@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

elizabethtasker

@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online

UK astrophysicist working at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Author of 'The Planet Factory'. Very into planets, cats and virtual reality (sometimes together). @girlandkat on twitter.

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vicgrinberg, to Astro
@vicgrinberg@mastodon.social avatar

Did you know that it's actually NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope? Even though it is often referred to as "NASA" only.

European Space Agency has contributed the NIRSpec instrument, half of the MIRI instrument, and the launch (including the payload adapter & launch site services) and has 15 scientists working at the science and operations center. , the Canadian Space Agency, has contributed the NIRISS instrument.

Graphic from launch kit: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/James_Webb_Space_Telescope_launch_kit

vagina_museum, to random
@vagina_museum@masto.ai avatar

Good morning, it's time for another cursed patent! And guess what, this one is yet another overengineered douche. Meet the Instrument For Treating the Vagina and Uterus, patented by Christopher C. Parker in 1883.

vagina_museum,
@vagina_museum@masto.ai avatar

The aim of the cup is to either keep whatever is being sprayed up the vagina out of the cervix, or to intensively spray the stuff into the uterus. It's a multipurpose overengineered douche.

The purpose of the speculum-style arms is to un-wrinkle the vaginal walls for optimal douching power.

We hope we don't need to tell you that the vagina needs absolutely NONE of these interventions, and that sounds uncomfortable as hell.

NeoNacho, to random

Who called it “monogamous” and not “low poly”

elizabethtasker, to astrophotography
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

The International Astronomical Union (#IAU) are hosting an #astrophotography gallery in #VR! The event is on May 27 from 11am - 12:30pm UTC and May 28 from 8pm - 9:30pm UTC, and showcases astronomical photographs captured with a smartphone 📱🌌

The event is being held in spatial.io, which is accessible from a VR headset (Quest), or just from your computer browser (i.e. no headset needed).

This is a super cool event and y’all gotta go!

Link to (free) tickets: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/iauofficeforastronomyoutreach/1230291

ExoHugh, to random
@ExoHugh@mastodon.online avatar

I've seen a bunch of articles titled "Some astronomers now say #exoplanet might not have a biosignature after all" which is just wrong. ALL astronomers have been saying that. Since forever. Even the paper which published the dimethyl sulphide on K2-18b (which isn't a good biosignature btw) showed that DMS was only found in A SINGLE MODEL at a level FAR BELOW SIGNIFICANCE... ffs. One professor with an ego makes a stupid PR and the rest of us have to spend years correcting it. See also: Oumuamua.

SethRudy, to random
@SethRudy@c18.masto.host avatar

My thoughts and prayers go out to , which after journeying for half a century to reach interstellar space is still expected to answer fucking work emails

Legit_Spaghetti, to vr
@Legit_Spaghetti@mastodo.neoliber.al avatar

It's kind of upsetting that Apple called their headset, oh wait excuse me, their "spatial computer" (🙄) the Vision Pro when Apple Eyephone was, like, RIGHT THERE.

A11yAwareness, to random
@A11yAwareness@disabled.social avatar

A transcript is the only way to make video or audio content accessible to someone who is both deaf and blind. Transcripts can be converted into braille, to be read on a refreshable braille output device.

ExtinctionR, (edited ) to random
@ExtinctionR@social.rebellion.global avatar

The editors of Scientific American have written an opinion piece saying we need to move away from #cars to #activetransport because of local & carbon #pollution, road crash death & injury and how it restricts access to life for so many- the young, the elderly, the poor & disabled.
#ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-need-to-make-cities-less-car-dependent/

elizabethtasker, to random
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

Who wants to name an #asteroid?

... and where do those alphabet soup monikers come from?

