@sundogplanets@mastodon.social

Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 4h ago

The RM Sherwood data centre protest had like 10 people, because the meeting was online and the shadily-appointed RM decision makers weren't even there. But we all chatted and then did some "Water is life" chanting while 3 security guards and an RCMP officer looked on grumpily, and I did a CTV interview. Then I had an interview with the Wall Street Journal about orbital data centers. Then a podcast recording about the situation in orbit in general. Holy shit what a morning.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

It's the kind of auroras right now where it just looks like a greenish smudge to your eyes, but then you take a photo and it's ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE Please enjoy this lovely instrument (a camera) that lets us see a bunch of colours too faint for our eyeballs!

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

What if I do an interview for the Wall Street Journal about orbital AI data centers while I'm also at a protest for the local hyperscale AI data centre that's being built. Hm. This might actually happen tomorrow...

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 5d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Feeling very stressed about everything, and I went out to do some astrophotography. I was hoping for auroras, and was first excited to see an orange glow on the horizon, then annoyed as I realized it's probably a combine still harvesting, then delighted again as I realized it's the moon! Hello, moon. (Also hello Pleiades, hello Andromeda galaxy, hello Milky Way, and fuck you, Starlink)

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I want to go here so badly. Especially right now, after I've spent all day trying to get the 197 parts of this stupid grant into the word limits and perfect formatting with a couple of "breaks" for meetings with astronomers to talk about satellites destroying everything... sand dunes in the middle of freaking nowhere sounds pretty amazing. https://mas.to/@Canadian_Eh/117390315717313607

Quoting

Sharing bits of Canada 'eh🇨🇦

@Canadian_Eh@mas.to

Athabasca Sand Dunes The Athabasca Sand Dunes in northern Saskatchewan are the largest active sand dunes in Canada and among the most northerly active dunes in the world. This ecological wonder stretches for nearly 100 km along Lake Athabasca and is home to several plant species found nowhere else on Earth! #ExploreCanada 🇨🇦 #Canada https://www.tourismsaskatchewan.com/provincialpark/1414/athabasca-sand-dunes-provincial-park#sort=relevancy

Open quoted post

mas.to

Sharing bits of Canada 'eh🇨🇦: "Athabasca Sand Dunes The Athabasca Sand Dunes in…" - mas.to

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @gvenema@fairmove.net

Well, *someone* needs to post about this on Mastodon https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/adams-lake-mastodon-tooth-kamloops-9.7356189

CBC

Kamloops man finds rare mastodon tooth on B.C. Interior lakeshore | CBC News

A man from Kamloops, B.C., has unearthed a prehistoric fossil, marking only the third such discovery in British Columbia.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

The world needs to know that my niece and nephew decided that the little horn on the back-end of a hornworm (like a tomato worm, or in this case an introduced leafy spurge hawk moth caterpillar) is called a... Butt Fang. I cannot convey how much I love this. Biologists: we need this terminology in the literature.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 4d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Goats are on patrol out in the woods eating invasive leafy spurge (and everything else, but all the plants around here evolved to be eaten by buffalo, so they can handle some goat nibbles)

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I think the terrifyingly huge SpaceX Starship launch that's happening right now is the one that's planning to deploy a bunch of the new Starlinks that are not actually approved by the FCC yet because SpaceX knows that the FCC will eventually approve them because they approve literally everything and absolutely nobody with power cares about safety or pollution or Kessler syndrome or the future at all. Good morning. https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vqtp5dj2o6rqnge56sz2db5a/post/3mwle22petc2d

fed.brid.gy

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

We recently bought a horse trailer from a neighbour and today was the first day we successfully herded all the goats into it (lured with a bin of apples), drove the goats to a different part of the farm in the trailer, set up the electronet fence and portable solar fence energizer, and let them eat all day. I won't declare victory quite yet because I have to retrieve the goats successfully back to their barn (will try after dinner) , but so far it's looking good!

