“The threat is here; the time Orwell warned about is now.”
It never ceases to amaze & terrify me that in under 80 years, less than a human lifetime, we have allowed the putrid, lethal stench of fascism to return.
In the countries that destroyed it, in those that were destroyed by it, & in many others seemingly inspired by it.
And the populists will exploit the looming disaster of climate change to stoke hatred for their own narrow, short-term power & profit.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/oct/07/orwellian-nightmares-george-orwell-rage-culture-rewriting-1984
From this morning’s inbox & this afternoon’s spam folder 🙄
Why is it that some people feel the necessity to foist their beliefs & ideologies on others like this, whether religious, political, colonial, or whatever?
I mean, that’s a rhetorical question – it pretty much leads to every piece of human ugliness on this planet.
#JWST #JuMBOs #Science #Astrodon
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/170/737/527/650/492/original/9c15d8f1eaecba74.jpeg
Heads up ☝️
In just over 13 hours time, at 12:00CEST, 11:00BST, & 06:00EDT, we'll be releasing the images & early science results from our #JWST survey of the inner Orion Nebula & Trapezium Cluster ✨
It has been a crazy amount of work over the past few months, but we think the pictures are spectacular (& huge!), & some of the science results very cool 😱
This is one tiny crop: view & download the full images tomorrow & post your favourite #PiecesOfOrion here 🙂👍
#Astrodon
#IAmExhausted
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/161/740/362/547/797/original/cb9c886b1b1d317c.png
Ah ha, one of my favourite garden friends paid a visit today: a hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) doing its best to illustrate the principles of convergent evolution 🙂
This is a 240fps slow-motion video: in real-time, it was flitting around like crazy, very briefly supping from each flower with its long probocis. Am happy the phone stayed in focus most of the time.
#Insects
#Wassenaar
#SlowMotion
#Netherlands
#Photography
#BackGardenEntomology
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/028/880/120/153/454/original/bb7ae0008b019ee1.mp4
A most peculiar sight last night while cycling home, a route I must’ve done more than a thousand times in the dark, & yet I’ve never seen this before.
A row of trees was illuminated with a ghostly glow and even though there was a building behind me with a fluorescent strip lighting its front door, I couldn’t figure out the geometry at all.
So I took a pretty picture & rode on 🤷♂️
#CyclingLife 🚴♂️
#Netherlands 🇳🇱
#Photography 📷
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/023/205/773/451/489/original/4fc74d695c872042.jpeg
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Notes by Mark McCaughrean | export