Ben (he/him)

Milky Way, mountains and star reflections in a river pool.

As I stood in complete darkness to get the shots for this image, a huge fish jumped and scared the hell out of me. #photography #astrophotography #stars #Colorado #nightskyphotography #photographersofbluesky #weareroamers #photographersunited #nightsky #starry #milkyway #panophotos #msmambassador

Mirrors in space and underwater curtains: can technology buy us enough time to save the Arctic ice caps? A conference in Cambridge this week will explore a raft of geoengineering ideas to cool the region down – and attempt to address the fears of those who argue the risks outweigh the benefits

A rather disappointing article in the guardian, presenting a one pretty sided review of geoengingeering solutions to climate change. The scientific community needs to do more to vocally challenge these ideas and promote cutting carbon to combat climate change. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NASA Announces Bold Plan To Still Exist By 2045 WASHINGTON—In what is being described as the most ambitious mission ever undertaken in the space agency’s history, NASA officials announced at a press conference Tuesday their bold new plan to still e...

NASA Announces Bold Plan To Still Exist By 2045

This week on #Strataday we're at remote Surprise Ck in the #HudsonBayLowlands, n. #Manitoba & the type section of the Surprise Creek Fm, overlain (just under the lip of the waterfall) by the Caution Creek Fm; Bad Cache Rapids Gp, Late #Ordovician (~450 MYA) - not an easy area to get to or work in! 🇨🇦

A person carrying a large backpack is wading away from the camera through shallow water along the rocky shore of a large river. To their left is a vertical cliff face (about 10 metres high) of well-bedded, tan-coloured limestone, topped by brush and spruce trees. On their right is the main river channel, with water breaking over submerged rocky ledges that form a series of rapids reaching to the far densely wooded shore.

An inflatable river boat with outboard motor is hauled up and tied on the rocky shore of the river. A vertical cliff of bedded limestone rises to the left of the boat, partly shadowed by overhanging brush. Behind the boat, rough water of the river rapids can be seen extending across to the far shore. Sun reflects off the river under a partly clouded sky.

Digging into the old 35 mm slide archives for #Strataday: summer 1993 & paleontological fieldwork at remote Grand Rapids on the Mattagami River. Checking mid #Devonian (~394 MYA) marine carbonates of the Kwataboahegan Fm -best vertical exposure in the #HudsonBayLowlands of #Ontario 🇨🇦 #Canada 🇨🇦

Images are a series of slide scans from 1997 during joint fieldwork with personnel from the @manitobamuseum.bsky.social. This first photo shows a shoreline view of a long line of cliffs (about 10 metres high) in well-bedded and joint-fractured pale grey dolostone. The cliffs are shaded beneath spruce trees and brush, but the foreground of a broad beach of water-rounded cobbles is in bright sun. Low waves break on the shore, which continues in the distance around a curving embayment.

Two persons dressed in field gear stand on a talus apron of angular blocks of buff-grey dolostone, looking left towards a sheer face of bedded and joint-fractured rock of the same composition. The cliff is about 10 metres in height. At the top of the image, spruce trees and aspens stand at the cliff edge against a blue sky. Where the cliff has collapsed to produce the talus apron, an uprooted spruce has fallen and lies at an angle above the two people.

A view from below the cliff face of thin-bedded grey-buff dolostone, showing a dangerous curving overhang produced by intense shoreline erosion. In the background, blue lake water gives way to shoreline trees, as the cliffs diminish in height under a bright hazy sky.

A view from beneath one of the many overhanging rock ledges of the shoreline cliffs. On the underside of the exposed buff-coloured bedding plane are darker brown fossil thalli of the probable ochrophyte alga, Winnipegia cuneata. The field of view is about 15 cm across.

For #Strataday I take you to the remote Cat Head Peninsula, Lake Winnipeg, #Manitoba 🇨🇦, source of the Cat Head-McBeth Pt #Lagerstatte & yesterday's Winnipegia post. Here, Late #Ordovician (~450 MYA) Cat Head Mbr (Red River Fm) dolostones outcrop in extensive wave-cut cliffs. More in alt text.

Telephoto of the almost full moon

Telephoto of the almost full moon

Beautiful Moon tonight, at nearly 94% illumination. #Photography #astrophotography 🔭

📷 Fujifilm X-T4 | XF 70-300mm

Victim complex

It's the first International Day of #Glaciers!
The ice worldwide is under threat due to rapid #climatechange. This day puts a spotlight on glaciers as a vulnerable but globally relevant element of the climate system. It is not yet too late to save them!
@vaw-glaciology.bsky.social

Thriving ecosystem discovered following iceberg calving - British Antarctic Survey ANTARCTICA: Scientists have discovered vibrant communities of ancient sponges and corals on the newly exposed seafloor following the calving of the giant A-84 iceberg. This offers new insights into ho...

What happens in the secret world under the Antarctic ice? 🤔

The international team on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel, the 'Falkor (too)' have been investigating a newly exposed section of seafloor, never before accessible to humans.

Full story 👇
www.bas.ac.uk/media-post/t...

Complex plot of the function exp(-1/z^2). Brightness indicates the magnitude of the complex number, the hue the argument (phase angle). Created with SageMath/mathplotlib. A colorful abstract cloverleaf.

