Prof. Sam Lawler

Professor of astronomy, farmer of goats. Asteroid (42910). She/her.

Has mostly lived in warmer places, now learning to live respectfully on Treaty 4 lands (Saskatchewan, Canada)

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npub1dls3fr60k92efj3980hthkhjdgcqky8jawpg9tcqmkvd68dt70esy7hn0x

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sundogplanets_at_mastodon.social@mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqsxlcg53a8mz4v5egjnhm4mmtex5vqtzrewhq5z4uqdmxxark4l8ucprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wdmksetjv5hxxmmdqy08wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnwdaehgu3wvfskuep0w3e82um5v4jqmxn00f

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relay.noswhere.com

relay.nostr.band/trusted

nostr.mom

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Last Notes

2024-09-06 00:25:01

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@npub1mvs…35k5 I have a lot of tomatoes! But I have a bunch of row cover cloth, so that's what I'll do after dinner

2024-08-19 19:38:58

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And because this one was American, I didn't have to awkwardly explain what a "semi-truck" was and then say the word "lorry" out loud for the first time in my life (unlike the BBC interview I did the day after I recorded this one, hahaha)
https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/112887943317837685

2024-08-08 19:30:29

Excellent new report by the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG): WasteX: Environmental harms of satellite internet mega-constellations https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/wastex-environmental-harms-of-satellite-internet-mega-constellations/
The report has great info on why 10s of thousands of throwaway satellites are terrible, and 2 powerful recommendations:
1. Pause launches until environmental reviews are done
2. Stop the categorical exclusion of satellites from environmental review

2024-08-06 21:07:41

First batch of Chinese Starlink equivalent satellites launched today https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1820736001746124836
And AST Mobile got permission to launch a few dozen (?) freaking giant super bright satellites, as well as one in non-geosynchronous orbit that will severely disrupt radio astronomy.
I guess all this is good fuel for my incredibly angry 10 minute talk for the IAU General Assembly tomorrow (that will happen at around 6am my time) about why SpaceX sucks. And another letter-writing project, coming soon

2024-08-02 15:56:31

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@npub1wnt…wtvr Oh yeah, it'll be a great visit, I'm really looking forward to it. I just don't want to expose them to the hardest part of farming (animal deaths) if I can avoid it reasonably

2024-08-02 15:40:15

Our cat Gandalf couldn't pee yesterday so got to do a $$$ ER vet visit late last night. No answers as to why, but he seems to be mostly ok this morning (though still quite stoned). Only highlight was getting called "Gandalf's mom" which made me feel very wise indeed.
Woke up to find that my fridge has a SINGLE SCREW into plastic that apparently bears the weight/torque of every single shelf. And that screw failed overnight. Cleaned up and badly "fixed" with zip ties. WTF engineers.

2024-08-01 20:31:26

Well, I learned something new, thanks Wikipedia. One person in the world has already been hit by space junk, and survived: https://aerospace.org/article/satellite-reentry-manipulating-plunge

2024-08-01 17:28:34

My interview from yesterday is now up on the BBC Inside Science podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0021jqc
I am extremely happy about how it came out! They let me have the final word about how there is a limit to how much stuff we can have in orbit, period, without serious consequences.
(And you all who saw my posts yesterday can have a small chuckle about how they edited my "lorry not semi" comparison haha)

2024-08-01 17:11:11

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@npub1cg4…5ed5 COOL!! Thanks for letting me know! I should go find it...

2024-08-01 02:40:59

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Just so you all know, tonight the mama hen was calmly sitting on her 15 chickies when I went to check on them, and I very carefully stuck my hands into the warm cute peeping mass of floofiness and gently patted many tiny chicks, and after an incredibly exhausting day of yelling about space junk in a dozen different ways, that was *exactly* the recharge I needed.

2024-08-01 02:35:12

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@npub176y…fj2k You are very welcome, it was lovely chatting with him, and I'm happy to answer more questions (if I can!)

2024-07-31 21:01:28

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@npub1rh3…s73j Ha I think I did that too! The farm where the space debris fell is about an hour drive from my house.

2024-07-31 19:25:50

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And in my Scientific American podcast interview yesterday, I gave measurements in pounds, feet, and kilometers. Which is *extremely* Canadian. But at least I didn't have to try to figure out a different word for semi-truck... (which honestly isn't a great comparison but that's what I've been using)

2024-07-31 19:22:26

Funny reflection from earlier this morning: during the BBC Inside Science podcast interview this morning, I tried to give a comparison for how big the space junk pieces were. Without thinking about my audience, I said "It's about the size of a semi-truck hood" and all the British people on the call said "...a what?" and I managed to stammer out "Uh...a lorry? Is that what a lorry is?"
Anyway...that was today's hilarious failure in trans-atlantic sci-comm.

