Theoretical astrophysicist in Ireland specializing in the Universe and all that surrounds it (e.g. jazz, opera, poetry, crosswords). Editor-in-chief Open Journal of Astrophysics, @OJ_Astro
Since the last update we have published a further three papers, bringing the number in Volume 9 (2026) to 14 and the total so far published by OJAp up to 462.
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/24/weekly-update-from-the-open-journal-of-astrophysics-24-01-2026/
The Kilmainham Gaol Scam: yet another Reason not to use Google
It seems to me that Google was and is a party to this fraudulent activity, but it's unlikely to be prosecuted, presumably for the same reason that nobody is prosecuting Twitter/Grok for its illegal production and distribution of child pornography
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/23/the-kilmainham-gaol-scam-yet-another-reason-not-to-use-google/
On the train to Dublin again for an evening at the NCH.
https://www.nch.ie/all-events-listing/nsoi-peter-whelan-mendelssohn/
The Kilmainham Gaol Scam: yet another Reason not to use Google
It seems to me that Google was and is a party to this fraudulent activity, but it's unlikely to be prosecuted, presumably for the same reason that nobody is prosecuting Twitter/Grok for its illegal production and distribution of child pornography
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/23/the-kilmainham-gaol-scam-yet-another-reason-not-to-use-google/
"The most common form of despair is not being who you are."
- SΓΈren Kierkegaard
Three major research universities opt out of new Elsevier deal https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/three-major-research-universities-opt-out-new-elsevier-deal
I am delighted to announce that this afternoon I officially became one of those old people who cause long queues to form behind them in the Post Office...
Dark Energy Survey Year Y6 Results Day!
This morning's arXiv announcement contained a number of papers related to the Dark Energy Survey Y6 analysis. There is also a Zoom webinar at 10.30 Central Time (16.30 GMT'; 13.30 in Greeland). Details can be found here. You can find links and abstracts to all the papers here, but I thought it would be useful to provide arXiv links to the latest batch here.
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/22/dark-energy-survey-year-y6-results-day/
This book looks right up my street. Not that I'm pedantic myself, of course...
The growth of light seed black holes in the early Universe
Meanwhile, back in the world of research, I see that Maynooth University has issued a news item about a new paper by colleagues in the Department of Physics, Daxal H. Mehta, John A. Regan and Lewis Prole. The story has also been picked up by the Irish media, e.g. here. You may find the paper behind a paywall, as it is published in Nature Astronomy, so here is the abstract: And here's a pretty picture from oneβ¦
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/21/the-growth-of-light-seed-black-holes-in-the-early-universe/
Good work by colleagues at Maynooth!
https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/news-events/massive-black-hole-mystery-unlocked-mu-researchers
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "The Kinematic Properties of TΕ»O Candidate HV 11417 with Gaia DR3" by Anna J. G. O'Grady (Carnegie Mellon University, USA)
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Angular bispectrum of matter number counts in cosmic structures" by Thomas Montandon (U. Montpellier, France), Enea Di Dio (U. GenΓ¨ve, Switzerland), Cornelius Rampf (RuΔer BoΕ‘koviΔ Institute, Croatia) and Julian Adamek (U. ZΓΌrich, Switzerland)
The Girl from Greenland β Chet Baker http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPv6En6-31g http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/20/the-girl-from-greenland-chet-baker/
European Union companies' annual purchases of cloud software services that benefit the US economy amount to β¬264 billion β¦ If the EU were able to produce 15% of the cloud software services it currently purchases from the United States in 2035, this would result in 463,000 additional jobs in the EU. https://www.cigref.fr/technological-dependence-on-american-software-and-cloud-services-an-assessment-of-the-economic-consequences-in-europe
This is absolutely awesome! The @leavex campaign now has their website up an running, so we can see exactly which members of the EU parliament still support Musk's disinformation platform X, and avoid voting for them.
I hope @leavex expands to add every national parliament β the disinformation has to end.
Se their excellent overview here:
https://leavex.eu/politicians/
Please boost this to support the campaign.
Accessibility Upgrade at Maynooth Railway Station
Thanks, Irish Rail, for the Accessibility Upgrade at Maynooth, but you need to get off X. Now!
http://telescoper.blog/2026/01/20/accessibility-upgrade-at-maynooth-railway-station/
@dstndstn that's not the only problem he has with projection...
Marking Over
Well, that wasn't too painful. I've completed my marking duties. The fact that it has been pouring with rain most of the day made it easy to concentrate on this task. I was going to have a break for lunch, but I decided to keep on going until I was finished, though I did have to take a break for a telecon this afternoon.
At least I've finished marking my examinations. I wouldn't like to leave any loose ends at Trumpageddon.
