#aaasmtg — Public Fediverse posts

The @[email protected] conference had a fun “Bingo” game, where you had to find Easter Eggs signs at the talks or in the Expo room, and scan the QR code, or fill out the hashtag. Currently, five people are in the leaderboard…… #AAASmtg

View from the #introvert corner of the @[email protected] reception. #aaasmtg

Amazingly quickly, the whole conference building is empty - perhaps associated with the closing reception in the Hyatt next door. Cue: “Africa” by Toto #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Now, Theresa Maldonado passes the baton over to the new @[email protected] President, Marina Piciotto. The theme of next year’s conference is ‘Science Forward’, Feb 18-20 2027, in Chicago, IL. Thank you, safe travels, and good night. #AAASmtg

JW: Last question: What are you most excited about coming from the Rubin Observatory? RB: Rubin should find so many things we do not know yet anything about. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

As the discussion touches on the difference between Dark Matter and Dark Energy, the Monty Python’s Galaxy Song is now playing in my head. “The Universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding”. YouTube share.google/Xl2T3rvWv6Bs... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

After Ronald Blum’s talk, he takes place on the stage in a comfy chair to be interviewed by Jennifer Wiseman, from the AAAS Astonomy Section. Lots of people now can analyze data, but we still need engineers to build telescopes. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennife... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: We are still optimizing the system. Stay tuned! This all started with a scribble on a napkin. I will end with a quote by Vera C. Rubin herself: “Don’t shoot for the stars, we already know what is there. Shoot for the space in between - that is where the real mystery lies” #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: We expect to find unexpected new mysteries. This is really Science At Scale! (The motto of this conference). We also have three data facilities to crunch the data: 10 terra-bites of data every night! Rubin can democratize science. Scientists and teachers can work on this data #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: the first image was out of focus, but minutes later, the third image showed sharp dots: stars. [Applause]. We can now observe more objects than ever before. We discovered 2.000 new asteroids. We will study dark matter, Milky Way, night sky. www.nsf.gov/news/first-i... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB shows some more fascinating videos about the installation of the mirror and the camera, with a lens as big as a SUV. There are three mirrors. It was ready in April 2025, when we took our first image. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: It was a decades long project that all came together on a mountaintop in Chile. The giant mirror was put on a truck from California, sailed on a ship to Chile, and then brought up the mountain. It was so close to the edge! #AAASmtg @[email protected]

The main speaker tonight is Robert Blum, who tells about a new US observatory named after Vera C. Rubin - a cosmic trailblazer , located in Chile, near La Serena. It is large, fast, and strong. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_C.... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

The plenary session has started. I like to sit in the front, but the first five rows are reserved - and still mostly empty. So here is my view from row six. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

It is really hard to run from sessions that ends at 5 pm two floors down through a big Expo hall to a plenary session that starts at 5 pm. For next year: please plan some time between the sessions planned to go down two floors and rehydrate and go to the bathroom. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Now running to the plenary lecture: ‘An All-Seeing Eye on the Sky’ with moderator Jennifer Wiseman and speaker Robert Blum. The room is still half empty. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

I sneaked out early to catch the last 10 min of the “Happy Hour” but it is only $12 wines so that was not as happy as I thought it was going to be….. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Ritesh Kotak, RK Consulting: There are no required labels online that something is misinformation. Online platforms are exempt from many decency rules. Gives example of Google v Equustek - these are complex legal issues with many global players. We need AI/misinformation rules. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Jennifer Flanagan. CEO of Actua, Canada’s largest youth STEM organization: We give them the skills to keep safe online. We worked so hard for 30 years, and now girls see all the misinformation online about who can do math. We inform parents and teachers: actua.ca/misinformation #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Misinformation | Actua

Janos Botschner: Gendered disinformation has many definitions - misinformation to harrass women. Misogyny, a dislike or hatred of women, patriarchy, tribalism. Gender as a target or tool of harm. At Actua we provide resources to fight this. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Next up: ‘Countering AI-Enabled Gendered Disinformation’ with Janos Botschner, Community Safety Knowledge Alliance, Saskatoon, Ritesh Kotak, RK Consulting, and Jennifer Flanagan, Actua. Moderated by Valeria Iannitti. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

This session has disturbing stories of scientists and journalists talking about controversial issues who receive death threats or who are doxxed. @[email protected] has a training about digital safety. #AAASmtg www.sciline.org

Home - SciLine

Next up: A discussion session “Scientists and Journalists Team Up in Time of Crisis”, led by Tori Espensen (No slides, so I am not sure who the panelists are - not in the program either, but mix of scientists and journalists) #AAASmtg @[email protected]

For the next badge, here is a selfie in front of the “Art is a Guaranty of Sanity" sculpture in convention center lobby #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Thanking sponsor Florida International University! Here is a photo of my hotel room keycard, which I am posting to social media with hashtag #aaasmtg (Trying to participate in the conference app game!)

Next short talk at the Expo hall: ASU Avenue: The Ancestral Origins of Public Distrust in Science - by Ana Magdalena Hurtado, Ph.D, Professor, Arizona State University @[email protected] #AAASmtg

Some #FloorForensics for you from one of the lounge areas 😁 Enjoy! @[email protected] #AAASmtg

There is no food at the conference, so I grabbed a nice lunch at CupBop, Korean food in a cup. @[email protected] #AAASmtg

The second workshop I attended was: ‘Own Your Success: Understanding and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome’ by Zamara Choudhary. We did some interesting exercises and a survey. @[email protected] #AAASmtg

Good morning from the @[email protected] Annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ. #AAASmtg Lots going on in the Expo hall. Talks by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Sci-Mic Stage.