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Dr Jan Eldridge

@astro-jje

NZ theoretical astrophysicist studying exploding binary stars. Sci-fi addict, feminist, non-binary femme. Pronouns: she/her/they. All views my own.

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10.06.2023
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Latest posts by Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje

That time when you wonder about doing a podcast about the physics of WH40K but can't think of anyway of explaining about the warp so give up.

22.02.2026 05:16 πŸ‘ 20 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! As long as it's the right way to write it out that's what is important - my friends is planning to get a tattoo of this!

22.01.2026 04:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks for this - it's the way that is writing out that is more important. My friend wants to get a tattoo of this so it's important to get right!

22.01.2026 04:08 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What would make it a copolymer?

21.01.2026 00:44 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

20.01.2026 19:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Hi science-peeps! I've got a question on behalf of a friend. Is the following the correct way to represent a copolymer in a chemical structure equation. I've said "yes" but I'm rusty on my first-year uni organic chemistry!

"-[CH_2-CH(-COO-CH_2-CH_2-C_6H_5)]_n"

with "_" = subscript. Thanks!

20.01.2026 04:01 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

That should be "too many things going on"... I'm out of practice.🀣

02.01.2026 09:03 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you Queen Olivia! I've just been more quiet on here over the last few months as there's me too kich going on in work and life. But I always love it when one of your posts comes up in my feed! ❀️

02.01.2026 09:03 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Hmmm... looks like those pockets are built with Time Lord Technology....

22.12.2025 21:29 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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New Insights into the Evolution of Massive Stars and Their Effects on Our Understanding of Early Galaxies The observable characteristics and subsequent evolution of young stellar populations is dominated by their massive stars. As our understanding of those massive stars and the factors affecting their ev...

@astro-jje.bsky.social @tiylaya.bsky.social I finally read your 2022 review! I really enjoyed it! :) www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

22.12.2025 00:45 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you!

I'm sorry it was so long it took three years to read. πŸ€£πŸ˜‚πŸ€£

22.12.2025 06:06 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Image from 1974 BBC serial "Robot", in television series Doctor Who. With title and address of blog.

Image from 1974 BBC serial "Robot", in television series Doctor Who. With title and address of blog.

New blog! Today in #CosmicStories I'm going to take a deep dive. I'm considering Doctor Who serial "Robot" as a case study of representations of robot intelligence, science and scientists in the 1970s.

https;//www.warwick.ac.uk/CosmicStories/doctor_whos_robot/

#DoctorWho #ScienceandSF #AI

30.11.2025 09:30 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Where Are Voyager 1 and 2 Now? - NASA Science Both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have reached "interstellar space" and each continue their unique journey deeper into the cosmos.

Doing this in my head after a big meal and too much beer, so I could be off, but I think Voyager 1 will reach one (1) light day from Earth in October or November of next year, and one light day from the Sun in January 2027. πŸ§ͺ πŸ”­

28.11.2025 04:09 πŸ‘ 183 πŸ” 49 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 4
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Puberty blockers: why politicians overriding doctors sets a dangerous precedent The government’s ban on puberty blockers undermines clinical expertise and targets trans youth with a policy that lacks evidence, consistency and fairness.

Jaimie Veale, the founding president of PATHA and Director of the Trans Health Research Lab at Waikato has written an excellent op-ed for the Conversation: "The government has placed a burden of proof on puberty blockers that we do not place on other paediatric care."

21.11.2025 03:06 πŸ‘ 96 πŸ” 47 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

There are excellent expert comments here on the NZ government's puberty blocker ban.

21.11.2025 03:42 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ban on puberty blockers serious human rights infringement

Good statement from the HRC.

tikatangata.org.nz/news/ban-on-...

20.11.2025 22:54 πŸ‘ 92 πŸ” 33 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

Final thought, even if you have no empathy for those who are going to be effected by this there is a clear financial need. So far it's cost about $60k to undo what happened to my body from puberty that could have been avoided if I had access to care when I was younger.

19.11.2025 07:43 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't normally play "what-if" games with the past as I can't change the past, but I can see what a different path today might have benefits for others in the situation I was in.

19.11.2025 07:43 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I knew I was different. I just didn't have the language, knowledge or support to understand myself and explain it to others.

I also knew I would be ostracized if anyone knew so I hid it.

