⚒️ The AGU Distributed Sensing Technical Committee May 2026 newsletter is out! Updates include: ✅️ Development of a Community Platform for Sharing Standards & Practices ✅️ Creation of a Distributed Sensing Handbook ✅️ AGU26 planning ✅️ And more! Newsletters are at:

Starts at the top of the hour ⏰

🚨BAD RIDERS ALERT🚨 Republicans on the Appropriations Committee are beginning markup of their FY27 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill—and they’ve included FIVE anti-LGBTQI+ riders. Here’s what you need to know:

Garmin’s mini satellite communicators are on sale for up to 40 percent off

Curious about opinions. I've used InReach for years for messages when I'm out of cell range, and just in case of an actual SOS. I've been testing the iphone satellite messaging, but I'm not a convert yet. It seems more finicky & less reliable. And of course InReach has a far longer battery life.

This is a well-done short film, recommend giving it a view. It captures discussions among workers from disparate parts of the transportation supply chain talking with local experts at a handful of sites in NV (and CA, I think) youtu.be/ZdoOh0vUiNg?...

Interesting. I suppose the name change is good, for clarity, but improved care requires medical providers to take patient symptoms and experience seriously. That requires real culture change. Fun fact: when I came out, some of my relatives thought having pcos must have been what turned me queer 🤣🤦‍♂️

"The Department of Energy is seeking experts in science, technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to serve as reviewers for the "Genesis Mission: Transforming Science and Energy with AI" Request for Application (RFA). " 🧪 content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USD...

Well, the good news is California has spent the last two decades building dense, infill development and investing in bike lanes, public transit, and high speed rail connecting its major cities so the impact of this should be minim- [puts finger to ear] California did what now?

This is definitely not accurate in the US. Especially not if you include government scientists, O&G and mining industry, physicists working on weapons development, big pharma, etc.

Lovely morning meandering around west Berkeley for some sunshine & air. It also just always apparently cracks me up to be observing terns on my tern bike.

"Federal agencies look to add anti-DEI contract requirements" www.aip.org/fyi/the-week...

I don't recall who was posting about the @caiso.com app earlier this year, but it got me to download it. Such interesting real-time data on California power grid.

Here’s a little video of the Pileated woodpecker getting a snack from some old roots in our yard.

I just realized my typo. This is in the Imperial Valley, but not the IV fault. Probably the Brawley Seismic Zone, a band of conjugate faults that extends from the southern end of the San Andreas to the northern end of the IV fault. the small faults are NW and NE striking while the zone is N-S.

Seismic swarm happening southwest of Brawley. This area is notoriously swarmy, and had significant swarms in 2012 and 2020. 82 detected events so far, including a M4.4. More earthquakes are likely and may be felt be folks nearby.

A swarm sequence has been confirmed near #Brawley, CA, #SouthernCalifornia #Earthquake. This is a typical sequence for the area, with with 81 events catalogued so far, including a M4.4 at 7:22 PDT. You can read more about it here: www.scsn.org/index.php/20...

Seeing lots of cargo bikes in Paris, especially for business deliveries, got me wondering why ebike based deliveries haven't really seemed to catch on in Berkeley. If you stay out of the hills, it's basically flat from Albany - Berkeley - Emeryville, and geographically compact.

I always appreciate designated crosswalks so I know to stay in my lane. Although I was disappointed in the trans bollards, they should've been much fancier.

It's all rather wearing, truth be told.

"Radically pro-transgender" just means believing all people should have dignity, safety, and civil rights regardless of their gender identity and/or expression.

Woot! Happened to catch a glimpse of @ebbp.bsky.social rolling through west Berkeley. So much bike joy! 🚲🥳

I'm pretty sure this was my first ever wildlife safety alert for caterpillars 🐛

🌟OPEN ACCESS🌟 How might the ground shake if the Hayward Fault ruptured in a M7 earthquake? A new #SRL paper explores this questions. ⚒️ buff.ly/E74n80R

Going to bump this out onto the ⚒️ feeds, too.

