Chris Lintott

Chris Lintott

@chrislintott.bsky.social

Astronomer, writer and zookeeper. Oxford, Gresham and the Zooniverse. The human half of the Dog Stars podcast. New book: 'Our Accidental Universe' (UK/rest of world) and 'Accidental Astronomy (US) now out.

16K followers1.5K following2.9K posts

Chris Lintott reposted

Tim O'Brien
@proftimob.bsky.social

Just a reminder that the STFC cuts will not only end all radio astronomy observations from Jodrell Bank and its e-MERLIN array, they will also end the UK's involvement in the Europe-wide radio astronomy network EVN, of which we were a founder member. Our international partners are astounded...

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

I remember being at a talk about attempts to improve diversity of science coverage on Wikipedia where the depressing takeaway is which you reach a point where are you reflecting the bias not in Wikipedia but in the world. There are fewer mentions of women in the sources it relies on.

Morgan Jones@morganj0nes.bsky.social

I don't disagree with any criticism here particularly but I think that taking aim at Wikipedia, one of the great achievements of humanity, in this internet context, is reckless and dumb www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.comIs Wikipedia ‘deeply biased’? Sandi Toksvig says it is – so she’s backing a rivalJust 19% of the online encyclopedia’s biographies are of women. Is this because it’s edited by ‘mostly white, middle-aged, European men’, as the comedian claims?
Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Boooooooooo.

EarthSky@earthskyscience.bsky.social

No more leap seconds! Timekeeping is officially changing. Starting May 20, 2027, the international time standard will no longer use #leapseconds to keep it aligned with Earth’s rotation. What's that mean for you? Find out at: buff.ly/aeyE68h 📸 Pexels/ Stas Knop..

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Free tickets are available for my upcoming @greshamcollege.bsky.social lecture 'Our Sun, Our Star', on 11th November. Register now to attend or watch online - in person tickets will go fast. www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/sun... 🔭

gresham.ac.ukOur Sun, Our StarThe Sun makes life on Earth possible. It is special to us, but it is also just another one of the Milky Way’s hundred billion stars.This lecture considers what the Sun can teach us about its stellar b...
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Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Work must be right - and that means extreme care needs to be taken to make sure we are not wrong. If we are right, then we should be interesting! Otherwise what's the point? If we're doing something right and interesting, then there is space to be creative. Is the method novel? Is it fun?

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Only after we worry about meeting all these 'needs' do we worry about being 'Fast'. So much of the discourse about LLMs is about how to be faster - but I, at least, found this framing useful in talking about how speed is a lower level goal compared to the other things we seek.

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

As expected, the Prime Minister's promise to sort out the mess of funding for Jodrell actually meant nothing - it seems the government would like it to be some sort of heritage theme park when you can go and see where we used to do science. 🔭

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

'The University of Manchester is seeking alternative funding sources to keep scientific work at Jodrell Bank going after hearing that lost UK Research and Innovation funding would not be restored despite interventions by the prime minister.'

timeshighereducation.comManchester seeks alternative Jodrell funds despite Burnham pledgeUniversity exploring new revenue streams to continue important scientific research at site, as astronomers remain concerned about the future of facility

Chris Lintott reposted

Sarah Kendrew
@sarahkendrew.bsky.social

ESA is hosting a hackathon event following the first big Euclid data release will n November, on our Datalabs platform. Follow @davidoryan.bsky.social for more info!

David O'Ryan@davidoryan.bsky.social

I'm running the ESA Datalabs Euclid Hackathon 2026, 23-26 Nov at ESAC, Madrid. Attend this public hackathon on finding astrophysical anomalies in the first Euclid data release. Win prizes finding the rarest objects! Fee: 0€ Reg Deadline: 20th of October Site: www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esa-data... 🔭🧪

cosmos.esa.intHome - ESA Datalabs Euclid Hackathon 2026 - Cosmos

Chris Lintott reposted

Emily Lakdawalla 🏳️‍⚧️ Uranus Expert
@elakdawalla.bsky.social

Holy shit you guys there are so many things to see in this video. My favorite detail is one I recognize from studying Curiosity’s landing sequence. The vehicle rolls alternately left and right to control its lift as it enters the atmosphere in order to target its landing range

