Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) / X

Corey S. Powell

32.5K posts

Corey S. Powell

@coreyspowell

A curious human. Opening minds @openmind_mag. Casting pods with @BillNye. AKA: substack.com/@coreyspowell and coreyspowell.bsky.social

Brooklyn, NY

Joined February 2009

Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Jan 29, 2020
This is the sharpest movie of the Sun ever made. Even at this fine resolution, the scale is enormous; each plasma cell here is about the size of Texas. nso.edu/telescopes/dki… via @NatSolarObs
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Twitter is full of "wonder science" accounts, many of them full of stolen images & misinformation. The recent viral tweet about the alleged void in space offers a good case study in how to spot the fakes. 1/5
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Dec 15, 2021
NASA's Parker Solar Probe plunged deep into the Sun's corona & passed directly through streamers of solar plasma. The view out the window was...staggering. parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/Sh…
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Want the real story behind the "void in space"? It's actually a dusty interstellar cloud, probably on its way to collapsing into a new star in about 100,000 years. More information here, via the European Southern Observatory: eso.org/public/usa/new…
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Nov 29, 2021
24 hours of Earth's rotation, with the camera locked to the sky instead of the ground. We're all hanging out on this spinning rock. Brilliant video by Bartosz Wojczyński. artuniverse.eu/gallery/190705…
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Bottom line: These anonymous twitter accounts want big lists of followers, and you don't want to be on those lists. Please don't follow, or unfollow. There are many other legit places to get amazing science information.
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Apr 24, 2018
Wow wow: Dust, stars, and cosmic rays swirling around Comet 67P, captured by the @ESA_Rosetta probe (+ amazing processing by @landru79)
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Jan 29, 2020
Replying to @coreyspowell and @NatSolarObs
OK, maybe you can mess with Texas, but definitely don't mess with the Sun: nso.edu/telescopes/dki…
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Feb 1, 2022
Replying to @andrewflood
Reverse it and watch how new geologists are born.
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Test #3: Improbable precision. It's a classic bluffing technique. If someone told you, "I drove from Boston to New York in 1.49328546 hours," you'd recognize that the precision is impossible even before you register that the speed is impossible. 4/5
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Test #1: Who is sending the tweet? Reputable researchers, journalists, and institutions identify themselves. If the account is anonymous and contains no information, you should be suspicious. 2/5
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Test #2: What is the source of the information? If there is no source/link (or a generic ID like "NASA"), that's a red flag. It's also a common tactic in bot accounts that scrape or steal images from the actual creators. 3/5
Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Jan 1, 2023
Researchers have discovered the first known "virovore," an organism that feeds on viruses. Probably there are many others like it -- an entire, previously unknown food chain. One day into 2023, and already things are going topsy turvy. eurekalert.org/news-releases/… #ecology #life
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Corey S. Powell
@coreyspowell
Aug 1, 2022
Replying to @coreyspowell
Test #4: Common sense is useful even in deep space! If someone is trying seriously to explain a counterintuitive idea, they'll break it down for you. If someone is trying to confuse you, they'll just leave the claim sitting there. 5/5