David Kipping

David Kipping

@davidkipping.bsky.social

Astronomy, Exoplanets, Astrobiology, Cool Worlds Lab, Columbia University. Be kind to one another.

1.9K followers116 following324 posts

David Kipping reposted

Nobel Prize
@nobelprize.org

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

I think it’s very likely we’ll see companions to isolated planetary mass objects (IPMOs) in the coming years and it raises the question what the hell to call them. The current IAU definition makes it clear that IPMOs are not “planets” and suggest “sub-brown dwarfs” (arxiv.org/pdf/2203.09520)

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David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

This makes sense to me since moons would then always be at least tier 3 in a nested hierarchy, not tier 2. But of course that alone isn’t enough to be a moon else Proxima b would be a moon already (we see hierarchies all over the place), surely they have to also orbit a “planet”. 🧐

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

I think it’s very likely we’ll see companions to isolated planetary mass objects (IPMOs) in the coming years and it raises the question what the hell to call them. The current IAU definition makes it clear that IPMOs are not “planets” and suggest “sub-brown dwarfs” (arxiv.org/pdf/2203.09520)

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Of IPMOs aren’t planets, then it would seem that their companions wouldn’t classify as “moons”, although the IAU don’t define moons at all. But my reading would be that companions to a sub-brown dwarf below 1/25 mass ratio would most naturally be defined as planets.

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

You probably see the headline 0.1 Earth radii and think to yourself, oh that's 10 times harder than 1 Earth radii, but it's actually 100x harder! Because the transit signal goes as radius^2.

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

YouTube is really having a moment about AI. There is enormous anti-AI sentiment and yet simultaneously widespread AI use at various levels. I don’t think academia has quite had that moment yet, but it mirrors YT with AI-slop papers, reviews, proposals, etc and anecdotally ubiquitous use.

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Academia is certainly willing to burn folks for plagiarism (eg Arday this week) but what about writing with AI? I don’t think we’re being completely consistent here and probably it’s because it’s just too widespread at this point to even contain.

David Kipping reposted

Chris Lintott
@chrislintott.bsky.social

I find myself confused here. The new object is in orbit around a star. It’s a planet, not a moon. The fact that that star is in orbit around another star seems neither here nor there. 🔭

ESO@eso.org

That's no moon. It's a...hang on, what should we call it? 🤔 Our VLT has revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Yet this new ‘exomoon’ detection is challenging cosmic labels! 🔭 🧪 #exoplanets 1/4

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Space tastes delicious

Nature Astronomy@natastron.nature.com

A monosaccharide sugar has been detected in an interstellar cloud: the chiral ketose, erythrulose. Observations and modelling show it forms efficiently on dust grains, supporting an interstellar origin for prebiotic sugars linked to early life. http://dlvr.it/TTWMmR ☄️

dlvr.itDetection of a four-carbon sugar in interstellar space - Nature AstronomyA monosaccharide sugar has been detected in an interstellar cloud: the chiral ketose erythrulose. Observations and chemical modelling show that it forms efficiently on dust grains, supporting an interstellar origin for prebiotic sugars linked to early life.
David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Prices keeps rising. When will this AI-driven age of abundance manifest? The problem I see is that heavily indebted governments (basically all of them) would oppose abundance as it’s deflationary. They want to inflate away their debt. Because we borrowed so much, we’re trapped with rising prices.

David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

A fun conversation with my colleague Janna Levin!

Quanta Magazine@quantamagazine.org

What would it actually take to find intelligent life in the universe — and how would we know when we saw it? Columbia University astronomer @davidkipping.bsky.social weighs in on this week’s episode of The Joy of Why. Listen now: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

podcasts.apple.comWill We Ever Find Alien Civilizations?Podcast Episode · The Joy of Why · July 9 · 54m
David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Are folks excited about SpudCell? Whilst an impressive technical feat, I have to question how much precisely engineered cells reveal about the natural propensity for abiogenesis. Of course it does guide us about the minimal set needed for life, but that feels like a much smaller prize.

David Kipping reposted

Zack Labe
@zacklabe.com

At the end of the day, this visualization shows what's driving the rising risk of these dangerous heat waves. It's the human-caused burning of fossil fuels and the resulting increase in greenhouse gases. That's it. More climate change indicators: zacklabe.com/climate-chan...

David Kipping reposted

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans
@astroroyalscot.bsky.social

Sarah Rugheimer is the bee's knees when it comes to explaining the realities, prospects, hopes and dreams of searching for life out there in the cosmos. This one will be worth a watch for sure. #FellowEdinburghFaculty 🔭👩‍🔬

David Kipping@davidkipping.bsky.social

New #CoolWorldsPodcast episode just dropped with Dr Sarah Rugheimer! youtu.be/J6UcWbdnHuE?...

youtu.be#33 Sarah Rugheimer - LIFE Mission, Prebiosignatures, MountainsYouTube video by Cool Worlds Podcast
David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

Despite being much smaller than the Earth, this newly discovered exoplanet has approximately the same surface gravity (94%) as our home planet thanks to its extraordinary high density. A solid ball of iron.

arxiv.orgRevisiting the Exo-Mercury Candidate GJ 367 b with ESPRESSO and a Self-Consistent Tidal Distortion ModelWe report revised mass and radius measurements for GJ 367 b, an ultra-short-period (7.7 hr) sub-Earth in a multi-planet system orbiting a nearby (~9 pc) M dwarf host. Previous mass and radius measurem...
David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

The paper: arxiv.org/abs/2606.04044

arxiv.orgThe Cosmological Hart-Tipler ConjectureSelf-reproducing automata, so-called von Neumann machines, have been repeatedly estimated to be capable of traversing the Galaxy many times given its age. Our mere existence thus seems to exclude an a...
David Kipping@davidkipping.bsky.social

A calculation that shook to me my bones… youtu.be/sT7V4gE4ZIc?...

youtu.beThe Most Terrifying Calculation in the UniverseYouTube video by Cool Worlds
David Kipping
@davidkipping.bsky.social

A bizarre thing I’ve noticed being back in the UK this year is that drivers are quite happy to turn into a sideroad at full speed when a pedestrian is halfway through crossing it & fully expect that pedestrian to stop in their tracks to avoid being run over. NY drivers are way more pedestrian aware.