Richard Easther

I can't imagine Crimson sees much revenue from the New Zealand market which is ultimately small but they have bought up US college prep providers. Still ironic.

Was thinking that Crimson and Zuru are both supposed unicorns with a huge exposure to the US - and Zuru at least with with a strong Trumper for a CEO.

I've got $15k. The question is really one of whether you trust them to give it back.

Lovely to see you finding your voice - and congrats on the book deal too.

Wrote a paper where we compared this for stars to Sandage-Loeb for galaxies but just call it Sandage from now on.

She's got a remarkable Dad, tbh. Reckon you'll stay cool longer than most of us.

And you are younger than me. My advice is to not even try.

(Must listen to the podcast in case that is already made clear!)

I feel like this sort of measurement is going to be key tho - and the next ten years will see way more accuracy and it can shed light on the whole theory space and not just the specific models you test with the usual triad of direct detection / astroarticle signals / accelerator searches

This sounds like kind of a big deal...

The Spacetime Beat | Nirmalya Kajuri | Substack All the cool fundamental physics you have been missing out on. Click to read The Spacetime Beat, by Nirmalya Kajuri, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

I am not a big newsletter subscriber (even though I have a sporadic one of my own) but check out @kajunut.bsky.social‬'s new Substack for the good oil on the status of string theory and fun facts about high energy physics physics nirmalyakajuri.substack.com

Kombucha girl...
- shit sandwich ☹️
- democracy sausage 🤔

A snippet of the linked RNZ story about the National Party conference at the weekend. One of several "National Party supporters" is asked how the Prime Minister is going at handling the three party coalition, and replies with this metaphor involving domestic moggies: ""They're very aggressive people that he's in Parliament with, but he's handled it extremely well," said another. "It's like you're the mother in the house, and you have to herd two cats, who do co-operate sometimes, and other times they've got other agendas. From a managerial point of view, I think he's doing excellently in the light of the type of political system we've got."

As the "mother in the house" who has to herd three (3) cats, I'd say this attempt at a metaphor for our current coalition government rests on a fatally flawed understanding of the human-cat relationship, let alone inter-feline politics. #nzpol

www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Wax On, Wax Off: Physics and the Hero's Journey With just a few strokes of chalk, we see that lightning and rainbows are drawn from the same well of knowledge. What’s delightful, from the teacher's perspective, is that this last step is much simple...

Another wonderful post from Richard Easther @rjme.bsky.social
excursionset.com/blog/2025/08...

Thanks Quentin. Appreciate your good opinion.

Lot of discussion on how to assess young people going on right now, but if you want an example of how best to teach in an engaging manner then this is a Very Good Read.

I asked for a show of hands. Surprisingly good uptake.

Wax On, Wax Off: Physics and the Hero's Journey Rainbows and lightning are drawn from the same well of knowledge. That's the deep magic and it is quite something to be there when it is written.

Me, on my blog, waxing poetic on teaching electromagnetism and the hero[ine]'s journey of undergraduate physics...

As someone who has an NCEA qualified barista in the family who is also now doing well at your university I am inclined to agree. (Also, we bought a fancy coffee machine on the strength of it which I now need to learn how to use as flat whites do not make themselves)

It’s time our politicians stop their desperate grasp on the past and move into the 21st century.
What we can also offer in the way of international education in this space (see what I did there?? 😄) is definitely worth decent investment.
Excellent words, @rjme.bsky.social 🙌 #nzpol

Another space to punch above our weight Comment from Auckland University: The success of NZ’s space sector can sometimes get short shrift in a country whose agricultural exports are often seen as our defining characteristic.

My reckons on our unexpected success in space, this time in
@newsroom.co.nz
newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/03/a...

The gloriously fruity Civic Theatre in Auckland, as seen from the Gods, waiting for the curtain to rise on the local premiere of Prime Minister, the documentary about Jacinda Ardern’s time in that role.

Full house at the Civic (2400 of us!) for the NZ premiere of Prime Minister, about Jacinda Ardern’s time as PM.

An engaging, bracing, luminous portrait of a good, smart, kind (and funny!) person giving her utmost on all fronts. Also, a powerful time capsule of things too easily forgotten. 💔❤️ #nziff

Even more true of people one notch below that level. They are all looking for answers to "Tell me about how a time you led an initiative that was met with initial resistance" but without being asked the follow-up "how are you sure the initiative didn't suck?"

quasi-independent orgs with a common accounting and infrastructure, and what we need is not a captain but a cruise director who sees their job as enabling everyone to be better at their chosen thing.

Also I think they see (and are appointed by councils who are used to corps) who see university as essentially unitary orgs with the VC standing proudly at the front of the ship holding a spyglass and steering us into a choppy seas. But we are basically food courts - a collection of ...

See also university leadership

a humpback whale is jumping out of the ocean ALT: a humpback whale is jumping out of the ocean

This.

A cute baby elephant

Elephants are born weighing 250 lbs. They are the biggest babies on earth except for motorists when they see a bike lane

For some reason the clunkiness of the #Internetnz voting experience reminds me of this...

John Cage 4' 33"