The Science Museum in London has published a blog post on asteroid naming, and describing the #Hayabusa2 campaign to name asteroid 2001 CC21!

https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/want-a-chance-to-name-an-asteroid/

sundogplanets,
@sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

@elizabethtasker You saw this story, right? https://radiolab.org/podcast/zoozve

This is my favourite asteroid name, ever (and I say that as someone with an asteroid named after me! This one is way funnier)

laurahelmuth, to random
@laurahelmuth@mastodon.social avatar

Scientific American is hiring a multimedia editor to work on our "Science, Quickly" podcast. Thanks for sharing with anyone who might be interested in the job! https://careers.springernature.com/job/New-York-Multimedia-Editor%2C-Audio%2C-Scientific-American/1058691801/

wolfsbruder, to random
@wolfsbruder@babka.social avatar

A rabbi was asked by one of his students “Why did God create atheists?” After a long pause, the rabbi finally responded with a soft but sincere voice. “God created atheists” he said, “to teach us the most important lesson of them all – the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in God at all, so his actions are based on his sense of morality. Look at the kindness he bestows on others simply because he feels it to be right. When someone reaches out to you for help. You should never say ‘I’ll pray that God will help you.’ Instead, for that moment, you should become an atheist – imagine there is no God who could help, and say ‘I will help you’.”

— Martin Buber, “Tales of the Hasidim”

vagina_museum, to random
@vagina_museum@masto.ai avatar

This week in 1931, a 17 year-old girl called Jackie Mitchell struck out some of the most famous baseball players of their generation, and provoked discourse about women in sport which is still around to this day.

dancingtreefrog, to ai
@dancingtreefrog@mastodon.social avatar

Would you happily live your life in a simulation? This prescient 1970s thought experiment suggested not

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240321-experience-machines-thought-experiment-that-inspired-matrixs-greatest-question

> Half a century ago, a philosopher imagined a world where we could fulfil our desires through an 'experience machine' like the Matrix. He argued we'd prefer reality, but was he right?

elizabethtasker, (edited ) to random
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

Let's do a quiz! The Japan-led Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to Mars's moon Phobos will carry a rover named "IDEFIX" that was developed by the French and German space agencies. But what is the purpose of IDEFIX (in addition to other tasks)?

elizabethtasker, (edited ) to random
@elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

Apropos to nothing... let's have a quiz! Which of these is NOT the name of an animal that went to space?

michael_w_busch,
@michael_w_busch@mastodon.online avatar

@grb090423 @elizabethtasker Part of an experiment suggested for Skylab by high school students.

The Smithsonian has the remains of Arabella the spider on display: https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/spider-arabella-skylab-3/nasm_A19740484001

rooster, to random
@rooster@chaosfem.tw avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    18+ sundogplanets, to random
    @sundogplanets@mastodon.social avatar

    Just a reminder that there's not a binary "we're doomed"/"we're not doomed." Every single thing you and I do to use less energy makes the future less shitty. Don't give up hope.

    Don't write back to me with all the reasons to give up on the future. If you give up on making the future better, you are part of the problem.

    Tell me something you're doing right now to make the future better, even if it's something small!

    mikka, to random German
    @mikka@medic.cafe avatar

    Because the "story" is making the rounds again! "I smell burned toast" is NOT a sign of stroke. Neither does smelling toast diagnose one, nor does not smelling one absolve you from one.

    There are three things (and one important facet) in stroke: FAST!

    F: Face - is one eye drooping, is the mouth drooping, is the face asymmetrical? In short: does it not look like it looked a bit ago. It would make sense to ask the person if they'd been to the dentist today, other than that, it's a good reason to call an ambulance.

    A: Arms - have the person close their eyes and lift both of their arms at a 90° angle in front of their chest. Are they (at least mostly) evenly up? Have them queeze your hands, is one side squeezing less than the other? If so, call an ambulance.

    S: Speech - is the speech slurred? Does it take longer for them to answer? Do they seem "drunk" to you? Do the answers not always make sense?

    and, finally:

    T: Time - you have minutes to get them to a hospital. Don't drive them yourself, call an ambulance. There's a mythical "golden hour" window, during which reversion is rumored to be possible, but that's bullshit. Do it as fast as you can, time is brain, every second matters.

    None(!) of those purported "home remedies" work. Don't cool their neck, don't make them sing "Happy Birthday", don't make them recite old poems. Just be with them, document when you first noticed something, let the paramedics know.

    Strokes are insidious in that the person affected by one often does not realize they do. To them, all is well, they answer quickly and coherently, they squeeze evenly. They might be or get agitated with you. Stay calm, stay helpful, and most importantly: stay human. Call your local responders and just "be there" for the person. There's little to nothing you, or the paramedics for that matter, can do. That's the job of a hospital team. Get them there as quick as you can, and you'll always have a fighting change.

    elizabethtasker, to random
    @elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

    Here's today's press release for JAXA's SLIM lunar landing!

