Daily Briefing: Quote Of The Day“If anything, it is giving us more encouragement to continue to do this work, because it is the morally, philosophically and politically right thing to do.”
Astronomer John Barentine responds to changes made to the biography of astronomer Vera Rubin on the website of the Rubin Observatory. These seem to be in response to executive orders issued by US president Donald Trump, which banned federal funding related to topics including diversity, equity and inclusion Scientists alarmed as Rubin Observatory changes biography of astronomer Vera Rubin amid Trump's push to end DEI effortsAstronomers are expressing disappointment and alarm as the federally-funded Rubin Observatory altered the biography of renowned astronomer Vera Rubin, for whom the facility is named, on its website. The amended version curtails her legacy of championing women in science and removes all mentions of the observatory's efforts to reduce barriers for women and other historically underrepresented groups in the field.
"No executive order, no political edict is going to undermine or end our efforts to make the scientific workforce look more like our people," astronomer John Barentine told Space.com. "If anything, it is giving us more encouragement to continue to do this work, because it is the morally, philosophically and politically right thing to do." As the night sky grows crowded, astronomers face a growing problemAt the AAS meeting, the largest annual conference for astronomers, the organization announced it had adopted a new resolution opposing the development of what is known as “obtrusive space advertising,” or satellites in orbit displaying advertising images that can be seen from the ground. Just like satellite megaconstellations, astronomers worry such advertising could interfere with their observations.
That concern is, for now, largely a theoretical one. In the United States, federal law has banned obtrusive space advertising for decades, but John Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, a member of the AAS’s Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment (COMPASSE), said the AAS is worried that other nations, like Russia, might allow it. “There is reason to believe that this activity will be pursued globally,” he said at a briefing during the AAS meeting. “The lure of it is so great that I can’t imagine that no one will try.” |
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