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Fun Fact Science with Kovi
@funfactscience.com
3.8K followers 180 following 1.1K posts
Astrophysics PhD candidate studying stars that go snap, crackle, and pop - communicating scientist - meme aficionado.
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Fun Fact Science with Kovi @funfactscience.com · Nov 12
Woke up to a bunch of new followers so it might be worth reintroducing myself:

My name is Kovi (pronounced like ☕️) and I'm an #astrophysics PhD candidate with a passion for #science communication. I search the skies with radio #telescopes to find and study weird (and often exploding) stuff 📡🌌
Context: Photo of me at the MIT radio stars conference next to my poster about periodic radio emission from an ultracool brown dwarf. Description: Photo of man with olive skin and brown hair/beard wearing green/black flannel shirt, jeans and white sneakers. Next to man is landscape scientific poster in the style of Windows 95 computer desktop with images and text.
funfactscience.com
When people ask what the scientific method looks like, show them this video.
November 20, 2025 at 8:50 PM
funfactscience.com
the internet never fails to disappoint...
juliet-turner.bsky.social Juliet Turner @juliet-turner.bsky.social · 4d
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 18, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
Nothing like taking in a beautiful sunset after presenting your research, especially when you're at a conference about stars 🌟🔭

📸 @astrolaura.com

#astronomy #space #sunset #stars
A man with a beard and glasses, wearing a light-colored button-up shirt, is giving a presentation in a conference room. He is standing to the right of a large screen displaying the text "ALTERNATIVE PROGENITORS" and beneath it "Isolated white dwarf (Rea et al., 2024)" next to an image of a bright, blueish-white star against a black background labeled "NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)". The screen also features a university logo in the bottom right corner. Several audience members are seated in dark chairs, viewed from the back, watching the presenter and the screen. The room has light wood paneling on the back wall and white ceiling tiles. A long-exposure photograph taken at dusk captures a coastal scene in Newcastle A dark blue and deep magenta sky over the beach and the ocean on the left. On the right, streetlights illuminate a road, a promenade, and the beach below, creating streaks of light from moving vehicles. Buildings are visible on the far right, and a headland with scattered lights extends into the distance.
November 17, 2025 at 9:55 AM
funfactscience.com
Nothing like taking in a beautiful sunset after presenting your research, especially when you're at a conference about stars 🌟🔭

📸 @astrolaura.com

#astronomy #space #sunset #stars
A man with a beard and glasses, wearing a light-colored button-up shirt, is giving a presentation in a conference room. He is standing to the right of a large screen displaying the text "ALTERNATIVE PROGENITORS" and beneath it "Isolated white dwarf (Rea et al., 2024)" next to an image of a bright, blueish-white star against a black background labeled "NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI)". The screen also features a university logo in the bottom right corner. Several audience members are seated in dark chairs, viewed from the back, watching the presenter and the screen. The room has light wood paneling on the back wall and white ceiling tiles. A long-exposure photograph taken at dusk captures a coastal scene in Newcastle A dark blue and deep magenta sky over the beach and the ocean on the left. On the right, streetlights illuminate a road, a promenade, and the beach below, creating streaks of light from moving vehicles. Buildings are visible on the far right, and a headland with scattered lights extends into the distance.
November 17, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
sciencesocks.bsky.social
🎂 It's #ScienceSocks 6th anniversary! 🥳

Celebrate with me by raising money for #STEM! 🤑

For the next 48h I will donate:

* 20% of sales on sciencesocks.co 👈
* $1 per repost

Get a head start on #holiday shopping 😎

Please like, repost and let's party🕺💃

🔭🐡🧪🎨#bsnm
mars rover socks showing zoomed in view perseverance rover analysing a rock and ingenuity flying above james webb space telescope christmas ornament jwst jewelry set featuring earrings and pendant necklace based on the 18 hexagon primary mirror Curiosity rover wheel pendant necklace in sterling silver being held in hand
November 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
a NEW PAPER led the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Iles (accepted by PASA) quantifies how astronomers might be biased in how they judge galactic bars

Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length

arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908

#astro
A stellar density map of a barred spiral galaxy viewed face-on. The image shows a dark background with a central bright, elongated feature (the bar) surrounded by fainter spiral arms. The color bar on the right indicates the log10 Stellar Density in units of solar mass per square parsec, ranging from 0 (black/dark) to 4 (white/bright). The x and y axes are labeled in kpc (kiloparsecs), spanning from -10 to 10. Overlaid on the image are several highlighted regions: a central white, bright feature is enclosed by a dashed cyan ellipse representing the full Bar region. A smaller, cyan dashed box labeled Inner-bar is located along the bar's major axis, excluding the ends. Two symmetrically placed, dashed teal boxes labeled Bar-ends are located near the extremities of the bar. This visualization highlights the key components of the galaxy's bar structure.
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
funfactscience.com
a NEW PAPER led the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Iles (accepted by PASA) quantifies how astronomers might be biased in how they judge galactic bars

Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length

arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908

#astro
A stellar density map of a barred spiral galaxy viewed face-on. The image shows a dark background with a central bright, elongated feature (the bar) surrounded by fainter spiral arms. The color bar on the right indicates the log10 Stellar Density in units of solar mass per square parsec, ranging from 0 (black/dark) to 4 (white/bright). The x and y axes are labeled in kpc (kiloparsecs), spanning from -10 to 10. Overlaid on the image are several highlighted regions: a central white, bright feature is enclosed by a dashed cyan ellipse representing the full Bar region. A smaller, cyan dashed box labeled Inner-bar is located along the bar's major axis, excluding the ends. Two symmetrically placed, dashed teal boxes labeled Bar-ends are located near the extremities of the bar. This visualization highlights the key components of the galaxy's bar structure.
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
taramurphy.bsky.social
This is your final week to apply for the Professor Harry Messel Research Fellowship. A 3 year position open to women in any area of #Physics or #Astronomy at the University of Sydney @sydney.edu.au

