons we never went forward with making Galaxy Zoo into a CAPTCHA. It should be voluntary! You shouldn’t get punished for not wanting to do it!)
(This is one of the reasons we never went forward with making Galaxy Zoo into a CAPTCHA. It should be voluntary! You shouldn’t get punished for not wanting to do it!)
Costco maybe? I’ve had good luck with their towels in the past and their website has lots of 100% cotton options…
October 29, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Costco maybe? I’ve had good luck with their towels in the past and their website has lots of 100% cotton options…
Irish American family and we definitely made all the fine distinctions (except various types of cousin are all cousins). But also we didn’t freak out if different families did it differently - and I knew people who had grans who weren’t their actual grandparents etc.
October 29, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Irish American family and we definitely made all the fine distinctions (except various types of cousin are all cousins). But also we didn’t freak out if different families did it differently - and I knew people who had grans who weren’t their actual grandparents etc.
Quick, apply for promotion!
October 26, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Quick, apply for promotion!
Although, I do appreciate that Google is about to recognise @joezuntz.bsky.social as the most excellent and valuable collaborator in astronomy ❤️🔭
October 26, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Although, I do appreciate that Google is about to recognise @joezuntz.bsky.social as the most excellent and valuable collaborator in astronomy ❤️🔭