@astroroyalscot
Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor of Astrophysics, Edinburgh University. Director of the German Centre for Cosmological Lensing, RUB. @astronomerroyal on insta (She/her)
If your pop-sci book shelf is looking for a new addition - Emma Chapman's Radio Universe is coming out this week. It's genuinely delightful and well worth picking up a copy!
👉@dreochapman.bsky.social
📖: www.waterstones.com/book/radio-u...
Officially jealous - gorgeous! 🤩
Pink sunrise sky looking at old tenement blocks. The moon is just setting over some chimney stacks and a seagull has positioned itself perfectly right in front of it.
Good morning Moon 😍
Happy weekend everyone. 🔭
I'm not entirely sure Neil - but please do encourage your daughter to send the centre an e-mail (contacts on the above web link). They are a super nice bunch of really dedicated people and it's in a really lovely part of Scotland.
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Remember "NASA makes 'emergency' decision as chances of 'city-destroying' asteroid hitting Earth rise to 1-in-43", that turned out to not be on a direct collision course after all?
Well disappointingly it's not going to crash into the moon either. Party-pooper ☹️ 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/blogs/planet...
Awesome
Be that H of HR fame? 🤩
Calling the #scicomm community, and anyone looking for a new career in bonny Scotland. New job alert for an Education & Learning Officer at the fantastic #Kirkcudbright Dark Space Planetarium. Application deadline: 27th March. 🔭🎢
www.darkspaceplanetarium.org/explore/care...
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Two Geese standing on a sunny wall looking at the camera. Behind them is the sky line of London and the river Thames. The sky is clear with not a cloud in the sky.
Two metal grumpy looking fish adorning a lamppost with a weed growing perfectly half-way between the,
London reflections from the 🚄home
* It was proper hot, ti-shirt weather, but everyone was wearing coats 🤔 #SpotTheScot
* When you smile at passers-by, very few smile back (say "morning" and you really freak them out 😂)
* Lots of bikes everywhere - very well done Londoners
* Everyone looks very chic👌
Lots of lovely messages from colleagues <beams with pride>
"You only missed out on one opportunity I think. A quick dance around the table to the pretty loud music whilst answering the questions would have demonstrated our flexibility as a community reacting to changing circumstances." 😂
😂 colliding black holes sending waves rippling through spacetime - could anyone really cut funding to such awesome mind-blowing science?
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Well said Alan!
Anyone watching the UKGov hearing on the STFC cuts yesterday would have also heard the rumba cha-cha-cha music in the background. Turns out it was a dance class for MPs lead by National Treasure and legendary icon Angela Ripon. The Sun newspaper was not impressed!
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3840795...
Loving the eye-nose placement of the sunspots there 🤩
Brilliant - a big high-five to your 2.5yo from me
Happy days 😂
P.S Highlight of the day was the happy singing security guard at the entrance to Westminster calling me (someone not so far off the age of 50) "young lady".... yay to FFP3 masks covering up decades of laughter lines 😂
Going to get that printed on a ti-shirt....😂
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Thankfully for those of us with malfunctioning immune systems, it was really not too bad. Lovely high ceilings and lots of open space at the front of the room (even if the back of the room was jam-packed with the wonderful crew of ECRs who turned out to support us)
They're certainly part of the story, and every little bit helps!
If you want to watch the whole session, you can watch it on parliament TV here:
www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/...
I'll let Michele have the final word. This is how she summed up:
"We are world class.. we've had financial resets in the past.. and come back stronger"
"I'm doing the very best I can" and she encouraged all scientists to "please engage with the prioritisation exercise".
There was discussion on whether the CERN/ESO subscriptions could be moved out of STFC by re-classifying them as international treaty obligations. Michele is apparently having that conversation. This would be very good if it happens/is possible as it buffers STFC from changes in GDP-tied fees.
Kit Malthouse (of the famed but failed Malthouse compromise Brexit plan) kindly said that the money needed to fix this problem is "a rounding error for the treasury" and "money that should be made available". Unclear if the Chancellor would agree however.
This part was new to me. The 20/40/60 strategic plans that we've been asked to submit will be tensioned and used to create an "option space" for UKRI to consider. The space will provide 10%/20%/30% options for cutting PPAN science.
UKRI will then decide what level of cuts to impose on PPAN.