@nielsw
Assistant Professor at University College Dublin. Researcher in gravitational wave science. Spokesperson for the LISA Consortium. This is my personal feed so posts are a combination about gravitational waves and cycling infrastructure in Dublin.
✨LISA Pathfinder officially began its science operations phase 10 years ago. Data collection continued through mid-June, followed by the start of science operations for NASA’s Disturbance Reduction System.
🛰️See LISA Pathfinder's journey here: youtu.be/GM8ZGJm-S7s?...
#LPF10anniversary #LISAmission
Figure 1
Figure 2
Multi-messenger and time-domain astronomy in the 2040s. Samaya Nissanke et. al. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.14546
People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, drive, and ride public transportation along the low-traffic streets of Bilbao, which are lined with buildings, trees, bike infrastructure, and prominent 30 km/h speed limit signage and road markings.
People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, drive, and ride public transportation along the low-traffic streets of Bilbao, which are lined with buildings, trees, bike infrastructure, and prominent 30 km/h speed limit signage and road markings.
People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, drive, and ride public transportation along the low-traffic streets of Bilbao, which are lined with buildings, trees, bike infrastructure, and prominent 30 km/h speed limit signage and road markings.
People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, drive, and ride public transportation along the low-traffic streets of Bilbao, which are lined with buildings, trees, bike infrastructure, and prominent 30 km/h speed limit signage and road markings.
Introduced in 2018 and expanded to all roads by 2020, Bilbao was the first European city of more than 300,000 inhabitants to adopt a universal 30 km/h speed limit. Several years on, the results suggest it has delivered broad benefits on safety, public health, travel efficiency, and quality of life.🧵
How can we best observe the most compact binaries with orbital periods as short as a few minutes, close to their final merger? They are strong supernova Ia progenitor candidates crucial to cosmology and are the strongest Galactic gravitational wave sources in the @lisacommunity.bsky.social regime 🔭
Professor Cruise played a leading role in the development of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission and was instrumental in strengthening the United Kingdom’s contribution to this landmark international endeavour. A distinguished scientist devoted to fundamental research, he made significant contributions to gravitational wave science and to the advancement of space instrumentation. An accomplished educator and advocate of knowledge transfer, Professor Cruise authored the respected textbook The Principles of Space Instrument Design and mentored generations of students and researchers. Even after formally retiring from the University of Birmingham in 2012, he remained actively engaged with ESA, the RAS, the UK Space Agency, and the wider gravitational wave community.
We mourn the passing of Professor Mike Cruise, who has died at the age of 78. The LISA Consortium extends its sincere condolences to Professor Cruise’s family, friends, and colleagues. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
Title slide says "Wormholes, Spacewarps, and Tunnels to Otherwheres" overlaid on a illuminated round tunnel with colorful stars, nebulae, and galaxies wrapped around it. Speaker is Shane L. Larson from Clarkson University, for San Francisco Mensa, in a virtual event at 2:30pm PST / 5:30pm EST, on 21 Feb 2026.
I'mq giving a virtual talk Saturday afternoon (2:30pm PST / 5:30pm EST) for San Francisco Mensa, called "Wormholes, Spacewarps, and Tunnels to Otherwheres."
The talk is open for anyone! Register and get the link here: space-talk.link/FEB
Advertising slide showing the Milky Way as a diagonal band of stars across a black sky, inset photo of Shane on lower right, and title "A Storm of Stars: Knowing the Milky Way" on the left.
I'll be doing a Webinar Tuesday night (17 Feb) for NASA's Night Sky Network, talking about the MILKY WAY and how we know what we know about our home galaxy. It will stream to YouTube live at 9pm Eastern (6pm Pacific). LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlW0...
Dublin airport has already recorded twice its normal monthly rainfall for February!
A dying star beams a searchlight into space, illuminating its past.
badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/hubble-uns...
