Brooke Simmons
@vrooje.net
Professor of Astrophysics: Galaxies, Black Holes, the Changing Sky. Also Zooniverse humanitarian and disaster relief lead. People first, then science. She/her
Congratulations! 🥳 and also well done for picking a (probably) balmy venue 😂😊
December 29, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Congratulations! 🥳 and also well done for picking a (probably) balmy venue 😂😊
I think if I’d realised what it would be like to learn on I’d never have started 😂😂 it was just so drapey and light and I guess it forced me to learn pretty fast! Turns out I like french seams and hand basting pleats and gathers 😂
December 25, 2025 at 4:07 AM
I think if I’d realised what it would be like to learn on I’d never have started 😂😂 it was just so drapey and light and I guess it forced me to learn pretty fast! Turns out I like french seams and hand basting pleats and gathers 😂
Love the food analogy for fabric processing!
December 25, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Love the food analogy for fabric processing!
Have no idea if I’ll be going back to Japan anytime soon, but if so, I may try the hemp. It looked like a linen-style weave and felt like it as well. And the exchange rate was excellent 😂 so it would be well worth leaving room in my suitcase for some! Really appreciate you taking the time ❤️
December 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
Have no idea if I’ll be going back to Japan anytime soon, but if so, I may try the hemp. It looked like a linen-style weave and felt like it as well. And the exchange rate was excellent 😂 so it would be well worth leaving room in my suitcase for some! Really appreciate you taking the time ❤️
Thank you so much! The more I learn about textiles, the more I realise I know nothing. I started sewing with inexpensive viscose challis, and I’ve been moving on to more linen lately. Just made a blouse out of “ramie linen”, and it is a bit stiff. (Have only washed it once though.)
December 25, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Thank you so much! The more I learn about textiles, the more I realise I know nothing. I started sewing with inexpensive viscose challis, and I’ve been moving on to more linen lately. Just made a blouse out of “ramie linen”, and it is a bit stiff. (Have only washed it once though.)
Ooh, I’m interested to learn more about this. I saw hemp fabric when I was on a trip to Japan and I was very curious, but held off because I knew nothing about it. Everything I’ve seen since is mainly “linen alternative goodness”, but of course I know it’s rarely that simple. Is it highly processed?
December 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Ooh, I’m interested to learn more about this. I saw hemp fabric when I was on a trip to Japan and I was very curious, but held off because I knew nothing about it. Everything I’ve seen since is mainly “linen alternative goodness”, but of course I know it’s rarely that simple. Is it highly processed?
For the 2019 National Astronomy Meeting in the UK, we hired an artist to design our logos that we put on the swag. It was great!
December 23, 2025 at 9:26 PM
For the 2019 National Astronomy Meeting in the UK, we hired an artist to design our logos that we put on the swag. It was great!
I’m interested in how this came to be mandated. It’s been so good for my productivity to do this but I can’t really imagine my whole department buying in.
December 19, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I’m interested in how this came to be mandated. It’s been so good for my productivity to do this but I can’t really imagine my whole department buying in.
One has the sense that person was very proud of crafting such vitriol. Those encouraging them are deeply irresponsible.
December 19, 2025 at 10:09 AM
One has the sense that person was very proud of crafting such vitriol. Those encouraging them are deeply irresponsible.
Congratulations! 🥳 and welcome to the UK 😊
December 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Congratulations! 🥳 and welcome to the UK 😊
I was in the hospital for a procedure (also peri related) where they had to keep me awake and talking, and it came up. One of the nurses (around my age) suddenly said “wait, THAT’S why the tops of my feet itch all the time? I’ve tried everything!!” 😬 if the nurses don’t know, what chance do we have?
December 7, 2025 at 5:19 AM
I was in the hospital for a procedure (also peri related) where they had to keep me awake and talking, and it came up. One of the nurses (around my age) suddenly said “wait, THAT’S why the tops of my feet itch all the time? I’ve tried everything!!” 😬 if the nurses don’t know, what chance do we have?
I didn’t know it was a poem either! Thank you for the link; that was lovely.
