In addition to producing hazardous air pollution and endangering pets and wildlife, fireworks make the 4th of July the most common day for human-started wildfires in the US. The West is a tinderbox - maybe it’s time to consider alternatives without catastrophic consequences.

If this proposed rule is finalized, it will make #research #funding highly unpredictable, allow current and future administrations to suddenly cancel grants for political reasons and weaken the system that has supported American innovation for years..." www.axios.com/sponsored/gr... see description

Being American has little to do with how long your family has been in America. JD Vance disagrees, but, then, 1 in 6 immigrants have been here longer than him. www.ctinsider.com/columnist/ar...

The NPS will launch 850,000 fireworks in the middle of the night. (Last year, they launched 7,000) That will dump perchlorates and heavy metals into the Potomac River and cause the amount of soot and smoke particles to skyrocket (pardon), at great danger to any creature that breathes.

Many animals rely on darkness to rest, feed, move safely and find their way. But artificial light can disturb these natural rhythms, including for migratory species like sea turtles, bats & birds. Watch this video to learn how small changes at home and in our communities can help protect wildlife.

The third paper for those special issue on John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is out! @jdorcutt.bsky.social, two of his students, and I describe bear-dog material as well as add two new dog ancestors in the John Day Formation. doi.org/10.1017/jpa....

I’ve been thinking a lot about the shifting baseline concept as applied to everyday life. People in their 20’s now have no memory of highly functional systems, products (from blenders to sweaters) that were so well made you could hand them down across generations, or even helpful customer service.

Over 50 years later, this anti-Vietnam War PSA still rings true.

The drop in teen moms is one of the most major factors driving birth rate declines. We've gone from >80 per 1,000 15- to 19-year-olds in 1950 to 50 per 1,000 in 2000 to 12.7 today! This fact needs to be at the forefront of every discussion about birth rates

If you are yelling "Pluto is a planet!" you are wrong. If you are yelling "Pluto isn't a planet!" you are wrong. www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-p... 🔭 🧪

The Voting Rights Act is essentially dead and it’s quite possible that we will, like when a similar SCOTUS gutted civil rights at the fall of Reconstruction, see a disappearance of much of the Black congressional representation, especially in the most heavily Black states, which are in the South.

I say it again and again: Because we don’t learn the real history of this country, we do not understand what this country is capable of. After 1870, 22 Black men served in Congress. By 1901, because of racist SCOTUS rulings, electoral coups and election cheating and violence, there were none.

This is the way. #ReleaseTheBees

Overshooting 1.5°C looks likely—but it’s not game over. The key is limiting how far (and how long) we exceed it, then bringing temperatures back down with rapid cuts + carbon removal. Every fraction of a degree still matters. 👉 www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-... #ClimateChange 🌍🌐🧪

If you're wondering what's happening with the US Forest Service and why it matters, read this:

The Championship Battle of #2026MMM: Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs. Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus)! #2026MMM

FINAL ROAR #2026MMM WINNERS: NILE CROCODILE and HUMPBACK WHALE! Please join us WEDNESDAY April 1st at 8PM EST for the CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE!!!

#2026MMM FINAL R😮AR EMOJI BATTLE 🐊🆚🦡: 🪄🌳/🦡👃🏼🦎/🦡🧗🏾‍♂️🌳/ 🐊🐊🍽️💀/🐊😑🔊🐊/🦡🦷🦎/ 🦡🦎⤵️💀/🐊👄🐊/🐊 💀💥🦡/ 🇦🇺🐊🤷🏻👋🏻/🦡🍽️🐛/🐊🍽️💀/🏆🐊 🐋🆚🐂: 🪄🇺🇸/🐋🤏🌊/👶🏼🚫🍼/ 🐋🤰🏼🔴😩/🐂🏊🏾‍♂️📐🐋/🐋🔄🐂/ 🐂🗡️🐋🩻/🐋⬇️🐂/🛘🕳️🔜🌅/ 🐋👶🏼🐂🏊🏼‍♀️/🐂🏊🏾‍♂️🏖️/🐋🍼👶🏼/🏆🐋

The Declaration of Independence specifies 27 grievances with King George III and Britain. Donald Trump and his regime have committed at least 20 of those same offenses highlighted in yellow. #NoKings

#2026MMM ELITE TR8️⃣ EMOJI BATTLE 🦡🆚📿: 🪄🌳/🦡🙄🌳/🦡💥📿/ 📿🙂‍↔️🔊/📿🫦🦡/🦡🤷🏻‍♂️🍽️📿/🏆🦡 🐮🆚🐂: 🚣🏼🏹🐮/🪄🏜️/🐮🐂🥵/ 🏹🫀🩸/🐂➡️👥🐮/🐮☁️👀/🏆🐂 🐋🆚🦛: 🪄🪸/🦛🏊🏾🪨/🐟✂️🦛/ 🐋🔊👶🏻/🦈🔜🦛🩸/🦈🍽️🦛/🏆🐋 🐊🆚🦁: 🪄🇺🇬/🦁🦁🏊‍♂️/🐊👂🦁/ 🦁😱↩️/🐊🍽️🦵🏻🧫/🦁🦁👋🏻/🏆🐊

ELITE TRAIT #2026MMM WINNERS: Aurochs, Humpback Whale, Honey Badger and Nile Crocodile! Please join us on MONDAY March 31st at 8PM EST for the FINAL ROAR!

