Perhaps a late Xmas/Chanukah/Festivus/Kwanzaa present for some research hot shot currently not in Canada but who might like to move here - the new Impact+ Research Chairs. Note the strategic areas in Arctic, environment, climate resilience and water security. 🧪⚒️ careers.ucalgary.ca/jobs/1717054...

My child is developing a western-Canadian interpretation of rhyming slang. Yes, this includes the Chinook Jargon & francophone loanwords. We’re negotiating if language is intended to convey meaning or not.

Things that make me forlorn:

I didn’t expect to find the next rock check lurking in the comics, but here we are. (Why yes, I’ve stashed away that final panel. How could I not?)

Favourite topic of conversation today: Debating Canadiana thirst traps

Things that make me happy: Geomorphic patterns

On FB, Yukon Geological Survey posted some spectacular photos of landslides & snow avalanches triggered by the magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Dec 6 in the St Elias Mountains. Here are some of my favs. @geocron.bsky.social @theronfinley.bsky.social @davepetley.bsky.social @ksvenenvig.bsky.social 🧪⚒️

Parenting achievement unlocked: I successfully fulfilled my toddler’s request for “baby music” on the first try by playing “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back” by Shawn Mendes.

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

Knitters: I want to cobble together a pattern for Pawbert’s sweater in Zootopia. Before I go wading into Ravelry, anyone have a fav pattern that would work as a base for modifications? It’s hybrid raglan / circular yoke, lots of cabling, basic colourwork.

Meanwhile in BC: We’re getting dumped on by an atmospheric river (again) & having floods (again) with the uncontrolled reemergence of the ghost of Sumas Lake (again). If you didn’t read it last time, @tyolsen.bsky.social on breaking the cycle: fvcurrent.com/p/sumas-lake...

Things that make me happy: Giant squid alive, well, snacking, & being delightfully creepy

I’ll be talking science in fiction for @cosmoquest.org’s annual fundraiser in ONE HOUR. That’s 11am-12pm Pacific

FYI as you head into the holiday season: Shopify is a Canadian company, but its CEO Tobi Lütke is Maple MAGA in both words & monetary support (under the guise of “free speech” & “open commerce”).

My local bookstore knows me and my kids on sight. Every special order I make, they bring in a second copy to display. When we work our way through an author’s back catalogue, they start ordering in their new books. I’m pretty sure we’re their inspiration for one of the endcap displays.

It’s been a gloomy day in San Francisco, so here are some pictures of some icebergs in Greenland on a similar gloomy day back in September. I prefer having icebergs around.

"Conservative groups, funded by fossil fuel magnates, spend $1B/yr interfering with public understanding of what is happening to our world. Few investments rival the return they've gotten from evangelicals." An oldie but goodie makes the link between fossil fuels, climate denial, and U.S. religion.

Exceptionally beautiful Squirrel of the Day for November 27, 2025 #sqrlpix

Twinned crystals of andalusite (chiastolite) are shown below. Chiastolite is a variety of andalusite that contains black particles of graphite arranged in geometric patterns. More at the comment. ⚒️ sci-fi 🧪 🖖🏼 scifi Geosciences #WomenInSTEM geology 🍎 🔭🪐

Are you traveling over the holiday weekend? Be sure to check out some of California’s “Geo Gems” - notable geologic features in California state parks. These geologic wonders illustrate the legacy and continuing geologic evolution of California.   www.parks.ca.gov?page_id=29631

Help? I’m looking for a solar charger for a phone. Use case is frequent power outages in a remote location. It doesn’t need to be fast or powerful or store charge, just give a phone enough juice to pop on data & check BC Hydro repair updates on Day 3.

Guess who just got out of bed to update our toilet stats. Thanks to a Chinese launch, the current count is 10 toilets in space: International Space Station: 4 Crew Dragon Docked at ISS: 1 Soyuz Docked at ISS: 1 Tiangong Space Station: 2 Tianzhou Docked at TSS: 1 Tianzhou headed to TSS: 1

Small things I mourn: “Vibe” was one of my fav words for a long, long time, but the connotations & implications of using it have shifted so much that I just… The vibe is off for saying “The vibe is off.” 😔

My child would like to lodge a complaint with the city that our local drainage is too good & we lack sufficient puddles. We’re having to hunt way too hard to splash. We’re under rain warning! Why aren’t the drains blocked with leaves? Who graded such smooth slopes?? This competency is unacceptable.

