@telescoper
Theoretical astrophysicist specializing in the Universe and all that surrounds it. Based in Ireland. Personal account. Call me old-fashioned but I don't like fascists. He/him/his. Blog: telescoper.blog
I'm told that there are pine martens on Maynooth University campus, though I haven't seen one.
Apparently they are good for the red squirrels (because they eat the grey ones).
Writing as Thinking
The other day I was informed that wordpress has an "AI Tool" which can write blog posts for me. I suspect most people think writing a blog is a waste of time, and that is even more the case if you get AI to write posts for you. I write a blog for many reasons apart from that…
1. Are you currently using an AI tool for work-related tasks or projects? * Yes * No, but I would like to (PLEASE SKIP TO QUESTION 7)
My employer asks me to complete a survey on AI usage for which this is the first question (required):
I wish American tourists would take the trouble to learn a little of the language before visiting English-speaking countries.
At ~$1 billion/day, the US has spent as much on the war in Iran in ten days as the entire FY25 budget for the National Science Foundation ($10 billion).
Trump's FY26 budget request for the agency declined to $3.9 billion, due to a "realignment of resources in a constrained fiscal environment."
Poster calling for ban on chat gpt on tcd wifi
Delighted to see this student led campaign to remove chat gpt from College WiFi today on environmental and ethical grounds. Hope it succeeds
Writing as Thinking
The other day I was informed that wordpress has an "AI Tool" which can write blog posts for me. I suspect most people think writing a blog is a waste of time, and that is even more the case if you get AI to write posts for you. I write a blog for many reasons apart from that…
Any Tory is an instant block for me.
Teaching physics involves ever-decreasing circles of deception
Received an email with subject: "Now you have the opportunity to get your research work published in Scopus, a reputable academic database"
You know the best way to kill AI? Don't use it. Don't buy it. Don't share it. Don't give the people who use it your labour or your money.
The Convenient Silence of William Hague
Campaigns against sexual violence with Hollywood actress
Accepts fancy awards & acclaim for "lifetime work"
Says & does nothing about sexual harassment at Oxford University, where he's Chancellor
@privateeyenews.bsky.social lays bare the hypocrsiy
Labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom
It's the first day of the sixth week of the second semester at Maynooth University, which means that the half-term break that incorporates St Patrick's Day (17th March) is approaching rapidly. It also means that we're in the middle of Seachtain na Gaeilge, an annual…
Great idea! There are enough self-help books, so a self-harm book would fill a gap in the literature.
Our 50th paper of 2026...
Update: it has moved down to my left ankle. Will it stay there, or start to move back up again?
"When Bishop Dermait of Armagh died in 852, an annalist ... wrote an obituary lauding him as 'the most learned of all the teachers of Europe' ... This sense of community with their continental neighbours is often denied to the people of early Ireland, in part by the tendency to label them as Celts."
In Irish, "time" is "am" (cf Welsh "amser")
Labhair an teanga Ghaeilge liom
It's the first day of the sixth week of the second semester at Maynooth University, which means that the half-term break that incorporates St Patrick's Day (17th March) is approaching rapidly. It also means that we're in the middle of Seachtain na Gaeilge, an annual…
BBC news web page with headline asking "What is the UK's strategic oil reserve and where is it kept?"
I imagine it's in a can in the garage.
Cuts, Commitments and Contradictions – guest post by Lucien Heurtier
Over the past week, three key meetings brought together members of the Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Nuclear Physics (PPAN) community with ministers, Members of Parliament, and representatives of UKRI and STFC. For the PPAN…
lol
Fantastic blogpost by @patthomson.bsky.social on productive discomfort 👏 ‘Academic writing is a form of thinking. It’s not the transcription of thoughts already completed, but a process of thinking itself.’ patthomson.net/2026/03/08/g...
Minab’s 165 murdered schoolgirls: the silence that exposes Western moral selectivity - DR HANA SAADA asks why a war crime against innocent children on this scale does not dominate the world’s coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/mina...
If the visit is cancelled it will do us all a favour, including the Taoiseach!
HAPPINESS Happiness is a few pounds heavier. It's accepting being tired. Being older. Being softer. Being more reaching oak and less wildflower. Happiness is taking days to bask in silence. Not doing. Just being. Happiness is no longer shrinking. It's releasing. Guilt. Regret. The weight of the past, and the fear of the future. It's discovering the joy in simplicity. The beauty in the little things. The power in the everyday. L.E. Bowman
Happiness is no longer shrinking.
It's releasing.
Guilt. Regret.
The weight of the past, and the fear of the future.
- Happiness by L.E.Bowman
#Poetry #LiteratureSky 💙📚👀
The Irish for "cat" is "cat", although it is pronounced like "cot"...
Cuts, Commitments and Contradictions – guest post by Lucien Heurtier
Over the past week, three key meetings brought together members of the Particle Physics, Astronomy, and Nuclear Physics (PPAN) community with ministers, Members of Parliament, and representatives of UKRI and STFC. For the PPAN…