This has maybe been the first time I saw mathematics as art. I just wanted to see and feel how the complex function e^(-1/z^2) really looks like. Fortunately I found the complex_plot function in SageMath!
#SciArt

“Unfortunately, the practice has had to take the decision to cease our prescribing and monitoring of hormonal medication in adult transgender patients. This is not a decision we have taken lightly but due to the closure of NHS centres including the Tavistock, we feel we are not in a position to provide this additional service. This is because of a lack of support and the work being outside of our expertise. The changes will occur from 1st April 2025. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this will cause patients and advise that you contact your specialist care provider to seek alternative arrangements.”

Yesterday a Sheffield gp surgery notified it’s trans patients that they would no longer provide them with hrt, regardless of their transition status. I have many friends who’ve been affected by this, including several post-op, putting their physical health at serious risk.

Greedy 🪐

Another excellent process pic from @andrealuck.bsky.social of Olympus Mons!

This is the biggest mountain/volcano in the Solar System.

The scale is hard to consider from orbit, but it's roughly the size of Poland and stands about 3 x the height of Everest.

It's huge!

📸 NordNordWest / Seddon

This image is a comparison of the faint extensions and tidal tail regions of the Antennae Galaxies Extreme Deep Field - 75 Hours with a deep image by David Malin of the Anglo Australian Observatory (AAO) made from UK Schmidt plates.

Comparison with deep image from UK Schmidt plates (AAO) - From Rolf Wahl Olsen - https://flic.kr/p/ooAjtj

Why Is Mars Red? Martian dust is red because of rust — but the rust on Mars is not the same iron oxide mineral found on Earth.

Why Is Mars Red? — skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne...

In this incredible image from Firefly Aerospace, the Sun slowly rises above the lunar horizon, a dazzling disk emerging from the black void, casting sharp, razor-sharp shadows across the crater-pocked surface. There is no atmosphere to diffuse the light, no soft twilight, just a brutal transition from darkness to revelation. And there, the Blue Ghost lander begins to experience its “first lunar sunrise.”

🧵
In this vibrant image, #Firefly’ s Blue Ghost lander has captured its first sunrise on the Moon, a unique moment that resonates with profound meaning, both practical and symbolic.

It is a dawn both in the literal sense and in the metaphorical one:

Credit: Firefly Aerospace

#BlueGhost 🔭 🧪 1/4

The surface of the ocean is frozen, but in a layer of round patches that all tesselate together.

This #PancakeDay here's our recipe for pancake ice:

🧊 Get some ice forming on the top of your water
🌊 Bump bits of ice together with small waves
♻️ This rounds their edges as they freeze!
🥞 Grow the disc edges with trapped frozen foam

These pancakes will be up to 3m wide + 10m thick.
Bon Appétit 👩‍🍳

Yes! alport castles

It's crazy how much a good view with friends and some sunshine can really make the world seem okay

Google search result for “when will the world end?” That shows artificial intelligence results at the top

Google search result for “when will the world fucking end?” That does not show artificial intelligence results at the top

Pro tip: add a swear and get rid of the AI results in Google. You’re fucking welcome.

This image features a false color image of Pluto with a vaguely psychedelic appearance in hues of pink, red-orange, and various nuances of green. The famous heart-shaped feature is clearly visible in the foreground.

🔭 🧪 #planetsci #histsci 🧵
1/
Here's a psychedelic Pluto's heart for a cosmic #ValentinesDay!

New Horizons scientists made this false color image to highlight the many subtle color differences between Pluto's distinct regions.

Source➡️ www.nasa.gov/image-articl...

Such a solid scientific use of this fabulous resource: Hubble’s blue-sensitive cameras are the ONLY ones that can detect Neptune’s rapidly-evolving Great Dark Spots. 🔭 #planetsci

Habitat site selection on Mars: Suitability analysis and mapping Growing interest in extraterrestrial colonization has increasingly centered on Mars, bolstered by extensive environmental data from Mars exploration m…

'This study evaluated potential habitats on Mars by considering factors such as temperature, wind, radiation, terrain, dust, and water ice.' 🧪 #PlanetaryScience

New version of Jmars just before winter break? Perfect Christmas present

YouTube video by SETI Institute SETI Live: Women With Impact, a conversation with SETI AIR Director Bettina Forget

Out of the 1,578 cataloged and named craters on the lunar surface, 32 are named after women – that is barely 2%. SETI Artist in Residence Program Director Bettina Forget decided to highlight the issue through her artwork. 🧪 #PlanetaryScience #WomenInStem

@interplanetary.bsky.social has some of my favorite #planetaryScience animations/info graphics out there 🤩🔭🧪

Today's image of the day focuses on glacial lakes still growing near Yakutat, Alaska and references Senaca Lake, the longest Finger Lake.
In 1984, they covered about 130 square kilometers. By 2024, they spanned 240 square kilometers. #glaciology
earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/15363...

Bell Burnell: Physics star gives away £2.3m prize One of the UK's leading female scientists donates her £2.3m science prize to help more women, ethnic minority and refugee students to become physics researchers.

In 2018, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Physics for her discovery of pulsars. The judges and founders of that prize did what the Nobel Committee should have done.

She used the prize money to set up a fund supporting students from under-represented groups. (11/n)