A very amateur recording of a very fun and interesting night with me, @peterbrannen.bsky.social and @sidneyrothstein.bsky.social discussing carbon dioxide, capitalism, and copper mines.

I tell people that if the government is covering up the existence of aliens, NASA is absolutely not involved, because astrobiologists can't keep a secret to save their lives

Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating). A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)

The public and commentators need to stop thinking about "wars for oil" as about securing oil for the U.S., it's been decades since that was a motivator. "Wars for oil" are instead about securing oil for oil companies, securing a fossil fueled global economy, and denying oil's wealth to "enemies."

Jayme Lawson from Sinners hit the nail on the head and said how I felt with the whole BAFTAs situation.

The number of hours I have spent developing labs for my #Carbon class this semester is...staggering. Shout out to @palaeoverse.bsky.social for making this week's prep (Exploring the Great Unconformity in @macrostrat.org) a little bit (a lot bit?) easier (but still, so. much. work)

Talk alert! Weds, March 4th - @peterbrannen.bsky.social in conversation with me and @sidneyrothstein.bsky.social at Williams College! CO2, geology, AND capitalism. 7:00pm in Wachenheim Room B11, open to the public, books for sale & signing (& cookies) to follow: events.williams.edu/event/the-st...

To any Democrat who ever said about any issue, "Maybe if we agree with Republicans just this far, they'll stop there," remember that you were wrong, it was obvious at the time, and you really should never believe that again about any issue, ever.

It’s back and it’s as anonymous as a mosquito in your tent - #yourpalaeolife! This time, we need ESTABLISHED RESEARCHERS (more than 5 years post-PhD? That’s YOU) to tell us how field work works – or how it doesn’t! #therockfatherpartII #showusallyourlayers #sedimentarystyle forms.gle/61LiJpD5RfWx...

The real problem isn’t that private equity is driving up costs, wages have stagnated, and unregulated hotel chains like AirBnB are gobbling up stock. It’s your relentless appetite for—I’m sorry, I’m getting a breaking update…they’re saying that it’s no longer avocado toast, it’s gut-friendly juices.

Final EIA-860 is out, and 2025 really did it: 54 GW of new U.S. electric capacity, 96% clean. Solar again carries the offense, and we built more storage in 2025 than the cumulative total through 2023. More and more and more additions... but also record low retirements.

Can't say it enough, if you are going to build ANYTHING, you are going to be criticized much more than you will be praised. Do not be deterred. Build what you want to exist. Find your people and seek their counsel. Keep it moving.

This happens with*everything* now. No matter how grave the crime or one-dimensional the injustice, after four days the hivemind of American punditry decides that the Real Story is how the people upset about it are the real villains.

Few books have made such an impact on my thinking recently as Brannen's "The Story of CO2." Can't wait to discuss with @peterbrannen.bsky.social on March 4th. Come by if you're in Western Mass, and if you're not, go get yourself this book!

So excited to bring @peterbrannen.bsky.social to campus and get to talk with him again about CO2, this time with my amazing colleague @sidneyrothstein.bsky.social on board as well! March 4th for those in the area -

My latest @newscientist.com column for subscribers and library patrons is about Elon Musk’s attempts to co-opt Star Trek and how Mars is actually a hostile planet 🧪🔭 www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

⚡Applications for Paleontological Society Student Representative (2026-2028) are open! ⚡ @paleosoc.bsky.social It's a great way to be a part of the community and advocate for students! Applications due March 1. forms.gle/6qg2BLWgEXVd...

Great news! A new NSF Geoinformatics grant to support the PBDB was funded in June of 2025! This will overhaul the technical underpinnings of PBDB, a necessary step for carrying the PBDB forward -- www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/...

Hi friends and supporters! A quick update - we've got 2 episodes in the bag, 2 more near the finish line, and interviews completed for 90% of the rest -- we're waiting to have at least 5 done before we start releasing but it's coming together and we're SO excited!

Sometimes I feel down about my research productivity and then I remember that I teach, mentor undergrads, chair the lecture committee, chair the @paleodb.bsky.social ExComm, am President of our new @aaup.org chapter, am on the board of PRI, parent an 8 year old, partner my partner and fren my frens.

