The @[email protected] conference had a fun “Bingo” game, where you had to find Easter Eggs signs at the talks or in the Expo room, and scan the QR code, or fill out the hashtag. Currently, five people are in the leaderboard…… #AAASmtg

View from the #introvert corner of the @[email protected] reception. #aaasmtg

Amazingly quickly, the whole conference building is empty - perhaps associated with the closing reception in the Hyatt next door. Cue: “Africa” by Toto #AAASmtg @[email protected]

Now, Theresa Maldonado passes the baton over to the new @[email protected] President, Marina Piciotto. The theme of next year’s conference is ‘Science Forward’, Feb 18-20 2027, in Chicago, IL. Thank you, safe travels, and good night. #AAASmtg

JW: Last question: What are you most excited about coming from the Rubin Observatory? RB: Rubin should find so many things we do not know yet anything about. #AAASmtg @[email protected]

As the discussion touches on the difference between Dark Matter and Dark Energy, the Monty Python’s Galaxy Song is now playing in my head. “The Universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding”. YouTube share.google/Xl2T3rvWv6Bs... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

After Ronald Blum’s talk, he takes place on the stage in a comfy chair to be interviewed by Jennifer Wiseman, from the AAAS Astonomy Section. Lots of people now can analyze data, but we still need engineers to build telescopes. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennife... #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: We are still optimizing the system. Stay tuned! This all started with a scribble on a napkin. I will end with a quote by Vera C. Rubin herself: “Don’t shoot for the stars, we already know what is there. Shoot for the space in between - that is where the real mystery lies” #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: We expect to find unexpected new mysteries. This is really Science At Scale! (The motto of this conference). We also have three data facilities to crunch the data: 10 terra-bites of data every night! Rubin can democratize science. Scientists and teachers can work on this data #AAASmtg @[email protected]

RB: the first image was out of focus, but minutes later, the third image showed sharp dots: stars. [Applause]. We can now observe more objects than ever before. We discovered 2.000 new asteroids. We will study dark matter, Milky Way, night sky. www.nsf.gov/news/first-i... #AAASmtg @[email protected]