2024-07-31 16:44:21

I just said yes to 2 more interviews in the next 24 hours while waiting for Big Important Meeting. I'm glad there's so much interest in space junk, I guess? Maybe now talk to SpaceX and get THEM to give up their time for this problem they've created? (Oh right, SpaceX never actually talks to anyone, because they suck)

2024-07-31 14:40:35

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@npub1nj3…th5x Farm cats just show up! So yes, we have farm cats

2024-07-31 14:39:47

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@npub176y…fj2k Thank you :)

2024-07-31 14:39:07

Ok! 2 interviews done, both went really well (I'm super excited about the BBC one especially, I feel really good about it - will link when that's up tomorrow).
Now on to the other big stressful space junk discussion that I have to nail today!

2024-07-31 14:37:59

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@npub1ved…c8mj Oh, co-authored by me! I love the headline you chose for this article

2024-07-31 02:56:27

Now...should I set an alarm so I wake up in the middle of the night to check for auroras? Hmmm

2024-07-30 17:03:44

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@npub14fx…jp2v This is my favourite site for aurora info: https://spaceweather.com/

2024-07-30 17:02:02

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Scientific American podcast interview in an hour, #SolsticeSchool talk tonight, BBC Inside Science podcast interview early tomorrow morning.
I hope I can manage to stay coherent and retell the Saskatchewan space junk story well multiple times, while also making clear the terrifying implications of what's happening with rapid commercialization in orbit...

2024-07-30 13:39:19

Oh gosh I said yes to way too many things... the next couple of days are going to be a lot...
On the plus side, I emailed in to my local morning CBC radio show (that I'm on frequently to talk about astro stuff) since there's a good chance of auroras tonight, and I got to hear my email read on-air while I was milking goats a few minutes later. Hahah my life is so great and so weird.

2024-07-30 02:16:39

I'm looking more into the Axoim private astronaut thing and it's really fucking weird. The language?! "Are you ready to become one of the pioneers opening space to all?" (where "all" = "billionaires")
"Whatever you choose, space offers creative freedom, inspiration, and a global megaphone that simply does not exist on Earth." (WHAT IS THIS SHIT?)
https://www.axiomspace.com/start/private-astronauts
More realistic marketing: It's totally worth dropping garbage from orbit on random people. They're likely poorer than you.

2024-07-29 23:33:47

Oh hmmm the biggest thing I had to do today was make my #SolsticeSchool talk and somehow I had 1000 other things that happened instead. Well, I guess I know what I'm working on tonight.

2024-07-29 20:58:08

Well, I just got my first email from someone trying to pitch an article to me, as a journalist (cue "Dammit, Jim, I'm an astrophysicist, not a journalist!").
Hilarious side effects from publishing in Scientific American, I guess...

2024-07-29 17:13:19

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@npub1hr0…4k2l I hope it's awesome and I'm sad I don't get to meet you in person!

2024-07-29 16:32:57

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@npub1hr0…4k2l I'm presenting remotely :(

2024-07-29 03:00:24

Welp, this is what my Slack looks like right now. I guess that means it's time for bed!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/867/539/042/763/543/original/096a88ca3a770d79.png

2024-07-29 02:35:37

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@npub1aqf…7zzg Keep them! I'm fortunate to have a big barn, so I can have lots of chickens, it's so great.

2024-07-29 02:25:21

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@npub15sd…5gcf My 8yo actually found them! I heard lots of peeping all afternoon but was too busy to give it much thought...I assumed it was just a very loud barn swallow nest!

2024-07-27 21:03:23

Someday I won't have to program telescope observations every single day during dark runs, and while I'll be a little bit sad, I truly won't miss that panic-moment in the middle of picking peas or walking in the woods and remembering "Oh shit! I have telescope time tonight!" (Or looking up and noticing that it's a 3rd quarter moon and having that exact same panic-moment...)

2024-07-26 22:10:53

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@npub10qm…0f9y I think a recording will be available afterwards if you sign up, though I'm not 100% sure of that.

2024-07-26 15:09:58

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@npub1nks…zpwh I am much happier to categorize spiders as housemates than flies or ants...

2024-07-26 15:01:32

A tiny roundweb spider decided to build a web on my desk overnight. I like spiders more than I like flies, so she can stay (at least until I need my headphones, which she unfortunately chose as an anchor point...)

2024-07-25 22:48:25

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@npub1tp2…4l9u (I'm only giving the talk because another committee I'm on is paying the registration fee)

2024-07-25 22:47:55

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@npub1tp2…4l9u I doubt it. Registration for this meeting (even remote) was several hundred dollars. Stupid.

2024-07-25 22:47:25

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@npub1xwz…mvye It's going to be like 6am and I'll be giving the talk from my house. I might just bring my own pillow to have handy.

2024-07-25 22:28:01

I just put together the outline for my talk "No, that's not a UFO, it's Starlink" for the IAU general assembly in a couple weeks (I'm giving my talk remotely at stupid-early-o-clock in the morning since the IAU GA is in South Africa).
Just writing the outline made me ragingly angry. I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it through the talk without rage-screaming by the end of it. Maybe the early time is a good thing...

2024-07-25 21:39:31

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Well, the reporter never got a hold of the physics prof, so I just said some things for tomorrow morning's CBC Saskatoon broadcast about radio waves and space weather and hopefully wasn't too wrong. Anyway... maybe if the smoke ever clears we'll get some auroras again?

2024-07-25 21:38:16

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@npub10uk…tf7d I'm good with just covering Saskatchewan :)

2024-07-25 20:18:19

It is hilarious to be the only research astronomer in the province. I just got cold-called by a reporter who noticed they were picking up way more radio stations than usual, and had talked to a ham radio person who said "maybe it's space weather" so they called me, the one astronomer (I study cold rocks, not space weather).
I politely pointed them to a physics prof at the *other* university (yes there are only 2 in Sask) who does indeed study auroras, hopefully she answers her phone today!

2024-07-25 19:56:18

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@npub1qk5…jlda Nice to see you here again!

2024-07-25 18:16:54

Well, just because of weird logistics, looks like I'm going to be in my office on campus most/all days next week, which means a lot less time for farm/astro multitasking like I usually do in the summer (coding/writing + cheesemaking/breadmaking is really the best combination ever), so time to try to get ahead on some farm stuff... cheese waxing done, next maybe more strawberries?

2024-07-25 16:30:56

Everything feels pretty awful today. But my goats are happily eating grass and cattails in a somewhat swampy area (the llama is apparently extremely excited about having plants to eat that are as tall as him)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/848/071/793/105/258/original/4d8d3534a0b070ca.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/848/073/480/387/356/original/c2e2db9bede2e963.jpg

2024-07-25 03:05:53

Oh man I'm so sorry Jasper.

2024-07-24 22:02:32

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@npub12j3…y6qj haha please share if you do write one, I agree

2024-07-24 16:23:15

Hey cool I got the last quote in this article by @npub1tzj…m74z
"There’s too much stuff in orbit,” she says. “We can’t keep using the ground and the atmosphere as a dumpster.”
https://www.science.org/content/article/burned-satellites-are-polluting-atmosphere

2024-07-24 03:44:56

Picked one basket of strawberries, we ate half for dessert and I just hulled and stuck the other half in the freezer. Made a few batches of garlic scape pesto for the freezer. Finished up the last batch of garlic scape salt. Feeling grateful for future food!
Tomorrow is supposed to be quite hot here (humidex 40 blah) so I'll try to get another batch of strawberries and move the goat fence first thing in the morning, then come back inside and do astronomy/computer stuff while it's hot.

2024-07-23 19:31:15

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Internet held up just fine! And that was actually a pretty fun interview - the one right before me was with the CEO of some copper mine that's about to open so I had no idea what to expect. But the host had good interview questions, and even brought up me offering donuts to the SpaceX guys. Phew I need some lunch now...

2024-07-23 18:23:26

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@npub1j4f…4d7e My interview for it is now going to be scheduled next Wednesday, so probably means it won't air for 2 weeks? Not sure what their turnaround time is.

2024-07-23 15:35:52

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I lost connection once during the interview, but I'm 90% sure that was MS Teams' fault and not my internet, but I'm on a rural internet connection so who knows (I totally understand why people jump on Starlink - the options for rural internet access are terrible. But Starlink scares the shit out of me in so many ways so I'm never touching that).
Anyway...I'll be on BBC Inside Science next week sometime and that's pretty cool!

2024-07-23 14:52:06

BBC pre-interview soon, then have to catch up on lots of emails, then make sure I'm ready for the Bloomberg live interview in the afternoon. All the while hoping my internet stays stable and that my willpower holds so I can manage to not scratch all the mosquito bites on my face...

2024-07-23 01:46:44

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One Monday of not checking my email is... a lot of emails. Even in the summer.
Gotta hit the ground running and get my head back into satellite pollution land for tomorrow. First, a BBC pre-interview (on MS Teams 🤨 ) for a BBC Inside Science interview sometime on Wednesday, then my mosquito-bitten face is going to be on a live video interview for BNN Bloomberg (I think it's Toronto-based, and I think it's all economic stuff, so this'll be different...)

