Tod Lauer

Of course, Viking did sunrises on Mars '76-'78, which were well circulated back then.

Yeah, I actually went and read it after I posted 🤭

So we're going to look for life on Mars after first breaking its biological isolation? We sterilize all robotic landers on Mars. What was the point of that?

Yes! Aliens of the gap! I had noticed that old strategy long ago. Avi is a virus - one perfectly configured to infect the modern media.

Huh? I always thought that it was because a little pressure made a thin layer water. Other solids do not expand as they freeze and thus do not have this property.

I understand that they have a subcontract to replace the seatbelt lights with handcuffs lights.

I'm sure you can deduct these...

My brain processed this as Inspector Clouseau, which I think also works.

My wife asked if the Trump admin is going to say that they killed calibri in serif defense...

At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke

Font wars - I've been dreading this since childhood. I have a huge stockpile of extra 'd's that I don't need that I'm willing to swap for other characters if the Trump goes full bore at banning sans serif fonts:

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...

You don't. Trump gets to set the rate he wants.

Until established otherwise, LCDM validates whether or not observed bulk flows are credible.

I guess they got a little behind in their programming.

I watched my Dad suffer through shingles, so I made sure to get the shots.

John Noble Wilford, Times Reporter Who Covered the Moon Landing, Dies at 92

A great and legendary science reporter for the NYT has passed away. Can't begin to count how many of his articles I read. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/s...

Well, they’re there whether or not we know about them, so…

Another action-packed adventure as fellow New Horizons team member Rick Binzel pays a visit to the New Horizons Tucson image processing facility.

These anti-vaxxers will kill babies.

It feels awful to be that blunt, but the stakes here are *babies dying of preventable diseases*.

That’s great!

I had always thought that it was sung by the incredible Paul Frees, but googling just now I learned that it was someone else.

I wish astros would stop using the term "unsharp-masking" when they most-likely mean high-pass filtering. USM is an ancient darkroom trick, which is non-linear and makes positive definite images. A true digital USM would be useful in some cases, but would require several steps.

Rep. Grijalva says she was pepper-sprayed by ICE

He also wants dress-up on airplanes. I'm wondering what other goodies we can order up from the 60s - maybe punched cards and rotary phones.

Something I do is to always include a line or two at the close that connects to something specific about the department.

For LoRs, I stay formal unless I know the recipient at some level. There I do want to be informal, as I do want to convey specific knowledge so as not to appear perfunctory or unaware of my audience.

I never mind this with a fellow researcher who wants to talk science. I mind it very much if it's someone in a position of authority or power that I don't know who is demanding or refusing something.

I always like shaving...

But they don’t give a slope.

Kristi Noem: "Sir, you made it through hurricane season without a hurricane. You kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that."

Was interviewed in '75 in my HS guidance office by a full professor who traveled to the east coast. Had to travel to my other college interviews, which were usually done by alums. Was told my essay got me in. Was able to read his interview report the week before I graduated...