Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 9h

Gail Devers
Sir Mix-A-Lot
Ann Wilson
Ichiro (of the actual game, not ceremonial)
Stone Gossard
Bill Nye
Jim Zorn
Kenny G (yes, don’t be snobby about it)

Claire @baseball-broad.bsky.social · 12h

Mariners fans, who (doesn’t have to be realistic lol) would you like to see throw out a first pitch this week?

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Reposted by Jason Wight

Shannon Stirone @shannonstirone.bsky.social · 11h

Today JPL lost so many incredible people. My heart hurts for every single one of them. This administration is gutting American science institutions and throwing away hyper specific experts who cannot be replaced. This is an extremely detrimental loss.

CNBC @cnbc.com · 1d

NASA unit JPL to lay off about 550 workers, citing restructure

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a research and development lab funded by NASA — the federal space agency — and managed by the Caltech.

cnb.cx

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Reposted by Jason Wight

Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 14h

So many spectacular, kind, brave people who I've worked with for years being let go from JPL today. We will all be poorer for their absence from the forefront of human knowledge.

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, I’ve never seen it!

I’ve also never seen Slapshot, but maybe that’s a different genre and not age-appropriate?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

lol! Maybe in a few years.

Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

We saw it! Great movie.

Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Never heard of it? Like, roller derby, or what?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

I have not seen it, but it is on our list! Bonus points for being based on a true story…

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Never heard of it? Is it really good?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Whaaaah?!?!

How am I never heard of this?!

I am so intrigued…

“wavers between insulting and uproariously stupid."

"...Only the rightly-celebrated soccer scenes redeem this silly bore."

Now I must see it!

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve heard that every sport has one of these: arm wrestling (Over the Top) bobsledding (Cool Runnings), figure skating obviously (The Cutting Edge).

Apparently, there’s even one about foosball?!

What are your favorite / weirdest examples?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

What are the best Rocky-style films to show my 11-year-old next?

You know the genre: plucky underdog, training montage, villainous final opponent, unlikely victory (if only moral).

We’ve done Karate Kid and Strictly Ballroom now (and all the Rocky films). What are the other greats here?

Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Now that we’ve finished the Rocky/Creed movies A(11) and I have moved on to other sports films. Field of Dreams, The Natural, Eight Men Out. All winners!

I wasn’t sure how he’d like it, but tonight we did Strictly Ballroom.

Huge hit! So good. And not the formula film I remembered!

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Next up in the series: maybe The Cutting Edge?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

I asked him to predict the plot after Act I (standard with us now because he’s so good at it) and he was close but I forgot how many twists the film has!

So many new obstacles, unexpected “All is Lost“ moments thrown up.

It’s not just a perfectly well made Rocky genre pic, it stands on its own!

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 1d

Now that we’ve finished the Rocky/Creed movies A(11) and I have moved on to other sports films. Field of Dreams, The Natural, Eight Men Out. All winners!

I wasn’t sure how he’d like it, but tonight we did Strictly Ballroom.

Huge hit! So good. And not the formula film I remembered!

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Reposted by Jason Wight

Ryan Nanni @celebrityhottub.bsky.social · 4d

baseball is the best preparation for death because it does not come with a clock that tells you when your suffering will end one way or the other

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Reposted by Jason Wight

I am the cops @asciim0v.bsky.social · 4d

I have aged 17 years in the last 3 innings of this mariners game

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 4d

So, what does it take for AAS DPS to take up the mantle?

Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 4d

It's really disheartening to try to talk to colleagues about boycotting a conference that removed all its records of abstracts pertaining to DEI, only for the response to largely be "I don't want to go, but..." But what??? Each of us has agency! You can choose not to go!

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

I have never lived in LA or NY, so Dodgers-Yankees does nothing for me.

That and the fact that they have both won so many times, so recently, and have such a high payroll makes that potential series basically dead last in my personal Calculus.

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

I strongly subscribe to King Kaufman‘s “Complicated Calculus of Teams I Root For” theory of sports fandom, and so for both personal and objective reasons I am thrilled at the distant prospect of a Mariners–Brewers World Series.

(If I weren’t from Seattle, I’d be rooting for the Tigers too).

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

On the other hand, I’m not quickly finding any actual measurements of aluminum in meteor trails, so perhaps it was a satellite?

Occurred nine days and a few thousand miles east from the Tiangong-1 reentry event.

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

(I asked physical plant and, sadly, they decided it was some sort of student prank, and that the sign will be removed.)

(They CLAIM it leads to the storage area behind the student bookstore in the student union.)

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

Apparently here at Penn State there is a second @pseticenter.bsky.social?

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

Actually, now we're realizing aluminum is also common in meteors, so probably don't need to implicate a reentry for this. nm!

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Jason Wight @astrowright.bsky.social · 5d

Hey, @planet4589.bsky.social, we are seeing a mysterious emission line in some stellar spectra at the wavelength of a strong Al+ line. We wonder if we might be seeing emission from gaseous aluminum from a satellite reentry?

Any advice on how to pursue this idea?

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