David Grinspoon @DrFunkySpoon@qoto.org

Certain belief in the nonexistence of free will (because our current physics “proves” this) is similar to certain belief in the existence of an omnipotent god. Both remove human agency and responsibility, for reasons of preference of a worldview.

Over on Twitter it’s like the Penguin is in charge of Gotham.

There's A LOT of discussion about content moderation right now and very little of it touches on the fact that we've all lived on the big social sites for the last decade-plus thanks to the massively exploitated labor of mostly-invisible moderation workers. The social web at scale wouldn't have happened without these laborers, who in addition to shit wages, have been exposed to literally every imaginable horror.

If we're remaking this world, let's do better on that front.

Hey journalists! Mastodon is not a “platform”. Platforms were invented in the wake of the last financial crisis to consolidate power among specific companies by mining people of of their personal data for profit online. Mastodon does not consolidate, only connects. It does not amplify algorithmically, or mine people. Any “learning curve” should include reflection on why you ever accepted “services” aimed at data extraction as “natural” or even “social” to begin with. #twittermigration

A few days ago on Sol 621 (November 18th), the Mars Perseverance Rover observed a solar eclipse by the moon Phobos.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

#Space #Science #Mars2020 #Astrodon

Sure many of us have complicated feelings about Artemis, as partially documented here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/opinion/nasa-moon-artemis.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
But damn these photos of Earth, Moon & nouveau-Apollo looking artifacts are striking, moving, beautiful, just so cool…

The #JWST Transiting Exoplanet Early Release Science Team is excited to share the latest science results from observations of the exoplanet WASP-39 b, described in 5 papers released this morning. 🧵
https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-060
Image: Melissa Weiss/CfA

Oh my.

Joel Greenberg's lawyer is pretty pissed about Matt Gaetz not being indicted, and he's put it in writing.

The rare and aggressive move calls out the DOJ for trying to destroy the life of a local corrupted tax official who snitched on his buddies—Joel Greenberg—but not pursuing a criminal case against the popular, rich Republican congressman who allegedly took part in the drugs and paid for sex with a teenager.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/joel-greenberg-court-documents-rip-into-department-of-justice-for-fiddling-away-on-matt-gaetz-case