🔭 🧪
What I really love about this documentary is how in just a few minutes it shows the impact of the discovery—not just on science, but how it has inspired and motivated individuals, and how technology is finding applications in so many areas of life
🔭🧪⚛️🎢 #GW10Years
Artist’s impression of two neutron stars spiralling towards each other just before merging. The collision of these dense, compact objects produces gravitational waves – fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime.
Gravitational waves constantly cross our Solar System.
They travel in the fabric of spacetime, and, until recently, they did so undetected.
But advances in technology have made measurements possible on the ground and, with our upcoming LISA mission, from space too 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭
Hello Bluesky! 🌟 We’re delighted to welcome you to the official Dún Laoghaire‑Rathdown County Council account. Follow us here for the latest updates, local news, events & everything happening across the county. Looking forward to connecting with our community on this new space!
Congratulations, great news!
Good news I hope
I didn't realise the water levels were public. For those who want to take a look see: waterlevel.ie
Stormy Scotman's Bay. Not the biggest waves I captured yesterday but I always love to get birds in my shots to add to the stormy atmosphere.
Send like an odd choice at the bus stop to have the cycle lane go in front rather than behind it
It's great to see Ireland exploring geothermal. Some information about @ucddublin.bsky.social's involvement in GEMINI here: www.ucd.ie/earthscience...
On my way to Boise to do some talks about LISA and gravitational waves. Did an interview this week with Idaho Matters on Idaho Public Radio about what we are going to talk about! Give it a listen! www.boisestatepublicradio.org/show/idaho-m...
What a wildly stupid idea.
Mandatory helmets and high viz is a proven remedy to reduce the number of people cycling. It effectively kills off things like Dublin Bikes.
That's why no other EU country does anything like this. Pure madness.
This is cycling in Copenhagen.
No hi-vis. No helmet mandates.
People cycle because it’s safe — by design.
This is what cycling should look like.
Ireland is moving in the opposite direction. Instead of designing safe places to cycle, we're blaming the people cycling...
Two years of pavement parking ban in Edinburgh and the sky has not fallen. Drivers have changed their behaviour. This makes a big difference to parents with biggies and people who use wheelchairs. Would be great to see this in Dublin. @dccbeta.bsky.social @dubcitycouncil.bsky.social
What does the cycling design manual say about this? @irishcycle.com It would be much better if the red continued.
Recent paper the cites the BHPToolkit: "Spiral Density Waves and Torque Balance in the Kerr Geometry" by Conor Dyson, Daniel J. D'Orazio, arxiv.org/abs/2601.19123.
Engineers & scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, completed tests this month on a second early version of a key element of the upcoming LISA mission.
Read all about it 👉 science.nasa.gov/missions/lis...
Multimedia 👉 svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14955
The Royal Society's Rumford Medal is awarded for important discoveries in the field of thermal or optical properties of matter and their applications. Submit your nomination now:
#RSMedals
https://royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/rumford-medal/
In the first of our new series of curiosity-driven essays, Qualia, @nattyover.bsky.social asks particle physicists whether the field is facing a profound crisis. www.quantamagazine.org/is-particle-...
#LISACommunityTalks
The #LISACommunity recently hosted a talk by Shawn Ray on a paper by Shawn Ray, Keefe Mitman, Emily McPike, Barry McKernan, K.E. Saavik Ford: "Spinning and Kicking New Remnants: Considering Surrogate Models for McFACTS Merger Dynamics", for which a paper will be coming soon!
Ourselves, @dublincommuters.bsky.social, @galwaycommuters.bsky.social, & Cork Commuter Coalition wrote to Iarnród Éireann & the NTA today, asking them to cease posting real-time service updates exclusively on X. This vital info should be widely available. Read below:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
🎶 TradFest 2026 lights up Dublin this Saturday! Enjoy free pop‑up sets from Declan Coles, The Knockadollys, Reylta and Seán Collins across the city. Follow the music and feel the energy of Dublin. Full programme: tradfest.com #TradFest2026
