Author | Lightnews

Reposted by David Rodriguez

🎃 Dr. Jessie Christianstein 🎃 @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 18d

This is now more than double the NASA budget, which the White House wants to slash.

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 19d

BREAKING: The Trump administration is doubling its Argentina bailout to $40 billion.

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Eos @eos.org · 20d

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory laid off 11% of its staff today, including many people working on an active Mars rover mission. “There’s no whitewashing the ‘doomsday-eve’ feeling that's looming over all our heads,” wrote one JPL’er. eos.org/research-and...

JPL Workforce Decimated - Eos

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., laid off 550 people, a roughly 11% reduction of its workforce.

eos.org

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

MAST - Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes @mast-news.bsky.social · Oct 2

Feature update: we've added album previews to our JWST Search interface! Also included with our update is a Light/Dark mode toggle. archive.stsci.edu/contents/new...

The JWST image preview feature; seven images are displayed in a grid.

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · Oct 1

Thousands of NASA employees to bid farewell to the NASA they knew

Yes, NASA science is being destroyed, and the NASA we know is actively in the process of being gutted.

Here are the receipts.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astro #nasa #usa

Thousands of NASA employees to bid farewell to the NASA they knew

As October begins, thousands of longtime NASA employees are leaving the agency. 4000+ will exit by January 9, 2026, changing NASA forever.

bigthink.com

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

David Grinspoon @drfunkyspoon.bsky.social · Sep 29

“The Destruction of NASA’s Mission” Whistleblowers reveal OMB’s Unconstitutional Plot to Gut the Agency

New from Committee on Commerce, Science, Transportation Ranking Member Maria Cantwell.

NOTE: This is indeed what I have seen going on inside NASA.
🧪🔭

www.commerce.senate.gov/services/fil...

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Dr Pamela L Gay @starstryder.space · Sep 21

When flagship programs are underfunded by Congress, NASA & NSF have to find that money elsewhere, which means cutting programs that are paying the salaries of researchers and people supporting research.

Bottom line - stop calling it "cutting waste" when the gov't cuts science. It's mass layoffs.

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Sep 20

Made a simple little #game with #Godot Engine over the past month, inspired by the old Ski Free. Just something to show off to my nieces when I visit them next.
You can play it at strakul.itch.io/penguin-sled...
Source code available at github.com/dr-rodriguez...

Title screen for a game called Penguin Sledding. The title is in bold blue letter, with the background a solid white. There are three buttons with the text Start, Credits, Quit. The Start button is blue while the others are grey. There are a few pixel art sprites in the screen, including green trees, grey clouds, a dark grey rock, and a penguin to the left.

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Sep 18

Oh no, I'm becoming a dice goblin. Send help.... or send dice.
Moar dice! #TTRPG

A pile of different-colored polyhedral dice

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Sep 13

Got my books and materials for the #Cosmere #RPG! I could have used this a few weeks ago when I ran a one-shot 🤣
Now I get to do a deep dive (I only skimmed the PDFs I got earlier).
#TTRPG

A collection of books, handouts, dice, and cards for a role-playing game. Some of the text reads Stormlight World Guide and Welcome to Roshar. They sit atop grey and black bedding.

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Sep 13

New Blog Post: A book review for Translation State by Ann Leckie
Another book in the Imperial Rach universe featuring 3 distinct characters exploring what it means to be human
strakul.blogspot.com/2025/09/book...
#Books 💙📚 #booksy

strakul.blogspot.com

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Sep 6

Fun day at the #Maryland Renaissance Festival with work friends. Very hot and crowded, but got to buy some dice and see music and shows, including Jacques ze Whipper's show, which pops up from time to time in my YouTube Shorts.
#RennFaire

Folks (I believe all costumed cast members) open the festival with dancing around the pole

King Henry VIII inspects a "painting" of an eligible noblewoman to consider her for marriage. This was part of this year's storyline.

Jacques ze Whipper, internet sensation, with some opening remarks and whipping action. Alas, no Kpop Demon Hunter song requests were permitted this time.

Ses Carny on stage throwing knives at his assistant. Well, technically around the assistant- no one wanted to get hurt.

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Aug 30

Watched a few videos and tutorials on #Godot after seeing a developer talk about their process. It's quite interesting and after only a few hours I made something: a simple dice roller.
Not sure how far I'll take this- I've never done any game development, but now I have all sorts of ideas. 😅

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Aug 24

New Blog Post: A book review for Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
strakul.blogspot.com/2025/08/book...
The first book of The Expanse series, a modern take on space opera in the solar system (with a really good TV show)
#Books #booksky 📚💙

Book Review: Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Random thoughts from a book-loving Puerto Rican astronomer/data scientist in Baltimore.

strakul.blogspot.com

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Aug 23

Getting all set up for tomorrow's #TTRPG session! We're trying out the #Cosmere rule set, which I've been excited to play in. 🗡⛈️🌟

A table set up with a white poster board and many tokens and dice ready for a role-playing session. Several sheets are in the foreground for player handouts. In the background are some blue cups filled with glowing marbles as props.

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Aug 21

As of July 2025, @mast-news.bsky.social contains nearly 300 million astronomical observations!

