Karen Happy

Jeffrey Epstein, the rockstar physicist and the Australian whistleblower Melanie Thomson accused astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss of sexual harassment after an alleged incident in Melbourne. The professor asked Jeffrey Epstein for help.

I remember this story on the old platform. Unexpected update today "The saga has left Thomson with a rare distinction. She is one of the few people to be mentioned in the Epstein documents – her name appears 38 times – and emerge with their reputation enhanced." www.theage.com.au/business/wor...

Review: This is Your Grandparents’ ‘Muppet Show,’ Fortunately

The mind-blowing concept behind the revival of "The Muppet Show" is: "We're reviving 'The Muppet Show.'" Turns out to be a pretty good idea. [giftie] www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/a...

a kermit the frog appears on the muppet show logo ALT: a kermit the frog appears on the muppet show logo

The Muppet Show reboot on Disney+ was the best 32 min of TV in ages - a lot of involuntary smiling… and a lot of “OMG look it’s Wayne and Wanda! And Hilda! And there’s Scooter and Rolfe and Fozzie! And LOOK at Miss Piggy! and…. #themuppetshow

I have a question for the men who had no questions about Epstein The millions of pages of documents related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have shone a light on how many influential men were ready to disregard the experiences of countless women.

“ ..these men are scientists, directors, philanthropists, princes, hedge fund managers, cabinet ministers, academics… Are we expected to believe they are all idiots, entirely lacking in observational skills? “ <— Julia Baird nails it www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Diane Lemaire #WomenInSTEM

Diane Lemaire #Australian aeronautical engineer. 1944 1st woman engineering graduate @unimelb.edu.au Technical Officer @ Aeronautical Research Laboratories. Post #WWII worked @ UK National Physical Laboratory, did MSc @ Cornell in US returned to ARL b #OTD 2 Feb 1923 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_L...

After latest release country should move on to Epstein trials.

Magnificent. Just magnificent.

How Many Kilonovae Will Rubin Observatory Help Us Spot? - AAS Nova Vera C. Rubin Observatory will detect an astonishing number of transients — including kilonovae from colliding neutron stars.

When two neutron stars collide, they shake spacetime and light up the cosmos in a brilliant flash called a kilonova. OzGrav researchers Dr Anais Möller, Dr Jade Powell and Dr Simon Stevenson explore how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory could help spot these rare events.
aasnova.org/2026/02/04/h...

Excellent news.

Amazon Says It Will Cut Around 16,000 Staffers In Latest Layoffs Round The latest round of terminations follows another mass layoff by the company in October last year, where around 14,000 workers were let go.

The latest round of terminations follows another mass layoff by the company in October last year, where around 14,000 workers were let go.

"the research council indicates that the budget for particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics together will drop by around 30%. The letter also asks project teams to plan for scenarios where their funding is reduced by 20%, 40% and 60%."

Solidarity with our UK science friends, this sucks.

It doesn't matter what the Constitution says. If the government can execute you on the street or in your own home on a whim, you have no rights. None.

smiling portrait of Liam, age 5, in a school picture

witness photo, courtesy of the school district, showing Liam outside his front door with a masked agent by his side.

Liam is one of four Columbia Heights, MN school district students who have been taken by ICE in the last two weeks, the school district said. Liam's teacher: “He is so kind and loving, and his classmates miss him. He ... just brightens the room. All I want is for him to be back here and safe.”

ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy as he came home, say school officials Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas

ICE detained a 5-year-old Minnesota boy coming home from school + took him and his dad to Texas, school officials say. The family has an active asylum case + entered the US at a port of entry.

"They’re taking children. They're not violent criminals. They're little kids," the superintendent told me.

I like to be in America? New travel figures suggest otherwise. Australian travellers have given the Trump presidency a resounding thumbs down.

