Braedan Fearghal
Gaidin
Hello and welcome!
@Delara Morellin, magpies are great! Most people can't stand them and I hate that. They just wanna bird and be happy
I am a huge magpie fan! I have fond memories of them when I visited Alaska in 2017 and when I first was moving out to California (I drove from New Jersey over two weeks!). I think they're some of the coolest birds out there, especially because they're so clever and smart!I love your list of birds (it's got me thinking about my favourite feathered friends on other continents too now!)
My favourite is the Eurasian Magpie - there's a pair nesting in our garden at the moment (I'm fairly sure they're the same pair that were sat on the roof when we first saw the house last year & absolutely did not sway the decision to buy it ) and I'm really looking forward to seeing some wobbly babies trying to fly
There's a lot of little house sparrows living in the hedges too and we get regular visits from starlings, blackbirds and some wood pigeons that are so big I thought one was a duck without my glasses on! Seen what I think is probably a Red Kite a few times too but by the time I've grabbed my binoculars, it's usually zoomed away.
No robins or blue tits here yet but I'm hoping once they spot the bird table that they might stop by as they're two of my favourites as well
Thank you Dovienya Sedai! We had bird feeders in the backyard my whole childhood. Probably one of the big reasons I love birds so much! I try and report what I see via eBird. Hummingbirds are genuinely some of my favorites; I visited a Hummingbird cafe in Costa Rica where they would just zip past you every few seconds!Hi and welcome, I love how amazing all of your hobbies sound. We love putting out feeders for our birds, and we're still waiting to see the hummingbirds.
Plasma physics is such a cool field!! Did you look at space weather or the plasma from atmospheric re-entry? My research recently has been more on the remote sensing side of things, but I've done research previously in optical communications!Ahhhhh omg hi we have similar interests and also Egwene is my favorite. But I'm also a physics researcher! Space plasma physics though, not optics. Any specific optical phenomena?
I'm also sort of obsessed with meteorology, I know some atmospheric physics because of my background (I used to do Mars upper atmosphere physics -- not weather though) but not on the level of meteorology, which I really wish I'd gotten a chance to take a class or two in. I live in the Arctic and sometimes my institute has seminars on stuff like arctic amplification of climate change, or the very cool kinds of clouds we can get up here like noctilucent clouds or polar stratospheric clouds, and I just love it. Do you have a favorite type of storm? I have a weird obsession with following hurricanes specifically, they're so destructive but they really fascinate me.
What type of remote sensing data are you looking at? I guess my research is most closely related to space weather, basically I study the interaction of the solar wind with various planetary objects. So right now my main research focuses are Mercury and the comet we sent a spacecraft (Rosetta) to. So it's all in situ particle data for me, and my current institute built the instruments whose data we use, which is super cool, and I'm starting to get into more of the instrument design side of things too, which I really enjoy.Plasma physics is such a cool field!! Did you look at space weather or the plasma from atmospheric re-entry? My research recently has been more on the remote sensing side of things, but I've done research previously in optical communications!
My current storm obsession is with Atmospheric Rivers, though that's probably not surprising given California got AR after AR this winter (+ we've been getting even more rain this week). I think hurricanes are awesome and cool (much more so when they don't threaten land), and I've lived through two storms (TS Irene and Hurricane Sandy). I took took a bunch of classes in climate and meteorology as part of a side-study in astrobiology, so I've ended up with a lot of appreciation for not just anthropogenic climate change, but also how climate change today compares to past events of climate change.
Who says introverts don't talk? We just need to find the right topic and we'll chat for days.....sorry, I'm being real nerdy. I get excited talking about physics 😅
I'm sure you'll find plenty of nerds to talk science (and everything else) with....sorry, I'm being real nerdy. I get excited talking about physics 😅
Indeed nerds of a feather and all thatI'm sure you'll find plenty of nerds to talk science (and everything else) with
Lol, I'm not actually that introverted, to be fair. I tend to be on the side of "talks way too much". But a lot of people's eyes do glaze over a bit at physicsWho says introverts don't talk? We just need to find the right topic and we'll chat for days.
Non-Newtonian physics will do that. My brain still hurts from the "Electrical properties of materials" course I took in college. About halfway through we swapped out Newtownian for quantum.Lol, I'm not actually that introverted, to be fair. I tend to be on the side of "talks way too much". But a lot of people's eyes do glaze over a bit at physics
Welcome! Ooh! Research! Science! This is of interest to me because I work in a large research library system in the Washington DC area. I won't name it, but if you know, you know. Ya know?research scientist in California
No apology necessary. I myself had to hold back on starting to go on a tangent about past significant climate change events and their connection and impact on species diversity and evolutionary biology!....sorry, I'm being real nerdy. I get excited talking about physics 😅
Perhaps my favorite thing to look at has been meteorology-related earth-observational data. Firstly, seeing clouds and other weatherWhat type of remote sensing data are you looking at? I guess my research is most closely related to space weather, basically I study the interaction of the solar wind with various planetary objects. So right now my main research focuses are Mercury and the comet we sent a spacecraft (Rosetta) to. So it's all in situ particle data for me, and my current institute built the instruments whose data we use, which is super cool, and I'm starting to get into more of the instrument design side of things too, which I really enjoy.
