We need a new imagination for the whole Earth, linking the power of the deep planet with the vitality of the surface. An Essay by @jamesdinneen.bsky.social

For @sciam.bsky.social I wrote about how powerful new x-rays and lasers are revealing an “explosion” of new minerals from Earth‘s mantle trapped in super-deep diamonds.🧪⚒️ www.scientificamerican.com/article/deep...

New essay out in @aeon.co in which I consider the deepest ways in which humans have changed the planet in the Anthropocene (hint: it’s not that super deep hole in Russia). 🧪⚒️🌍 aeon.co/essays/how-d...

"From the planet’s perspective, we’re actually quite a shallow species. Our future scraping by up here on the surface depends on coming to terms with that." A cracking new @aeon.co essay from @jamesdinneen.bsky.social about the deep Earth aeon.co/essays/how-d...

open.substack.com/pub/northeas... ⚒️🧪

Not that I would want to live on Mars, but I hear the aeolian geology is unparalleled.

The martian atmosphere is currently 200 times thinner than that of Earth. A 3 billion-year-old sandstorm recorded in the rocks could be the first direct evidence that wasn't always so. My latest for @science.org.🧪⚒️ 🚀🪐

To me, this shows the how genetic connections 🧬 between peoples can go beyond our shared ancestry. We also have similar or even identical genetic changes because of our shared lifestyles - that is, separate groups of modern humans evolved in similar ways 🧪 www.newscientist.com/article/2518...

How was our patch of the Milky Way born? Microscopic grains older than the sun are providing clues. @jamesdinneen.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/what-crystal...

If in need of something distant from current events, I wrote for @quantamagazine.bsky.social about meteorites that contain crystals older than the sun. The oldest date back to ~7 billion years, offering a physical measure of stars more than halfway back to the beginning of the universe itself.

If in need of something distant from current events, I wrote for @quantamagazine.bsky.social about meteorites that contain crystals older than the sun. The oldest date back to ~7 billion years, offering a physical measure of stars more than halfway back to the beginning of the universe itself.

Nearing a decade @science.org, this is a point I should stress more. It's only $25/year to support one of the largest science-focused newsrooms in the world. Independent and nonprofit.

A billion years of missing time continues to confound geologists. For @science.org, I covered a new find in northern China that complicates debates on the source of the Great Unconformity:🧪⚒️

Seismologists played a key role in establishing bans on underground nuclear blasts — those bans may be starting to break down. Read all about it in my here newsletter: 🧪

Researchers "overjoyed" #NASA is going to move forward with two new $355 million Earth science satellites. One watching stratosphere, one watching ice/forests.🧪 My latest for @science.org:

New story in @science.org. Evidence for two huge Triassic supereruptions found on Tibetan Plateau. 🧪#geology

My latest for @science.org: the plume of hot rock beneath Hawaii may have split in two deep in the mantle. Tens of millions of years from now this could lead to parallel island tracks above the hotspot.🌋

YES. Good news from South America.

Seismologists use 5000+ earthquakes to detect sunken slabs of ancient tectonic plates flowing along the edge of Earth's core. My latest from #AGU2025 for @science.org🧪:

Can fuel made from aluminum scraps supply the clean heat industry needs? For @technologyreview.com, I got a sneak peak of Found Energy's largest aluminum-water reactor to date.

Here is our exclusive survey asking leading climate scientists to give their views on solar geoengineering: *66% believe we will see it attempted this century *52% say it will probably be done by a "rogue actor" *81% want an international treaty to manage risk www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

What do climate scientists really think about solar geoengineering? For @newscientist.com, @tinymaddie.bsky.social and I surveyed 120 IPCC authors about their attitudes towards solar geoengineering given the world's failure to slash emissions on time. The results were surprising:

Climate scientists believe humans will launch risky schemes to block radiation from the sun in a desperate bid to cool global temperatures before the end of the century - read more in our @newscientist.com excl from myself & @jamesdinneen.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2498...