I had an awkward conversation recently with someone when I told them that you can't flush any wipes. They completely didn't believe me, mostly because the packaging says they're flushable. Personally, I don't understand how anyone doesn't know this, but maybe they haven't seen the horrific videos 😆

Curious about opinions. I've used InReach for years for messages when I'm out of cell range, and just in case of an actual SOS. I've been testing the iphone satellite messaging, but I'm not a convert yet. It seems more finicky & less reliable. And of course InReach has a far longer battery life.

Sounds like PG&E SOP.

Nous honorons celles et ceux qui se sont battus contre le nazisme. La tentation du pire n'a pas disparu. Notre responsabilité est immense, ne l'oublions jamais : être forts, unis et responsables face à ceux qui veulent détruire nos démocraties. Aujourd'hui plus que jamais.

Here are the sources oil imports according to the California Energy Commission.

The University promised “to pursue all rights and claims for necessary relief” if a small Michigan community won’t pump water into a data center.

Announcement for @nationalacademies.org "State of the Science" address on 6/2 declares: "Since McNutt delivered her 2025 address, federal funding for science has held steady, but significant cuts are still being considered." Really? On what planet is funding steady & cuts being *considered*? a 🧵

If you're still confused who is winning the war in Iran.

From last night's gubernatorial debate, via Politico... "Xavier Becerra, Matt Mahan and Antonio Villaraigosa all said that they would sign a bill to boost oil production in the Central Valley if one were to reach their desk. Meanwhile, Steyer and Katie Porter said no." 🤔

This is a nice infographic on telling the difference between River Otters and Sea Otters 🦦

Beautiful day out, so I stopped at Albany Beach while out running errands. Got a gorgeous osprey flyover when I first got to the bulb, too 🪶

As we write in the book, we need less focus on adults who scream "I've lived in the city for the last 50 years and don't need bike lanes" and more focus on kids who say "I am going to live in the city for the *next* 50 years and want to be able to get around safely."

“I am honored to serve as director of Berkeley Lab, an institution that has long stood at the forefront of scientific discovery and innovation.” – Kathy Yelick https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/05/05/uc-names-katherine-yelick-to-head-lawrence-berkeley-national-laboratory/ @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

À Sudbury, le laboratoire SNOLAB traque la matière noire et les neutrinos à 2 km sous terre, au coeur d’une mine encore active! Découvrez ce centre de recherche unique au monde où les plus grands experts repoussent les limites de la physique. onfr.tfo.org/snolab-la-sc...

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What happened why are my emojis now sometimes huge 🤷‍♂️

That AI-run store in San Francisco has tours & meetups where you can "meet" the AI tool running the shop.

Two hikers were injured in a bear attack on a popular hiking trail near Yellowstone National Park's Old Faithful geyser.

Hey look, Kīlauea is back at it yet again. And by it I mean erupting www.youtube.com/live/gXKuUyK...

Somehow I'm getting a lot of those fashion photos in my feed. And what I find most striking is how many men went for what is clearly takeoffs of WWII german military leather coats. It's not even subtle. It's appalling, especially in the US right now.

Moody grey & blustery this afternoon along the SF Bay. The flowers provided a nice pop of color here and there.

Not something you see every day, a purple wave in Point Reyes. “Purple waves are caused by a bloom of juvenile salps, which are gelatinous creatures related to fish. These salps can create a striking purple appearance in the water when they wash ashore in large numbers.”

Conference for Graduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics September 10--11, 2026 Washington, D.C. #WomenInSTEM #TransInSTEM 🧪 www.aps.org/initiatives/...

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Huh. I guess I'm surprised to see the AGU education section prioritizing tips for using AI in elementary school earth science learning. I haven't been following it closely, but I was under the impression that a lot of related research was showing negative learning outcomes?