Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 3d

@leebillings.bsky.social’s book Five Billion Years of Solitude has ruined science writing for me, because how is anything I write ever supposed to compare to this line? 🤩

A photo of the first page of a book with one line starred and underlined: “One by one, the giant stars popped off like firecrackers, ejecting heavy elements that sizzled with radioactivity as they rode shock waves through the murk like so much scattered confetti.”

The full paragraph for context is: “This story properly begins 4.6 billion years ago, with the birth of our solar system from a cloud of cold hydrogen and dust several light-years wide. The cloud was but a wisp from a much larger mass of primordial gas, a stellar nursery manufacturing massive stars destined to explode as supernovae. One by one, the giant stars popped off like firecrackers, ejecting heavy elements that sizzled with radioactivity as they rode shock waves through the murk like so much scattered confetti. One of those enriching shock waves may have compressed the cloud, our cloud, in its passage. The cloud became dense enough for gravity to seize control, and it collapsed in on itself. Most of its material fell to its…”

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Reposted by Ashley Balzer Vigil

Douglas Main @dmain.bsky.social · 16d

new gecko just dropped

via @ashleybvigil.bsky.social @andreatweather.bsky.social

www.scientificamerican.com/article/six-...

Mildly Menacing Mating Calls Lead to Discovery of New Gecko Species

Scientists found new gecko species hidden in plain sight in pristine deserts of southern Africa, thanks to their loud, barking mating calls

www.scientificamerican.com

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · 26d

I saw it earlier and saved it to read when the kids are asleep! 😊 check the hashtag for another question from a while back lol

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Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · Sep 15

Some personal news:

I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Thread incoming.

substack.com/@karenattiah...

The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.

I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.

substack.com

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Aug 31

Used to pronounce both Os in Oort ☁️

Talia Lavin @swordsjew.bsky.social · Aug 31

former kids who read too many books and didnt know how to pronounce the words you learned gang say hey

Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Aug 3

#askethan Would you consider pop II and I stars to be enriched or contaminated by metals?

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Aug 1

I think it might be broken…it didn’t play any music when I opened it? But fr we freelancers should each have a top 8 clients section we regularly update lol

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jul 23

Happy birthday, Vera Rubin! 🥳✨

What better way to celebrate than with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's view of galaxies SHE studied?

NGC 4343, 4526, 4535, and 4378 are just a few gems from our Cosmic Treasure Chest. Explore them and more at skyviewer.app 🔭🧪

Edge-on spiral galaxy angled pointing lower left to upper right. It's glowing with a bright core that's cut with the dark veins of dust clouds. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.

A smooth, cigar-shaped galaxy angled pointing lower left to upper right glowing with a bright core. Two bright stars beam just to the upper left and lower right of the galaxy. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.

A face-on spiral with a bright core and sweeping arms knotted with blue clusters of star-forming regions. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.

A face-on spiral with a bright core and a single thin arm wrapping all the way around, almost looking like a ring. Two bright blue stars beam above and to the lower left of the galaxy, with a third yellow star to the lower right. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.

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Reposted by Ashley Balzer Vigil

Scientific American @sciam.bsky.social · Jul 20

The park’s newest hydrothermal feature has an otherworldly milky texture from dissolved silica

New Thermal Hole Opens at Yellowstone National Park

The park's newest hydrothermal feature has an otherworldly milky texture from dissolved silica

spklr.io

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jul 18

If some men feel like they’ve been “reduced to ‘walking wallets’ in romantic relationships,” perhaps they should consider bringing something more to the table.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...

‘Who Killed Love?’ A Video Game Plays to Male Resentment in China.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ashley Balzer Vigil

Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · Jul 11

NASA's Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever studies of the Sun -- and got this unprecedented look at multiple solar eruptions piling up on top of each other. 🧪🔭

science.nasa.gov/science-rese...

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jul 10

Both much better than pubic affairs!

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jul 8

It’s been a month now and I still think about this gif reply sometimes and laugh 😂

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jul 3

Hi, I would like to include a quote from you in a story I’m writing about this for Astronomy.com — can I email you? Or feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. Hoping to turn a draft in within the next 8-24 hours!

