Oliver Hahn 🇪🇺

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose The Trump administration has asked NASA staffers to draw up plans to end at least two satellite missions that measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, according to current and former NASA employees.

The anti-science Trumpers may be planning to destroy two working satellites that provide vital measurements about carbon dioxide & climate (and data that forecasts crop yield, drought conditions, & more). They cost $750 million to make but only $15 million/yr to operate.
www.npr.org/2025/08/04/n...

YouTube video by Universität Wien ✨ Join ViCAS - Vienna Center for Advanced Studies | University of Vienna

The University of Vienna launches #ViCAS to foster innovative, interdisciplinary #research and to create a space where ideas thrive beyond borders - #academic, disciplinary, and national. 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬
Find out more about ViCAS and its #fellowships: ⤵️🔍
vicas.univie.ac.at
#AcademicSky #edusky #PhDSky

Photo of Tom Lehrer

My last living musical hero is still my hero but unfortunately no longer living. RIP to the great, great Mr. Tom Lehrer.

My academic job offer was rescinded. I’ll keep going—but U.S. researchers are running out of road Despite an uncertain future, this postdoc will “keep doing the science I love while I still have a bench”

This piece lays bare the personal and emotional toll of staying committed to science while the system around you collapses.

Vanishing funding. Rescinded job offers. Cruel optimism.

Depressing read: www.science.org/content/arti...

geneva observatory building with a mock up of the VLT

First time I get to visit Geneva observatory. Really cool idea to have a mock up of the #VLT on display illustrating its immense size (and providing a nice shaded picnic area). Unbelievable that #ELT will be almost 5x larger in diameter...

Take a long hard look at this graphic, the longest continuous direct measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide. This is the famous Keeling Curve from the station atop Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
Trump and the GOP are closing the observatory.

scripps.ucsd.edu/bluemoon/co2...

Very lucky to teach at the fantastic summer school on 'The Dark Universe' in Les Houches today. Cosmology, good discussions, and most beautiful scenery, what more would you want... Lectures and recordings available from indico.iap.fr/event/25/ove... #cosmology #summerschool #darkuniverse

Ask Ethan: Can we fix the worst prediction in all of science? The measured value of the cosmological constant is 120 orders of magnitude smaller than what's predicted. How can this paradox be resolved?

Can we fix the worst prediction in all of science?

#AskEthan

The cosmological constant is the worst prediction in all of science, off by ~122 orders of magnitude from the observed value.

Even worse: it's two unsolved problems in one.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #space #particles

U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt

Awful news: CMB-S4 is cancelled.

This experiment was massively exciting for the cosmology community. It would have told us about the state of the universe some 400,000 years after the big bang, at a level of precision we can now only dream about

⚛️🧪

www.science.org/content/arti...

📣 Ever considered applying for a ERC Starting Grant? The 2026 Call for proposals is now open!

Application portal 👉 lnkd.in/dcsPAwqJ
Information for Applicants 👉 lnkd.in/dsE6B8eE

Deadline to apply for #ERCStG is 14 October 2025.

The second day of the Vienna #ISAPP summer school on gravitational waves @esivienna.bsky.social starts with Zoltan Haiman’s lecture on the many exciting questions we can tackle in the new era of multimessenger astronomy.

well said!

at @esivienna.bsky.social ...

Very excited that the #ISAPP 2025 summer school on gravitational waves is happening in Vienna for the next two weeks. Great introductory lecture by Clifford Will today…

Ask Ethan: Could the CMB arise from galaxies, not the Big Bang? The CMB has long been considered the Big Bang's "smoking gun" evidence. But after what JWST saw, might it come from early galaxies instead?

Could the CMB arise from galaxies, not the Big Bang?

#AskEthan

A very dubious claim has been making the rounds: that part or even all the CMB isn't of cosmic origin.

Here's how that claim falls apart with even a cursory look at the science.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #physics

Michael Wagner - Deputy Head - Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science: "Now launching: ViCAS, the University of Vienna's new Center for Advanced Studies - an international hub for all disciplines, offering prestigious 9-month fellowships for bold, transformative research in one of Europe's most inspiring cities."

