Physicist and Professor at a university in Chicago. I study black holes, quantum gravity, and cosmology. Rocky Top, Tar Heel. Reposts are spooky action at a distance. My views, not my employer's. https://jacobi.luc.edu https://mcnees.github.iohttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlmpv5wmxs2iStuck on the couch all day after some dental work and in a post-anesthesia haze I wrote a 25 page introduction to Noether's First Theorem for a student who is working with me this summer. Made figures and everything.12 May 2026 02:17 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlmpv5wmxs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlm3equpdc2qI can’t really articulate why this is, but every cardinal looks like a Gary Larson drawing of a cardinal.11 May 2026 20:10 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlm3equpdc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlltdqpgfs24I am getting like 10 spam calls every day from "GE Home Security" and "Smart Alarms," the volume is unbelievable.11 May 2026 17:46 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlltdqpgfs24https://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlls5odcc224“There is no joy more intense than that of coming upon a fact that cannot be understood in terms of currently accepted ideas." A day late on the repost as I recover from a dental thing. 🧪 🔭 ⚛️ [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 May 2026 17:25 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlls5odcc224https://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlljliuxkc2pslightly increase a band Thompson Triplets [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 May 2026 14:51 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlljliuxkc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlj2vj524k2oGood morning. #bloomscrolling10 May 2026 15:23 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlj2vj524k2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlhxb7etes2rWhat a time to put an anti-science, anti-medicine lunatic like RFK Jr in charge of our health. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/well/als-treatment-tofersen-qalsody.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share10 May 2026 04:45 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlhxb7etes2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlgfsc6ehs2sGood morning. #bloomscrolling09 May 2026 14:00 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlgfsc6ehs2shttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mle4gocfs22lHappy 100th birthday to Sir David Attenborough, born #OTD in 1926. I’d watch a documentary that’s just him narrating the Apple Music EULA or reading the ingredients off a box of cake mix. 🧪 Image: BBC08 May 2026 16:07 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle4gocfs22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mle3ndkavk25My research process.08 May 2026 15:53 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle3ndkavk25https://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlctdx34c22xI avoided the canvas hack by cleverly refusing to use it.08 May 2026 03:52 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlctdx34c22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlct7tcfps2xFirst one I bought with my own money. Years after it came out, in a sale bin at a department store. [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 May 2026 03:50 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlct7tcfps2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlcsoi67mk2xIt’s good advice.08 May 2026 03:40 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlcsoi67mk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlclmucf522fWidow’s Bay is great.08 May 2026 01:34 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlclmucf522fhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mlbfy4d7hc27There used to be a trade publication called “Macaroni Journal" that ran headlines like "Macaroni is Fashionable" and "A Big Program for Busy Business Men." (Isaack Fubine supposedly patented macaroni in the Hague #OTD in 1660.) https://ilovepasta.org/wp-content/uploads/macaroni/1935%2005%20MAY%20-%20The%20New%20Macaroni%20Journal.pdf07 May 2026 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbfy4d7hc27https://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mla43g2ug22nGood evening.07 May 2026 01:50 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mla43g2ug22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml7r2gbkrc27I asked the 14yo why she thought the owner of this car did such a half-hearted job with the decorations and uh, she just sort of shook her head and started rubbing her temples.06 May 2026 22:33 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml7r2gbkrc27https://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml76xicxo22sPhysicist Robert H. Dicke was born #OTD in 1916. He invented the lock-in amplifier and the microwave radiometer, performed delicate tests of general relativity, predicted the Cosmic Microwave Background, and probably coined the term "black hole" as it is used in astrophysics. 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭 Image: AIP06 May 2026 17:09 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml76xicxo22shttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3loj2olnrnc2ePhysicist and astronomer Willem de Sitter was born #OTD in 1872. He is best known for his work in Cosmology, applying Einstein’s general relativity to the dynamics and history of the universe, and also for strong "Jude Law as young Dumbledore" vibes. 🧪 🔭 ⚛️ Image: https://history.aip.org/exhibits/cosmology/ideas/larger-image-pages/pic-expanding-desitter.htm06 May 2025 14:09 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3loj2olnrnc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml6ughe3xc2sI listen to a handful of sports podcasts pretty regularly, and I think it's telling that, in addition to ads for gambling, I'm hearing more and more ads for VPNs framed as tools for letting folks continue to gamble when their families and / or jobs are trying to stop them from gambling.06 May 2026 14:01 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6ughe3xc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml4dtve6x22zAlan Shepard became the first American in space #OTD in 1961, a flight that lasted 15 minutes and took him 101 miles above the Earth. Shepard’s Freedom 7 capsule was carried atop the Redstone Launch Vehicle, along a trajectory calculated by mathematician Katherine Johnson. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🚀 Image: NASA05 May 2026 13:59 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4dtve6x22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml554g6v6c2qI always need a day to decompress after final exams wrap up. It's a good time for little projects that have been waiting for attention. So today I got around to digitizing and uploading an album that my uncle made a few years before he passed away. He was sort of a mess, but he could play guitar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYF39uICBU05 May 2026 21:31 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml554g6v6c2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml4dtve6x22zAlan Shepard became the first American in space #OTD in 1961, a flight that lasted 15 minutes and took him 101 miles above the Earth. Shepard’s Freedom 7 capsule was carried atop the Redstone Launch Vehicle, along a trajectory calculated by mathematician Katherine Johnson. 🧪 👩‍🔬 🚀 Image: NASA05 May 2026 13:59 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4dtve6x22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3ml3ebx4jyk2eHappy 5/4 (sound on)05 May 2026 04:34 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml3ebx4jyk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mkzxfqsdn22bJust found a forgotten iMac from around 2010-2011. Essentially unused, still has the OS X 10.5 install dvd in the drive.04 May 2026 15:11 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkzxfqsdn22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/mcnees.bsky.social/post/3mkygyzas3s2gLegislation that mandates AI for students has the potential to be profoundly dangerous because it deploys a harmful technology into a vulnerable population. The only folks who are sure to benefit are tech companies and their investors. Would you let Marlboro write your “cigarettes in schools” bill? [contains quote post or other embedded content]04 May 2026 00:45 +0000at://did:plc:6435lftcmpvxasbkrtsw22i7/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkygyzas3s2g