Astrochemist Veronica (she/her)

PRELIFE network - Origins Center The origin of life remains one of the greatest mysteries in science. While many theories have been proposed, no single explanation has yet gained universal agreement. That’s where the PRELIFE consorti...

The PRELIFE project of the Origins Center Netherlands has 15 PhD projects!

Are you a MSc graduate in Physics, Earth Science, Chemistry, Biology, Astronomy, Maths, Education? Want to reconstruct the conditions on Earth when life originated in the Hadean? Come join us!

www.originscenter.nl/prelife/

Image credit: Mark Garlick

Within the context of the interdisciplinary PRELIFE consortium me and Wim van Westrenen are advertising a joint PhD position on the surface water levels and atmospheric composition of the earliest Earth: www.formingworlds.space/phdposition2.... Deadline: 10th June. Please share! 🌋🌏🧬

PhD: Geodynamic Exploration of Emergence and Evolution of Hadean Paleogeography Do you want to geodynamically model what Earth's surface may have looked like when life emerged? Join us in this PhD project!

Are you a geophycisist/petrologist with a taste for numerical modeling and transdisciplinary collaboration?

Apply now, and until June 10, for our vacant PhD position on Hadean Paleogeography, in context of the Origins Center's PRELIFE project!

www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

Ever wondered what the Hadean ocean looked like? 🌊🌊🌊

Come work with us on 🧪silicate weathering experiments🧪 simulating the geochemistry of the first ocean and be part of a large consortium investigating the origin of life #prelife.
@ingeloes.bsky.social

Apply here: www.uu.nl/en/organisat...

A screen showing a slide "Wat doen wij vandaag?" Below is paper plates with plastic atoms, worksheets showing spectral lines of different elements, diffraction glasses, and Orion Nebula worksheets and stickers.

First group done! One more to go. #SciComm #Astrochemistry #ALMA #Weekendschool

So I was more or less offline (playing Horizon Forbidden West) from December 25 til January 7, and I missed the end of the competition, but I'm happy to see that Io won!

My favorite astronomical object 😍

A paper cutter with a transparency waiting to be chopped on it. 2 stacks of already cut images are in the bottom right.

Then, I spent some time chopping my little transparent images out by phone-light. Hopefully, the students don't mind some weird ones!

I did manage to get the transparancies to work, but I had to alter the images a little since there is no white ink....

A fairly old looking box of transparency film

Fortunately, someone at the institute decided not to throw out old-school transparencies, and I'm Millennial enough to remember they exist... so I decided to street-fight the printer.

A worksheet showing a broad and closeup shot of the Orion Nebula surrounded by 5 stickers. The stickers show artistic representations of observations from submm, x-ray, near-, mid- , and far-infrared telescopes

It's a good thing I checked my supplies because I'm really short on some of the stickers. I have an activity where we use stickers of the Orion Nebula created by @livwithoutlimit.bsky.social to show the importance of using different wavelength observations.

Tomorrow, I'm teaching a guest lesson for IMC Weekendschool students about light and telescopes. This is the third year in a row, and it's always a lot of fun, but I didn't have a chance to go check my supplies until today. The uni turns the lights off out of hours, which is great for energy 😅

a watercolor painting of a hamster pouring water into a coffeepot from a blue kettle, next to him on the table is a hand crank coffee grinder

today's vibe:

One of my favorite possessions is a population science book from 1893 that talks about Vulcan, but raises doubts that it's real.
There's also an entry about the aether (!!)

MINDS. JWST-MIRI Reveals a Peculiar CO2-rich Chemistry in the Drift-dominated Disk CX Tau - Astrobiology Radial drift of icy pebbles can have a large impact on the chemistry of the inner regions of protoplanetary disks.

MINDS. JWST-MIRI Reveals a Peculiar CO2-rich Chemistry in the Drift-dominated Disk CX Tau
astrobiology.com/2024/12/mind... #astrobiology #astrochemistry #astronomy #JWST

Oh damn, I missed a whole week! Well the comment is still true, but voting is closed

Bracket for the Bluesky Planetary Science Image of 2024" contest, featuring small icon close-ups of 16 images grouped into four quarter finals. The 1st & 2nd quarter-final has been decided. There is a dashed box highlighting the four images of the 4th quarter-final. The four semi-finalists have been chosen. There are finalist placeholders against a lunar surface backdrop.

1st semi-final of ✨ #planetaryScience image of 2024 ✨

Mars vs. Earth 🧪⚛️

In the thread below, vote by ❤️ing the image you want to see advance to the final.

