Highest Canadian nerd achievement UNLOCKED I'M SO EXCITED!!!!
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Highest Canadian nerd achievement UNLOCKED I'M SO EXCITED!!!!
QUIRKS AND QUARKS!!!!!!!!
And that was all because of Mastodon, thanks all! (Especially @mayintoronto whose comment got a Quirks and Quarks producer to get in touch with me via BlueSky-Fedi bridge. Wild. WILD.)
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Highest Canadian nerd achievement UNLOCKED I'M SO EXCITED!!!!
QUIRKS AND QUARKS!!!!!!!!
And that was all because of Mastodon, thanks all! (Especially @mayintoronto whose comment got a Quirks and Quarks producer to get in touch with me via BlueSky-Fedi bridge. Wild. WILD.)
I wish I got to go on Quirks and Quarks and talk about a less depressing topic, but hey, this is SUCH a great opportunity to teach a *lot* of people in Canada about the terrible things that are happening in orbit, and in the upper atmosphere, and on the ground due to the wildly unregulated commercialization of orbit.
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I wish I got to go on Quirks and Quarks and talk about a less depressing topic, but hey, this is SUCH a great opportunity to teach a *lot* of people in Canada about the terrible things that are happening in orbit, and in the upper atmosphere, and on the ground due to the wildly unregulated commercialization of orbit.
I just sent probably the most pretentious email I've ever sent in my life to some colleagues: "I'd love to meet up for lunch! But my interview with Bob McDonald for Quirks and Quarks might get scheduled at that time."
(AAAAHHHH!!! SO EXCITED!!!)
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I just sent probably the most pretentious email I've ever sent in my life to some colleagues: "I'd love to meet up for lunch! But my interview with Bob McDonald for Quirks and Quarks might get scheduled at that time."
(AAAAHHHH!!! SO EXCITED!!!)
I just did my pre-interview for Quirks and Quarks. I am slightly less excited now, just because the pre-interview made it clear how completely fucking depressing this interview is going to be!
I have nothing good to say. I have no concrete actions for people to take. All I have are predictions about how unsafe, destructive, and environmentally catastrophic Reflect Orbital will be.
I sure hope I get a chance to work in something about how incredible the unpolluted night sky is, at least? Ooof.
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I just did my pre-interview for Quirks and Quarks. I am slightly less excited now, just because the pre-interview made it clear how completely fucking depressing this interview is going to be!
I have nothing good to say. I have no concrete actions for people to take. All I have are predictions about how unsafe, destructive, and environmentally catastrophic Reflect Orbital will be.
I sure hope I get a chance to work in something about how incredible the unpolluted night sky is, at least? Ooof.
The stars are still there, behind the clouds, satellites and light pollution, waiting for us.
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The stars are still there, behind the clouds, satellites and light pollution, waiting for us.
Just got an email from a astronomer colleague who got asked by their local CBC station to do an interview tomorrow. "Do you know anything about Reflect Orbital?"
Hahah, sorry dude, it's sort of my fault that you have to talk about it. The campaign to reach out to journalists to educate the public about how terrible Reflect Orbital is is definitely working!
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Just got an email from a astronomer colleague who got asked by their local CBC station to do an interview tomorrow. "Do you know anything about Reflect Orbital?"
Hahah, sorry dude, it's sort of my fault that you have to talk about it. The campaign to reach out to journalists to educate the public about how terrible Reflect Orbital is is definitely working!
Going to add some pretty things to this thread.
Because today is Quirks and Quarks interview day(!!!), and at this point I'm about equal parts INCREDIBLY EXCITED to be on that show, and SUPER PISSED OFF that instead of getting to talk about cool astronomy research, I have to talk about a fucking stupid terrible techbro idea.
We're in a time when one tiny awful company in California can change the night sky for everyone in the world. The only tool I have to fight this is public opinion.
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Going to add some pretty things to this thread.
Because today is Quirks and Quarks interview day(!!!), and at this point I'm about equal parts INCREDIBLY EXCITED to be on that show, and SUPER PISSED OFF that instead of getting to talk about cool astronomy research, I have to talk about a fucking stupid terrible techbro idea.
We're in a time when one tiny awful company in California can change the night sky for everyone in the world. The only tool I have to fight this is public opinion.
The FCC has explicitly stated that they plan to approve everything https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2025/10/28/fcc-kicks-off-proceeding-to-overhaul-satellite-licensing/. There is no way to stop stupid fucking mirrors from being launched into orbit by US companies.
So, my fellow Canadians (and other non-USians), I need you to get really, really angry about this. Write to MPs, space agencies, senators, to anyone who will listen about this company wanting to shine light on us.
The sky is amazing! We have so much to learn! And it's just right there if we can keep it dark.
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The FCC has explicitly stated that they plan to approve everything https://www.satellitetoday.com/government-military/2025/10/28/fcc-kicks-off-proceeding-to-overhaul-satellite-licensing/. There is no way to stop stupid fucking mirrors from being launched into orbit by US companies.
So, my fellow Canadians (and other non-USians), I need you to get really, really angry about this. Write to MPs, space agencies, senators, to anyone who will listen about this company wanting to shine light on us.
The sky is amazing! We have so much to learn! And it's just right there if we can keep it dark.
And yeah, oh my goodness, there are SO MANY THINGS to fight against right now. Pick one and talk to your government reps about it! If you love the sky, pick this fight. If you love something else that's being destroyed, focus on that. If you have no spoons left, be yourself and fight by existing and thriving!
I'm happy to lead this fight. I hope it works. Thanks for reading and appreciating how incredibly fucking stupid space mirrors are.
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And yeah, oh my goodness, there are SO MANY THINGS to fight against right now. Pick one and talk to your government reps about it! If you love the sky, pick this fight. If you love something else that's being destroyed, focus on that. If you have no spoons left, be yourself and fight by existing and thriving!