I'm sad that people are not going to access the care they need.

19.11.2025 07:43 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Trans kids know they're trans, it's not a fad, they're not confused. I was a trans kid but growing up in the late 80s and early 90s there just wasn't the understanding. And I'm a person who "follows-the-rules" so I just took on the role that everyone thought I should.

But it was wrong...

19.11.2025 07:43 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Govt halts new puberty blockers prescriptions for gender-affirming care Green Party MP Ricardo MenΓ©ndez March says the government is "buying into imported culture wars" .

This is upsetting on so many levels. Banning new prescriptions is extremely harmful and doing this during trans awareness week, a few days before the transgender day of remembrance just makes it so much worse.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

19.11.2025 07:43 πŸ‘ 78 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 2
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Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.

Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.

10.11.2025 19:00 πŸ‘ 127 πŸ” 81 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 41
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Loeb’s 3I/ATLAS β€œAnomalies” Explained Avi Loeb continues to claim that 3I/ATLAS has many anomalous behaviors that lead to the conclusion that it β€œmight” be an alien spacecraft.Β  He carefully hedges the probability that it is a spacecraft ...

Great piece by astronomer and SETI leader Jason Wright on the endless, exhausting claims about 3I/Atlas by Avi Loeb.

"zero planetary scientists give Avi’s claims any credence... because he’s demonstrably wrong"

sites.psu.edu/astrowright/...

10.11.2025 21:49 πŸ‘ 215 πŸ” 54 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 3
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NZ electricity reached 99.9% renewable on 25 October, I believe that is a record. And that's despite a tenth of geothermal capacity appearing to be out of action (maintenance?) since the start of October. Source: em6

31.10.2025 03:46 πŸ‘ 97 πŸ” 34 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 4

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. πŸ”­πŸ§ͺ

Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department β€” at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.

I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:

24.09.2025 09:14 πŸ‘ 1880 πŸ” 867 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 36
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Trade unions vow to oppose Supreme Court trans ruling

'It's trans people they are kicking around; one delegate told the TUC conference

One representative of Unison accused Bridget Phillipson, the equalities minister, of overseeing a β€œsegregation” of trans people in society.

πŸ‘‰πŸ» archive.ph/NKVHi

09.09.2025 22:55 πŸ‘ 190 πŸ” 59 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 4
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New Arabic records from Cairo on supernovae 1181 and 1006 The remnant of the historical supernova SN 1181 is under discussion: While the previously suggested G130.7+3.1 (3C58) appears too old (3000-5000 yr), the unusual star IRAS 00500+6713 with a surroundin...

Thanks to @slavkobogdanov.bsky.social for pointing me to this really cool πŸ”­ history paper! arxiv.org/abs/2509.04127

06.09.2025 00:35 πŸ‘ 70 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 3
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New Arabic records from Cairo on supernovae 1181 and 1006 The remnant of the historical supernova SN 1181 is under discussion: While the previously suggested G130.7+3.1 (3C58) appears too old (3000-5000 yr), the unusual star IRAS 00500+6713 with a surroundin...

One of the awesome bits of supernova science I always love is when someone finds a new ancient record of a supernovae! In this case new Arabic records for SN1181 and SN1006 from poems!

arxiv.org/abs/2509.04127

05.09.2025 21:48 πŸ‘ 97 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 3
a very wet black and white husky puppy glares at you from his perch in a bathtub. his front paws are hooked over the lip of the tub, and his fur forms little damp tufts all over his face, ears, and chest. the black fur on top of his head has been pushed into a faux hawk. his icy blue eyes look exceedingly stern, and there is no hint of a smile on his lips.

a very wet black and white husky puppy glares at you from his perch in a bathtub. his front paws are hooked over the lip of the tub, and his fur forms little damp tufts all over his face, ears, and chest. the black fur on top of his head has been pushed into a faux hawk. his icy blue eyes look exceedingly stern, and there is no hint of a smile on his lips.

This is Delta. He just had his first bath. And you just had your last day of peace. 12/10 (IG: camphusky)

03.09.2025 18:59 πŸ‘ 7972 πŸ” 861 πŸ’¬ 191 πŸ“Œ 83
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People Watching: Ice skating at Ice Sports Southland, Gore, on a wintry Saturday afternoon

19.08.2025 20:12 πŸ‘ 52 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1