Manuela Baccarini, Vice Rector for Research and International Affairs Systems Science: "Join us at ViCAS and become part of a vibrant community of scholars committed to pushing the boundaries of multi- and transdisciplinary research from the humanities to the natural and life science."

Join us at #ViCAS - a new interdisciplinary Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Vienna! 🏛️
Application for Senior #Fellowships and Early-Career Fellowships are now possible. 👨‍🔬👩‍🔬
📅 Deadline for Application: 1st September 2025.
Apply now: ⤵️
vicas.univie.ac.at
#PhDSky #AcademicSky

Cosmology using numerical relativity - Living Reviews in Relativity This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use ...

Happy to announce that our review on Numerical Relativity with Cosmology with Katy Clough and Josu Aurrekoetxea is now out on Living Reviews in Relativity!

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

My mind is absolutely blown by these stellar halos nearby NGC 4364!

Left: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DR10)
Right: Newly released @vrubinobs.bsky.social imaging!!!

#AstroSci 🧪🔭

A mildly convincing fake TV ad for a 734" TV, shown next to two American football fields and a tiny tiny person for scale. Text reads: Big screen for big data. The only way to view images from the world's largest camera. Equivalent of 400 4k TVs. 25 tons. Make sure to measure your living room first. For the low price of $42! (42 factorial)

Someone please talk me out of this impulse buy so I can view the
@vrubinobs.bsky.social images.

JWST captures its most extreme gravitational lens ever Massive galaxy cluster Abell S1063, 4.5 billion light-years away, bends and distorts the space nearby. Here's what a JWST deep field shows.

JWST captures its most extreme gravitational lens ever

Hubble previously viewed galaxy cluster Abell S1063, finding swirling, distorted lensed galaxies.

With a JWST deep field of that same region, you won't believe what we saw.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astronomy #jwst #hubble

What's that you say? You don't have 400 HD TVs to see the #RubinFirstLook images at full resolution? Fear not, surf through Rubin's view of the cosmos with the @vrubinobs.bsky.social skyviewer app!

Click the link to visit these little beauties 🥰 🧪🔭
🏄‍♀️: skyviewer.app

Here it is: the first set of riches from Rubin's Cosmic Treasure Chest!

Introducing NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's first wide and deep view of the cosmos, the southern region of the Virgo Cluster.

Rubin produced this image in just 10.5 hours over parts of 7 nights! 🔭🧪

youtu.be/Gitit3LwQ20

Statistical Machine Learning for Astronomy -- A Textbook This textbook provides a systematic treatment of statistical machine learning for astronomical research through the lens of Bayesian inference, developing a unified framework that reveals connections ...

An absolutely fantastic textbook on statistics and machine learning by Prof. Yuan-Sen Ting came out this week - and it's free! #astromethods ☄️

I had a read and it's incredibly comprehensive and well-written - I expect this to become *the* foundation book on stats & ML basics in astro.

....meanwhile, in Chile....the 39-meter (128-feet) Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) project is humming along. Note the white pickup truck in the upper left, for scale. Amazing.

guernica.... what horror.... may we hope fascism never returns. consider signing this open letter against the rise of fascism.

another very insightful summary by #AskEthan

Wie rechte Parteien in ganz Europa gegen öffentlich-rechtliche Medien vorgehen Mit dabei bei diesem Plan ist auch die SVP. Ihre Strategie gegen die SRG in vier Schritten.

Exzellenter Überblick aus der Schweiz, wie Rechtsparteien in Europa versuchen, den öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunk zu zerstören:

When do girls fall behind in maths? Gigantic study pinpoints the moment Analysis of almost three million children captures when ‘mathematical gender gap’ first emerges and could help focus efforts to stop girls from falling behind.

I don't post super often here, but I just came by to share this news article with you (published alongside the paper in Nature yesterday).

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

There are a couple of sentences in the news article that stuck with me more than anything:

1/x

How to understand the Universe's most important equation If you want to understand the Universe, cosmologically, you just can't do it without the Friedmann equation. With it, the cosmos is yours.

How to understand the Universe's most important equation

It takes just one equation to understand how the Universe expanded and to predict our ultimate fate.

Even Einstein took years to believe it.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #science #astronomy #astrophysics #physics