I have a truly ludicrous amount of Brussels sprouts courtesy of my farmshare. I like Brussels sprouts, but I have exactly one prep style which is not going to get me through this pile. Suggested recipes?

Two evenly-matched males spent the afternoon lazily sparring while waiting for the bay to freeze. #BearSeason2025 #Mammals 🌿

Relevant to your science-bracket habits:

Good news!! The deadline to apply for this job has been extended to November 24. 🗓️ Get your applications in soon!

👇 the website will be creaking a bit now, but especially if you have observations from low latitudes (<45⁰N) save this site and submit your observations later!

#Copper has been holding on to an 8% lead most of the match. It’s a lot, but #Molybdenite could catch up. What topics should we cover in the #OreCup victory post?

I knew the week-long mini-Cup would feel fast, but being in the final match already is BLAZING. 😳

Fellow seismologists, we're going to get a lot of mileage out of the latest @xkcd.com

It’s still a painfully tight match, close enough that I’m going to be hiding in a corner during a child’s birthday party to frantically finalize which mineral will compete against native copper for Ore Mineral of the Year. Nothing but elegance and grace! 😂

#Copper is very, very neat, but I am forlorn that #Ilmenite is getting trounced so soundly in the #OreCup semifinals. I mean. It's a titanium oxide ore, which is body-safe and not water soluble so it's not on the Do No Lick list, just on the Do Not Rub Into Your Eyes list. 📸 Gerhard Brandstetter

Today I learned (& it made my happy):

Phew, this is going fast! Ilmenite won & will face cooper in the semifinals tomorrow. Today is the last match in round 1 (quarterfinals! 😂) to pick which ore mineral is up against molybdenite. Hint: they’re both pretty!

One of my favourite polar bear photos I've taken to date. It was a weird, misty evening with just a sliver of sunlight coming through the fog, lighting up this bear on the rocks just outside of town. #mammals 🌿 #BearSeason2025

There’s passive-aggressive data viz, and there’s “putting a teeeeeeeeny weeny 0.7-point-shift arrow on Mecklenburg County” passive-aggressive.

I am called out. But in my defence, the adjectives for describing the texture of a mineral so slippery that it’s one of the best lubricants on the planet veer into nsfw or at least giggle-inducing territory very quickly.

My #scicomm win for the day? Writing a mostly-coherent definition of mineral subgroups without lies of oversimplification or ending up deep in the weeds. I hope.

Psst. Did you see? After years of asking us for mini-cups, we have a week-long race through the blend of economics and geology that are ore minerals. Go, learn, share, vote!

Geo help? We’re drafting our “What is a mineral?” and “What is an ore?” & related blurbs for #OreCup Anyone have fav examples of things that are ores but not minerals, ores that don’t contain the same-named minerals, and other weirdness we should include?

I've made a brand new prompt list for #Nudivember this year with all kinds of fun and obscure species to draw or paint or write poems about. Spend November thinking about nudis instead of everything else.

I’m so excited! We’re testing a bunch of small tweaks while the ideas are still fresh from #MinCup25

What’s the word for being excited yet utterly unprepared?

A friend went to her first protest yesterday. Upon realizing the essential nature of signs, she quickly improvised using a puppy pad. Very Marshall McLuhan to use disposable urinary incontinence protection as the medium for the message.

if you're in Alberta and you want your flu and covid shot in 2026 - yes you read that correctly - you have to preorder them right now. So here's the link. go do that. Just in case none of those people get removed from power by then. please repost this, as the province seems bent on killing us.

It is so very, very Canadian that the collective response to our retired Prime Minister dating a pop star is indifference, with maybe a shrug that it’s not the first time it’s happened.

This is good reporting on the disaster in Alaska if you're looking for a reliable summary. This is a bigger disaster than I think most are realizing. 1500 people have been displaced by the flooding with an exceptionally complicated response and recovery. www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5kz...

So I’m guessing something happened at The Old Plaxe? Nice to find you again. 💚 No polls, so I haven’t gotten back into You Find A Rock. One day. But! Mineral Cup is very active here, and we’re 2 weeks out from our first mini-cup!! I’m excited: