Scott Johnston
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scottjohnston.bsky.social
Scott Johnston
@scottjohnston.bsky.social
190 followers 210 following 59 posts
Science Writer. Author. PhD. Stargazer. Find me at Perimeter Institute and Universe Today.

Opinions are my own.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Scott Johnston
perimeterinstitute.ca
Want to learn how to decipher one of physics' most useful tools? Check out our one-page primer on how to read Feynman diagrams: perimeterinstitute.ca/news/anatomy...
Anatomy of a Feynman Diagram | PI News
perimeterinstitute.ca
January 13, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
federalreserve.gov
Video message from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
YouTube video by Federal Reserve
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:35 AM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Having a toddler means getting to learn unexpected things. Today's discovery: dinosaurs and bees coexisted! 🦖🐝
January 10, 2026 at 1:44 AM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Heather has it right.
Understanding the U.S. Strike on Venezuela | Explainer
YouTube video by Heather Cox Richardson
youtu.be
January 4, 2026 at 12:45 AM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Yikes.
ebharrington.bsky.social Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 18d
They're going to *throw out* one-of-a-kind NASA archives?!

Not even a year since the Inauguration & we're already at the 2nd-time-as-farce version of the burning of the Library of Alexandria.
January 1, 2026 at 3:26 AM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
How Einstein really discovered relativity:
🎭 Dramatic Monologue: Defying Gravity from @wickedmovie #wicked #wickedmusical #actingmonologue
YouTube video by jmcnik: SONGOLOGUES
youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
nature.com
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.

go.nature.com/4hj9NNV
Economics Nobel prize won by researchers who showed how science boosts growth
Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Pewter Howitt share economics prize for work that underlines the importance of investing in research and development.
go.nature.com
October 13, 2025 at 8:37 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
This is Canada's first official look at the country's most ambitious radio observatory to date, now under construction in Penticton, BC.
perimeterinstitute.ca Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics @perimeterinstitute.ca · Aug 28
CHORD is the next-generation radio telescope that will leverage Canadian astronomical leadership to unveil the mysteries of the cosmos.

Details: perimeterinstitute.ca/news/chord-w...

@dunlapinstitute.bsky.social @mcgillscience.bsky.social
August 28, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
astrokatie.com
Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.
ericmgarcia.bsky.social Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · Aug 5
Release from HHS: HHS will wind down its development of the mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
HHS Winds Down mRNA Vaccine Development Under BARDA WASHINGTON, DC—AUGUST 5, 2025—The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced the beginning of a coordinated wind-down of its mRNA vaccine development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), including the cancellation and de-scoping of various contracts and solicitations. The decision follows a comprehensive review of mRNA-related investments initiated during the COVID-19 public health emergency. “We reviewed the science, listened to the experts, and acted,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “BARDA is terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu. We’re shifting that funding toward safer, broader vaccine platforms that remain effective even as viruses mutate.”
August 5, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
jodrellbank.bsky.social
Congratulations to Professor Michele Dougherty on her appointment as the UK's Astronomer Royal – the first woman to hold the position in its 350-year history! 🔭✨

🔗 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

#Astronomy
UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years
Prof Michele Dougherty is the first woman to be appointed to the influential post.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 30, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
philplait.bsky.social
At first glance this is very, very good news for NASA and other agencies. I think that many missions zeroed out by the White House decree are reversed here. Still a long way to go but this is an excellent sign. I'm sure many others will chime in on this.
bmacastro.bsky.social Bruce Macintosh @bmacastro.bsky.social · Jul 18
Senate CJS bill is passed out of committee, with strong support for NASA and NSF (basically flat budgets) and strongly supportive language for many facilities.

www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
www.appropriations.senate.gov
July 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
chanda.blacksky.app
Fingers crossed. Keep telling your members of Congress this is important.
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Jul 10
The Senate appropriations committee has voiced its intent to ignore the request by President Donald Trump to slash the budgets of the National Science Foundation and NASA science programs. scim.ag/4nW7XWi
Senate spending panel would rescue NSF and NASA science funding
Its support for a flat budget is a sign of congressional resistance to drastic cuts Trump has proposed
scim.ag
July 10, 2025 at 8:50 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
This is an absurd step backwards. NASA stands among the USA's greatest achievements, and to see its science program dismantled so deliberately is heartbreaking.
July 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
👀
vrubinobs.bsky.social NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social · Jun 23
Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory!

Can you guess these regions of sky?

