Michael Burns-Kaurin
@mburnskaurin.bsky.social
physics professor in Atlanta; pedagogy, curriculum development, infusing computation into physics courses (he/him/his)
Should sept 6 be a holiday, Petrov day?
One of the hidden heroes and a cautionary tale
Not everybody knows this, and everybody should. On Sept. 26, 1983, a Soviet nuclear warning system alerted Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov that the U.S. had launched a missile attack. He did not retaliate, preventing WWIII.
This is a post about AI.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
This is a post about AI.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
September 26, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Should sept 6 be a holiday, Petrov day?
Finally.
Breaking: the United States accidentally adopts the metric system through uncritical use of acronyms.
September 24, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Finally.
Finally, some backbone. Now if only they would also support certain journalists who habitually are abused by Trump.
The 4 networks including Fox (!) have suspended their pool reporting of Trump in sympathy with CNN, MSN, and Politico!
Excellent.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09...
Excellent.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09...
CNN, MS NOW and Politico to Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access: Live Updates
CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they would sue to regain access to the White House. They argued in a joint statement that President Trump’s decision to block them violates the First Amendment.
www.nytimes.com
September 21, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Finally, some backbone. Now if only they would also support certain journalists who habitually are abused by Trump.
Spiderweb in breeze, slightly out of focus.
September 19, 2026 at 10:36 PM
Spiderweb in breeze, slightly out of focus.
All I want to know is the chemical energy expended by a Saturn V, without learning rocket science. Anyone know a number or a link?
September 16, 2026 at 3:10 PM
All I want to know is the chemical energy expended by a Saturn V, without learning rocket science. Anyone know a number or a link?
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
“Guys, they want us to go home.”
🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
September 13, 2026 at 1:22 PM
“Guys, they want us to go home.”
🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
Here you go!
Demand your school's leadership publicly endorse SUFS America's Compact for Higher Education — STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
Email your school's president urgently asking them to publicly endorse SUFS America's Compact for Higher Education
www.standupforscience.net
September 10, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Here you go!
We do a projectile experiment with the students using and comparing two methods. One is video analysis, fine. The other, using carbon paper on paper to mark the impact point. Well, carbon paper is hard to get these days. One instructor suggested aluminum foil. Clay could get expensive. Ideas?
September 8, 2026 at 7:17 PM
We do a projectile experiment with the students using and comparing two methods. One is video analysis, fine. The other, using carbon paper on paper to mark the impact point. Well, carbon paper is hard to get these days. One instructor suggested aluminum foil. Clay could get expensive. Ideas?
September 8, 2026 at 6:40 PM
We do a projectile experiment with the students using and comparing two methods. One is video analysis, fine. The other, using carbon paper on paper to mark the impact point. Well, carbon paper is hard to get these days. One instructor suggested aluminum foil. Clay could get expensive. Ideas?
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...
September 8, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Sixty years ago today, the starship Enterprise launched and with it, a vision of the future where humanity had moved beyond its divisions. I was there at the beginning, and I can tell you...
Have not paid attention to celestial events recently, certainly not in the mornings, was pleasantly surprised headed to my early lab today.
September 8, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Have not paid attention to celestial events recently, certainly not in the mornings, was pleasantly surprised headed to my early lab today.
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
We just released phyphox v1.2.1.
Highlights: Spectroscopy, flashlight stroboscope, improved tone generator, updated xls to xlsx and an all new phyphox.org/docs/, which now also holds the full changelog at phyphox.org/docs/referen....
Highlights: Spectroscopy, flashlight stroboscope, improved tone generator, updated xls to xlsx and an all new phyphox.org/docs/, which now also holds the full changelog at phyphox.org/docs/referen....
September 7, 2026 at 7:58 AM
We just released phyphox v1.2.1.
Highlights: Spectroscopy, flashlight stroboscope, improved tone generator, updated xls to xlsx and an all new phyphox.org/docs/, which now also holds the full changelog at phyphox.org/docs/referen....
Highlights: Spectroscopy, flashlight stroboscope, improved tone generator, updated xls to xlsx and an all new phyphox.org/docs/, which now also holds the full changelog at phyphox.org/docs/referen....
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
OMB is still trying to make it harder for scientists to get funding for research. Please take action below. You don't need to be a scientist for these attacks to impact your life
The fight against the OMB Proposal isn’t over. We need MoCs to permanantly Revoke the Rule. Visit the link to contact your MoCs and tell them to Revoke the Rule: zurl.co/Y5SzF
#RevokeTheRule #OMB #Vought #Trump #StandUpForScience
#RevokeTheRule #OMB #Vought #Trump #StandUpForScience
August 29, 2026 at 6:59 PM
OMB is still trying to make it harder for scientists to get funding for research. Please take action below. You don't need to be a scientist for these attacks to impact your life
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
If you used trinket.io to teach HTML or Python coding - tomorrow is the last day you can download your code before it shuts down. There are alternative open source trinket services you can upload it to if you want to. I must remember to remind my students.