Atmospheric rivers are so interesting, I agree. Unsurprisingly I just love large scale fluid dynamics so much Also super neat you took an astrobiology class! Do you take courses for fun or were they part of a specific degree?
I think I missed this topic of study. Is that the biology of creatures that could live on say Europa? Or am I on the wrong ballparkI took my astrobiology coursework for fun, but chose specific classes that would connect to it, since there was no formal astrobiology program at my university. I totally nerded out (and I totally still am, I could discuss this all day).
That's a specific example, but yes! I actually looked at Europa's geology during my coursework and the impact of tidal forces on it's interior to make a theoretical connection between geothermal vents on Earth and on Europa (theoretical, though) in the context of life's origin!I think I missed this topic of study. Is that the biology of creatures that could live on say Europa? Or am I on the wrong ballpark
Oh good I didn't miss it. I just didn't learn it was as large as it is. I remember some early stuff on Europa as a highly possible location for non earth lifeforms probably back in the early 00's. Glad the hear all about it. Space is fascinating isn't it?That's a specific example, but yes! I actually looked at Europa's geology during my coursework and the impact of tidal forces on it's interior to make a theoretical connection between geothermal vents on Earth and on Europa (theoretical, though) in the context of life's origin!
More broadly, astrobiology looks at life's origins and theoretical existence in places other than Earth and how to detect signs of life elsewhere. A big portion of the field right now is in detection, though I also enjoyed taking a look at the evolutionary side. The two sides certainly interplay, as you have to consider biological factors in order to detect signs of life, and there's a lot of factors that can have an impact on what you can detect!
Ah nice! Speaking of clouds, I saw some Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds on my way to work today, that's always a treat.No apology necessary. I myself had to hold back on starting to go on a tangent about past significant climate change events and their connection and impact on species diversity and evolutionary biology!
Perhaps my favorite thing to look at has been meteorology-related earth-observational data. Firstly, seeing clouds and other weatherlightningis cool. I love trying to find places where we can combine our knowledge of mass transfer and fluid dynamics with observational data to improve our ability to anticipate future meso- and microscale weather events using current and future technology.
That's so cool that you're getting to look at data from Mercury and Rosetta! I can't help but think back to my astrobiology coursework and how, for my final project, I looked at exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zones of M-class stars (closer than Mercury). The enhanced solar radiation output from M-class stars really seems to be a major factor in the potential for life to originate and survive on exoplanets, so I'm always excited that solar wind and particle data are being looked at in the context of the closest objects to our sun! And comets! Comets are really useful when studying the early solar system, and their potential connection to the introduction of water and organic molecules to planets is something I'm excited to see the research on! I can't help but wonder how solar radiation fits into this possibility, especially earlier on in the history of a solar system! There's so much exploration we're still doing within just our own solar system. I love it! I too want to start making my way into instrument design (on the optical physics side) because of the exciting possibilities that can come with new and improved scientific instruments on space missions.
I took my astrobiology coursework for fun, but chose specific classes that would connect to it, since there was no formal astrobiology program at my university. I totally nerded out (and I totally still am, I could discuss this all day).
I love Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds! I saw the cutest K-H cloud the other day just floating along by itself while going to work! What you're doing with the in-situ data on comets sounds incredibly cool. I'm a bit tempted to look at some papers about comets and solar wind interactions now!Ah nice! Speaking of clouds, I saw some Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds on my way to work today, that's always a treat.
I haven't really done anything with exoplanets, since I only use in situ data. I went to a small astronomy conference last fall and was pretty astounded at just how different of a field it is and how little I understood about their data, lol. It was interesting because while I didn't understand their data processing, it didn't occur to them to compare their data to solar system objects like Venus because they had some wrong impressions about Venus. So it's definitely an area that needs more interdisciplinary work; I think it's just hard because the fields really only overlap in that they're about planets, lol.
Comets are indeed pretty cool, although I don't do any solar system origins stuff. But because they change so much over their orbit, they go through different regimes of solar wind interactions, which makes them really effective plasma laboratories. The cool thing about space physics is that the principles work everywhere, so in theory I could work on anything in the solar system that we have plasma data for, because while there is a lot of variation in environments, the underlying physics doesn't change. And then we can also compare different objects and learn a lot that way, which I really enjoy. I think space physics is pretty special within planetary science in that regard, stuff like geology is still widely applicable but not to every planet/moon in the solar system 😏
Astrobiology is a really interesting field. I only know anything about it from listening to conference talks, really, so not much.
What sorts of instruments would you like to design?