Roger Freedman

This is an original 2 colour linoleum block print showing Copernicus and his model of the celestial spheres, or as we would say, the solar system. Copernicus is shown in green with a lily of the valley, the standard Renaissance symbol to indicate a medical doctor. His planetary model is shown as he conceived it in gold. Using the ancient Greek and Roman symbols, the heliocentric solar system has the following planets: Mercury (the fleet-footed messenger with his serpents and staff, the caduceus), Venus (goddess of beauty - the mirror, like an ankh), Earth (4 cardinal directions), Mars (spear and shield), Jupiter (thunderbolt) and Saturn (the scythe of Time). The outer planets had yet to be discovered. Beyond Saturn, he envisioned the sphere of the "fixed stars".

Happy birthday to Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)! This is my #linocut showing Copernicus and his model of the celestial spheres, or as we would say, the solar system. 🧪🐡🔭🎢 #histsci Copernicus is shown in green with a lily of the valley, the standard Renaissance symbol to indicate a medical doctor 🧵

We still don't know why curling stones move the way they do The icy ballet of stone upon ice makes curling one of the most intriguing sports of the Winter Olympics. But scientists still haven't quite figured out the physics of how they move.

A colleague (non-science guy!) sent this curling physics article to me. Lots of good stuff! Mentions tribology by name. Mentions the earliest known hypothesis and a bunch of competing present-day ones. #ITeachPhysics

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Labor Secretary’s Husband Barred From the Department After Sexual Assault Reports

BREAKING NYT:

The husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been barred from the department's headquarters after at least two female staff members told officials that he had sexually assaulted them, according to people familiar with the decision and a police report obtained by The Times.

Exclusive | The Accomplice Who Was Going to Testify Against Jeffrey Epstein—Then Went Dark Model scout Jean-Luc Brunel was negotiating to provide prosecutors with evidence against the sex offender in 2016 but ultimately backed out.

New via WSJ: French modeling scout Jean-Luc Brunel was secretly negotiating in 2016 with lawyers representing Epstein's victims, according to DOJ files.

Brunel's lawyer told them his client recruited girls for Epstein and had incriminating photographs.

Then Brunel went dark.

Willa Brown - Wikipedia

For #BlackHistoryMonth, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Willa Brown, the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license in the US, the first African American woman to run for Congress, and first African American officer in the Civil Air Patrol. #aviation #CivilAirPatrol

BREAKING: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of the Epstein files investigation, per the BBC.

The probe centers on allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as trade envoy.

Ostriches with suits!

Heads buried, accountability avoided.

They didn’t “miss” the deposition.

They chose the sand. 👇

Cover of the book “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” by Mike Brown

Like Mike Brown, I believe Pluto had it coming. 😉

Also for Pluto's anniversary today, a throwback to my #HPS paper on the Pluto case (drawing parallels with the "species problem" in biology...) 🧪 🔭 🎢 🪐 ⚒️ ⚛️
direct.mit.edu/posc/article...

Dwarf planet - Wikipedia

n a sense Pluto’s reclassification was a promotion, not a demotion. No longer the smallest of the planets (its diameter is only 68% that of the Moon), it is now the largest of the dwarf planets!

(Though I personally prefer John Hodgman’s alternative term “fun-size planets.”)

EarthSky | Mike Brown explains why he killed Pluto

For the 96th anniversary of the discovery of #Pluto, here’s a 2011 interview with Caltech astronomer Mike Brown - who discovered Eris, a dwarf planet almost the same size as Pluto - that gives insight into the creation of the new category “dwarf planets.”

🎢🔭🪐

Alice Ball - Contributions, Facts & Leprosy Alice Ball was an African American chemist who developed the first successful treatment for those suffering from Hansen’s disease (leprosy).