December 7, 2025 at 5:14 AM
I didn’t know it was a poem either! Thank you for the link; that was lovely.
The itching is so bad, and not really mentioned in most lists of typical symptoms. Took me ages to clock that it was peri related. Moisturiser works for about 5 minutes, but a daily antihistamine keeps it quiet for me.
December 7, 2025 at 4:50 AM
The itching is so bad, and not really mentioned in most lists of typical symptoms. Took me ages to clock that it was peri related. Moisturiser works for about 5 minutes, but a daily antihistamine keeps it quiet for me.
I hadn’t heard her before. That was incredible. Thank you for sharing
November 28, 2025 at 11:13 AM
I hadn’t heard her before. That was incredible. Thank you for sharing
Last time I flew, a FA explained during descent that there were 3 passengers with very short connections and asked the rest of us to stay in our seats when we arrived so they could rush off the plane. Everyone did, it was a nice reminder that humans can be ok to each other sometimes
November 23, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Last time I flew, a FA explained during descent that there were 3 passengers with very short connections and asked the rest of us to stay in our seats when we arrived so they could rush off the plane. Everyone did, it was a nice reminder that humans can be ok to each other sometimes
It’ll probably be ok; airlines will often hold a long-haul flight for a few minutes for connecting passengers. They can usually make up time in the air, so it costs them nothing vs e.g. paying for a hotel for you. Lot of stress/rushing though. Ask the FA for advice/help before you land @ CDG, maybe?
November 23, 2025 at 11:10 AM
It’ll probably be ok; airlines will often hold a long-haul flight for a few minutes for connecting passengers. They can usually make up time in the air, so it costs them nothing vs e.g. paying for a hotel for you. Lot of stress/rushing though. Ask the FA for advice/help before you land @ CDG, maybe?
Definitely, in my opinion. Example: without at least some QM, it’s hard to grok why forbidden lines happen, including why we call them “forbidden”. And those (as part of radiative transfer) are bread and butter for a bunch of astro.
November 19, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Definitely, in my opinion. Example: without at least some QM, it’s hard to grok why forbidden lines happen, including why we call them “forbidden”. And those (as part of radiative transfer) are bread and butter for a bunch of astro.
💯💯💯 and the ridiculous broken keyboard too. I managed to skip those, but we still have some laptops in the group from the “one single USB-C port because fuck our customers” era
November 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
💯💯💯 and the ridiculous broken keyboard too. I managed to skip those, but we still have some laptops in the group from the “one single USB-C port because fuck our customers” era
Totally agreed, actually. “Design” seems to be hardware focused, in some design school way that forgets about usability.
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
November 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Totally agreed, actually. “Design” seems to be hardware focused, in some design school way that forgets about usability.
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
Sometimes I randomly think about Snow Leopard and how today’s Apple would never give us a product that was just “smaller and faster, no more bloat”. They’re too insecure
“You get one port only, you shouldn’t need more, that’s ugly. Slide your finger across this thing with no haptic feedback that changes every 20 seconds, nobody needs an escape key now, nerd! Here’s a new type of viz it’s called something cool you will love it I fomise”
November 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
“You get one port only, you shouldn’t need more, that’s ugly. Slide your finger across this thing with no haptic feedback that changes every 20 seconds, nobody needs an escape key now, nerd! Here’s a new type of viz it’s called something cool you will love it I fomise”
Yeah. People who came in afterward had an understandable desire to show they were different but they picked the wrong thing. They picked form over function, precise design over any other type of precision, again and again.
November 17, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Yeah. People who came in afterward had an understandable desire to show they were different but they picked the wrong thing. They picked form over function, precise design over any other type of precision, again and again.
Yeah, I haven’t been able to use it for years because annotations unpredictably just disappear sometimes. They’re still in the file, they just sometimes refuse to display. Apple has known about this breaking bug for years and refuse to fix it. Sucks to hear it’s getting worse now 😕
November 17, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Yeah, I haven’t been able to use it for years because annotations unpredictably just disappear sometimes. They’re still in the file, they just sometimes refuse to display. Apple has known about this breaking bug for years and refuse to fix it. Sucks to hear it’s getting worse now 😕