Deadline: 16th November

⚛️ 🔭 ☄️
November 9, 2025 at 7:49 PM
funfactscience.com
you can enjoy watching the lightning with me live on this website: www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au/weather/ligh...
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 AM
funfactscience.com
spending Friday night waiting for a thunderstorm to pass so that I can start my telescope observations
mocking spongebob meme with the text "radio telescopes can observe in any weather"
November 7, 2025 at 10:08 AM
funfactscience.com
~ Frank, Destination Wedding
There are seven billion people in the world. So when one of them behaves badly toward you, he's actually doing you a great favor because he's saving you time. He's telling you that he's not worth your while. He's freeing you to say, "Thank you for the information. I will now move on to the 6,999,999,999 other people, some of whom may have some value.
November 6, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
astrolaura.com
I've been thinking a bit about how talking about aliens affects how we share new astronomy discoveries, so I wrote an article about it 👽🔭🧪 theconversation.com/is-it-aliens...
Is it aliens? Why that’s the least important question about interstellar objects
The alien question, while fun, generates misinformation and distracts from the science.
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:22 AM
funfactscience.com
can't believe we've been complaining for nearly 3000 years
lswisnom.bsky.social Dr Selena Wisnom @lswisnom.bsky.social · 18d
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
funfactscience.com
When you feel the irrepressible urge to constantly check the status of a recently submitted paper:
a picture of a fountain with the words it 's been seven hours and fifteen days below it
Alt: a GIF of a fountain and Sinéad O'Connor with the words "it 's been seven hours and fifteen days" below it
media.tenor.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:00 AM
funfactscience.com
surely this is just a temporary bug, right? RIGHT!?
October 29, 2025 at 3:47 AM
funfactscience.com
on to the next one I guess
a man in blue jeans, white sneakers, and a grey nasa tshirt throwing his paper into Nature
October 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
funfactscience.com
Looks like a decent round for astronomy!
arc-tracker.bsky.social ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · 25d
🚨 #DiscoveryProjects #DP26 announcement:

❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️

See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...

/bot
October 28, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
jwuphysics.bsky.social
Huge fan of Dr. Katie Mack, and much love for all she does for physics & astronomy + outreach.

With that said, this statement is incomplete and misleading. A thread...

> Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts
True! They don't "know" anything.
astrokatie.com Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · Jun 19
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
funfactscience.com
new correlator who dis?
grid of squares showing baseline pairs between the 6 dishes of the ATCA radio telescope. most of the squares display noisey red and white signals.
October 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
Yesterday I had the esteemed privilege of presenting my latest research in front of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell at a @sydney.edu.au science symposium.

What an incredible honour to speak about my work on unknown radio objects in the presence of the person who discovered pulsars!

📸 @cosmicrami.com
man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of a blueish star pulling material from a larger redder star. the title on the screen is "periodic radio and x-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary. - demystifying long period transients" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of kermit the frog with the word "phenomena" above his head. the title on the screen is "what are long period transients" and the text on the screen reads "phenomenon != class" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows still of magnetic field lines from interacting stellar binary system. the title on the screen is "emission mechanism" and the text on the screen reads "electron cyclotron maser, magnetospheric interaction, energetic electron flow"
October 21, 2025 at 2:35 AM
funfactscience.com
Yesterday I had the esteemed privilege of presenting my latest research in front of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell at a @sydney.edu.au science symposium.

What an incredible honour to speak about my work on unknown radio objects in the presence of the person who discovered pulsars!

📸 @cosmicrami.com
man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of a blueish star pulling material from a larger redder star. the title on the screen is "periodic radio and x-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary. - demystifying long period transients" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows image of kermit the frog with the word "phenomena" above his head. the title on the screen is "what are long period transients" and the text on the screen reads "phenomenon != class" man in beige shirt and pants standing in front of crowd sitting in auditorium. screen shows still of magnetic field lines from interacting stellar binary system. the title on the screen is "emission mechanism" and the text on the screen reads "electron cyclotron maser, magnetospheric interaction, energetic electron flow"
October 21, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
rami.spaceaustralia.com
Aside from this excellent opportunity to talk personally with a Titan from my field, heard lots of fantastic talks at the Science Symposium for JBB organised by @astrolaura.com and @manishacaleb.bsky.social — so good!

Got to share my research too!

📸 @funfactscience.com @astrokirsten.bsky.social
Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. I am looking towards the crowd. Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk. This one shows an illustration of Jocelyn Bell Burnell Me standing in front of some large screens and holding a microphone during my talk.
October 20, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Fun Fact Science with Kovi
funfactscience.com
just wrapped another recording with another brilliant scientist!
(always looking for more nerdy guests 🤓)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Call for Podcast Guests
Here at the Nerd and the Scientist we love to nerd-out about all things science! We're looking for folks interested in chatting to us about their science-related research, work, or hobbies. While we a...
docs.google.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
funfactscience.com
I'm sure I don't know what you mean...
Text 1: reading for pleasure implies the existence of reading for pain Text 2: they're calling it a PhD
October 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
funfactscience.com
just wrapped another recording with another brilliant scientist!
(always looking for more nerdy guests 🤓)
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Call for Podcast Guests
Here at the Nerd and the Scientist we love to nerd-out about all things science! We're looking for folks interested in chatting to us about their science-related research, work, or hobbies. While we a...
docs.google.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM