Adam Trotter
@astrotter.bsky.social
North Carolinian, erstwhile astronomer, latter-day gardener. PhD in "how is it already getting dark?" Surface of last scattering. he/him 🏳️🌈
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy
November 17, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy
My local farmers market just surprised me with $100 in free SNAP tokens, courtesy of an anonymous donor, in case you need a little glimmer of human decency this morning
November 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM
My local farmers market just surprised me with $100 in free SNAP tokens, courtesy of an anonymous donor, in case you need a little glimmer of human decency this morning
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Did you know that NOAA has a major office in Asheville? They put together a story map about Hurricane Helene, and it’s the best data resource I’ve seen out there about the storm.
I might be a little biased, though, because I have a geography degree and love using GIS to share data.
I might be a little biased, though, because I have a geography degree and love using GIS to share data.
Helene in Southern Appalachia
One year later: An event analysis and how we move forward.
storymaps.arcgis.com
September 26, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Did you know that NOAA has a major office in Asheville? They put together a story map about Hurricane Helene, and it’s the best data resource I’ve seen out there about the storm.
I might be a little biased, though, because I have a geography degree and love using GIS to share data.
I might be a little biased, though, because I have a geography degree and love using GIS to share data.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Yesterday Curiosity took pix of jagged peaks in the distance with its ChemCam. I stitched them together, did some work on them, and... just look at that view... I've been doing this since Sojourner landed & this is one of my fave images ever... Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/S Atkinson
September 23, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Yesterday Curiosity took pix of jagged peaks in the distance with its ChemCam. I stitched them together, did some work on them, and... just look at that view... I've been doing this since Sojourner landed & this is one of my fave images ever... Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/S Atkinson
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Fellow sober folks, a reminder: However bad things get, you don’t have to drink over it.
September 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Fellow sober folks, a reminder: However bad things get, you don’t have to drink over it.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
people who want other people to stay in sad little grey boxes forever and never be happy in their bodies or desires are villains and cowards and they may be winning right now but by god they will lose as water smooths stone and roots break it, because that fierce joy is roots and water and life
September 16, 2025 at 7:24 AM
people who want other people to stay in sad little grey boxes forever and never be happy in their bodies or desires are villains and cowards and they may be winning right now but by god they will lose as water smooths stone and roots break it, because that fierce joy is roots and water and life
Reposted by Adam Trotter
It's like staying up late to see if Santa is real but we're hoping Santa's dead
August 30, 2025 at 5:37 AM
It's like staying up late to see if Santa is real but we're hoping Santa's dead
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Modern AI tools emulate the classic con-man tricks of mentalism, tricking people into believing that they’re far more clever - and sapient - than they actually are.
Fantastic piece by @baldurbjarnason.com :
softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...
Fantastic piece by @baldurbjarnason.com :
softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...
The LLMentalist Effect: how chat-based Large Language Models rep…
The new era of tech seems to be built on superstitious behaviour
softwarecrisis.dev
August 12, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Modern AI tools emulate the classic con-man tricks of mentalism, tricking people into believing that they’re far more clever - and sapient - than they actually are.
Fantastic piece by @baldurbjarnason.com :
softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...
Fantastic piece by @baldurbjarnason.com :
softwarecrisis.dev/letters/llme...
Reposted by Adam Trotter
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
This is not the quality of pseudoscience infotainment to which I have grown accustomed
Teasing the public with fraudulent or self-deluded promises of aliens used to mean something. It took work. It meant slapping together…
medium.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I have a complaint about Avi Loeb's latest work and I want to speak to management.
medium.com/@steve.desch...
medium.com/@steve.desch...
