In a study led by my colleague Hugo Ulloa, we reveal a surprising new mechanism for erosion by raindrops. Sandballs form when rolling drops mop up sand, even reaching a jammed state! #SoftEarthGeophysics

🧪Today we begin releasing the #SoftEarthGeophysics Chalk Talks, INFORMAL lectures laying out how to think of Earth's surface as a soft matter landscape. This labor of love started w/ a @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social blackboard talk, and grew with support across @sas.upenn.edu @pennengineering.bsky.social

I am beyond honored to be recognized by @apsphysics.bsky.social ! Being an "adult learner" in physics is hard, but the community has been so supportive! More important, to me, is the recognition of #SoftEarthGeophysics and its home in APS.

Recently, NASA announced that samples from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars may contain potential biosignatures, possible evidence of ancient microbial life. On CBS News, @dougjerolmack.bsky.social of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science discussed the exciting news.

On the "seminar circuit" I keep finding people who didn't know about our #SoftEarthGeophysics conference at @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social and that want to come. Please share with your colleagues and research groups. Details below.

Check me out on @cbsnews.com talking about Mars rocks and using landscape patterns to search for life on other planets. #SoftEarthGeophysics @upenn.edu www.cbsnews.com/video/the-si...

If there was ever a time where deep and original thinking in science is needed. Thanks @davidjonfurbish.bsky.social

Can forests damp earthquake waves and thus limit co-seismic landslides? What does this mean for Critical Zone development? Postdoctoral position with Will Struble and a multi-disciplinary team (including me🌲🌲🌊🌳🪾). Position is open until filled. willstruble.com #CZScience #Postdoc

Check out the @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social conference we're (Vashan Wright, Sujit Datta, Nathalie Vriend) organizing: www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/s... for THIS JANUARY 6-9! Geoscientists, physicists and engineers: are you intellectually adventurous and been wondering "is this all there is?" 🧪

🧪 idea for 1 way to address federal cuts to science funding: if the big dumb bill passes and >middle class people get tax breaks they don't need, can we organize a system to divert these to private foundations that already fund science? I'm serious. Anybody got ideas on if and how to do this?

Check out PCSSM postdoc @asinclair.bsky.social's latest paper with collaborators in @nathumbehav.nature.com on their SCIMaP project that visualizes cuts to NIH funding & how that impacts economy and employment nationwide. And check out the map here: scienceimpacts.org @michaelemann.bsky.social

I think most people don't understand exactly what universities do or how they are funded. It's worth reading this and then talking with folks you know about it.🧪 www.npr.org/2025/04/25/n...

Over 90% of Americans rely on federally funded science, But only 10% are worried about losing access to it. That’s a dangerous disconnect. Help us close the gap. Join our #SummerFightForScience and help spread the word about how essential science is to everyday lives. www.npr.org/2025/05/06/n...

Seen on @cnn.com @andersoncooper360.bsky.social this evening, courtesy of my #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social

🧪 YASSSSS!!! 👏👏👏 Sooo excited to see this. Time *for us* to flood the zone! I'm especially excited to hear about the formation of Stand Up For Science **LOCAL**. Who will lead each local chapter? Could be you. We're the leaders we've all been waiting for to #StandUpForScience.

In panel discussion at Penn "How did we get here and what do we do?", I answered that generations of increasing competition for funding has narrowed our communication to very small numbers of other scientists... And that an era of direct communication with the pubic is needed. Let's do it!!!

☀️THE SUMMER FIGHT FOR SCIENCE☀️ 🫵 WHO: You + all our friends 🧪 WHAT: Share science with your neighbors and tell them about the impact of proposed budget cuts. 🇺🇸 WHERE: Your local community 🏖️ WHEN: Now to Sept 30th 🔬 WHY: The 9/30 budget vote will determine the future of science in America.

To get an idea of what the 37 existing divisions of NSF do, and what is likely to be lost, see the current NSF web site www.nsf.gov/about/direct... But hurry, since this list is apt to disappear at any time.

If you don't know how NSF works, read this

Join, or Die. If the Big 10 can create a "mutual defense pact", why can't the Ivy League? As Trump takes away all federal money for research, they have less leverage over us. We have nothing to lose by joining Harvard and saying "No compromise. Bring it".

