Alejandro Soto
@soto.space
Planetary scientist and aerospace engineer. He/him. https://www.alejandrosoto.net
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
From an earlier thread: bsky.app/profile/eliz...
Wanna see a visual on the result of the Republican attack on public health?
I’ve got you covered. This is from Pew Research Center’s most recent survey, showing a 27% drop in Republican support for school vaccine requirements from 2016-2025.
I’ve got you covered. This is from Pew Research Center’s most recent survey, showing a 27% drop in Republican support for school vaccine requirements from 2016-2025.
November 20, 2025 at 9:10 PM
From an earlier thread: bsky.app/profile/eliz...
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
A horrifying graphic from Pew showing the fruits of the right wing war on public health.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
November 20, 2025 at 8:46 PM
A horrifying graphic from Pew showing the fruits of the right wing war on public health.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
Only 48% of Republicans believe that vaccines prevent serious illness, while 80% of Democrats do.
This is not a difference of opinion in science. This is the result of a ruthless disinformation campaign.
I know nothing about this project, but I love the acronym: HOBI-WAN
Looks like it's about food production for astronauts in space.
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...
Looks like it's about food production for astronauts in space.
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...
Protein Out of Thin Air: ESA’s pilot project HOBI-WAN launched
www.esa.int
November 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I know nothing about this project, but I love the acronym: HOBI-WAN
Looks like it's about food production for astronauts in space.
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...
Looks like it's about food production for astronauts in space.
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...
Here’s some science news for your Friday morning. Our office #FridayScienceDiscussion started with people sharing inages from the aurora we saw this week. A rare sight in Colorado. And beautiful (search Bluesky for examples).
#planetaryscience 🧪
1/n
#planetaryscience 🧪
1/n
November 14, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Here’s some science news for your Friday morning. Our office #FridayScienceDiscussion started with people sharing inages from the aurora we saw this week. A rare sight in Colorado. And beautiful (search Bluesky for examples).
#planetaryscience 🧪
1/n
#planetaryscience 🧪
1/n
Hey #planetaryscience peeps! Come to Denver to talk about exoplanet atmospheres! Denver's great and so are atmospheres.
aas.org/meetings/exo...
aas.org/meetings/exo...
AASTCS 11: Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 | American Astronomical Society
AASTCS 11: Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 will be held from 16-20 March 2026 in Denver, Colorado.
aas.org
November 13, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Hey #planetaryscience peeps! Come to Denver to talk about exoplanet atmospheres! Denver's great and so are atmospheres.
aas.org/meetings/exo...
aas.org/meetings/exo...
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
NOAA cut funding to the Alaska Earthquake Center, directed by my friend Mike West. As a result, seismic monitoring by nine stations in Alaska tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes will go offline by the end of the month. This endangers people in Alaska, Hawaiʻi, and other parts of the Pacific.
This lab is key for tracking deadly waves. Its sensors are about to go offline.
After NOAA cut funding to the lab that’s been monitoring seismic activity for more than 25 years, nine stations tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes for the agency will go offline by the end of the mo...
www.washingtonpost.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 PM
NOAA cut funding to the Alaska Earthquake Center, directed by my friend Mike West. As a result, seismic monitoring by nine stations in Alaska tracking tsunami-causing earthquakes will go offline by the end of the month. This endangers people in Alaska, Hawaiʻi, and other parts of the Pacific.
Science in America is such a mess right now.
I just watched an amazing talk about exoplanet demographics. One take away? That the Roman telescope will be able to answer many questions about exoplanets.
Speaker: "That's if Roman flies."
It shouldn't be "if Roman flies", but here we are.
I just watched an amazing talk about exoplanet demographics. One take away? That the Roman telescope will be able to answer many questions about exoplanets.
Speaker: "That's if Roman flies."
It shouldn't be "if Roman flies", but here we are.
November 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Science in America is such a mess right now.
I just watched an amazing talk about exoplanet demographics. One take away? That the Roman telescope will be able to answer many questions about exoplanets.
Speaker: "That's if Roman flies."
It shouldn't be "if Roman flies", but here we are.
I just watched an amazing talk about exoplanet demographics. One take away? That the Roman telescope will be able to answer many questions about exoplanets.
Speaker: "That's if Roman flies."
It shouldn't be "if Roman flies", but here we are.
That's cool!!
If you want to know what magnets are, my old post on the Barkhausen effect not only explains that but shows how you can hear metal being magnetized skullsinthestars.com/2012/10/01/m...