These new wallpaper images depict MAST’s View of the Sky. Download yours now: https://spacetelescope.github.io/mast-blog/mast-heatmap.html 🔭 🧪

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Aug 13

The donuts here are my go-to whenever I offer to bring in food for work events. 🍩😋

Baltimore Banner @thebaltimorebanner.com · Aug 13

The Dish: 5 foods you have to try at Cockeysville’s Amish market

The Pennsylvania Dutch Market in Baltimore County offers fresh food produce, handmade soft pretzels, barbecued meats and baked goods for an affordable price.

buff.ly

David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Aug 9

Got my goodie box for Sanderson's Secret Project #5- Isles of the Emberdark. Did not expect the book to be so cool- hardcover, color art, and a third of it in black pages! Very neat. Plus sticker, pin, and bookmark. 🙂
#Books 💙📚

A book open to show black pages with white text. The second page shows a color image of a woman obscured by a bookmark.

A black and gold hardcover book next to a bookmark, a pin in its wrapper, and a sticker. The book features a golden bird and reads Isles of the Emberdark, Brandon Sanderson, Illustrations by Esther Hi'Ilani Candari.

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Kelly Lepo @kellylepo.bsky.social · Aug 1

The Space Telescope Science Institute's MAST archive contains 300 million astronomical observations from over 23 different missions.

Here is an animation showing how the archive has built up over time.

Credit: Julie Imig, STScI

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Dr. Scott W. Fleming @scottwfleming.bsky.social · Jul 31

Ever wondered what the "MAST Sky" looks like, from our ~6 PB of data spanning 3 decades...check this out! spacetelescope.github.io/mast-blog/ma...

Really fun project led by the very talented Julie Imig at MAST, showing mission coverage sky-projected! They make VERY good video backgrounds, btw. 🔭

MAST background in "standard" sky projection, in hues of blue. Lighter blue areas mark lots of observations, while darker areas are less. Numerous patterns are visible, like the continuous viewing zones as ovals in the lower-left and upper right, patterns from overlapping TESS FFIs, or the Kepler footprint shapes stamped along the ecliptic and in the original Kepler field in the upper-right.

A grid of 16 images, 4x4, showing the sky background only for specific missions to get a sense of where in the sky and how much of it each mission observed to at least some depth.

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Jul 23

Release day for the #Cosmere #TTRPG! I did not expect the email to come so early, now I'll be distracted all day at work. 🤣
The World Guide alone has so much cool art and nearly 300 pages long.

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · Jul 21

A companion star …. Inside Betelgeuse’s atmosphere…. You think you know some stuff about the Universe but there’s always more surprises! 🙃🔭✨

US National Gemini Office @usngo.bsky.social · Jul 21

From @noirlabastro.bsky.social: Astronomers using
Gemini North found a hidden companion star orbiting inside Betelgeuse’s atmosphere, the first close-in companion ever seen around a supergiant star.
🔗 noirlab.edu/public/news/...
📷GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA #astronomy

Gemini North Discovers Long-Predicted Stellar Companion of Betelgeuse - Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i reveals never-before-seen companion to Betelgeuse, solving millennia-old mystery

Astronomers have discovered a companion star in an incredibly tight orbit around Betelgeuse using the NASA and U.S. National Science Foundation-funded ‘Alopeke instrument on Gemini North, one half of ...

noirlab.edu

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Jul 10

Hooray for three years of paw-sitively amazing #NASAWebb science! To celebrate, the telescope examined a singular “toe bean” of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a massive star-forming region. Webb reveals gas, dust, and massive young stars: webbtelescope.pub/4khJK9T 🔭

Reply with an image of your pet’s paws! 🐾

$A section of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a local star-forming region composed of gas, dust, and young stars. Four roughly circular areas are toward the center of the frame: a small oval toward the top left, a large circle in the top center, and two ovals at bottom left and right. Each circular area has a luminous blue glow, with the top center and bottom left areas the brightest. Brown-orange filaments of dust, which vary in density, surround these four bluish patches and stretch toward the frame’s edges. Small zones, such as to the left and right of the top-center blue circular area, appear darker and seemingly vacant of stars. Toward the center are small, fiery red clumps scattered among the brown dust. Many small, yellow-white stars are spread across the scene, some with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb. A few larger blue-white stars with diffraction spikes are scattered throughout, mostly toward the top left and bottom right.$

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Jul 10

New Blog Post: A book review for Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
strakul.blogspot.com/2025/07/book...
A fast-paced standalone novel set in the Cosmere with tropical islands, magical birds, and futuristic spaceships.
#Books #booksky 📚💙

Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson

Random thoughts from a book-loving Puerto Rican astronomer/data scientist in Baltimore.

strakul.blogspot.com

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Reposted by David Rodriguez

Dr. Scott W. Fleming @scottwfleming.bsky.social · Jul 2

The work our talented team does to ensure the public learns about discoveries made with NASA telescopes, and our place in the Universe, risks being lost without at least keeping NASA’s funding flat. The current budget plan removes almost all of it. If this matters to you, make sure your reps know.

Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · Jul 2

The Space Telescope Science Institute continues to expand the frontiers of space astronomy. 🔭 🧪

Astronomy for All - Space Telescope Science Institute #shorts

YouTube video by Space Telescope Science Institute

youtube.com

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David Rodriguez @strakul.bsky.social · Jun 25

New Blog Post: A book review for Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
strakul.blogspot.com/2025/06/book...
A great epic fantasy novel with an interesting premise- what is the world like 1,000 years after the hero failed?
#Books #booksky 📚💙

Book Review: Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

Random thoughts from a book-loving Puerto Rican astronomer/data scientist in Baltimore.

strakul.blogspot.com

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