Dorks, it’s time to throw sand in the gears. They want us to stop teaching, we will teach in the streets. They want us to stop our research, we will use archival data. They want to send us back to the dark ages, we will be a light. We will not lay down and take this.

www.reuters.com/world/us/tru... It is time to "Join, or Die". Founding father of the USA, and Penn, recognized the unorganized colonies had to unite for common cause or face destruction. This is where American Universities are now. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join,_o...

Australia and Canada in one week!! Trump may have single handedly reversed a global political trend. I wish my country wasn't sacrificed in the process...

Open letter from NSF Union: www.savensf.com/_files/ugd/e... 🧪 They are trying to destroy American science. They can't without our permission. Science without funding sucks, but science without truth isn't science at all.

GOOD EVENING, DORKS. Did you know you can call your senators and house rep and ask for specific grants to be restored? You can ask for specific jobs to be restored. You can ask for data to be restored. You can ask for teams tracking food safety to be restored. Do what you want with this info!

⬆️New research from @dougjerolmack.bsky.social @upenn.bsky.social, Gábor Domokos at Budapest University of Technology and Economics, & others; comments from Lucas Goehring at Nottingham Trent University and Nina Lanza at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

📣 GET IN, DORKS! We are going protesting...AGAIN! 📣 This time we are standing up for our core value of academic freedom and asking university leadership to STAND UP WITH US against Trump's attack on higher ed ✊ #StandUpWithUS Register/find an event: actionnetwork.org/event_campai...

We're excited to be a cohost for the Climate Storytellers' Summit on 4/10 with High Meadows Environmental Institute, @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social, and My Climate Story! Register now at the link below for this online event moderated by @michaelemann.bsky.social. web.sas.upenn.edu/pcssm/calend...

A letter from many of us STEMM faculty at Penn, led by Andrea Liu, with a simple message: our values aren't for sale, and preserving science funding by giving up our rights is simply not worth it. 🧪 www.thedp.com/article/2025...

The institution of Science in America is a public good that equalizes. It brings safety, advancement, protection, answers, cures, and economic benefit. The NIH, alone, turns out $2.46 for every $1 invested. HANDS OFF OUR SCIENCE! April 5th, 2025 #scienceforall #handsoffourscience

Amen Let's GO!

"Crowds Stand Up for Science Across the United States" by Kimberly M. S. Cartier, Emily Dieckman, Jennifer Schmidt and Grace van Deelen for @americangeo.bsky.social #Eos: eos.org/articles/cro...

Philly TURNED UP for science!! #standupforscience2025

It feels crappy to "brag" about a new paper while science is being dismantled. But in the spirit of #standupforscience i guess it's good for us to remember what we're doing this for.

Philly people it's time to TURN UP at #standupforscience2025 at City Hall 11am tomorrow March 7: www.eventbrite.com/e/stand-up-f...

Great to see my colleague representing us on the national stage. I'll be joining my department in marching to our local rally in Philadelphia

You heard the man! @hankgreen.bsky.social

Friendly reminder: if you are waiting on something from a US-based scientist/reviewer/editor, please realize that we're barely making it through each day putting out non-stop fires and trying not to collapse into tears. We're trying our best, but things will take longer right now. Give grace.

👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 @standupforscience.bsky.social

WHERE WILL YOU BE ON MARCH 7TH!? Head to www.standupforscience2025.org/local-event-information/ or the link in our bio to find your closest event—or add one if you're hosting one! #standupforscience2025

This. Is. The. Purge. It's here. It's not hyperbole. It's happening.

Time to stand up

Want to go visit the national parks this year? Sorry. The reservation system is shut down, EMT personnel are gone, so don't get hurt or lost. No one can clean the bathrooms or cabins, so they'll be closed. Rangers are fired. www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...

More and more scientists are joining the ranks of fired federal workers—and fighting back through protests, appeals, and legal challenges.

#ICYMI: ProPublica has confirmed the names and roles of more than 30 Musk-affiliated staffers who are helping the world’s richest man dismantle or downsize federal agencies one by one.

REPOST. All day every day until March 7

REPOST REPOST!!

Time for a #ScienceMarchOnWashington with star power like Bill Nye. We need leaders like @zekeemanuel.bsky.social petitioning college presidents to go to Congress, and teach-ins by Nobel Laureates to teach students what's happening. Where are the leaders? Repost to help find them 🧪

This is true. All the (progressive) non-academics in my life are hearing still is whether USAID dismantling will hold up in court or not. My steady diet of @nytimes.com and related podcasts also says nothing about science.

This is why I keep writing ♥️✊🏽