Making magnets speak: the Barkhausen effect
Occasionally I come across a demonstration of physics that is so simple to implement yet illustrates a phenomenon so profound that it almost takes my breath away. I learned of one such demonstrati…
skullsinthestars.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:30 PM
That's cool!!
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
In our last thread, we left the jelly-enjoyers of Bluesky with a cliff hanger ending, in what one eager onlooker described as soap opera science 😜 ... wait no more, we are back! Grab your popcorn shrimp and come with us on a journey spanning more than...
bsky.app/profile/iwan...
bsky.app/profile/iwan...
Kailua Beach, Hawai’i: The first time I laid eyes on a By-the-wind sailor, I stopped dead in my tracks, dusted the sand off my hands, grabbed my iphone and...
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
In our last thread, we left the jelly-enjoyers of Bluesky with a cliff hanger ending, in what one eager onlooker described as soap opera science 😜 ... wait no more, we are back! Grab your popcorn shrimp and come with us on a journey spanning more than...
bsky.app/profile/iwan...
bsky.app/profile/iwan...
Wow. This is a lovely science thread on something I knew nothing about.
Even more interesting things to look for when I am at the beach.
🧪
Even more interesting things to look for when I am at the beach.
🧪
Kailua Beach, Hawai’i: The first time I laid eyes on a By-the-wind sailor, I stopped dead in my tracks, dusted the sand off my hands, grabbed my iphone and...
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Wow. This is a lovely science thread on something I knew nothing about.
Even more interesting things to look for when I am at the beach.
🧪
Even more interesting things to look for when I am at the beach.
🧪
Not is it only a beautiful roast of Musk, by Oates, but her post is also an excellent use of semicolons. I love it.
We have discovered the antidote to Elon Musk's tyranny—his truest nemesis.
First of Her Name, Queen of the Bookstores and Libraries, Daughter of the Literature Department and Humanities, The Breaker of Billionaires...
@joycecaroloates.bsky.social
lithub.com/elon-musk-ge...
First of Her Name, Queen of the Bookstores and Libraries, Daughter of the Literature Department and Humanities, The Breaker of Billionaires...
@joycecaroloates.bsky.social
lithub.com/elon-musk-ge...
Elon Musk gets roasted on his own platform by Joyce Carol Oates.
Like an ancient cyborg culling through the ruins of a post-apocalyptic planet (twitter, derogatory), Joyce Carol Oates recently fired her full-power death ray at aspiring trillionaire Elon Musk, wh…
lithub.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Not is it only a beautiful roast of Musk, by Oates, but her post is also an excellent use of semicolons. I love it.
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
Finally knowing where the name came from checks off one of my bucket list items. <phew!>
I LEARNED THE ANSWER TO THIS
Chris's Steakhouse was a New Orleans landmark
Chris Matulich periodically got bored, sold it, waited for the new owner to fail, and bought it back cheap
The sale conditions: Can't move it, can't change the name
He did this six times
Then he sold it to Ruth Fertel
Chris's Steakhouse was a New Orleans landmark
Chris Matulich periodically got bored, sold it, waited for the new owner to fail, and bought it back cheap
The sale conditions: Can't move it, can't change the name
He did this six times
Then he sold it to Ruth Fertel
what did ruth mean when she said her steakhouse was "chris"
November 7, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Finally knowing where the name came from checks off one of my bucket list items. <phew!>
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So where’s the evidence? 🔭🧪
November 4, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So where’s the evidence? 🔭🧪
Dammit we are gamifying and AI-ifying everything. And we are losing the point. Yes, some meetings have a point, but getting your thoughts in the AI notes aren’t the point, I am sure.
www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
AI Summarization Optimization - Schneier on Security
These days, the most important meeting attendee isn’t a person: It’s the AI notetaker. This system assigns action items and determines the importance of what is said. If it becomes necessary to revisi...
www.schneier.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Dammit we are gamifying and AI-ifying everything. And we are losing the point. Yes, some meetings have a point, but getting your thoughts in the AI notes aren’t the point, I am sure.
www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
www.schneier.com/blog/archive...
I love these feats of construction. The means of building this telescope is amazing, as amazing as the things that this telescope will discover.
Open Sesame!
The ELT doors have moved for the first time. This was no small feat, as each door will weigh 650 tonnes once completed.
The ELT dome & its doors will guard the telescope from the harsh conditions of the Atacama Desert.
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/potw2544a/
🔭 🧪
📹 ESO/ACe
The ELT doors have moved for the first time. This was no small feat, as each door will weigh 650 tonnes once completed.