2024-07-23 00:30:04

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@npub1wwv…wxht Fortunately the air quality wasn't too bad where we were backpacking

2024-07-19 22:09:08

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@npub1jry…x953 I had never heard of this!

2024-07-19 21:17:50

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@npub19zx…a8r8 Haha yeah your hay season is exactly reversed from mine!

2024-07-19 21:17:14

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@npub1a6x…gfnu Yeah, it's really weird. I think it used to have a better pulley on it. The current setup only lets it easily open halfway, but that's enough for getting hay in and out, so we haven't fixed it yet.

2024-07-19 21:15:33

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@npub1exq…y9dj Yeah, I'm very carefully leaving aside any bales that are suspiciously heavy

2024-07-19 21:15:11

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@npub1xlm…62wp Oh I thought this was going to be like...plastic bales or something. It's a video game?! Who plays this?!!

2024-07-19 18:09:15

Today is hay day! Still waiting for about 2/3 of it to be dry enough for the neighbour to bale (hopefully this afternoon), but we got some packed away in the barn.
Loading the hay on the super old hay elevator (that came with the farm) is one of my favourite (but also most exhausting) farm activities. Basically like loading up future bottles of milk, since this is what my goats will eat all winter when everything is frozen.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/814/477/238/645/894/original/57c594153fde7fc7.jpg

2024-07-19 02:42:56

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Decided to pick up the hay tomorrow. We'll see if that invokes Murphy's Law of Rain (we really do need rain, but it would be great to not have it rain a bunch on my goats' winter food...)

2024-07-19 02:37:46

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@npub17ae…quaq Huh I would not have guessed they are so pungent!

2024-07-19 02:36:05

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@npub1mwf…x8p6 oh yeah, I do that too. But I have like....4 giant totes full of them. We grow a lot of garlic.

2024-07-19 00:31:42

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Some scapes are now fermenting (I haven't tried lactofermenting them, that is the laziest way to pickle, so going to try it) and 4 sheets of shredded scapes+salt are in the dehydrator. Walking through the room with the dehydrating garlic might actually be exposure to a bioweapon. Everything smells like garlic. I am become garlic.

2024-07-18 21:42:23

Today:
-I had a lovely chat with another book author and got some great advice and inspiration
-I tried to help with 2 fights going on within 2 big science collaborations I'm in (why are humans so...human sometimes).
-Listened to a meeting about space policy and the UN (all of those first 3 while making cheese very slowly).
-Moved a goat fence and made my goats very happy.
-Now: deal with the garlic scape harvest: dehydrating and maybe pickling.
-Next: loading hay bales into barn...long day

2024-07-18 16:03:03

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TIL that BBC uses MS Teams 😬

2024-07-18 14:23:52

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Haha as expected I have to cut like half of my references (which is...obnoxious) and also add a couple of little summary bits that were totally not communicated to me. Not too bad, I guess.

2024-07-18 14:23:06

Oh huh BBC wants to talk to me about space junk?!!

2024-07-18 03:31:44

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@npub1mju…6mtq I'll put it on arxiv after it's refereed, for sure. And probably put it on arxiv even if the publisher rejects it, haha. It was a lot of work.

2024-07-18 03:29:30

Finally submitted big Kuiper Belt thing I've been writing for a while that's been eating up a stupid amount of time. I'm very happy with how it came out, and I think it'll be super useful for new students working with me on Kuiper Belt research projects (which was the whole reason I agreed to write it), but I have a feeling the editor/publisher are going to shred it (mostly because I ignored some of the directions...whoopsies)

2024-07-17 15:16:48

The person who bought 4 goats from me yesterday texted this morning to let me know that they totally love the new goats, and they gave a fair bit of milk this morning. It makes me extremely happy to hear they have gone to a home where they are loved and appreciated!

2024-07-17 14:33:45

Haha oh crap I just re-read the instructions for a thing I'm supposed to submit today and I'm only supposed to have 30 references...I have like 130. Hm...maybe that's an issue that the editor can sort out 😬

2024-07-17 14:26:12

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@npub1x47…x3zf I saw your images on NASA TV as a teenager!! Definitely a big part of making me want to become an astronomer

2024-07-16 18:44:25

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@npub16ng…7jj7 I remember getting up early with my mom to watch NASA TV and see the press conferences live!