    TL;DR:

    Pinpoint site identification was crazily successful.

    We were lowering into position, detecting boulders like a champ.

    THEN ONE OF THE ENGINES DROPPED OFF.

    (I kid you not)

    (we don't know why yet)

    (maybe space pirates)

    But we still soft-landed on 1 engine.

    (TAKE THAT SPACE PIRATES!)

    but on our head.

    Strangely, might not be a big deal once the Sun moves round to the other side of the spacecraft.

    https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2024/01/20240125-1_e.html

    tammojan,
    @tammojan@social.edu.nl avatar

    @elizabethtasker Thanks for the translation, really a great success! Also our observations with the Dwingeloo @radiotelescoop of the amateur radio on LEV-1 were a success: we got good recordings, with better SNR than the Wakayama data that was shown in the press conference (not strange, we have a bigger dish). Here's some audio. It's inverse Morse (quiet means 'on').

    davidho, to random
    @davidho@mastodon.world avatar

    I can’t even get five colleagues to agree on a time to meet and climate deniers think thousands of us somehow got together to perpetrate a hoax.

    Let me check my day planner

    markmccaughrean, to random
    @markmccaughrean@mastodon.social avatar

    万丈！/ Banjō! / Congratulations!

    JAXA's SLIM spacecraft has successfully landed on the Moon 🙇‍♂️

    Not an easy feat, as other recent mission attempts have demonstrated 😬

    #SpaceFlight #SpaceExploration

    https://mastodon.social/@markmccaughrean/111783242960416367

    markmccaughrean,
    @markmccaughrean@mastodon.social avatar

    They've just said on the livestream that they're still working on assessing the status of SLIM & that it could take up to two hours, as mentioned in their press kit.

    There was a veiled dig at the impatience of some people on YouTube though.

    Again, recalling Rosetta, we were quite late with the confirmation of Philae's landing on Comet 67P/C-G in November 2014 as it had bounced after initial touchdown.

    This is spaceflight – full of surprises.

    AkaSci, to random
    @AkaSci@fosstodon.org avatar

    JAXA's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is getting ready for landing on the lunar surface tomorrow Friday Jan 19 at 15:20 UTC.

    The spacecraft, nicknamed the “Moon Sniper,” will demonstrate precision landing in a target area less than 100m in diameter, using real-time image recognition technology.

    The spacecraft will land on a sloping surface near the crater Shioli.

    SLIM carries a number of science instruments and will also deploy 2 rovers.

    https://global.jaxa.jp/countdown/slim_special_site.html
    Image: JAXA
    1/n

    AkaSci,
    @AkaSci@fosstodon.org avatar

    @elizabethtasker, astrophysicist at JAXA, explains the motivation and principles behind the precision landing goals of SLIM at https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2023/12/21/japan/jaxa-slim-moon-mission/

    "Whether for humans or robots, driving on another planet is difficult business.

    The idea behind SLIM is simple: If you cannot drive to where you need to go, then you better land right next to it.

    To achieve this level of accuracy, the engineers behind SLIM have used machine learning to give the spacecraft “smart eyes.”
    "


    7/n

    kevinjardine, to vr
    @kevinjardine@mastodon.social avatar

    The week of the great divide. One group is gearing up to order the Apple Vision Pro on Friday. But another group (maybe even larger?) Is buying Walkabout Mini Golf's spectacular new Eiffel Tower mini golf course on Thursday. I know what group I'm in!

    https://youtu.be/c_e_o2uoPII?si=iwDaRb4mn_F9FLas

    PennamitePLR, to crochet
    @PennamitePLR@pixelfed.social avatar

    In 2017, I crocheted myself a solar system costume. The headpiece is mounted on a bike helmet for stability (I got that tip from some folks who build showgirl costumes). The tunic is made from fine black linen yarn, very matte, very tedious, much like I imagine space is most of the time. The planets are made using an online sphere pattern generator, so that I could vary the sizes in a predictable way; they are strung on a fishing line with beads, and suspended from an elastic collar, also crocheted. They are also kept in place with a beaded "asteroid belt", located between Mars and Jupiter, of course. Photographed at Manhattan Beach Pier. All second-hand yarns, though I had to ask around for enough yellow to make the sun so large.

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