The ELT dome & its doors will guard the telescope from the harsh conditions of the Atacama Desert.
https://www.eso.org/public/videos/potw2544a/
🔭 🧪
📹 ESO/ACe
November 3, 2025 at 6:20 PM
I love these feats of construction. The means of building this telescope is amazing, as amazing as the things that this telescope will discover.
For anyone thinking any of her claims are valid, all of these claims were covered by @philplait.bsky.social years ago. Check out the explanations at:
www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...
www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...
October 31, 2025 at 5:24 AM
For anyone thinking any of her claims are valid, all of these claims were covered by @philplait.bsky.social years ago. Check out the explanations at:
www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...
www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...
An amazing thread about fighting hunger and corruption.
With SNAP benefits going to shit because of rich assholes and corruption running rampant through politics I'd like to point your attention to a Clinton.
No, not one of those Clintons. This Clinton. Clifford Clinton.
No, not one of those Clintons. This Clinton. Clifford Clinton.
October 31, 2025 at 1:03 AM
An amazing thread about fighting hunger and corruption.
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
Marion McQuillan #WWII worked @ Royal Aircraft Establishment #Farnborough, 1956 published seminal book “Titanium”. 1960s reg'd 8 titanium alloy patents. 1st woman MD @ Imperial Metal Industries. Won Rosenhain Medal 1965 VP Institute of Metals 1967 b. #OTD 30 Oct 1921 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_...
October 30, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Marion McQuillan #WWII worked @ Royal Aircraft Establishment #Farnborough, 1956 published seminal book “Titanium”. 1960s reg'd 8 titanium alloy patents. 1st woman MD @ Imperial Metal Industries. Won Rosenhain Medal 1965 VP Institute of Metals 1967 b. #OTD 30 Oct 1921 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_...
Reposted by Alejandro Soto
The “Hurricane Hunters” crew from the United States Air Force captured a haunting illusion at the center of Hurricane Melissa—a key feature of particularly powerful hurricanes. Learn how it forms: nautil.us/how-this-hau...
How This Haunting Hurricane Illusion Forms
How This Haunting Hurricane Illusion Forms: Powerful storms like Hurricane Melissa foment an odd phenomenon called the “stadium effect” at their centers
nautil.us
October 29, 2025 at 5:05 PM
The “Hurricane Hunters” crew from the United States Air Force captured a haunting illusion at the center of Hurricane Melissa—a key feature of particularly powerful hurricanes. Learn how it forms: nautil.us/how-this-hau...
Among other things, this article does a great job of pointing out the many ways that SpaceX depended on prior and current government and research investment.
Plus, it mentions Delta Clipper, which I am often harping about.
Plus, it mentions Delta Clipper, which I am often harping about.
my Bloomberg story on SpaceX's use of government technology projects to build its world-leading space tech has been syndicated, so now it's easy for anyone to read for free: www.al.com/news/2025/10...
What happens when the US stops funding the science behind SpaceX?
The US could once again spend hundreds of millions of dollars - public and private - and end up no further along than the last generation of overreaching programs that never flew.
www.al.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Among other things, this article does a great job of pointing out the many ways that SpaceX depended on prior and current government and research investment.
Plus, it mentions Delta Clipper, which I am often harping about.
Plus, it mentions Delta Clipper, which I am often harping about.
I don't really know what the right answer is for patents, but with this administration my gut says that what they are trying to do is bad for both research and the nation.
www.aip.org/fyi/commerce...
www.aip.org/fyi/commerce...
Commerce Moves to Take Cut of Research Patents
The agency has opened the possibility in a recent funding announcement and threatened to take control of Harvard’s patents.
www.aip.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I don't really know what the right answer is for patents, but with this administration my gut says that what they are trying to do is bad for both research and the nation.
www.aip.org/fyi/commerce...
www.aip.org/fyi/commerce...
This was a really cool way to highlight the images of the moon taken by the Apollo astronauts.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
And I learned a few unexpected facts:
"During their camera training, it became evident that Armstrong had a better eye than Buzz Aldrin."
#planetsci
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
And I learned a few unexpected facts:
"During their camera training, it became evident that Armstrong had a better eye than Buzz Aldrin."
#planetsci
How NASA’s Lunar Photography Brought the Heavens Down to Earth
No explorers ever traveled farther from home than the Apollo astronauts. As artists, they’re still underrated.
www.nytimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:12 PM
This was a really cool way to highlight the images of the moon taken by the Apollo astronauts.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
And I learned a few unexpected facts:
"During their camera training, it became evident that Armstrong had a better eye than Buzz Aldrin."
#planetsci
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
And I learned a few unexpected facts:
"During their camera training, it became evident that Armstrong had a better eye than Buzz Aldrin."
#planetsci