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Just got an official email from Amazon's reps who wrote up their FCC consolidated response to all the opposition comments on the bazillionty direct to device satellites they want to fly. I don't remember the details, and I don't think they were supposed to email me since I was just a co-author on behalf of organizations... and I am definitely not going to read this right before bed. Fuck off into the sun, Amazon.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 4d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

A neighbour was out very late last night finishing up the harvest. A bit more light pollution than usual in photos (because of the extremely bright lights used for night harvesting with a giant combine), but found a tiny bit of auroras, and it was late enough that there weren't many satellite streaks. Yay.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Incredibly, amazingly, that went extremely smoothly! The goats went into the horse trailer with very little cajoling needed, and all exited the trailer back into the pen! The only part that didn't go well was that the leader livestock guardian dog was very worried when he got back to the barn and the goats weren't there, and kept whining until we let them out of the trailer. He's Such a Good Boy. Ok...we'll try this again tomorrow. Wish me luck.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Every year there's always one hen who goes and hides in the barn and makes her own nest in September, which is rather late for chicks in Saskatchewan. This particular mama did this last year too. I was going to see how many eggs she's sitting on, but I forgot that she's kind of evil and she tried to peck my hand off. My teenager named her "Motherclucker" which is delightful. (Except she's a jerk. Good protective mama hen, though!)

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 4d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I had a meeting today that taught me that the SpaceX launch site in Louisiana is an even worse idea than I could have even imagined. You know what causes really intensely powerful vibrations in the ground? Rocket launches. And do you know what really powerful vibrations in the ground cause in coastal wetlands? Liquifaction. SpaceX has completely lost their grip on reality and all of us are going to pay the price in various ways as they try to build impossible dangerous things.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 6d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I don't think that's what was meant in a post I just read about a SpaceX launch that includes a Canadian astronaut from Fort Saskatchewan, but anytime I see "Saskatchewan" and a SpaceX Crew Dragon in the same place, I think about the terrifyingly huge pieces of debris that SpaceX casually drops on Saskatchewan (and all over the world) from Crew Dragon cargo trunks and other spacecraft they launch. I just can't get excited about rockets anymore. The cost we all pay is too high.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 6d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

WHY. https://mastodon.social/@alanboyle/117363099036751404

Quoting

Alan Boyle

@alanboyle@mastodon.social

Starcloud's AI data-processing hardware is going to the moon! The Seattle-area startup's payload will ride to lunar orbit on #Firefly Aerospace's #Elytra spacecraft, with departure set for as early as 2028. https://www.geekwire.com/2026/starcloud-ai-computing-moon-firefly/ #Starcloud #Moon #Space #Tech #AI #DataCenters

Open quoted post

mastodon.social

Alan Boyle: "Starcloud's AI data-processing hardware is going …" - Mastodon

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Day 2 of the horse trailer trial also went really well! Loading the goats is still a bit chaotic (and today the livestock guardian dog ended up in the middle of all the goats in the trailer briefly, but there's a little door that he can get out that the goats can't easily, so we let him out rather than making him stay in with the goats for the ride). They cleared another little area of invasives leafy spurge, wormwood, and thistle. Yay goats!

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 6d ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Today was the first morning it was dark enough when I went outside for morning chores that I could see a handful of stars... and two stupidly bright satellites UGH. I'll try to not be so angry that I forget to count next time: our prediction from late 2021 was one in 15 visible points in the sky would be satellites with 65,000 Starlink-brightness satellites in orbit. But I think we're getting there a lot faster... This is a shitty way to say "good morning."

