Robert McNees

Robert McNees

@mcnees.bsky.social

Physicist and Professor at a university in Chicago. I study black holes, quantum gravity, and cosmology. Rocky Top, Tar Heel. Reposts are spooky action at a distance. My views, not my employer's. https://jacobi.luc.edu https://mcnees.github.io

16,183 Followers 765 Following 10,293 Posts Joined Mar 2023
7 hours ago

Apparently Mickey Katz was the paternal grandfather of Jennifer Grey from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

10 0 3 0
7 hours ago

He just decided he had to collect whatever albums were on one of those Rolling Stone "Top 500 Albums of All Time" lists! So now in addition to all the stuff you'd expect, he has a closet full of Black Flag, Jay Z, Outkast, and My Bloody Valentine.

3 0 1 0
7 hours ago
Color photo of an album titled "Katz Puts On The Dog!" featuring a man wearing a tuxedo and using a clarinet as a cane, standing next to a St. Bernard and toasting it with a glass of champagne.

Some real gems in here.

18 0 2 0
11 hours ago
Color photo of a railroad trestle spanning a river with tress on the far shore. The sky is blue and there are college towers in 4- and 8-person shells on the water.

Good afternoon.

18 0 0 0
13 hours ago

Please don’t share this broadly, as it could damage the reputation of DOGE goblin Nathan Cavanaugh. That’s N-a-t-h-a-n C-a-v-a-n-a-u-g-h.

48 20 4 0
14 hours ago

I see people sharing the post about Brainbase founder and DOGE GOBLIN Nathan Cavanaugh! That was not intended! I would also ask you not to share this link to the LinkedIn page of Brainbase, where anyone with an account could message them.

www.linkedin.com/company/brai...

43 11 2 1
14 hours ago

Thanks, I’ll be sure not to share this post of Nathan Cavanaugh, or mention the connection to the company Brainbase.

If I see anyone else sharing this post of Brainbase founder Nathan Cavanaugh, I will be sure to let them know how important it is that they NOT share it or mention Nathan Cavanaugh.

93 32 4 1
14 hours ago

Kevin can you clarify? Is it this post that we shouldn’t be sharing all over the internet, with the name Nathan Cavanaugh attached?

79 15 1 1
14 hours ago

Or darth

1 0 0 0
14 hours ago
Color photo of the Black Flag album Damaged. It is being held up in front of several crates full of records.

This weekend I’m spending some time with my dad and his… Black Flag records.

57 1 5 0
1 day ago

I know it's a silly jokey joke, but people REALLY need to stop anthropomorphizing their boyfriends. "My boyfriend told me" your boyfriend didn't "tell" you anything. "My boyfriend thinks..." your boyfriend can't actually think or feel; just output a convincing simulation of it based on probability 🙄

6,258 1,003 63 43
16 hours ago

Snowing! At The Airport

4 0 0 0
17 hours ago
A black plott hound hangs off the edge of a rattan love seat, her floppy ear draped across her eyes like a sleep mask.

Ear / sleep mask.

17 1 0 0
17 hours ago

This Vanderbilt-Florida game is full of guys who started at UNC but thought they’d get more play elsewhere (Nickel, Washington) or wanted UNC but got recruited over (Fland).

1 0 0 0
19 hours ago

However that happens, I hope your perceptive kid will play a part. Law school grads who help to reshape science and funding policies will be just as important as scientists taking a leap of faith to restore an undermined system.

3 0 0 0
3 months ago

My teen, who had dreamt of being an astrophysicist, just told me he wants to go to law school because, “Science isn’t going to be a priority in the US in the future…I don’t want a job where I’ll be constantly worried my funding will be taken away.”

Gutting. How many future scientists have we lost?

3,083 720 209 95
19 hours ago

A fair concern. The challenge of restoring US science will be convincing people to do it anyway. Funding can be restored with an election; continuity of / faith in institutions, not so much. Gov will have to convince folks there’s long term commitment, that restoring US science is a patriotic act.

2 0 1 0
20 hours ago
A big black plott hound curled up a green sofa with a crocheted beige afghan.

“Don’t mind me, i will just sleep on this here couch.”

28 0 1 0
21 hours ago
A fat tabby and white cat curled up in a goat dog bed.

I’m told this bed belongs to a 90 pound Plott hound, but I’ve only seen the one occupant.

49 2 1 0
21 hours ago

It's possible you've seen his work attributed to "Alfred Einstein,” "Albert Eisenstein," or "Albert Brooks." Any help you can provide digging up info on this little-known scholar is much appreciated.

12 0 5 0
21 hours ago
Mysterious physicist Albert (Alfred?) Einstein standing in front of a bookshelf in a black and white photo. His hands are in the pockets of his tweed jacket. A messy shock of hair suggests a playful personality, but not much is known about this obscure, early 29th century weirdo.

I do a lot of OTD posts, but sometimes it’s hard to find reliable info about an obscure scientist.

This is my annual plea for help with theoretical physicist “Albert Einstein,” born #OTD in 1879. His contributions are minor but still of some interest to me personally. 🧪 🔭 ⚛️

61 11 11 1
1 year ago
A seemingly random 100x100 grid with each square filled in one of 10 colors. Each color represents digital according to a key on the side of the side of the diagram. Together they show the first 10,000 digits of pi.

Happy π day!

Here’s a color-coded representation of the first 10,000 digits. Read it left-to-right and top-to-bottom. 🧪 🎢 🧮

158 39 5 11
21 hours ago

I got lucky, getting around it right after it happened. On northbound 65 I saw a 4+ mile backup from *two* overturned trailers, with another 2+ mile backup at the next exit. Just a mess.

1 0 0 0
1 day ago

Laughterhouse-Five

24 6 2 0
1 day ago

The Strait of Hormuz is open for transit.

29 5 0 2
1 day ago

The Strait of Hormuz is open for transit.

202 35 3 15
1 day ago
A few stray stars are visible in blue-white sky over forest of pines and a field of snow. Photo: Bill Dunford.

After a night of skywatching a blue glow begins in the east, visible only in the camera at first. Then it rises noticeably into the sky, turns white, then eventually the sky is blue again. The stars are re-veiled, but I know they're still there. The owls stop calling, but they're still there, too.

42 6 2 0
1 day ago
Post image

“But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the Strait of Hormuz is open and people are having a wonderful time.”

15,368 3,486 191 164
1 day ago

CHI -->🚘-->TN

4 0 0 0
1 day ago

Ah man, I'm sorry. Condolences to you and your family.

1 0 1 0