For #BlackHistoryMonth, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Alice Ball, the first African American & the first woman to earn an M.S. in chemistry from the College of Hawai’i (now U. of Hawai’i), who developed the first successful treatment for Hansen’s disease (leprosy). 🧪 #WomeninSTEM

YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature

Well worth watching: youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A?... #Colbert #Comedy #JamesTalarico #Texas #Politics #StephenColbert #TheLateShow

Screenshot of a CNN segment shared by Acyn. A split-screen shows commentator Lydia Moynihan on the left and Kevin O’Leary on the right during a heated exchange. The chyron reads, “Obama: Dems need to avoid scolding and ‘virtue-signaling.’” The post quotes O’Leary referencing China and concentration camps, and McGowan responding about West Virginia.

I spent my childhood inside of American concentration camps. I know one when I see one. And that is what ICE is building.

Savannah teacher killed in crash by man fleeing from ICE According to the Chatham County Police Department, Monday morning’s fatal crash was the result of a chase between Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and a suspect.

www.wtoc.com/2026/02/16/s...

Ernest Everett Just - Wikipedia

For #BlackHistoryMonth, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of biologist Ernest Everett Just, who made important contributions to marine and cell biology despite the restrictions placed on him by a racist society - and was the first-ever recipient of the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal. 🧪

Raskin: What makes somebody a good lawyer?

You have to identify with the people who are the victims of injustice — not with their perpetrators.

So I would say to Pam Bondi: If you’re going to stand with the victimizers and not the victims, then you’re not a real lawyer.

[bedtime prayer]

"Dear Lord, you've taken my favorite actor, Robert Duvall, my favorite comedian, Catherine O'Hara, and my favorite musician, Bob Weir. I just wanted to let you know my favorite president is Donald Trump."

Anti-system voters are turning on Trump over Epstein And young Republicans are particularly enraged.

👀 'This is an especially big issue among young men. Researchers from Third Way, the moderate Democratic think-tank, have found particularly notable disagreement among young Republican men with how Trump is handling the issue.'

archive.ph/2026.02.16-1...

www.vox.com/politics/479...

Photograph of Charles Henry Turner in front of a 19th-century illustration of insects

For #BlackHistoryMonth, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of biologist Charles Henry Turner (1867-1923), who was the first to demonstrate that insects have the capacity to hear, and showed that bees use olfactory and visual cues to find nectar. www.artsci.uc.edu/news/profile... 🧪

Archaeology conducted in space Archaeology conducted in space - Earth.com

Archaeologists study how people lived in the past by digging into the ground and examining the artifacts they left behind. A team of researchers has now applied that same logic to the International Space Station. The results offer a revealing look at how humans adapt to life beyond Earth.
🧪 🏺

⚠️WOKE CONTENT⚠️

🧵 Today, we're going to learn about The USS Sumter Three — and the mutiny charges that should never have happened. It's apropos for #BlackHistoryMonth—because most people never knew about it.

Pull up a seat. 🪑 (cont)

#ProudBlue
#ResistanceRoots
#USDemocracy
#Voices4Victory

We built Jikipedia, a new wiki that compiles Jmail data into exhaustive reports on key figures in the Epstein scandal.

It lists all recorded visits to Epstein's estates, each person's possible knowledge of Epstein's crimes and laws that they may have violated.

Marie Maynard Daly A biochemist who made lasting contributions to medicine, Daly was the first Black woman to receive a PhD in chemistry.

For #BlackHistoryMonrh, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Marie Maynard Daly, the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. In chemistry and a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who in her long career made enduring contributions to biochemistry. #WomenInSTEM

Wow! This is some top-notch investigative journalism. The report claims the 3 million Epstein files released are only 2% of the total.

The massive scale of what’s still missing is hard to comprehend.

Different rock, same grift…

Photo of Willie Hobbs Moore

For #BlackHistoryMonth, let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of engineer and physicist Willie Hobbs Moore, who was the first African American woman in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. in physics. pubs.aip.org/physicstoday... 🎢🧪⚛️ #WomenInSTEM

Roscoe Conkling Brown Jr. as a USAAF fighter pilot during WW II

For #BlackHistoryMonth let us celebrate the life and accomplishments of Roscoe C. Brown Jr., exercise physiologist, college president, radio and TV host, and a WW II fighter pilot - one of the few to shoot down a German jet! #aviation en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_....