Astronomy 🔭@astronomy.bsky.social

NASA has released onboard video of Artemis II's reentry through Earth's atmosphere 🤩 Top speed: about 25,000 mph

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

This is thoughtful as you might expect. And exactly why I’m worried. 🧪

Julianne Dalcanton@dalcantonjd.bsky.social

Like many scientists, I’ve been mulling over the impact of LLMs on our fields. I’ve not yet seen it articulated, but I think there is a largely unspoken “invisible labor underclass” framework at play.

Chris Lintott reposted

Nature
@nature.com

None of this year's science Nobel Prizes have gone to women. The number of these prizes to go to women remains at 27 out of more than 600. See how many you can name in our quiz: www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Amazing choice! Excellent to see a Nobel for an astrophysical mystery - we don’t know where these high energy neutrinos are coming from. 🔭

Nature@nature.com

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.” More to follow.

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

The audio book of Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. The giant space squid. Terrifying in the dark when I was listening when I was supposed to be asleep.

Sleepy Hollow Reviews 🎃🐎@sleepingvillage.bsky.social

In honor of scary media month: what is the first piece of media you remember truly frightening you as a child?

Chris Lintott reposted

Riding With Robots
@ridingrobots.bsky.social

Happy New Years from Mars. It's the first day of the new Martian year, which lasts 687 Earth days. According to the internationally adopted timekeeping system, this is Mars year 39. The Curiosity rover sent down this view from Gale Crater today.

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Astronomers applying to use JWST (& leaving everything to the last minute) have crashed the tool used to apply. I know at least two people who will use any extension to throw in a new proposal…

Sarah E Moran@offallingstars.bsky.social

#JWSTC6 APT has crashed with ~8 minutes before the deadline tonight. Chatter says the deadline will be extended but we don't know until when...

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

This is gorgeous!

ESA Space Science@science.esa.int

Inspector Smile is ready for science! 🫡 This is Smile’s first ultraviolet view showing an auroral substorm. With the ultraviolet camera now operational, Smile becomes the first spacecraft since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the north pole in ultraviolet light. 🔭 🧪 ☀️

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

Amazing how comments on how to think about AI resonate across fields. This is from drama/comedy but could equally be science: The barrier to access to doing astronomy isn’t technology or money (any more). It’s care. (& having the space to give that care and attention, of course) 🧪

Joel Morris@gralefrit.bsky.social

Humans who make stuff know it’s laughably easy to make it total dogshit with one tiny mistake, by not paying total attention, and exerting a grip on every department like a vice. The barrier to access for storytelling isn’t technology and money. It’s care.

Chris Lintott reposted

Nicole BOO-liucci 🎃
@noisyastronomer.com

Oooooh more historical space weather fun! By @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social

Phil Naranjo@philnaranjo.bsky.social

‘…March 1847 incident involving “spontaneous electrical currents” disrupting the telegraph systems on the Midland Railway, as a “brilliant aurora” glowed in the British Isles.’ #spaceweather #uk

arstechnica.comScientists solve 1840s space weather mystery19th century Nature account of 1841 train delayed by geomagnetic storm got year wrong—due to a typo.
Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

I miss getting radical theories of cosmology in mad pamphlets via the post. Now it's all AI-generated email offering me the chance to coauthor the manuscript of the century or - this seems new - insisting I make time to meet with the author to discuss their ideas.

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

!!!!!

Paul Voosen@voosen.me

New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:

science.orgNASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of fundingDecision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say
Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

On similar lines, if we’re not careful: A. Scientific journals will only accept submissions from established researchers working within institutions. B. Data we’ve spent ages making open will be hidden to avoid the expense of continued download by bots.

Daniel Knowles@dlknowles.bsky.social

Some unintended consequences I suspect the rise of AI agents will create: 1. Restaurants that only take reservations by hand written letter, or more likely, don't take them at all. 2. Gigs where you can only buy tickets in person. 3. Businesses that operate without websites.