2024-07-16 18:24:03

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I was supposed to get a call from a reporter to talk about space junk right after the goat sale, but he just emailed to say that Toronto is flooding and he just got off the phone with Weather Canada and has to write that up right now.
Which is so extremely 2024: "Sorry I can't do the interview about garbage that billionaires dropped on you from orbit, climate change is causing too many problems in my city right now"

2024-07-16 18:16:26

Sold 4 goats!! Still processing the conversation I had with the person who bought them... really odd combination of wanting to chat more with them (very cool farmy stuff!) and very carefully skirting around what were clearly their rant-inducing topics. Ah, rural Saskatchewan.
Back to writing about the Kuiper Belt. So close to done...(which is good since I have to submit this tonight)

2024-07-16 16:16:42

Holy cow guys, I think I'm actually going to write a book!

2024-07-16 15:52:45

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@npub16ng…7jj7 I started reading the first one a few months ago and had to stop even though it was really good. Too close to reality, too close to now. 😬

2024-07-16 02:20:29

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@npub1u5e…54h0 I mentally sorted out SO MANY things while I was riding! I need to make myself get out and do it more regularly

2024-07-16 02:19:32

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@npub1lml…yucw I absolutely shouldn't be, I haven't thought about it in 10 years 😬

2024-07-15 20:56:09

That weird feeling when you try to search for more information on a particular topic and the top result is... a research paper that you wrote 10 years ago. Sigh.

2024-07-15 20:41:20

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@npub10qm…0f9y I bet someone has done some modelling of this. I do not want to write that paper, god that's depressing. I'd guess decades if it's just low Earth orbit?

2024-07-15 19:17:13

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@npub19zx…a8r8 Yeah, a couple of different groups of astronomers I work with are watching that closely (and worrying about it)

2024-07-15 18:50:49

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@npub1mhp…6t73 Until his Starlink satellites put us into Kessler Syndrome. Then no Mars, either.

2024-07-15 18:50:30

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@npub1kvz…k9es that is probably true - and that statistic is probably somewhere on Jonathan McDowell's website: https://planet4589.org/

2024-07-15 18:43:00

It's been true for a while now, but it still makes me incredibly sad that there are more Starlink satellites in orbit than measured exoplanets in the universe.

2024-07-15 16:48:28

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@npub1plw…ke8c Oh you should definitely still buy a bunch of goats and cheese presses, I don't regret that for a moment! Just be sure to keep in mind that it's for your own cheese and not for profit :)

2024-07-15 14:44:38

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@npub1plw…ke8c If only! I guess no regulations in Stardew Valley! (I do make lots of cheese, but not to sell, just to eat, because all the regulations are set up for giant corporations, not small farms)

2024-07-14 17:17:58

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@npub18zt…3eka The one part of the article I didn't write myself was the headline :) That's all on the excellent editor

2024-07-14 17:17:38

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@npub197j…hmxx bookmarking for later! Thanks

2024-07-14 16:36:39

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Also totally relevant, because this kind of thing makes my impostor syndrome flare up terribly, yesterday I was listening to the Ologies episode Andragogology, and this quote is perfect, I really need to internalize it:
"You have to remember that the imposter syndrome is just a
byproduct of someone not wanting you there, and fuck it" -Alie Ward

2024-07-14 16:34:03

Hey cool, check out the homepage of Scientific American!
...Eeek
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/785/801/205/855/374/original/a591ced224bed4bd.png

2024-07-14 16:13:42

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Background info: I separate the mamas and babies overnight (they are in stalls right next to each other), and I milk the mamas first thing in the morning. There's quite a lot of yelling goats while I do the milking, as the anticipation builds for everyone being reunited for the day. Then, I finally put them all back together, the babies all nurse, and then they all go hang out and eat grass together all day - and this setup lets me only milk once a day.

2024-07-14 16:10:58

Good morning from the land of baby-goat-and-puppy waterfalls
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/785/708/519/557/067/original/9199fb895e4a408f.mp4

2024-07-13 17:51:37

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@npub1k7s…lnjh No debris (that I know of) in other ridings so far...

2024-07-12 23:44:19

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@npub1pfv…fepy Oh that's really great advice! Maybe I'll send another to PM's office

2024-07-12 22:37:54

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@npub1vu3…fyyf One of the farmers who originally found debris tried contacting them to ask what to do with his 50 pound piece of space junk and got nowhere

2024-07-12 21:13:54

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@npub1k7s…lnjh Scheer 😭

2024-07-12 21:00:17

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I ended up sending it to my MP, the minister of public safety, and the minister of sci/innovation/industry. My MP is almost certainly not going to respond, so I made sure to note that my SciAm article includes the fact that his office never got back to me. Maybe will make the ministers (who are both in a different party than my MP) listen more?