Australians have absolutely given travel to the US the thumbs down. My column for #ThePoint

thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

'We don't want them': Neo-Nazi group says it will disband ahead of new laws In a statement posted to Telegram, the group announced the closure of the National Socialist Network would also spell the end of "co-projects" White Australia, the European Australian Movement and the...

www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

What do you do when you have an unexpected day in Narrandera NSW until the fire 🔥 risk eases in Victoria but it’s 43C? You go to Sew Fab quilting shop in Narrandera, buy a embroidery 🧵 🪡 kit from
and join Fridays “Sit & Sew” #narrandera #sewfabnarrandera #kasiajacquotembroidery #sewing #embroidery

May Britt, 91, Dies; Her Marriage to Sammy Davis Jr. Sparked Outrage

May Britt, 91, Dies; Her Marriage to Sammy Davis Jr. Sparked Outrage in 1960 (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/m...

‘It’s frightening’: How far right is infiltrating everyday culture Extremist messaging now woven into music and YouTube videos, with one expert saying: ‘You can be radicalised sitting on your couch’

From wine tastings to food delivery to a vegan cooking channel - the far right is luring people in via affiliated interests everywhere www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

A companion to my original “wet granulation pilot plant” quilt from about 2005 #scienceart #nerdart #chemicalengineering #chemicalengineeringlife #appliquequilt

Finished at last! After at least a decade in the “work in progress” pile I finally finished my appliqué engineering quilt. Silver lame fabric for the cracking fluidized bed cracker and distillation column #scienceart #nerdart #chemicalengineering #chemicalengineeringlife #appliquequilt

Protect Trans Care Now As wave after wave of extreme measures to criminalize and strip trans people of rights and safety continue, tell Congress to act.

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison.

Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.

Thinking about all the paramedics, and all the nurses and doctors in the ED's, operating theatres and ICUs (and the support staff) - we are enormously lucky to have them.

Black text on white background. Screenshot from ARC’s webpage announcing new rounds of Laureate Fellowships and Discovery Indigenous projects.

The ARC have announced they’ll be running another round of Laureate Fellowships and Discovery Indigenous projects next year.

These schemes were “paused” pending the review of the ARC grants system. Seems that is taking longer than expected … whoda thunk it?

From www.arc.gov.au/news-publica...

Universities in 'battle of the century' with journal publisher Elsevier One New Zealand university told its staff all universities in New Zealand and Australia would "lose some degree of access" to the publisher's 1600 titles from the start of next year.

Thousands of academics and students in New Zealand and Australia are poised to lose access to Elsevier journals next year

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Librarians versus the world Photo of London’s National Art Library by Sebastien LE DEROUT on Unsplash Here at the Research Whisperer, we love librarians. They are smart, dedicated people who want to help you with your researc…

Librarians versus the world.
Blogpost from
@researchwhisperer.bsky.social about the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL) decision to pause negotiations with Elsevier.

researchwhisperer.org/2025/11/25/l...

Alert for DP27 EOI applicants who “hold an Industry Fellowship in 2025”:

ARC has contacted research offices advising that if the Fellowship will “remain active beyond the DP27 project assessment date (1 July 2027)” then you can only be listed on one (1) DP27 EOI.

On the very eve of submission😱🙄

#CentresOfExcellence #CE26 announcement cont.:

Outcomes summary:

Approved / requested (%)
Apps: 8 / 18 (44.4%)
Funds: $279.85M / $629.77M (44.4%)

Approved grants requested $279.85M; 100.0% provided.

/bot

Black text on white background under a square blue icon on the top left. Screenshot of tweet from the ARC saying they’ll announce outcomes of Centres of Excellence on Tuesday 9th Dec. 2025.

ARC says they’ll announce Centres of Excellence outcomes tomorrow (Tuesday 9th Dec).

This is more than 2 months late, most likely due to the new security checking requirements for ARC grants. Centres of Excellence grants also need to have been approved by the Minister.

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC...

A great podcast about Research Integrity - old and new- from Cautionary Tales by @timharford.ft.com pca.st/podcast/ba99...