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Thinking about this a bit more, the reason that this confuses me so much is that it's not asking me for anything. It's not the spam I'm used to that's trying to scam money. It's like... it's trying to be helpful (in the most mansplainy way possible, but whatever). But it's a program, a racist pile of linear algebra (as "The AI Con" so beautifully puts it). Is it trying to get me to reply and train on my email responses? This is so fucking weird. Anyway, fuck AI, time to snuggle goats.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Mansplaining, without invitation, my own words, with the citations that I used myself. What the actual fuck.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

*Laughs in Saskatchewan which hasn't switched to daylight savings time in decades* then *Cries in Saskatchewan as I realize that starting in November I am going to have people in meetings I regularly organize in PDT, PST/PDT, MDT, MST/MDT, MST, CST, CDT/CST, EDT/EST, European time zones, New Zealand DT/ST, and Taiwan* https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/time-zone-canada-map-9.7349663

CBC

Time zones in Canada are getting complicated. These maps lay them out | CBC News

The times, they aren't a-changing — at least not for Western Canada.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Today is Truth & Reconciliation Day. I am grateful to live on Treaty 4, the land of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif. To share my land with local Indigenous people in the original spirit of this treaty, I'm involved in the Treaty Land Sharing Network, which I'm happy to see is growing: https://treatylandsharingnetwork.ca/ We've had people come to gather berries and medicinal plants, sweat rocks, and willow. Very glad to be a part of this.

Treaty Land Sharing Network

Home - Treaty Land Sharing Network

The Treaty Land Sharing Network connects farmers and other landholders with Indigenous land users needing safe access to land to practice their way of life.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

I would really like to do this every day, because it's the best possible way to rotational graze, but it is SO much work. Definitely not happening on one of my normal workdays. But we did it 2 days in a row proving that it was actually a lot easier than we expected, and we'll make use of this setup a lot next summer.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @dansup@mastodon.social

Replying to

BETTER

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

This is a pretty good metaphor for how my day has gone. (The goat is totally fine and was only stuck for a minute or so)

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

It worked! 60MB! Still kinda big for just slides, a couple of simulation movies, and audio, but acceptably big. And just to spite the university's bad choices with Zoom, I embedded it with a moodle video rather than using Zoom like I'm supposed to.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

RE: https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/science-jpuunj5gz/-/a-YmDM4c4kTD2CyrHhrV4h5Q%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0 Maybe, just maybe, this will show all the companies racing to launch data centres into orbit that this is an extremely bad idea for many reasons?

Quoting

The New York Times

@newyorktimes@flipboard.com

Google Takes the A.I. Data Center Race to Outer Space https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatcher-ai-data-center-space.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Science @science-newyorktimes

Open quoted post

flipboard.com

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Oh gosh why did I save the literature review section for last? I'm soooo clooooose to being dooooonnnnneeee

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

New neighbours just re-installed the very bright farmyard light that shines toward my house, that I had fervently hoped they removed for good. I am going to try leaving brownies and a note on their front porch offering to buy a cover or motion sensor for them and see if maybe they'll turn it off sometimes... (or actually talk about it in person if I happen to run into them). This tactic did not work with the previous neighbours but who knows.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

RE: https://flipboard.social/@ScienceDesk/117332176135137189 I was very sad to see the rescue mission didn't work. And now I guess Swift is also going to have an uncontrolled reentry? And it's pretty big and not designed to "fully demise" (though of course I know better than many that "full demisability" for satellites is a lie). I really don't like this russian roulette game, even if deaths are an extremely low probability, there are so many reentries now that bad things will happen.

flipboard.social

Flipboard Science Desk: "Private spacecraft falls back to Earth after fail…" - Flipboard

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

oooo my computer sounds like it's about to take off.... oh no....

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Good morning. I did not finish my grant proposal draft yesterday (the university person I was supposed to turn it in to for first-round edits said they wouldn't have time to read it until Friday anyway. Yay?) I have a parade of meetings today. But maybe I can still finish it? And then I have like 7 articles I need to write about stupid shit happening in orbit. And a book... aaaaahhhhhhhhhh........ Trying real hard to channel this sunrise peace and it's not working for some odd reason.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @jwz@mastodon.social