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Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · Jul 2

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history

The largest brain drain in history was when thousands of scientists left Nazi Germany; it became known as "Hitler's gift."

America's current assault on science is set to surpass that.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #science

American science to soon face its largest brain drain in history

Over the first half of 2025, the USA has cut science as never before. This disaster for American science is a gift to the rest of the world.

bigthink.com

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Reposted by Ashley Balzer Vigil

Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · Jun 26

Something lost a bit in the amazing images released earlier: Vera Rubin Observatory is a steely-eyed asteroid hunter! It's already found thousands of new ones in just a few nights, and is predicted to find *3.7 MILLION* more.

THREE POINT SEVEN MILLION

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/vera-rubin...

🔭🧪

Vera Rubin Observatory will find millions of asteroids. Millions.

That’s a lot of space rocks.

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jun 25

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/o...

A screenshot from the article that says: Mothers have less money in personal retirement accounts, and they also receive less money from Social Security because they're more likely to have gaps in their employment history, and their caregiving isn't valued by society in the way that it should be. Which is to say, caregiving is neither paid nor truly respected.

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John F Wu @jwuphysics.bsky.social · Jun 23

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 🧪🔭

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · Jun 17

What about a science writer 👀

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James Davenport @jradavenport.com · Jun 3

Attn 🔭 fans: the Vera Rubin US Quarter is now available!!
www.usmint.gov/american-wom...

American Women Quarters 2025 Rolls and Bags - Dr. Vera Rubin | US Mint

Check out our American Women Quarters 2025 Rolls and Bags - Dr. Vera Rubin and more from US Mint!

www.usmint.gov

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Reposted by Ashley Balzer Vigil

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · Jun 2

"For every $100 the US government spent, it put 40¢ in the bucket for NASA. And what do we get for that?
✨The Universe ✨"

"One of these bills represents, to scale, the federal budget & the other with NASA’s total budget trimmed off the edges. Can you tell the difference?" @philplait.bsky.social

Two 1 dollar bills looking identical. The caption reads

One of these bills represents, to scale, the federal budget, and the other with NASA’s total budget trimmed off the edges. Can you tell the difference? Credit: Phil Plait

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · May 29

From stargazer to storyteller ✨
www.nasa.gov/people/ashle...

A smiling woman with fair skin and dark blonde wavy hair sits at a desk with a pen and notebook. The wall behind her features a framed painting of an astronaut sitting in a field of wildflowers. Bookcases line the wall on either side of it. Photo credit: Moments by Mango

A smiling woman with dark blonde wavy hair pulled half up sits at a desk and holds a spacey book up toward an open laptop. Photo credit: Moments by Mango

A collage of four photos from a 2012 internship at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Top left: a young Ashley stands beside then-center director Mike Coats; a large model rocket is in the background. Top right: Ashley and Veronica Seyl float in microgravity on the Vomit Comet. Bottom left: Ashley holds a paper up toward an off-screen camera as part of the Weightless Wonders program. Bottom right: Ashley and Veronica pose for a photo together, each in their flight suits.

Ashley stands alongside a man who is looking through a camera on a tripod. On the other side of the camera, a man speaks to Ashley animatedly as part of an interview. Photo credit: Patrizia Madiona

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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · May 27

Totalling around 120 hours of observing time, this is the longest the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has ever focused on a single target.

The deep field aims to probe the Cosmic Dawn, when the Universe was only a few million years old.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
🔭 🧪 ☄️

A field of galaxies in space, dominated by an enormous, bright-white elliptical galaxy that is the core of a massive galaxy cluster. Many other elliptical galaxies can be seen around it. Also around it are short, curved, glowing red lines, which are images of distant background galaxies magnified and warped by gravitational lensing. A couple of foreground stars appear large and bright with long spikes around them.

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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social · May 22

Saturn's icy moons Dione, against a backdrop of the giant planet itself, its rings, and tiny Enceladus at upper right.

Goodnight, friends!

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Ashley Balzer Vigil @ashleybvigil.bsky.social · May 15

I’m screaming 😂😂😂