For those interested in this topic, @jamesdinneen.bsky.social wrote a great feature on the faltering land carbon sink this month for @newscientist.com www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

Record gold prices = bad news for the Amazon www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Over the past two years, the land carbon sink appears to have weakened dramatically, driving the largest one year jump in atmospheric CO2 on record in 2024. Is this the end of the land carbon sink? I asked around for @newscientist.com.

Scary news for West Coast friends in my latest for @science.org. Disturbed ocean sediments off California suggest big earthquakes on the Cascadia fault can trigger big quakes on the San Andreas. The "Big One" could well become the "Big Two"...

NEWS: I'm writing a book about Earth's interior, from innermost inner core to the deep biosphere. Can't wait to share all I've learned about what's happening inside this planet and how it shapes the surface world we care about. 🌏 Subscribe here to follow along: northeastsouthwest.substack.com

We all must do our part.

I joined a team of ecologists wading through the muck of the Carolina coast in search of "ghost forests" killed by rising seas for @science.org. We were guided by a a new map that reveals millions of dead trees standing along the East Coast, marking an overlooked consequence of climate change...

Honored to have won an @sciencewriters.org "Science in Society" award for my @newscientist.com story on the Panama Canal's chronic water shortages. It's something the canal's visionary builders never imagined would be possible in one of the rainiest parts of the planet...

Whoa! First long-term ice core record of atmospheric *hydrogen*, which amplifies warming effects of methane, shows there has been a 60% rise since the industrial revolution. rt/ @tinymaddie.bsky.social www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

Dinosaurs, like beavers or elephants or buffalo, were ecosystem engineers. I discuss a new study on how their extinction also transformed landscapes in @nautil.us. 🧪

Asgard archaea frozen in Siberia appear to have remained alive for more than 100,000 years based on DNA analysis. Genetic overlap with other Asgards suggests astonishingly long lifespans could be common trait among the closest living relatives of all eukaryotes. Per @karenlloyd.bsky.social etal.🧪

Solar panel exports from China to Africa surged 60 per cent over the past year, says @ember-energy.org. Unlike previous jumps, this upward trend was spread across the continent – with 20 countries seeing import records and 25 countries importing more than 100 megawatts worth of panels.🔌💡

Also learned that Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah (pictured below) is one of just a few US mines that have installed additional circuits to refine byproducts. Mainly a copper mine, but now also extract tellurium.

BUT during a DOE workshop I went to yesterday on critical minerals, undersecretary P. Wells Griffith III made clear the agency's support for byproduct recovery didn't rule out new mining in pursuit of "energy dominance". “We should never apologize for our modern way of life,” he said.🌞

The huge volume of ore extracted from existing US mines is full of critical minerals, but nearly all of this goes to waste. New analysis finds out just out how much is getting tossed out.🧪🔌💡

The sun has MOODS.🌞

Mouth-watering news...We've identified microbes that produce fine flavours in chocolate, a discovery that could lead to entirely new kinds of the delectable treat. www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Very interesting here. www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

NEW – Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims | @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org @leohickman.carbonbrief.org @ceciliakeating.carbonbrief.org @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org @tomoprater.carbonbrief.org Read here: buff.ly/AvcB7Aw

Nothing to see here, just the planet edging ever closer to deadly hot & humid conditions www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Big new modeling study finds climate change may have locked temperatures in the Pacific Ocean into a pattern could drive drought in the western US for decades. More broadly, this suggests climate models may generally underestimate how much our emissions influence longterm cycles of ocean temps.🧪

Don't try this at home! Or maybe do? www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Don't sleep on liming www.newscientist.com/article/2488...

With Duane Arnold restart announcement, some interesting background here about why it was shut down early: extreme weather.🔌💡 e360.yale.edu/digest/u.s.-...

cryptic crosswords anyone?

this is a cool idea

It’s eighty years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. On a special episode of the podcast: - The ‘forgotten’ human and environmental cost of the Manhattan Project - Annie Jacobsen on the current threat of nuclear weapons podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8...