Just as a quick note while we discuss all the new (and familiar) names in the Epstein files: be careful about saying "everyone knows" about prominent people who are predators. People new to the field, people less connected (often marginalized folks), people who are adjacent, etc. may not know.

Opportunity for women students in paleontology! The Winifred Goldring Award will be presented to three women graduate students and the AWG Undergraduate Paleontology Award will be presented to a student pursuing a career in paleontology. Due April 30th. More information here: tinyurl.com/msdc3m68

First general meeting of our new Williams College @aaup.org chapter is Wednesday!

Work update: Thanks to the kind support of friends and family, I’ll be returning to work in February as planned 💜 I'll start work with _existing_ clients on Monday, February 2. If all goes smoothly, I’ll be taking meetings and booking work with _new_ clients on March 2.

Done!

Always grateful for Chad's voice 💪

an enterprising flyposter in Great Barrington, MA references the town's history as the site of the first open resistance to British rule in the colonies

A few days left to register for the Mid-Atlantic and NorthEast (MANE) Geobiology Symposium! These meetings are always such a joy - student & early career centered, affordable, and full of interesting and cool new science: www.midatlanticgeobiologysymposium.org

Obituary: Gladys Mae West (1930-2026) mathematician who pioneered GPS technology www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Call them until their voicemail is full, then call again when it’s empty; we’ve had no peace in my neighborhood, our senators should have no peace either

I'm honestly just sick. If you can stomach watching any of this footage & still let the words "more training" escape your mouth, I cannot ever forgive you. These are state-sanctioned street executions. This is the training.

Sitting in front of my wood stove so grateful for its efficiently stored solar energy keeping me warm during this intense cold, working on my syllabus for Carbon - apt

Absolutely delighted to share that VIBE CHECK has been nominated for an Ambie for Best News and Politics Podcast! It’s important to me that black queer people can be taken seriously as authoritative voices on not just pop culture and LGBT topics, but leading news and politics stories as well.

Another question I came here with was: how effective are the whistles and honking? Does it stop abductions? And the answer is, surprisingly to my cynical self, yes, and often. I have talked to so many people who have successfully interrupted kidnappings.

Professor friends! I'm teaching a new class this semester called ✨Carbon✨ - loosely based around @peterbrannen.bsky.social's amazing book, smooshed together with a Geobiology class I used to teach, mixed in with some deep time historical geology. I am really excited & I need help...

Stage 5 pundit-brain is watching an innocent woman being killed by agents of the state and going, "hmm this says a lot about the urban-rural divide in America."

If you were to say, invite some folks to your campus to talk about the intersection of labor and climate / energy / environment whooo would you want to invite? #climate #energy #labor #unions

New preprint out! Using ~75k environmental OTUs + 77 fossil calibrations, we reconstructed a Proterozoic timeline of eukaryote evolution. Our results show crown eukaryotes were already diversifying >1.6 Ga, long before the first undisputed fossils (~1.05 Ga). 🔗 DOI: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Just spent a lovely hour talking to @jacquelyngill.bsky.social & @phoebefossil.bsky.social for their forthcoming podcast series which will be SUPERB @makeaplanetpod.bsky.social (you'll have to listen to find out my favourite kind of pie 🥧) www.makeaplanetpod.earth

It's over. Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

Definitely a 12-person interspecies polycule

Today on #givingtuesday I'm continuing to support the Paleontological Research Institution. As a former employee and current board member, I know how incredible this place is - a resource for anyone who cares about our earth's past and its future: priweb.donorsupport.co/page/FUNWALK...

The late Miocene possibly had lower athmospheric pCO2 than we have right now (but higher than pre-industrial), but that was enough for there not to be permafrost in North Greenland. Once a local threshold is reached, that is enough sometimes. 🧪 Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Last day of class (on Zoom cause of the snow) and my Paleobiology students are discussing the “dire wolf” and Colossal Biosciences and they are NOT HAVING IT

On Dec. 7, we’re taking you to Albany, Georgia, and telling a story as we never have before. In a new 5-part series, ProPublica’s @gingerthompson.bsky.social pursues one question: “Why are people in Albany so sick when its most powerful institution is a hospital?”

Sooo here's a little public records request I just made to the University of Oklahoma.

Cheers to the person who leaked the initial changes www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...