Posts by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #ARH5N0SHmgA795bdAm by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Seeing as all us twitter refugees are doing introductions:I'm a high school #Science #Technician, weirdest and most entertaining job in the world, even the washing up can be interesting.#Space and #ScienceFiction geek from a young age, studied #Astrophysics and maintain an interest in #Astronomy, #Physics and #Science in general, long term tinkerer with #Astrophotography. Big fan of anything that flies. Involved in multiple art/science crossover projects. Learning bass guitar far too late.
(DIR) Post #ARH5N6u9ny1P9GgyRs by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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A few of my favourite (but maybe not *best*) astrophotography pics.The ISS flying past Orion's beltA long, handheld exposure of Sirius showing the colour changes due to the atmosphere. Also Alfred Hitchcock.Comet Neowise over a neighbour's house.
(DIR) Post #AiWwwuqaQx8B9klJmC by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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I particularly like this one for the depth of field: grasses (cm), #aurora (100km) and stars (tens of light years)
(DIR) Post #AlCfhkWh4wL3p2zIAq by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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I found a tardigrade! Been looking for one of these every time we do the "Life In The Littlest Loch" experiment and finally found one! So cute 😍 *does finding a tardigrade dance*
(DIR) Post #AmPBnzR48OBi1xPQga by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Just another quiet night over the bay (about 20 minutes real-time) 😎 #Aurora #Scotland #Highlands
(DIR) Post #B4MLEtPw5YOs3078vg by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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In case you missed it, new particle just dropped. The LHC has confirmed (and in ridiculous accuracy) the existence of a heavier version of the proton.A proton is made of 3 quarks, up/up/down. This new particle is made of charm/charm/down, where the charm quark is basically the same as the up, just heavier.So not groundbreaking like finding supersymmetric particles, but still cool. Further confirmation that the standard model of particle physics is reasonable.https://home.cern/news/news/physics/lhcb-collaboration-discovers-new-proton-particle
(DIR) Post #B4MLEueVUreLsTwIHQ by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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For non physics types, the quark names "up, down, charm, strange, top and bottom" are completely arbitrary and mean nothing, they're just placeholder names. Which is annoying, cos top and bottom were originally truth and beauty, which I prefer.The also come in colours, and are far, far, far smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Again, an arbitrary name.Lesson to all you physics coders, dumb variable names can stick if you're unlucky. Don't predict the "YourMomHadron".
(DIR) Post #B4QXNEkSdklkbTIdFY by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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"And some people say 'These people, they're not even trying to be British. They come here, they bring their own culture, their food, speak their own language, and try to take over the whole bloody place.'Dunno. Sounds pretty British to me."~Trevor Noah😂
(DIR) Post #B4QXNFjQz3XfeZpKHw by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Whole clip here: https://youtu.be/F6JzBLpMPwk
(DIR) Post #B4QxYUASFXgOQ2Txjs by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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@mndflayr "The only nation to spend a hundred years setting up a spice empire, only to assidiously refuse to use it in their food"Luckily, that started to change a few years after I was born, we discovered pizza ("Italian Welsh Rarebit"), and importantly a version of Indian food that has become as much a staple as fish and chips (Jewish tradition via Belgium). I built my own tandoor in the garden and my life is all the better for it.
(DIR) Post #B4hrGREf7GUc4hmR5k by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Going through old photos from my Twitter archive, this is an attempt at directed evolution in software using PHP (precisely the wrong language to use, but I was learning it at the time and it was a useful exercise).The program throws a randomly sized, coloured (rgba), positioned and orientated ellipse at the "canvas", compares it to the target image, and keeps it if it's closer. This is about 150k iterations, and took something like 12 hours. Not brilliant, but starting to get somewhere on a P2
(DIR) Post #B4hrGRS8JBGgkU5C5Y by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Ah, that time there were no pumpkins in the shop at Halloween (or turnips, which is more traditionally Scottish, and smell foul with a candle in them). This, however, mmmm, tasty. Circa 2011.
(DIR) Post #B4hrGRhNOVSfVlDMqe by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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One of the only selfies I've ever taken....for some of the exposure....
(DIR) Post #B4hrGRqErYYBxFMRf6 by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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This is how old pylons are removed from remote areas like the Cairngorms.
(DIR) Post #B4hrGS1wA3uMXWpmtc by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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A cold Highland night, temperature dropped in the right way to cause a dew film, and then rapid nucleation/freezing.
(DIR) Post #B4hrGSLQzZVJVzxMHo by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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A Moonbow! Rubbish photo, spoiled by the light pollution on the horizon, but I got it. Basically a rainbow, but being cast by the Moon, through a light mist.
(DIR) Post #B519dk5UgFdsNlzaLo by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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If I was on Artemis I'd spend the 40 minute radio blackout rigging all the clocks, logs, instrumentts etc to show that 6 hours had passed, then refuse to comment on what I'd seen on the far side.This is probably why I'm not allowed on the Artemis.
(DIR) Post #B7XOhT6Rh7QVKlr8gi by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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@Gargron @EUCommission What's the point in promoting something anyone can just have, huh?
(DIR) Post #B7hsp0JOENKe6yNibI by _thegeoff@mastodon.social
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Northern Highland #Scotland folk: if you live near a beach it could be worth looking for fulgerite tomorrow, patches of sand that have been hit by lightning. If you (very gently, they're fragile!) dig down you may find a branch-like structure where the lightning fused the sand into a kind of glass. Rare, special thing to find.