CROCODILE DE-FEETS LION!!!! #2026MMM

FINAL BATTLE OF THE NIGHT: 1-seed Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) vs. 2-seed Lions (Panthera Leo) #2026MMM

A large female titan triggerfish defending her eggs in her nest is basically the 'territorial hippo' of the coral reef. 2.5 feet long, she has a strong jaw wielding 8 long, protruding chisel-like teeth (+ a row of inner teeth!) (Randall & Millington 1990) #2026MMM

NEXT UP: 1-seed Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs. 3-seed Common Hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) #2026MMM

#InspirationalIntermission #2026MMM

NEXT UP: 1st-seeded Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) vs. 3rd-seeded Aurochs (Bos primigenius) #CowVsCow #2026MMM #ExtinctionIsForever #EliteTrait

FIRST UP: 1-seed Honey Badger (Mellivora capensis) vs. 3-seed Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum). Tonight's battle is a collaboration with @mammalssuck.bsky.social #2026MMM

And one LAST warning... #2026MMM

Tonight begins the randomization of encounter ecosystems as combatants are #MMMagically translocated into the Desert, the Swamp, the Ocean Reef, or the Eucalpyt Forest! WHO will fortune favor TONIGHT? #2026MMM

Home Habitat Advantage, like the combatants from the Extinction is Forever Division… is now lost to the past! #2026MMM

TONIGHT, we have HALF THE BATTLES but TWICE THE ACTION in the #2026MMM ELITE TRAIT!!

SWEET 16 WINNERS: #2026MMM Steller's Sea Cow, Aurochs, Humpback Whale, Hippopotamus, Lions, Nile Crocodile, Honey Badger and Gila Monster! Please join us TOMORROW (3/26) at 8PM EST for the ELITE TRAIT!!

Sweet 1️⃣6️⃣ EMOJI BATTLES: #2026MMM 💀 Is Forever: 🐮🆚🐬: 🐬🦦🤸🏼‍♀️/🐬🧂😕/🏆🐮 🐪🆚🐂: 🐪🐂🌳/🐂🗡️🐪/🏆🐂 📚 Legends: 🐊🆚🦊: 🦊🌅🥤/🐊🍽️🦊/🏆🐊 🦁🆚🐈: 🦁🍽️🐆/🧫🙀👋🏼/🏆🦁 💲Mammals: 🐋🆚🦏: 🦏💥🐋/🦏🏊🏾‍♂️🏖️/🏆🐋 🐘🆚🦛: 🦛🦷🐘/🔙🐘👋🏽/🏆🦛 That's So 🤘🏻: 🦡🆚👄: 🐟👄😰/🦡🍽️👄/🏆🦡 🥸🆚📿: 🚁📿🪺/🥸😫🛫/🏆📿

LAST BATTLE OF THE NIGHT! 2-seed Lions (Panthera leo) vs. 6-seed Library Cat (Felis catus) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: #2-seed Wild Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius) vs. #3-seed Aurochs (Bos primigenius) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: #2 Ossifrage (Gypaetus barbatus) vs #3 Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 2-seed Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) vs. 3-seed Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 1-seed Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) vs. 10-seed Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 1-seed HONEY BADGER (Mellivora capensis) vs. 4-seed PACIFIC LAMPREY (Entosphenus tridentatus) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 1-seed Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) vs. 5-seed Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) #2026MMM #Sweet16 #ExtinctionIsForever

UP NEXT: 1-seed Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs. 4-seed Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) #2026MMM

ONCE AGAIN, we travel around the world and through time in an spectacular extravaganza of NATURE. There will be fleeing. There will be carnage. There will be dusty B-side science that no one ever read that we sleuthed JUST FOR TONIGHT! AND IT BEGINS... NOW! #2026MMM

You've met the combatants. You've learned some of their traits. They have made it through the first two rounds. NOW ALL DIVISIONS UNDER "ONE ROOF" TONIGHT! THE SWEET SIXTEEN!!!! #2026MMM

EXTINCTION IS FOREVER AND THAT'S SO METAL ROUND 2 WINNERS: #2026MMM #2026mmm Steller's Sea Cow, Baiji, Aurochs, Wild Dromedary Camel, Honey Badger, Pacific Lamprey, Gila Monster, and Ossifrage Please join us WEDNESDAY 3/25 at 8PM EST for the SWEET SIXTEEN!

UP NEXT: 2-seed Wild Dromedary Camel (Camelus dromedarius) vs. 10-seed Sea Mink (Neogale macrodon) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 1-seed Steller's Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) vs. 8-seed Saudi Gazelle (Latin Binomial) #2026MMM

UP NEXT: 3-seed Aurochs (Bos primigenius) vs. 6-seed Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)! #2026MMM

but as i tell my students, we are the only ones smart and able enough to fix our own messes

NEXT UP: #4-seed PACIFIC LAMPREY (Entosphenus tridentatus) vs. #5-seed COMMON CHUCKWALLA (Sauromalus ater) #2026MMM