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 8, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Oh so it does have phd level intelligence
Reposted by Adam Trotter
happy #smallpoemsunday! 💜
feel free to join by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :)
here’s one by Bill Corbett; Peter Reading called this kind of poem the 13-line sonnet for unlucky people—& what an 11th line, “every green thing goldens”
feel free to join by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :)
here’s one by Bill Corbett; Peter Reading called this kind of poem the 13-line sonnet for unlucky people—& what an 11th line, “every green thing goldens”
August 3, 2025 at 1:54 PM
happy #smallpoemsunday! 💜
feel free to join by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :)
here’s one by Bill Corbett; Peter Reading called this kind of poem the 13-line sonnet for unlucky people—& what an 11th line, “every green thing goldens”
feel free to join by posting small poems you wrote, +/or small poems you love by somebody else :)
here’s one by Bill Corbett; Peter Reading called this kind of poem the 13-line sonnet for unlucky people—& what an 11th line, “every green thing goldens”
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Recently, I shared a Lord of the Rings subway map, & I had a bunch of people asking me to do a Narnia version. Well...here you go!
It's covers all 7 books, so it's a lot more complicated the the LoTR ones. And if you like it, it's available to buy on my Etsy store:
www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...
It's covers all 7 books, so it's a lot more complicated the the LoTR ones. And if you like it, it's available to buy on my Etsy store:
www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...
August 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Recently, I shared a Lord of the Rings subway map, & I had a bunch of people asking me to do a Narnia version. Well...here you go!
It's covers all 7 books, so it's a lot more complicated the the LoTR ones. And if you like it, it's available to buy on my Etsy store:
www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...
It's covers all 7 books, so it's a lot more complicated the the LoTR ones. And if you like it, it's available to buy on my Etsy store:
www.etsy.com/shop/Surpris...
Reposted by Adam Trotter
ICE in Durham, be safe and don't talk to the fucking cops
July 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM
ICE in Durham, be safe and don't talk to the fucking cops
Reposted by Adam Trotter
The other day I drew a subway-style map for The Hobbit, and it was very well received. Some of you asked if I could do one for LoTR, so I have!
Forgive the eel watermark; I'm working on making these something you can buy, if you like.
Forgive the eel watermark; I'm working on making these something you can buy, if you like.
July 21, 2025 at 11:26 PM
The other day I drew a subway-style map for The Hobbit, and it was very well received. Some of you asked if I could do one for LoTR, so I have!
Forgive the eel watermark; I'm working on making these something you can buy, if you like.
Forgive the eel watermark; I'm working on making these something you can buy, if you like.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Betelgeuse has a companion - a pre main-sequence B/A star with a semimajor axis of only 8 au. Required speckle observations to dig it out. noirlab.edu/public/news/...
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
July 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Betelgeuse has a companion - a pre main-sequence B/A star with a semimajor axis of only 8 au. Required speckle observations to dig it out. noirlab.edu/public/news/...
biblically accurate angel wing begonia
July 20, 2025 at 10:23 PM
biblically accurate angel wing begonia
Reposted by Adam Trotter
The Trump administration canceled a FEMA program in April that would have funded upgrades to protect the town from flooding. Then the Eno River rose more than 20 feet.
Before Chantal Swamped Hillsborough, the Town Had Been Counting on FEMA
The Trump administration canceled a FEMA program in April that would have funded upgrades to protect the town from flooding. Then the Eno River rose more than 20 feet.
indyweek.com
July 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
The Trump administration canceled a FEMA program in April that would have funded upgrades to protect the town from flooding. Then the Eno River rose more than 20 feet.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
A Borges story about a guy who gets AI to summarize all the world’s information for him, and then summarize the summary, until the AI has the whole world summarized into a single word. He sits alone at his desk, staring at the word, repeating it endlessly, certain he is experiencing everything
July 14, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A Borges story about a guy who gets AI to summarize all the world’s information for him, and then summarize the summary, until the AI has the whole world summarized into a single word. He sits alone at his desk, staring at the word, repeating it endlessly, certain he is experiencing everything
Reposted by Adam Trotter
What do you think is more likely, that Musk’s Nazi robot has made new discoveries in materials science or that Musk can’t tell when he’s being told scientific-sounding gibberish?
July 10, 2025 at 8:50 PM
What do you think is more likely, that Musk’s Nazi robot has made new discoveries in materials science or that Musk can’t tell when he’s being told scientific-sounding gibberish?