Trinket
trinket.io
August 30, 2026 at 10:16 AM
If you used trinket.io to teach HTML or Python coding - tomorrow is the last day you can download your code before it shuts down. There are alternative open source trinket services you can upload it to if you want to. I must remember to remind my students.
Plans tonight:
AC/DC
Eclipse
AC/DC
Eclipse
August 27, 2026 at 9:21 PM
Plans tonight:
AC/DC
Eclipse
AC/DC
Eclipse
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
And if you're not a member? Well you should be. Dues scale with income and they fund the national lawsuits and the local organizing (like the lunch we ordered for new organizer training!). What are you waiting for?
Join
Joining the AAUP says that you’re concerned about academic freedom, and about the way that basic freedom protects your teaching and research. Join today.
www.aaup.org
August 25, 2026 at 7:59 PM
And if you're not a member? Well you should be. Dues scale with income and they fund the national lawsuits and the local organizing (like the lunch we ordered for new organizer training!). What are you waiting for?
A classic thread.
Since I'm home sick and X-Twitter may soon expect me to pay for access, I am going to recreate this here: 🎢 ⚛️
Pedro Pascal as classic physics textbooks: a thread
Pedro Pascal as classic physics textbooks: a thread
August 22, 2026 at 11:54 AM
A classic thread.
These are Excellent workshops for using computers in physics teaching.
Attend the PICUP 2026 Atlanta DICE Workshop happening at Georgia State University, on Saturday, Sept. 26th! Learn more and register today! ow.ly/CJfp50ZC4cu #PhysicsEducation #PICUPDICE
August 20, 2026 at 8:28 PM
These are Excellent workshops for using computers in physics teaching.
For Trump's Indy car race in DC, they have to weld the manhole covers so the race cars don't pull them up.
apnews.com/article/trum...
#iTeachPhysics
apnews.com/article/trum...
#iTeachPhysics
August 20, 2026 at 7:09 PM
For Trump's Indy car race in DC, they have to weld the manhole covers so the race cars don't pull them up.
apnews.com/article/trum...
#iTeachPhysics
apnews.com/article/trum...
#iTeachPhysics
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
The difference in utility between the use of ML to tackle big data problems that would otherwise be intractable & the use of LLMs to produce pointless slop is so large they cannot both be usefully described as “AI“.
The first is making real progress, the second is dragging us towards the abyss.
The first is making real progress, the second is dragging us towards the abyss.
I‘m far from an AI doomer, but it is amazing how many serious voices — on LinkedIn, no less! — are sharing stories about how AI slop is quickly becoming one of the top problems they see in academic writing and research
“AI will 10x our research!” doesn’t seem to be surviving encounters with reality
“AI will 10x our research!” doesn’t seem to be surviving encounters with reality
August 18, 2026 at 11:14 AM
The difference in utility between the use of ML to tackle big data problems that would otherwise be intractable & the use of LLMs to produce pointless slop is so large they cannot both be usefully described as “AI“.
The first is making real progress, the second is dragging us towards the abyss.
The first is making real progress, the second is dragging us towards the abyss.
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
Today in we can’t teach the kids how to use AI responsibly when the adults are not
"Planetary distance are temporatory earth, equater the elenonts and regnestiom org toed dishlign."
Kentucky Middle School Sends Students Home on First Day of Class With AI-Generated Educational Materials Full of Inexcusable Hallucinations, Including a Map Labeled With "North Dahota" and "Olkchoma"
An educational packet given to students at one Kentucky middle school contained 17 pages of AI-hallucinated garbage.
trib.al
August 17, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Today in we can’t teach the kids how to use AI responsibly when the adults are not
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
Isn't it strange that the whole world believes scientists when they predict a solar eclipse with microsecond accuracy, but not when they predicted the existential threat of global heating due to the emission of greenhouse gases.
August 13, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Isn't it strange that the whole world believes scientists when they predict a solar eclipse with microsecond accuracy, but not when they predicted the existential threat of global heating due to the emission of greenhouse gases.
Working on getting spider web colors with the spider.
August 12, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Working on getting spider web colors with the spider.
Reposted by Michael Burns-Kaurin
If you don't have proper eclipse glasses / filters, try a pinhole camera ...
When the sun is whole, images will be circles. When partially eclipsed they will be crescents. You can use a colander or even a Ritz Biscuit.
Find out more in my book "Up - a scientist's guide to the magic above us"
When the sun is whole, images will be circles. When partially eclipsed they will be crescents. You can use a colander or even a Ritz Biscuit.
Find out more in my book "Up - a scientist's guide to the magic above us"
August 12, 2026 at 10:13 AM