Orion🌈&sm9eb

Photo of a cuneiform tablet fragment shaped like an irregular diamond preserving about 20 lines of broken text

"Why is not one, at his god,
speaking justice;
being a supporter of truth;
(but) is settled just like a wicked person?"

In this ancient Babylonian dialogue, this is the friend's answer to why he feels gloomy. He answers with a question. Why, he asks, is not even a single person being good?

Last chance to see! Our current exhibit on 17th century fashion and clothing 'Stitching the Nation' comes to an end on 12 April, so make sure you don't miss it!
More details at: www.cromwellmuseum.org/events/stitc...

A good friend used to live in Utrecht and when I stayed with her for a conference in Leiden she tricked me into eating bitterballen made from horse meat.

But this, below, is precisely what was available for the conference lunch. (Honestly, I was in love.)
🧵

Help me understand the licorice.

Sandstone bluffs and spires in a desert landscape under a perfectly clear blue sky. Photo: Bill Dunford

Dark silhouettes of sandstone bluffs and spires in a desert landscape under a clear, starry sky crossed by the Milky Way and illuminated with a band of green airglow. Photo: Bill Dunford

Day and night are both illusions. The Sun is always shining. So are the stars.

Good night

Ida Gulch, Utah on Sunday and in May 2023.

Ig Nobels to move awards to Europe due to concern over US travel visas Scientific awards – which honor research that makes people laugh and then think – to move away from ‘unsafe’ US

🧪 🇨🇭 #IgNobel awards come to Switzerland as US unsafe for scientists
#HoppSchwiiz
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

The opposite of solarpunk

My mom & I (she is filling out her bracket after 10 years of me hassling her!) both now have exactly one win. Given that I've got a #TeamMold & #TeamKitty #MoldKitty #TagTeam going to the championship to defeat the hippo, I think it might be my last, too. #2026MMM
Italy's take on MoldKitty pic'd.

Image shows the MMM bracket with Assassin Bug winning the Wildcard over the Bone Collector Caterpillar and a checkmark indicating the Wildcard category has been completed.

#2026MMM WILDCARD WINNER:
Assassin Bug!

Join us Wednesday, March 11th at 8PM EST for ROUND ONE of MONEY MAMMALS!

While you are patiently waiting for the #2026MMM #WildCard Battle to start...

Go play www.animordle.com The #Wordle Game with Animal Names #animordle #2026MMM

I wore my @sciencesocks.bsky.social to a job interview under my boots a few weeks ago!

Close-up of colorful Psyche Mission socks showing the spacecraft approaching the asteroid on an orange background

Close-up of the same socks showing the asteroid and spacecraft on a purple and magenta background

Just found out the Mars gravity assist of the #Psyche spacecraft is only 2 months away! 🛰️

Perfect time to plug these totally metal socks featuring Psyche's journey to a metal #asteroid 😎🧦

🔗 sciencesocks.co/prod...

🔭🐡🧪🎨

Astronomers, especially those who like wine—if you’re looking for a fun podcast/outreach thing to do, I recommend getting on @astropotamus.com‘s schedule! And everyone should listen to his podcasts that are already out!

#SciComm 🔭

Wait, was Bone Collector Caterpillar #Durgavitched? Because this feels like it, in spirit. The whole That's So Metal Division does, actually. #2026MMM

VICTORY!! Now it only needs to dissolve a mere 5 more animals to liquefy its way to the podium! #2026MMM

But only if you're an Assassin Beetle. #2026MMM

... and wear the corpses of your vanquished enemies! #2026MMM

Silence of the Bone Collector Caterpillars. #2026MMM

"EEEEiiiuuuw, this is gross!" says my mom, a woman of steely demeanor. #2026MMM

My mother is making The Face. #2026MMM

"Grooosss!" says my mom, who, unrelated side note, told me today about being driven by her parents into the city to hear all the church bells ring when the end of World War II was announced. #2026MMM

I challenge someone to do this for #MMMHalloween next year. #2026MMM

My mother says, "EEEIIUUW!" #2026MMM

Meet the hungry caterpillar's punk cousin — the 'bone collector' A newly discovered species of caterpillar eats other bugs and then wears their dead bodies.

Hailing from Hawaii, if you are just now learning about Bone Collector Caterpillar, that's because it was first described to science in late April 2025, literally in the journal SCIENCE! (Rubinoff et al. 2025) #2026MMM www.npr.org/2025/05/01/n...

Fortunately this year my mama is with me for the annual playing of the Animal Anthem, so I don't have to tear up and sob like I normally do. I can hug my mom! 🥹♥️🥹♥️🥹♥️ #2026MMM

Dramatic Gif-related Aside: Just a little side note for those who care that Henry Cavill is currently filming a reboot of The Highlander in case you need more to distract you from the current insanity everywhere.

Carry on. #2026MMM

OH MY GOSH, THEY REALLY DID ALL COME TOGETHER. #TripleBooked #NerdTornado #AoT #TheHobbit #2026MMM

bsky.app/profile/mamm...

A trivia question about the source for the star Earendil from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings at Astronomy on Tap.

Commander Orion got a shout out in astronomy trivia.

The Rosenbach Library in Philadelphia's live Biblioventure of the Hobbit chapter 8.

Welcome to the 14th annual March Mammal Madness!

I'm back from #NerdTornado checking the #2026MMM #WildCard results, trying to process these that it existed simultaneously w/Astronomy on Tap #AoT & @rosenbachmuseum.bsky.social 's The Hobbit ch8 Biblioventure live. Surely it's a quantum mechanics problem!
Now to find out how Assassin Beetle won!

😪😢 Kalbim biraz daha kirilir. 🖤 #2026MMM

Oh good, I get to start crying early, before we even get to the thylacine. #2026MMM