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Katie Mack Profile picture
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Mar 7 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Unfortunate developments in space diplomacy 😞
Meanwhile, some heated Twitter exchanges between retired US astronaut @StationCDRKelly and the current administrator of the Russian space agency Roscosmos
Currently, the International Space Station crew consists of two Russians, four Americans, and one German. nasa.gov/mission_pages/…
While long-term cooperation is obviously in question, the worst-case immediate threat to the Space Station would be if the Russian side stopped providing the boosts it needs to maintain orbit. Most think that's unlikely (vox.com/recode/2296017…), but...

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More from @AstroKatie

Katie Mack Profile picture
Mar 6
Every time I talk about #DarkMatter or #DarkEnergy several people jump in to say “ehhh sounds like a fudge factor/epicycles/aether!” And I get why — we’re talking about stuff we can’t directly see, it’s weird! — but, very sincerely, we did consider that. xkcd.com/1758/
There is a very small, very vocal group of astrophysicists who constantly work on alternative models in an attempt to do away with dark matter and/or dark energy. They write a lot of papers & get a LOT of press. But, they have yet to produce a model that compels the rest of us.
It’s not that we wouldn’t LOVE to have some explanation of these phenomena that does not include a component of the universe that refuses to interact with our detectors. We like catching stuff in detectors! We like being able to see stuff! But sometimes the cosmos doesn’t care.
Read 6 tweets
Katie Mack Profile picture
Mar 2
Having now handwritten half a semester’s worth of general relativity lecture notes, I have determined the following ranking of the most common Greek subscript/superscript indices in order of ease of tiny-writing and overall aesthetic value A row of small handwritten lowercase Greek letters: alpha, s
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: previous version somehow tragically left out high-cuteness-value lambda. See below for definitive list. A set of small handwritten Greek lowercase letters: alpha, s
Okay this is preliminary but I believe it is correct to first order. A graph of "cuteness" vs "ease of tiny-writin
Read 4 tweets
Katie Mack Profile picture
Feb 17
I understand why the confusion exists but "case rates are going down" is not the same as "case rates are low" and the former should never determine policy when the latter condition is not met.
If you leap out of an airplane with no parachute, your speed will, in fact, go down at some point as you're approaching terminal velocity! That does not mean everything is going to be okay.
Argh I should have said acceleration rather than speed; your speed will get to terminal velocity, and terminal velocity will be a little slower when you're closer to the ground, but that's a smaller effect than the acceleration change (& happens at/after terminal vel is reached).
Read 4 tweets
Katie Mack Profile picture
Feb 8
[teaching general relativity this morning]

STUDENT: Isn't there some standard, accepted notation for all this?

ME: 😭😭😭
“anyway here are three OTHER symbols that might be used for the covariant derivative, good luck”
“it’s okay though, they’re all just some variation on the letter d, just like the symbols for almost every other operator, vector, one-form, and derivative we’ve discussed so far”
Read 4 tweets
Katie Mack Profile picture
Jan 31
A short Covid story:

A week ago, I spent about 90 minutes in very close quarters in a very small enclosed space with someone. We’re both vaccinated; neither wore masks.

A couple hours later I heard from them that they felt unwell and just tested positive on a rapid test. 😱
1/5
Having a positive result on a rapid test generally means you have a high viral load & are probably pretty contagious. So, essentially, I had spent 90 minutes sitting inside an infectious-SARS-COV-2 nebulizer! Not good!

But I’m vaccinated & boosted, so I hoped for the best 🤞🏼
2/5
Anyway the conclusion of the story is that I didn’t get it! I tested negative on PCR tests on Wednesday and Friday, and I’ve been negative on a bunch of rapid tests all week. I’ve been extra careful and staying away from people regardless but: the vaccine & booster worked! 💪🏼
3/5
Read 5 tweets
Katie Mack Profile picture
Dec 7, 2021
🚨 Some news from me! 🚨

I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED to announce that, as of June 1, 2022, I will be joining the @Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as the inaugural

Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication

(auto-CCs at YouTube link)
More about the role: I'll be working with the Cosmology group and the Centre for the Universe at @Perimeter to continue my research into dark matter and the early universe. And I'll ALSO be working with Perimeter's fantastic outreach team to bring physics to the world!
I'm super excited to start my new position at @Perimeter in the spring! I'll still be maintaining my connection with @NCState, who have been extraordinarily supportive of my research and public science work since 2018, but I'll be living in Canada full time starting in June! 🇨🇦
Read 5 tweets

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