David Grinspoon @DrFunkySpoon@qoto.org

Previous toot should have read
50 MILLION light years!!
(Hey but what’s 6 orders of magnitude among friends??)

I mean 50 MILLION light years!!
(Hey but what’s 6 orders of magnitude among friends??)

Absolutely GORGEOUS image of spiral galaxy M88, about 50 light years away, looking a lot like our home Milky Way Galaxy would look if you could see it from this vantage point.
Taken by Adam Block at Mt. Lemmon where I used to hang out during grad school...

This year we lost the brilliant, brave and beautiful Nichelle Nichols, who would have been 90 years old today. It was such a thrill to meet her and work with her briefly (at a science communication event in Atlanta 2012).

Also just found this exchange with my Dad from 2002 (print out from e-mail)

The attachment seems to be an early version of the TTAPS paper which first introduced the concept of nuclear winter. But it only lists 4 authors. Tom Ackerman was not yet a co-author.

Still unpacking my office (hey it’s only been 1.3 years) & found another letter from Carl Sagan. This is why I can’t just toss shit out.

“Uranus is wild,” Dr. Grinspoon said.
Happy solstice everyone!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/science/winter-solstice-december-21.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Happy Hanukkah!

Sabine has it exactly right about fusion energy.
It’s not a short term solution, and doesn’t change our need to transition right now to renewables as fast as we can.
But, remember also it is short term thinking that has got us into this mess, so let’s welcome this with hope for future generations. 100 years from now we will not only be post fossil fuel but will be actively removing carbon from the atmosphere, tuning the climate for maximum human and biosphere flourishing.
We should be buoyed by this news and let it remind us that “there is no fate but what we make” (to quote Sarah Conner in Terminator). There will be game changers and breakthroughs. There is no need to despair. Let’s work at creating the future we want.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/16/opinion/fusion-climate-change-clean-energy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Holy wow! This new infrared image of Jupiter’s moon Io from the Juno spacecraft shows volcanoes, lava flows and lava lakes glowing with heat radiation!

Question: Which country has had the best COVID response? Is there a society which has responded in a way informed by science and respectful of the rights and needs of their people?
2/2

Observation: Arguably the COVID response failures in the U.S. and China illustrate fundamental failings in both societies. In the U.S. rampant anti-science, corporatized health care, lack of public investment, extreme inequality, dysfunction fueled by extreme polarization fed by incentivized disinformation. In China authoritarian corrupt leaders out of touch with, and with little regard for, the needs and experiences of their vast, diverse population.
1/2

NUDGING A SPACE ROCK
That’s one small change in an asteroid’s orbit, one giant leap for humanity.
(my latest for @SkyandTelescope)
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-blogs/cosmic-relief-david-grinspoon/nudging-a-space-rock/ https://twitter.com/DrFunkySpoon/status/1602718160607711237/video/1

Brittney Griner is free!
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/08/world/brittney-griner-russia-ukraine-news/brittney-griner-russia?smid=url-share