Wandering Adventure Party

If this result holds up, it’s potentially big: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02481-0

In short, it implies that #LightPollution is decreasing the efficiency with which #plants remove carbon from the atmosphere. It concludes that artificial light at night increases “#ecosystem respiration” (plants, microbes, and animals releasing carbon dioxide through their activity and growth), but there is no no corresponding increase in #photosynthesis.

The result is that plants exposed to ALAN emit more #carbon than they absorb from the #atmosphere. The authors write: “Our findings show that ALAN disrupts the fundamental energetic constraints on ecosystem metabolism, warranting the inclusion of light pollution in global change and carbon–climate feedback assessments.”

#ALAN

“A considerable part of the #space fandom is experiencing a specific kind of grief when the thing you most enjoyed is now associated with other things that are irretrievably dark. We haven’t yet found a civilized way to discuss it, so we’re just distancing ourselves from the thing we enjoyed.”

The grief of a fandom: on Starship, Musk and losing the spark

Why do people defend someone who has done things that are frankly terrible?

SpaceNews (spacenews.com)

#IntroduceYourself

Hello, Mastodon!

My background is in #astronomy through the Ph.D. level. Previously worked on high-mass #StarFormation, #galaxy evolution and #instrumentation development. Now a professional in the world of #DarkSkies. My life’s mission is to help people experience the wonder of the cosmos.

Outside of work, my interests include #law, #politics, #CurrentEvents, #history, #music and #art. Looking forward to discussing all of this and more with a new community here.