Replying to

Meanwhile, SpaceX filed another ex parte (= extra bonus rich people briefing) with the FCC yesterday (which you can find here if you sort by date: https://fccprod.servicenowservices.com/ibfs?id=ibfs_search&q=SAT-LOA-20260108-00016) They say their million satellites will be 4 tons each, but don't worry, they will burn up completely in the atmosphere (once every 3 minutes) and there's a 0 casualty risk. They also will never crash into each other or anything else because SpaceX is perfect. Don't worry, our future in space will be GREAT.

fccprod.servicenowservices.com

ICFS Search - ICFS Portal

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

Looks like the Cowboy dipshits missed their extended FCC deadline? At least, there appears to be no new info from them. ...hooray? Only 4 companies, not 5 might possibly launch hundreds of thousands of fucking gigantic satellites to give Earth a new ring system https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.02757 ...that will rapidly turn into full Kessler Syndrome https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.29644

arxiv.org

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Currently watching an IAU-CPS talk given by Olivier Hainaut. His simulations show that 30,000 sats at 350-600km causes the same astronomy research data loss as 6,000 sats at 1200 km. This is because higher altitudes are visible for a larger fraction of the night, and the sats move more slowly across the image so they cause brighter streaks even though they are farther away

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

For reference, according to Wikipedia the International Space Station is 109m x 94m x 73m. And they want to launch 20,000 of them. And they haven't actually designed them yet. This is such a ridiculous load of bullshit. And yet, I have to respond to this shit otherwise the FCC will license it and then more poorly planned satellites will get launched (well, they will probably license it no matter what I do, but at least this provides legal documentation for future actions, I hope)

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

Still beautiful! even though...

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

So, their satellites will be 125m x 30m x 43m. "Cowboy Space has not yet completed its system design, but intends to design its satellites to achieve a casualty risk for an individual spacecraft of less than 0.0001 using NASA DAS" HAHAHA wow. SpaceX provides ground casualty risks (zero, of course) that are completely unable to be replicated because they provide no info on their satellites. But they at least pretend that they've designed them already! ...Actually I'm not sure which is worse.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I need to go rage-scream in the hay field because of all the incredibly stupid and dangerous shit that SpaceX has planned for Low Earth Orbit, but first I have to share that some people are very very good at coming up with paper titles: "Thermal Evolution of Lava Planets Across System Ages: Predictions for Hell of a Survey" https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20155

arXiv.org

Thermal Evolution of Lava Planets Across System Ages: Predictions for Hell of a Survey

Ultra-short-period (USP) rocky exoplanets can have dayside temperatures high enough to maintain permanent magma oceans, sitting at the intersection of interior geophysics and atmospheric chemistry. Coupled feedbacks between the molten surface and outgassed atmosphere can sustain or enhance a volatile envelope, while stellar interactions can erode it. Understanding which outcome prevails, and its observable imprint, requires a multi-target approach across planets at different stages of thermal ev

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

Oh dammit nevermind that was the wrong system number. AUGH I hate that not only do we have to watch out for stupid filings of hundreds of thousands of satellites, but we have to be careful of WHICH filing of hundreds of thousands of satellites. This is stupid. They did file something.

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

Nothing like making some plots of reentry data from Jonathan McDowell's truly encyclopedic website https://planet4589.org/ to make sure I sleep well after an extremely long stressful day. (HAHAHAHA just kidding it's definitely satellite crash nightmares for me tonight)

planet4589.org

Jonathan's Space Report

Jonathan McDowell

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

PhD opportunity in interstellar object observations, in Aotearoa New Zealand working with the fabulous @astrokiwi.bsky.social: https://www.gravity.ac.nz/join/phd-opportunities/#BAYESNM

gravity.ac.nz

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 5d ago

Boosted by @dansup@mastodon.social

Goat morning to you

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Prof. Sam Lawler @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

· 1w ago

Boosted by @trending@homestead.social

I just started writing up complaints about several different things. And it's all just so far beyond what I can even complain about. So please enjoy these cats while keep writing about the terrible shit that's happening in orbit until my brain switches off for the night.

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