Robert Mills
@pier8bob.bsky.social
Freefalling in spacetime. 🇨🇦
Jack Layton would roll over in his grave if he had witnessed the NDP leaders debate last Thursday in Montreal. The choice between bad French and no French is totally unacceptable for the leader of any national political party in Canada.
November 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Jack Layton would roll over in his grave if he had witnessed the NDP leaders debate last Thursday in Montreal. The choice between bad French and no French is totally unacceptable for the leader of any national political party in Canada.
Lightening on Mars? The Perseverance rover has detected electrical activity in Martian dust clouds.
🎤Grâce à son micro conçu à Toulouse, et installé sur l'instrument SuperCam, le rover Perseverance a détecté, pour la première fois, une activité électrique dans l'atmosphère de Mars. 🧵👇
https://f.mtr.cool/jbwdqitema
https://f.mtr.cool/jbwdqitema
November 29, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Lightening on Mars? The Perseverance rover has detected electrical activity in Martian dust clouds.
Reposted by Robert Mills
Please enjoy my cartoon in today's Toronto Star
November 27, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Please enjoy my cartoon in today's Toronto Star
Reposted by Robert Mills
Props to Macy's for their bold Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon choice this year. Brave, indeed.
November 27, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Props to Macy's for their bold Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon choice this year. Brave, indeed.
Reposted by Robert Mills
Hear What the Language Spoken by Our Ancestors 6,000 Years Ago Might Have Sounded Like: A Reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European Language
Hear What the Language Spoken by Our Ancestors 6,000 Years Ago Might Have Sounded Like: A Reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European Language
As scholars of ancient texts well know, the reconstruction of lost sources can be a matter of some controversy.
www.openculture.com
November 28, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Hear What the Language Spoken by Our Ancestors 6,000 Years Ago Might Have Sounded Like: A Reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European Language
Your intuition says No Way! But Meat Cove Mountain in Cape Breton has an elevation of 277 metres, while Cape Ray in Newfoundland has an elevation of 400 metres. The distance between the two is 118 kilometres. So yeah, maybe.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Can you see Newfoundland from Cape Breton? Online photo sparks debate | CBC News
An online photo has sparked a passionate debate about whether or not it's possible.
www.cbc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Your intuition says No Way! But Meat Cove Mountain in Cape Breton has an elevation of 277 metres, while Cape Ray in Newfoundland has an elevation of 400 metres. The distance between the two is 118 kilometres. So yeah, maybe.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
According to the Siebel Institute, “recent regulatory changes in the U.S. have made it much more challenging for international students, who have become the majority of the school’s student body, to attend classes in person.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Prestigious Chicago brewing school relocating to Montreal amid U.S. regulatory changes | CBC News
The Siebel Institute of Technology, North America’s oldest brewing school, is moving from Chicago to Montreal in January 2026. The relocation is aimed at improving accessibility for international stud...
www.cbc.ca
November 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
According to the Siebel Institute, “recent regulatory changes in the U.S. have made it much more challenging for international students, who have become the majority of the school’s student body, to attend classes in person.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Robert Mills
Maybe it's just a matter of perspective?
November 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Maybe it's just a matter of perspective?
In the newspaper business everyone knows there's the news that's printed 'above the fold', and the news that's printed 'below the fold'. Nobody ever gives much thought to the fold itself.
Quite interesting, however, if you're into math and physics. #IntrinsicVersusExtrinsicGeometry
Quite interesting, however, if you're into math and physics. #IntrinsicVersusExtrinsicGeometry
November 24, 2025 at 2:24 PM
In the newspaper business everyone knows there's the news that's printed 'above the fold', and the news that's printed 'below the fold'. Nobody ever gives much thought to the fold itself.
Quite interesting, however, if you're into math and physics. #IntrinsicVersusExtrinsicGeometry
Quite interesting, however, if you're into math and physics. #IntrinsicVersusExtrinsicGeometry
Reposted by Robert Mills
Up to now, all attempts to turn gravity into a quantum field theory have failed miserably, prompting researchers to take a new look at an approach first suggested in the 1970s: quadratic gravity.
www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
Old ‘Ghost’ Theory of Quantum Gravity Makes a Comeback | Quanta Magazine
Has the secret to understanding gravity been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years?
www.quantamagazine.org
November 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Up to now, all attempts to turn gravity into a quantum field theory have failed miserably, prompting researchers to take a new look at an approach first suggested in the 1970s: quadratic gravity.
www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
www.quantamagazine.org/old-ghost-th...
Reposted by Robert Mills
My editorial cartoon in the Saturday Hamilton Spectator #slavaukraini www.thespec.com/opinion/edit...
November 22, 2025 at 1:48 PM
My editorial cartoon in the Saturday Hamilton Spectator #slavaukraini www.thespec.com/opinion/edit...
Your cosmometeological forecast.
November 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Your cosmometeological forecast.
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to see it, does it make a sound? If a universe has nobody to observe it, does it really exist? www.quantamagazine.org/cosmic-parad...
Cosmic Paradox Reveals the Awful Consequence of an Observer-Free Universe | Quanta Magazine
Encouraged by successes in understanding black holes, theoretical physicists are applying what they’ve learned to whole universes. What they’re finding has them questioning fundamental assumptions abo...
www.quantamagazine.org
November 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to see it, does it make a sound? If a universe has nobody to observe it, does it really exist? www.quantamagazine.org/cosmic-parad...
When gas-rich galaxies speed rapidly through the intergalactic medium, tails of stars can often be seen trailing behind them. These aren’t stars being stripped out of the galaxies themselves, but rather gas from those galaxies being kinetically compressed, triggering the birth of new stars..
Jellyfish and bunny ear galaxies have cosmic consequences
Some galaxies have jellyfish-like tentacles, and some have two prominent "bunny ears" attached to the main disk.
They aren't just fascinating; they create the intracluster light.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astronomy #astro
Some galaxies have jellyfish-like tentacles, and some have two prominent "bunny ears" attached to the main disk.
They aren't just fascinating; they create the intracluster light.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astronomy #astro
Jellyfish and bunny ear galaxies have cosmic consequences
Weird-looking galaxies, with tentacle-like tails or prominent dual streams, appear like jellyfish or bunny ears. But that’s just the start.
bigthink.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
When gas-rich galaxies speed rapidly through the intergalactic medium, tails of stars can often be seen trailing behind them. These aren’t stars being stripped out of the galaxies themselves, but rather gas from those galaxies being kinetically compressed, triggering the birth of new stars..
Unfortunately most people have become numb to the numbers, while political leaders do little more than pay lip service to the issue. Not to mention an economic system that prioritizes profit maximization over the public good.
What took billions of years to create
Humans are destroying in just a few decades
Terminating life on Earth
Catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of global wildlife populations in just 50 years
www.worldwildlife.org/news/press-r...
Humans are destroying in just a few decades
Terminating life on Earth
Catastrophic 73% decline in the average size of global wildlife populations in just 50 years
www.worldwildlife.org/news/press-r...
WWF LPR: Nature in Crisis
WWF’s Living Planet Report shows a 73% drop in wildlife populations since 1970, urging urgent action to avoid irreversible tipping points.
www.worldwildlife.org
November 19, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Unfortunately most people have become numb to the numbers, while political leaders do little more than pay lip service to the issue. Not to mention an economic system that prioritizes profit maximization over the public good.
Water molecules originally form in cold interstellar clouds of dust and gas where stars form. But is this pristine water the same that we’re drinking today, or have these molecules been destroyed and reformed on their journey here? Researchers have now found a new piece of this puzzle.
The water you're drinking could be older than the Sun! 🚰
New ALMA observations show that water molecules carry the same chemical fingerprint all the way from star-forming clouds to planet-forming discs and comets, meaning these molecules remain unaltered.
Learn more: www.eso.org/public/blog/...
🧪🔭
New ALMA observations show that water molecules carry the same chemical fingerprint all the way from star-forming clouds to planet-forming discs and comets, meaning these molecules remain unaltered.
Learn more: www.eso.org/public/blog/...
🧪🔭
ESOblog: How old is our water?
How old is our water?
www.eso.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Water molecules originally form in cold interstellar clouds of dust and gas where stars form. But is this pristine water the same that we’re drinking today, or have these molecules been destroyed and reformed on their journey here? Researchers have now found a new piece of this puzzle.