This is just a small peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos! 🔭🧪

#RubinFirstLook
ls.st/rubin-first-look-livestream
A sprawling, textured field of galaxies scattered across the deep black of space. It is filled with the delicate smudges and glowing cores of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. The image focuses on a collection of interacting galaxies connected by delicate streams of stars. At top center lies a large elliptical galaxy that is dense and smooth, like a polished stone glowing with golden light. Like delicate spider silk or stretched taffy, these stellar bridges link the large elliptical to the few larger galaxies beneath, evidence of past collisions. All throughout the image, thousands of galaxies gather in clusters or are spread throughout, like glittering gems strewn on a table. Some are sharp-edged and spiral, like coiled ribbons; others round and diffuse, like polished pebbles. Still others are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. The background is peppered with pinpoint stars in reds, yellows, and blues, crisp against the velvet black. A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars. A sprawling, textured field of galaxies scattered across the deep black of space. It is filled with the delicate smudges and glowing cores of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. To the lower left is a region filled with the hundreds of golden glittering gems of a distant galaxy cluster. In the foreground, below and right of center, two blue spiral galaxies look like eyes beneath the entangled mass of a triple galaxy merger in the upper right. A few bright blue points of foreground stars pierce the glittering tapestry. All throughout the image, thousands of galaxies gather in clusters or are spread throughout, like glittering gems strewn on a table. Some are sharp-edged and spiral, like coiled ribbons; others round and diffuse, like polished pebbles. Still others are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. The background is peppered with pinpoint stars in reds, yellows, and blues, crisp against the velvet black.
June 23, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
literaryfey.bsky.social
"I asked ChatGPT" "I asked Grok" ok well I asked Gandalf and he said he has not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm
June 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
The 2025 @swc-can.bsky.social Science Writers and Communicators of Canada conference is getting started! I'm excited to be at UNB with @perimeterinstitute.ca this morning to connect with writers and science comms experts from across the country.
June 12, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
verybadllama.bsky.social
Google and Meta search both report that Cape Breton Island has its own time zone 12 minutes ahead of mainland Nova Scotia time because they are both drawing that information from a Beaverton article I wrote in 2024
June 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
jtuttlekeane.bsky.social
The NASA planetary science fleet chart if the president’s budget is enacted.
The NASA planetary science fleet chart. It shows two spirals with missions to Moon/Mars and the Solar System. I’ve crossed off all of the missions that will be cancelled in the president’s budget… and there are a lot of them.
May 30, 2025 at 9:57 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Hank nailed this one.
No One Knows When They Don't Die
YouTube video by vlogbrothers
youtu.be
May 16, 2025 at 8:33 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Alien algae was not on my bingo card for today, but I'll take it. 🦠 www.cbc.ca/news/science...
Scientists find strongest evidence yet of life on an alien planet | CBC News
In a potential landmark discovery, scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system.
www.cbc.ca
April 17, 2025 at 4:08 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Writing this (and filming the reel) was a blast. Learning quantum mechanics is always more fun with liquid nitrogen!
The quantum origins of glow-in-the-dark | PI News
perimeterinstitute.ca
March 18, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Scott Johnston
astropartigirl.bsky.social
Oh. My. Wow. This image here, THIS STUNNING PHOTO, was taken by Blue Ghost on the Moon. Because while we saw a lunar eclipse on Earth, the Moon saw a solar eclipse at the same time. That's us, Earth, eclipsing the Sun. And it just gives me goosebumps to see like this!!
March 15, 2025 at 8:56 AM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
You get a moon! You get a moon! Everybody gets a moon!
squigglyvolcano.bsky.social Dr Robin George Andrews @squigglyvolcano.bsky.social · Mar 11
BREAKING PLANET NEWS 🪐

Rather hilariously, Saturn just got up to 128 new moons (thanks to some careful telescopic observations), bringing its total to…274? That’s just an absurd number of moons.

(Not the MPC bulletin I was expecting today…!)
March 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
This would be catastrophic. Stand up for science.
planetarysociety.bsky.social The Planetary Society @planetarysociety.bsky.social · Mar 7
There are reports The White House is considering a 50% cut to NASA’s science programs, and 25% of its overall budget, which would be catastrophic for both current and planned missions. But, there is still time for the administration to reconsider. Read our full statement ⬇️
The Planetary Society: reported cuts to NASA would amount to an…
The Planetary Society, the world’s largest independent space interest organization, issued a statement in response to recent reports that the White House…
www.planetary.org
March 8, 2025 at 3:02 PM
scottjohnston.bsky.social
Lying on a hill in the warm sun is what we all really need right now.
xkcd.com Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Feb 4
Stromatolites xkcd.com/3046
February 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM