Thomas Zimmerman

I have been dreaming of someone making this happen for years…but unfortunately I think I chose the wrong career path to be your guy…

I see wot you did there.

Alert Stream | Rubin Observatory Explore how Rubin Observatory will identify changes in the night sky—and let the world know about them within minutes.

This week has been a long year

First, ICYMI, @vrubinobs.bsky.social hit a HUGE milestone with our live alert stream going public. I've worked on various aspects of this since joining UW and @dirac-institute.bsky.social in late 2016. Learn more about how this works, including how to access the data:

Some good news!

Just leaving this here in the context of DOD’s ongoing efforts to compel Anthropic to lift its restrictions on deploying Claude to power fully autonomous weapons…

Hilary Knight wants focus on the US women's Olympic success, not Trump's 'distasteful joke' Hilary Knight says the U.S. women’s hockey team is moving past what she called a “distasteful joke” by President Donald Trump.

Hilary Knight doesn’t want to let what she called a “distasteful joke” by President Donald Trump about the gold-medal winning U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team get in the way of a historic performance by American women across all sports at the Milan Cortina Games.

Union: WNBA made enough money for revenue sharing The WNBA players union says that the league generated enough revenue to trigger revenue sharing.

For the first time in league history, the WNBA generated enough revenue in 2025 to trigger revenue sharing with players. Players will receive $8 million.

The union will also pay out $9.25 million from revenue generated from its group licensing program.

www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has positioned his teenage daughter, Kim Ju-ae, in a leadership role within the country’s missile bureau, a unit connected to its missile and nuclear forces, according to multiple reports.

Analysts see this as part of her emerging prominence in state affairs.

From Cold War interceptors to Ukraine: how Russia came to park spy satellites next to the West’s most sensitive tech in orbit — Meduza Two Russian satellites have spent years quietly maneuvering along Earth’s geostationary belt — the ring of orbits 36,000 kilometers (roughly 22,370 miles) above the equator, where satellites appear st...

“The likeliest explanation for what the Luch satellites are hunting is signals intelligence of immediate military value. Many commercial satellites transmit a portion of their traffic without encryption, and a 2025 study…[found] that intercepted traffic included the call signs of U.S. Navy vessels”

Highlights from PBS News Weekend as show goes off the air This Sunday is the final broadcast of PBS News Weekend, at least for the foreseeable future. PBS cancelled the show due to the loss of federal funding for public media. As our team signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top storie...

Tonight marked the last broadcast of PBS News Weekend for the foreseeable future. As the show signs off the air, anchor John Yang looks back at some of our top stories and highlights over the years. https://to.pbs.org/4pxYe7W

It’s old-fashioned to defend mainstream journalism these days but some of the most reliable reporting from people actually on the ground will be the AP and Reuters the next 24 hours. Your Substack journalist writing takes will be using frontline reporting from them.

In Myanmar’s Election, ‘Voting Out of Fear, Not Hope’

“We can confidently guarantee that the election is free and fair because it is being carried out by the military,” said [Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup]. “Our military will not allow its reputation to be tarnished.”

Sigh. Myanmar deserves so much better.

A big moment for NASA and a huge congratulations to Administrator Isaacman. His passion for the mission and his experience bring a valuable perspective to the agency. Looking forward to a steady leadership in this incredible chapter in the history of space exploration.

European nations agree 30% boost in three-year space budget European nations agreed on Thursday to increase spending on space over the next three years by about 30% to 22.1 billion euros, part of an effort to try to catch up to the U.S., China and private firms zooming ahead in the space race.

European nations agree 30% boost in three-year space budget reut.rs/48hs2z5

Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens

"We followed everything we were supposed to do"

Legitimate green card applicants with US spouses are being
arrested by armed, masked men at scheduled immigration interviews, taken away from their children, sent to prison

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

Honestly….sign me up for Thai Space Chicken.

❤️

What the closure of USAID is really costing the world The abrupt withdrawal of American funding has stranded millions of patients and will be felt by countries for years to come

“Without US leadership there is no way we would have bent the HIV curve,” [John] Nkengasong says of the roughly $120bn marshalled by Pepfar since 2003. “Americans should be proud of that achievement in addressing one of the great health challenges the world has faced.”

on.ft.com/4ojiRFJ

Trying to find this story. What’s it in? Thanks!

DeepSeek’s Democratic Deficit Governments and companies are underestimating the power of the high-performing AI model as a propaganda tool.

Fascinating Read:

“Governments and experts have argued DeepSeek has few problems beyond small amounts of ‘half-baked censorship,’ and data security issues. They must take it more seriously as a threat to freedom of expression.”

China’s Chokehold on This Obscure Mineral Threatens the West’s Militaries

“Without these magnets, the United States and its allies in Europe will struggle to refill recently depleted inventories of military hardware…China produces the entire world’s supply of samarium, a particularly obscure rare earth metal used almost entirely in military applications.“

The MAHA Report Cites Studies That Don’t Exist The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors.

“…citing more than 500 studies and other sources to back up its claims. Those citations, though, are rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions. Seven of the cited sources don’t appear to exist at all.”

Tesla sales cut in half in Europe April's sales of vehicles from Elon Musk's company were down by 49 percent compared to the same time last year.

A reminder that we continue making policy choices that will surrender the market to Chinese auto manufacturers.

“Tesla's dwindling sales in Europe show a shift away from the brand toward Chinese competition.”

A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations Hackers. AI data scrapes. Government surveillance. Yeah, thinking about where to start when it comes to protecting your online privacy can be overwhelming. Here’s a simple guide for you—and anyone...

Hackers. AI data scrapes. Government surveillance. Yeah, thinking about where to start when it comes to protecting your online privacy can be overwhelming. Here’s a simple guide for you—and anyone who claims they have nothing to hide. www.wired.com/story/guide-...

Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students

This is an insane, wildly counterproductive policy change that will do nothing but harm the national interest. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...

Also, functionally banning medical care for as many trans people as possible. Just reprehensible.

China to donate $500 million to WHO, stepping into gap left by U.S. Beijing will replace the United States as the organization’s top state donor, expanding its influence as the U.S. retreats from international cooperation.

This is a big play at a time of American retreat and self-destruction. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Pushback works

Germany drops opposition to nuclear power in rapprochement with France Paris wins approval from Berlin to remove anti-nuclear bias in EU legislation, say officials

Some good news!

“Berlin has signalled to Paris it will no longer block French efforts to ensure nuclear power is treated on par with renewable energy in EU legislation, according to French and German officials.”

Texas Measles Outbreak Slows After Big Push for Vaccinations The rate of new measles infections in Texas has slowed as immunity to the virus builds and vaccinations rise.

It’s almost like vaccines are effective…

“The increase in vaccinations, especially among infants, has contributed to the slowdown, with over 320,000 residents receiving at least one dose of the MMR vaccine since the beginning of the year through April, a 15% increase from the same period last year”