Cosmologist, professor, father of two, solver of puzzles.
Champaign, IL
Joined September 2012
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Jeff Filippini retweeted
Nice article from @doescience about SPT, @BICEP_Keck, and the @SouthPoleObs! #Antarctica #southpole @NSF
energy.gov/science/articles/…
Jeff Filippini retweeted
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:
Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund
alzresearch.org/giving/
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources
alzfdn.org/donate/
Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Ad astra legend. You were the captain of my childhood. 🫡 nytimes.com/2026/10/29/arts/…
Jeff Filippini retweeted
BREAKING NEWS
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPrize in Physics to Francis Halzen “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Today, NASA announced PRIMA, a new space telescope that will explore long-standing mysteries around the formation of planets, stars, black holes, and even how water on Earth came to be. go.nasa.gov/3TgGh3W
ALT An illustration of a telescope spacecraft with a parabolic mirror floating in deep space.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
It’s simple: a major goal of education, at least in principle, is to teach kids how to STRUGGLE & WORK THROUGH challenges to develop critical thinking. LLMs obviously undermine this. It’s like building a gym where the machines lift the weights for you. It’s 100% counterproductive
The tech world’s reaction to this makes me frustrated, because if you actually spent time in and around schools you’d understand how much of a problem AI is in schools right now.
Schools have no literally idea what to do about AI. No one has really figured it out yet. Especially when many of the school-specific chatbots we’re putting in front of kids are actively decreasing scores!
Seems pretty obvious to me that Mandani & co spent time in schools, realized the chaos these tools are causing, and decided that we need to take a second to breathe to actually figure it out. Not that he’s anti-AI.
Education might be the hardest application of AI to figure out because it’s not about efficiency. It’s not so clear cut as problem -> solution.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Liftoff! @NASARoman begins its flight to space. The Roman telescope’s wide field of view will generate never-before-seen images, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.
54 years ago today, the Apollo 16 team used George Carruthers' UV camera on the Moon to give us our first look at Earth's exosphere. Today the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory @uofigrainger, 4x farther than the Moon, studies it daily in unprecedented detail.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
A new milestone for humankind: The crew of Artemis II are now the farthest any human has ever travelled, reaching a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth.
This surpasses the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by about 4,102 miles.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Obituary: Anthony Leggett (1938-2026) Physicist who brought quantum theory to the macro world
go.nature.com/413cRq7
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Pretty cool that the LUX detector can detect decays of Xenon isotopes with a half life of 10^(22) years.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
A Nobel-winning mind. A lasting Illinois legacy.
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Sir Anthony J. “Tony” Leggett, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Chair Emeritus of Physics and a member of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty since 1983.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
#TBT to 70 years ago when @NSF’s McMurdo Station opened in Antarctica. @NASA science performed at and near McMurdo includes high-altitude scientific balloon launches to collect cosmic light and particles at the very edge of space. More about the station: nsf.gov/geo/opp/ail/mcmurdo-…
ALT This is an image of McMurdo Station, a United States Antarctic research center on the southern tip of Ross Island on the shore of McMurdo Sound. A large wooden sign in the foreground reads \u201CMcMurdo Station\u201D and \u201CAntarctica\u201D in dark block text, with a round seal to the right that depicts the shape of Antarctica in white on a blue background surrounded by \u201CUnited States of America Antarctica Program.\u201D A brilliant cloud-streaked blue sky fills much of the background, as well as snow-capped mountains in the distance and some buildings, pipes, and power lines closer to the viewer. The image is watermarked \u201CCredit: NASA.\u201D
Jeff Filippini retweeted
We shall measure stellar brightness logarithmically, and it will be called the "magnitude."
- Sir, will that logarithm be base 10, or based on Napier's constant?
Neither. It shall be of the base of the fifth root of one hundred.
Jeff Filippini retweeted
One of the annual #southpole traditions at the start of winter is watching John Carpenter's #thething in the gym. A fitting start to over 8 months of isolation for the 40 winterovers after becoming officially stranded at a remote Antarctic base! #Antarctica
Jeff Filippini retweeted
Congratulations to our scientific balloon teams on another successful campaign from Antarctica!
The campaign began in early December and completed 4 launches supporting @NASAUniverse experiments!
go.nasa.gov/3LTC8z6
Jeff Filippini retweeted
The NASA Scientific Ballooning Handbook 50th Anniversary Edition is out! It's amazing, it's free and it's here: ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/2024…
Jeff Filippini retweeted
On New Years Day at the #southpole, there is a ceremony to move the geographic South Pole (since the ice underneath the station moves about 10-meters per year) and a reveal of a new marker on top of the Pole. See some pics by Anjali from this years ceremony. #Antarctica @NSF
This is exactly the analogy I use in my first lecture each semester. The goal of your coursework is how it changes you.
Very simple way to figure out whether to use AI.
Gym: the point isn't for the weight to be lifted, but for you to lift the weight.
Job: the point is for the weight to be lifted.
Use AI for job, not for gym.
danielmiessler.com/blog/keep…