Reposted by Adam Trotter
July 7, 2025, afternoon storm update:
Mayor Mark Bell declared a state of emergency in Hillsborough this morning.
The town has issued a boil water notice. Everyone who uses drinking water from the Town of Hillsborough must boil water until further notice. Please conserve water.
Mayor Mark Bell declared a state of emergency in Hillsborough this morning.
The town has issued a boil water notice. Everyone who uses drinking water from the Town of Hillsborough must boil water until further notice. Please conserve water.
July 7, 2025 at 9:51 PM
July 7, 2025, afternoon storm update:
Mayor Mark Bell declared a state of emergency in Hillsborough this morning.
The town has issued a boil water notice. Everyone who uses drinking water from the Town of Hillsborough must boil water until further notice. Please conserve water.
Mayor Mark Bell declared a state of emergency in Hillsborough this morning.
The town has issued a boil water notice. Everyone who uses drinking water from the Town of Hillsborough must boil water until further notice. Please conserve water.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Orange County is distributing bottled water in Hillsborough tomorrow starting at 8 a.m. at Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street. Note that distribution will take place from 8 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. One case per vehicle.
July 7, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Orange County is distributing bottled water in Hillsborough tomorrow starting at 8 a.m. at Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street. Note that distribution will take place from 8 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. One case per vehicle.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
I feel like these guys all somehow overlooked the part of the legendarium where Sauron is a tech nerd who falls from angelic grace because he wants to engineer a perfect world and then uses his unimaginable power to force his underlings to speak his weird conlang.
Peter Thiel is founding yet another company named after something from Middle Earth.
This time it’s a bank named Erebor, a reference to the mountain which holds Smaug’s piles of gold and treasure.
This time it’s a bank named Erebor, a reference to the mountain which holds Smaug’s piles of gold and treasure.
Peter Thiel joins tech billionaires backing new lender Erebor to rival Silicon Valley Bank
Start-up named after the dragon’s mountain in ‘Lord of the Rings’
www.ft.com
July 2, 2025 at 7:45 AM
I feel like these guys all somehow overlooked the part of the legendarium where Sauron is a tech nerd who falls from angelic grace because he wants to engineer a perfect world and then uses his unimaginable power to force his underlings to speak his weird conlang.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
This week my time at the Examiner comes to an end, and I;m grateful I got to end things on a cautiously hopeful note. On Zohran Mamdani, and why those of us thousands of miles away are right to take heart from this week - and should be taking notes.
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
Séamas O'Reilly: Hope is not just the radical option — it's the only one
I’ve tried to sugar the medicine, adding what insight I can, what hope I can muster, and what jokes I’m allowed. It’s been a true joy to discover I was allowed pretty much everything, and for that I h...
www.irishexaminer.com
June 28, 2025 at 8:07 AM
This week my time at the Examiner comes to an end, and I;m grateful I got to end things on a cautiously hopeful note. On Zohran Mamdani, and why those of us thousands of miles away are right to take heart from this week - and should be taking notes.
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
I hike at Occoneechee Mountain every morning, and always stop to say hi to the Twisty old Tree. It's a live and healthy sugar maple whose trunk has been hollowed out into a helix somehow. It marks the start of a particularly magical portion of the trail along the Eno River.
June 25, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I hike at Occoneechee Mountain every morning, and always stop to say hi to the Twisty old Tree. It's a live and healthy sugar maple whose trunk has been hollowed out into a helix somehow. It marks the start of a particularly magical portion of the trail along the Eno River.
Reposted by Adam Trotter
Fred Hoyle, who proposed a steady state model of the Universe and coined the name "Big Bang" to ridicule a rival theory, was born #OTD in 1915. He pioneered nucleosynthesis, but advocated unscientific theories about the origin of life and was known to make strange racist claims. 🧪 🔭
June 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Fred Hoyle, who proposed a steady state model of the Universe and coined the name "Big Bang" to ridicule a rival theory, was born #OTD in 1915. He pioneered nucleosynthesis, but advocated unscientific theories about the origin of life and was known to make strange racist claims. 🧪 🔭