I'm happy to lead this fight. I hope it works. Thanks for reading and appreciating how incredibly fucking stupid space mirrors are.
Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
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Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
According to Wikipedia the spot traveled at a speed of 8 km/sec (5 mi/sec), that is 28800 km/h.
Pretty useless. -
Do I need to practice saying "Znamya" just in case I get asked about it? (Because Russia already tried the fucking stupid space mirror thing decades ago and it didn't work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znamya_(satellite))
I have never said this before, but I kind of wish I had more meetings this morning to distract myself from overthinking the Quirks and Quarks interview...
Here we gooooo
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Here we gooooo
Ok interview done! Will be on Quirks and Quarks this Saturday! (Feels like that was not my best interview ever, they had rather restrictive questions...hopefully they edit it well! And hopefully lots of people will be angry about this)
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Ok interview done! Will be on Quirks and Quarks this Saturday! (Feels like that was not my best interview ever, they had rather restrictive questions...hopefully they edit it well! And hopefully lots of people will be angry about this)
Tomorrow I have an interview with the New York Times about that fucking space mirror company. Also an interview about Dark and Quiet Skies in general for the Supermassive podcast https://www.izzieclarke.com/supermassive
Wowee. I need a nap after that adrenaline let down (but meetings and afterschool kid things are not going to let me do that...)
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According to Wikipedia the spot traveled at a speed of 8 km/sec (5 mi/sec), that is 28800 km/h.
Pretty useless.@GustavinoBevilacqua @sundogplanets Yeah, and even if they steered the mirror (which wouldn't be hard, earth observation satellites can track a point on the ground), a satellite in low orbit could only keep the spot aimed at a particular patch of ground for minutes at a time before the satellite disappears below the horizon
An actually usable mirror satellite would need to be in GEO, and that would necessitate a much larger mirror to get a useful spot size
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Tomorrow I have an interview with the New York Times about that fucking space mirror company. Also an interview about Dark and Quiet Skies in general for the Supermassive podcast https://www.izzieclarke.com/supermassive
Wowee. I need a nap after that adrenaline let down (but meetings and afterschool kid things are not going to let me do that...)
Somehow getting to brag about being on Quirks and Quarks to the lady who works at my small town post office and always asks me space questions made me feel a LOT better about all of this.
(I bet dinner will make me feel even better! Time to get off the computer...)
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Somehow getting to brag about being on Quirks and Quarks to the lady who works at my small town post office and always asks me space questions made me feel a LOT better about all of this.
(I bet dinner will make me feel even better! Time to get off the computer...)
My dark and quiet skies interview for the Supermassive podcast got moved to next week (totally ok with that) but I still have an interview with the New York Times today about That Fucking Stupid Space Mirror Company.
Other than that, I need to write some things today! The weather is awful (high winds and rain/snow all day) so maybe that will encourage buckling down and writing...
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My dark and quiet skies interview for the Supermassive podcast got moved to next week (totally ok with that) but I still have an interview with the New York Times today about That Fucking Stupid Space Mirror Company.
Other than that, I need to write some things today! The weather is awful (high winds and rain/snow all day) so maybe that will encourage buckling down and writing...
New York Times interview done! Lovely journalist! She's planning to slowly put this story together over the coming weeks as we see what is going to happen with FCC approval (which will require the US government to not be shut down)...
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New York Times interview done! Lovely journalist! She's planning to slowly put this story together over the coming weeks as we see what is going to happen with FCC approval (which will require the US government to not be shut down)...
@sundogplanets that’s amazing!!! Looking forward to reading it once it’s out. Bravissima 👏
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse the real reason why making art is never going to be obsolete is because it's a deep human impulse to try to make things that feel alive, to play with our senses, and to try to communicate the things we can't with words. For the most part children have to be trained to stop making art, we have a whole industry set up for that.
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse I've noticed "ai" generated images being used a lot in advertising these days, and I think most of what they're getting out of it right now is that it is something ordinary people can recognize as being "high tech" and that can give it a cool factor, but only up until the point where it peaks and the shit starts sliding down the hill. The "ai" image generation artifacts will inevitably look dated to ordinary people.
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse now, let's talk about art. I work directly with professional artists, and most of my friends are professional artists, and I went to art school, but I am not a professional artist, I'm more of a "prosumer" artist. I cannot emphasize enough how unappealing "ai" image generators are to me, because not only do they remove the fun part of art, they also make the end result look like dog shit 99% of the time.
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse so, again, trying to just apply cruel libertarian thinking here and not prosocial values or anything, I just don't see how long term "ai" businesses wont get out competed by teams of people who are willing to do the work and willing to learn
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse 2) put together a small group of human collaborators, lay down the foundation for the thing you want to build, get a basic product out the door, and gradually build up your team by hiring more people and training them, and so on. Personally, I'm trying as hard as I can to think about this with only greedy intentions, and option 1 still does not look attractive.
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse so, speaking purely from the perspective of let's rub together two moneys and see if we can make a third money, you could 1) use a tool that tries to makes your code more similar to code in its dragnet training corpus based on prompts, learns nothing, makes a mess of everything, and mostly creates messes for the bored human technician to clean up, or
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse what is really great about human collaborators is you can explain things to them, which they can understand, when they don't understand they ask you for clarifications, and the experience is cumulative over time, so they get better at the thing the more you work together.
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@hipsterelectron @fasterandworse in contrast, I ran a similar experiment the last two months where I hired a friend to help me with one of my side projects, and it was worth every penny. Working with a skilled human collaborator for two months shot the project ahead way faster it would have gone alone, and it helped him raise funds to keep his small business going for a little longer, which means my friends are happier and healthier.
