Notices by Dr. Victoria Grinberg (vicgrinberg@mastodon.social)

@goatsarah when things get very small, so when things get close to singularity, we need to use both General Relativity and quantum mechanics, however so far we do not know how to combine both. Finding this "Quantum theory of gravity" or "Theory of Everything" is one of the big questions of today's physics! So a singularity is a handy description within the general relativity but we know that general relativity is (likely) not enough...

Celebrating the women working on ESA/NASA #SolarOrbiter mission on this #WomenInScience day.

▶️ https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/02/Celebrating_Solar_Orbiter_and_the_women_behind_the_mission

#esa #astrodon

What did you always wonder about #BlackHoles? Something that you always wanted to ask an astronomer working on them?

Collecting questions for a reason, maybe even answering them in the comments (or at a later point).

#VicisAstro

Let's focus on happy things we need to refuel: What are you reading this weekend?

Here, it's classic Scandinavian crime fiction (Martin Beck series). Not sure what the second book will be once I finish this one.

#bookstodon

@hmwilker @cstross oh, laundry files!

Und ein paar Wochen sagt Herr Merz, dass er es sehr bedauert, aber dass er nun mal mit der #noAFD regieren muss, weil andere Parteien nicht 100% auf seine Linie einschwenken.

Wenn jemand von euch zu einer der Demos gegen rechts will aber aus finanziellen Gründen nicht kann (Tickets um hinzukommen zu teuer, Kinderbetreuung zu teuer...) sagt bescheid.

Ich kann nicht hin, weil im Ausland gerade, aber ich kann zumindest anderen ermöglichen hinzugehen, für irgendwas arbeite ich ja.

Boosts welcome.

Inspired by my current book (English, "Serviceberry" by Robin Wall Kimmerer) and one of my favorite books from last year (German, "Nagori" by Ryoko Sekiguchi):

Does smone have a good (=comprehensive, clear) printable seasonal calender for veggies & fruit for *the Netherlands* to recommend? The kind you can print and hang on your fridge as a reminder? Like this but analog: https://www.eufic.org/en/explore-seasonal-fruit-and-vegetables-in-europe

Also glad to buy a pretty printed one that can go into a frame & onto the wall.

Boost welcome.

This is a major mistake from A&A - forcing such short papers will result in crucial info missing (already now data treatment is often not properly discussed!). I'm a very (sometimes too) concise writer & only two of my 1st author papers are below the 12 page limit. None could be shortened without loss of science.

▶️ https://www.aanda.org/2025-press-releases/3045-shaping-a-sustainable-future-for-a-a-new-policy-on-paper-length

There is no funding for publication charges eg in all German grants for astro because Germany is already a sponsoring country for A&A...

#astrodon

⬆️ I'm seriously glad my last German PhD student just had his last PhD paper accepted. I have no idea how I would have paid for it otherwise. And I have no idea where we'll get funding for my Dutch one - his paper will be longer, because complex, time-variable high res data...

(I'm really missing having a professional astro community here the same way it existed in old twitter 😭 I'd love to talk & be upset together with folks who really understand the field and what it means...)

Yesterday, with the (planned and expected) news of ESA's #Gaia finishing its operation after 10 years of scanning the sky, a new amazing artist's impression of the Milky Way dropped, based on our changed understanding of our Galaxy that Gaia enabled and made by Stefan Payne-Wardenaar.

Here is an #ESA video explaining it:

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEZBNsU4dMU

Isn't it just beautiful? 🤩

(You can download it: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2025/01/The_best_Milky_Way_animation_by_Gaia)

See next post for images ⬇️

#astrodon #MilkyWay

@Gargron thanks a lot - for your time as a ceo and for taking the decision and for talking about it (I can only imagine howh hard this is but it's also such an important example of how to handle things well!).

I think @kathhayhoe's "friendly fire" statement about mastodon is one of the saddest and most depressing things I've heard in the last days (and I've heard a lot of sad and depressing things, both in the context of the overall world and of my private life).

And yes, this is also often how it feels to me here:

https://fediscience.org/@kathhayhoe/113787805278562159

Dear 40+ ladies - what's the best and/or most useful book on menopause you've read? Scientific takes only, please!

Liebe ü40 Frauen - was ist das beste und/oder das nützlichste Buch zum Thema Wechseljahre, das ihr gelesen habt? Wissenschaftlich korrekte Bücher, bitte!

Boosts welcome / danke fürs boosten!

@kim_harding no worries and thanks for chiming in! I think low clouds is the closest I'm getting to it so far when trying to convey the image of what I mean to people...

If an X-ray satellite travels backwards in time it will become a microwave.

#astrodon #ScienceJokes #XRaysAreTheBestRays

Happy birthday #ESA #XMM-Newton!

I just love the breadth of science that an observatory can achieve: from understanding Jupiter's aurora to what happens very close to black holes or inside neutron stars.

And I also love than when building a space mission with a nominal lifetime of 4 years & then successfully operate it for 25+, with it still delivering cutting edge science as if it weren't a grandparent of a mission!

▶️ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/XMM-Newton/XMM-Newton_celebrates_25_years_of_breakthroughs

#XraysAreTheBestRays #astrodon #xmmnewton

A thing I started doing: when people cancel a meeting with me because they don't feel well or just say that they prefer to work from home that day because they are slightly sniffy or their throat is scratchy, I don't just say "sure, no problem" but explicitly thank them.

There is, whether we want or not, pressure that people feel to come to work even if they don't feel 100%. It's important to acknowledge when someone actively works against this.

Some exciting stuff to look forward to this weekend: #ESA's and #JAXA's #BepiColombo will make its fifth #Mercury flyby on Sunday!

▶️ https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/11/BepiColombo_s_fifth_Mercury_flyby

Flybys are not just exiting because of all the flight dynamics & trajectory magic, but also because we can actually use them to do science! For example, during the third flyby, scientists were able to map the magnetosphere of Mercury:

▶️ https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/BepiColombo/Mercury_s_magnetic_landscape_mapped_in_30_minutes

#astrodon #SolarSystem

Today marks the 3000 km on my ebike.

That thing changed my life.

Seriously, if you are thinking about buying one - do it (if you can afford it; and if you can't and live in Germany or NL talk to me, I have funds earmarked for donation - [edit to add: offer gone!]). I knew how to bike but never did and now I 80% of the time bike to work and back (10km one way). And I on biking vacations and on bike rides with friends. It's good for my health, it's good for my mood.