Planetary geophysicist who understands the gravity of a situation. Trying to follow Jesus. Associate prof @BaylorGeo, formerly @eapsMIT/@LamontEarth/@LPItoday
Joined June 2009
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543 Photos and videos
What water on Mars looks like
On the 21st day of its mission in Mars's north polar region, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander used its scoop OTD in 2008 to reveal lumps of white ice under the surface of the rusty soil.
Scientists watched how the ice sublimed over 4 days, concluding that it was likely water ice.
ALT NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's robotic arm scooped up loose orangey soil to create a shallow trench. White dice-sized chunks were revealed, as seen in the upper right-hand portion of this image.
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Jun 13
The scientist who pioneered numerical modeling of impact craters (H Jay Melosh) also had a background studying quarks.
Strange connection between “high-energy” physics and high-energy macroscopic phenomena
Jun 13
Luis Alvarez received the 1968 physics prize for research on elementary particle physics. But did you know he and his geologist son, Walter, published the theory that dinosaurs became extinct after an asteroid collided with Earth 65 million years ago?
ALT Luis Alvarez and his son Walter stand at a limestone outcropping near Gubbio, Italy.
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Jun 13
In the morning, fog floods the valleys of the Appalachian mountains like rivers.
(Somewhere near Charleston, WV)
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Jun 10
Year 1: that’s a neat little plant, I’ll mow around it
Year 2: it came back! Actually there are a lot of them now
Year 3: what have I done
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UPDATE: The Artemis III event will start at 11:30am ET (1530 UTC) on Tuesday, June 9!
Coming soon: one of history’s most complex missions
Tune in on Tuesday, June 9, at 11am ET, to meet the astronauts flying aboard Artemis III, the mission that will test docking capabilities with commercial landers in low Earth orbit — an important step to crewed lunar landings.
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Peter James retweeted
Jun 8
A3 Crew: Are. You. Ready?
Tomorrow, we're announcing the astronauts flying aboard Artemis III, the mission that will test rendezvous and docking capabilities with commercial lunar landers in low Earth orbit.
If you could ask the Artemis III astronauts any question, what would you ask them?
ALT NASA's Artemis II mission lifts off atop the orange Space Launch System rocket from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. White, pillowy plumes fill the bottom half of the photo; a dark blue evening sky fills the top half. Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber
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May 22
This is what stardust looks like!
These are fragments of the famous Murchison meteorite. The black grains are mostly carbonaceous chondrite matter, but they also contain pre-solar silicon carbide particles from nearby supernovae.
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May 21
"A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems."
That Paul Erdos quote needs to be updated.
May 21
If this is true, using the best public estimates we have of LLM resource use, solving this Erdos problem took 0.6–6.3 kWh of electricity and about 3–31 liters of water.
So that is less than three almonds worth of water and the electricity equivalent of 2-20 miles of EV driving.
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Peter James retweeted
May 18
Space Camp registrations have doubled since Artemis II.
arstechnica.com/space/2026/0…
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Peter James retweeted
The planet can spell your name – literally. 🔤🌍
This Earth Day, see your name written in landscapes captured by Landsat: go.nasa.gov/4ak4Cdu
ALT Landscape image collage spelling "NASA"
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Apr 23
Umpiring could be a competitive scholastic sport. Make ball/strike calls by eye, and throw in some obscure rule tests like “ball got stuck in the jersey”
Apr 22
#Mariners Logan Gilbert "caught" a 107.8 mph comebacker with his jersey. That's a first.
It is ruled a base hit.
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Peter James retweeted
Apr 20
39-Year-Old Man Considering Career Change To Astronaut buff.ly/wJ1njui
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Apr 17
Our minivan (Sienna) has been recalled, so we are renting a replacement (Pacifica) while Toyota arranges a fix. Today, the rented Pacifica has been recalled too 🤦♂️
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Apr 12
There is a Texas County in Missouri, and the county seat is named Houston.
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Apr 8
The far side *IS* the "dark side" of the Moon 🤯
Apr 8
Yes, it is Earthshine. Galileo was the first to notice it on the Moon. He then argued that the Earth must be bright like a star if it could be seen from far away. Therefore the Earth must be a “star” just like the other planets (“wandering stars”), so it must move like them, too.
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Peter James retweeted
Apr 6
All I feel is gratitude for this experience.
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Dreamt I was in lunar orbit last night. Been in that post-vivid-dream-that-wasn't-real funk all morning.
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As communities gather this weekend, @AstroVicGlover reflects on the shared spaceship we all call home: Earth.
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Apr 2
Space travel is such an important and beautiful thing for mankind to be doing.
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