A Supermoon followed by a Micromoon? That's not strange at all. A few hours before the New Moon on November 20, Moon will be at its farthest distance from Earth for the next 18 years. www.timeanddate.com/news/astrono...
Most Remote Moon Until 2043
The most extreme Earth-Moon distances occur around New Moon or Full Moon. On November 20, 2025, the Moon will be at its farthest distance for the next 18 years.
www.timeanddate.com
November 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
A Supermoon followed by a Micromoon? That's not strange at all. A few hours before the New Moon on November 20, Moon will be at its farthest distance from Earth for the next 18 years. www.timeanddate.com/news/astrono...
Reposted by Robert Mills
The ESCAPADE mission is built on the same architecture that will be used for Rocket Lab's Venus Lifefinder mission, a (mostly) private mission currently set to launch in 2026. Lifefinder will seek evidence that life could exist in Venus's clouds. 🔭🧪
www.morningstarmissions.space/rocketlabmis...
www.morningstarmissions.space/rocketlabmis...
November 14, 2025 at 5:10 PM
The ESCAPADE mission is built on the same architecture that will be used for Rocket Lab's Venus Lifefinder mission, a (mostly) private mission currently set to launch in 2026. Lifefinder will seek evidence that life could exist in Venus's clouds. 🔭🧪
www.morningstarmissions.space/rocketlabmis...
www.morningstarmissions.space/rocketlabmis...
Reposted by Robert Mills
Light and gravity travel at the same speed, but don’t arrive together
Yes, light waves and gravitational waves travel at exactly the same speed.
But when cosmic events create both at the same time, they don't arrive together.
Here's why.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#astro #space #gravity #light
Yes, light waves and gravitational waves travel at exactly the same speed.
But when cosmic events create both at the same time, they don't arrive together.
Here's why.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#astro #space #gravity #light
Light and gravity travel at the same speed, but don't arrive together
In 2017, a kilonova sent light and gravitational waves across the Universe. Here on Earth, there was a 1.7 second signal arrival delay. Why?
bigthink.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Light and gravity travel at the same speed, but don’t arrive together
Yes, light waves and gravitational waves travel at exactly the same speed.
But when cosmic events create both at the same time, they don't arrive together.
Here's why.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#astro #space #gravity #light
Yes, light waves and gravitational waves travel at exactly the same speed.
But when cosmic events create both at the same time, they don't arrive together.
Here's why.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#astro #space #gravity #light
Chen Ning Yang, a world-renowned and Nobel Prize-winning scientist who made revolutionary contributions to our understanding of the laws of physics and the nature of particles, died Oct. 18 in Beijing at age 103. news.uchicago.edu/story/chen-n...
Chen Ning Yang, PhD’48, world-renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, 1922-2025
UChicago alum made groundbreaking discoveries on the nature of particles
news.uchicago.edu
November 13, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Chen Ning Yang, a world-renowned and Nobel Prize-winning scientist who made revolutionary contributions to our understanding of the laws of physics and the nature of particles, died Oct. 18 in Beijing at age 103. news.uchicago.edu/story/chen-n...
50 goats took only 2 days to tackle a couple of acres of dense shrubs www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Goats 'delight' at Hamilton property as they destroy invasive buckthorn one bite at a time | CBC News
Goats in the City arrived at the Flamborough home last week with a trailer of goats ready to bleat around the bush.
www.cbc.ca
November 13, 2025 at 2:12 PM
50 goats took only 2 days to tackle a couple of acres of dense shrubs www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Reposted by Robert Mills
For the first time ever, astronomers have unveiled the shape of a supernova explosion just a day after detection, as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface.
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
For the first time ever, astronomers have unveiled the shape of a supernova explosion just a day after detection, as the blast was breaking through the star’s surface.
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Achieved by our VLT, this feat will help us understand how massive stars die: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2520/
🔭 🧪 ☄️
Reposted by Robert Mills
More US-based academics exit the United States, including world famous astronomer Sara Seager 🔭🧪
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
New constellation of academic stars headed to U of T
In a “big win for Canada,” the University of Toronto is further strengthening its academic ranks with three top researchers from U.S. universities whose work ranges from the search for new planets to ...
www.utoronto.ca
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
More US-based academics exit the United States, including world famous astronomer Sara Seager 🔭🧪
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...