Professor of Cosmology at Portsmouth. "Cosmic cartographer": I make and use 3D maps of the Universe from galaxy redshift surveys, with telescopes on desert mountaintops and in space. Dad, occasional climber, likes cricket. Occasionally I have opinions.https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mvi7ggrj3s2nMy random Monday reflection, driven by family conversations over the weekend, is that UK schools really provide an excellent education. My kids (6 & 8) just started chatting to me about Picasso, and Andy Warhol, and local Portsmouth street artists - all based on stuff they've learned at school. [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Sep 2026 13:23 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvi7ggrj3s2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3muwartdu5c2zA colleague went to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC which has a beautiful #cosmology exhibition on "Discovering Our Universe" featuring many telescopes, several historically important astronomers, and also ... me?! I'm described as a Cosmic Cartographer, which is awesome 🤩 🔭🧪07 Sep 2026 10:00 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwartdu5c2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3musfzksixs2hThe astrophysics facts in this monumental thread are great, but the shark facts are even better. [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Sep 2026 21:23 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3musfzksixs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3muhp25z2ms2bFinally something maybe/possibly resembling a positive result from a dark matter detection experiment? Much too early to get excited - but at least it isn't another definite null result, and more data should arrive to adjudicate relatively soon! [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Sep 2026 15:05 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhp25z2ms2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3muha4nth7k2bSome personal/professional news: as of today, I am now a Professor of Cosmology. 🔭 The journey to professorship over the last decade+ required support from many people along the way, not least those who wrote positive assessments of my work for the panel, so many thanks to all of them!01 Sep 2026 10:38 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3muha4nth7k2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mubrllstkk22An amusing story (with a very on-the-nose final sentence) - but some might wonder what is new. That particular code has had "subtle" errors that add up to it being "very wrong" since it was first written, by humans, back in 2012. I wrote a paper about it at the time! Not sure AI was needed for that [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Aug 2026 06:35 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mubrllstkk22https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mtwpiq7sc22cWhen I was younger I never paid much attention to Dolly's music though I was vaguely aware of her. But I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I ever heard Jolene https://youtu.be/Ixrje2rXLMA?is=oiDtJYpNY2PncHBd25 Aug 2026 20:58 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtwpiq7sc22chttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mtwlmkl5ls2cRIP Dolly Parton. A great human. [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 Aug 2026 19:49 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtwlmkl5ls2chttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mtiu2ifcqk24Big day on my cricket club's WhatsApp group, containing as it does a mix of school teachers, parents, and teens getting their GCSE results today ...20 Aug 2026 08:42 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtiu2ifcqk24https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mtg76o3svc24Anyone who signs petitions or open letters from the Good Law Project should have a good think about what they are doing, IMO19 Aug 2026 07:23 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtg76o3svc24https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mta5rbql3k2jGreat performance to get silver, so clearly the visualisation worked! And a good interview afterwards as well [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Aug 2026 21:42 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mta5rbql3k2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3mt7xrsfqkk2jAbsolutely loving Jaz Sawyers' style in the long jump!16 Aug 2026 19:55 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt7xrsfqkk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3msvrbjan722xWell I thought that was amazing! I managed to get some remarkably decent photos just by sticking my eclipse glasses in front of my phone camera, plus the colander trick worked nicely too.12 Aug 2026 18:32 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvrbjan722xhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3msvpw7jzdc2mI thought I didn't have any eclipse glasses but my wife found an old pair lying in a drawer!12 Aug 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvpw7jzdc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3msr52cmk2s2bWatching the athletics on catch-up, and it is so good to see Jakob Ingebritsen back. What a great final lap.10 Aug 2026 22:19 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3msr52cmk2s2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3msr4cjpqwk2bI see people are talking about Harry Potter for some reason, so here are my thoughts: my kids, who are 6 and 8, have absolutely loved reading them (3 and 4 books in, respectively). But that's roughly their level: as a grown adult if you are arguing on the internet about them, what are you doing?10 Aug 2026 22:06 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3msr4cjpqwk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3ms7ef7xsas23What an excellent and thought-provoking set of slides! [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Aug 2026 20:43 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms7ef7xsas23https://bsky.app/profile/seshnadathur.bsky.social/post/3ms4epgcjds2zThis post makes some interesting and correct points that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Aug 2026 16:10 +0000at://did:plc:xrywqexhry2nbbqe2ir4e5dj/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms4epgcjds2z