🗳️ Voting ends on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 4 p.m. CET/10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST/midnight JST.

Vote vote! Arguably, the first image was prettier, but I love OSIRIS-REx more than any comet 🤩😍

Don't forget to vote before tomorrow! I'm super pleased that Io won the last round, but this one was a tough choice

The sound of silence: how sound brings space to life The vacuum of space is famously silent, but what if you were able to use sound to help you visualise the Universe? What would a black hole…

Check out this article from STFC about our sonification of astronomical data, and beyond! including a new sonification at the end - perceive multi-scale information about galaxy formation in our cosmological simulations... 🧪🔭⚡🐡. medium.com/big-science-...

I hope the response is good because school doesn't work for so many students, and teenagers should have their burnout recognized too. I had my first burnout when I was 14, and no one around me was even aware enough to recognize it.

Maybe it's just that I'm looking for a silver lining, but I'm glad that about half say there's no difference

Super cool study *and* it has all of the good open science practices built in 😍

🗃 🧪 #medicine #law #anthropology and more - fully funded PhD places at Bristol University for Black UK students. Please share!

Yes! I wonder how other people rank them. I have had some arguments with Titan fans about whose Saturnian is best 😆

Hmmm, probably 6th after those 2, Europa, Titan, and Triton. Mimas almost beat Luna just because it looks like the Death Star 😅

Alt-text message here: - Image from https://geniuswithin.org/what-is-neurodiversity/ Top centre working left to right 1: Neurodivergence: dyscalculia – innovative thinking, verbal skills-Verbal skills overlaps with DCD / dyspraxia and Creativity overlaps with Dyslexia 2: Neurodivergence: Dyslexia visual thinking creativity and 3D mechanical skills/Creativity overlaps with dyscalculia-Authenticity overlaps with ADHD 3: Condition: ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder/Attention Dysregulation Hyperactivity Development- Creativity, hyper-focus, Energy and passion/Authenticity overlaps with Dyslexia/hyper-focus overlaps with Tourette Syndrome 4: Neurodivergence: Tourette Syndrome-Observational skills cognitive control, creativity/hyper-focus overlaps with ADHD/Innovative thinking overlaps with acquired Neurodiversity 5: Neurodivergence: Acquired Neurodiversity Adaptability empathy- Innovative thinking overlaps with Tourette Syndrome/Resilience overlaps with Mental Health 6: Neurodivergence: Mental Health Depth of thinking, Expression-Resilience overlaps with Acquired Neurodiversity /Sensory Awareness overlaps with autism 7: Neurodivergence: Autism-Concentration, fine detail processing, memory/Sensory Awareness overlaps with Mental Health/ Honesty overlaps with DCD / dyspraxia 8: Neurodivergence: DCD dyspraxia -Verbal skills, empathy, intuition/Honesty overlaps with Autism/Verbal skills overlaps with Dyscalculia

New paper! 🧵 Exploring Neurodiversity: An Annotated Reading List 🧵

We annotate 9 themes for readers interested in neurodiversity, including the history of neurodiversity, embracing neurodivergent voices, and shifting perspectives on autism, ADHD, and more.

Paper is here: doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Gotta love Io, the second best moon in the solar system (after Enceladus)

Meme in 3 panels Top: Anakin from Attack of the Clones saying "Oh yeah I'm a huge Star Wars fan... Middle: Padme sitting across from him smiling politely while Anakin continues "...too bad Disney ruined it by making it woke." Bottom: Padme smiling falsely with the caption *aggressively presses panic button*

Meme in 4 panels: Top: Beru Lars in Revenge of the Sith smiling and saying "Who are you?" Next: Obi-Wan talking to Beru saying "IDK LOL. Want a free baby?" Next: Beru smiling again "Sure, why not?" Bottom: Zoomed in on Obi-Wan saying "If you need me, I'll be in the mountains doing space hobo stuff"

4 fake book covers for the Silmarillion with the following joke titles: Elves behaving badly, What happens in exile, stays in exile, Fëanor no, Thus is why we can't have nice things

Meme in 3 panels, 2 top and 1 below: Top left: Yoda from Return of the Jedi saying "Luke... when gone am I..." Top right: Luke Skywalker listening to Yoda finish "... the last of the Jedi will you be" Bottom: The heads of Ezra Bridger, Ahsoka Tano, Grogu, and Cal Kestis pasted on the "disappointed cricket fan" meme

The best part was actually sitting and watching them alone. So much of my Star Wars experience in the last 10 (?) years has been tainted by online Fandom discourse and having to critique the media instead of just enjoying it.
The memes have been on fire though 😆