The latest and greatest from an amazing team of authors. See what you think: A Comprehensive Framework for Assessing Terrestrial Analogue Field Sites for Ocean Worlds - Stern - 2025 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets - Wiley Online Library agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Today’s first day @coschoolofmines.bsky.social ain’t yesterday’s. A small, niche engineering school discovered.

Insanity, the dominant paradigm, will disintegrate world class health and science research in America. What say you Congress? www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

How to Winogradsky from 2025 Microbial Diversity @mblscience.bsky.social

Monitor image of a stromatolite’s top from Yellowstone National Park; microbially complex; builders and tenants present. Thx @mblscience.bsky.social for a nice tool in the toolbox!

Science is Art. Art is Science. Not a bad afternoon with scanning electron microscopy @mblscience.bsky.social with Microbial Diversity!

Never ceases to amaze how one can pull an entire lab out of 2 closets; conduct and teach science to 20 Amazing! students at the Microbial Diversity Course and have great science produced @mblscience.bsky.social …stay tuned for publications….

I once had a joyful evening in the Ed Sullivan Theater watching magic happen in front of me. An educated, civil, democratic society values the jesters—Stephen Colbert is a master teacher we all learn from. Apparently CBS Paramount does not, enhancing our decline. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...

Need to see the live action!

Week two on Microbial Diversity. One of our course directors, John Spear, spoke about H2 and sulfur metabolism, including his adventures doing research in caves. @mblscience.bsky.social

A media extravaganza at Microbial Diversity ‘25 @mblscience.bsky.social difficult to pull off anywhere—Thank you Juan Parales et al.!

At @mblscience.bsky.social preparing for Microbial Diversity ‘25; takes a lot of preparation for both aerobic and anaerobic cultivation of amazing microbiota from diverse environments. (and yes, this is what this course has ‘diversity’ in the title…)

When doing field work, or being anywhere, always important to pay attention to your surroundings. Nice writeup on Biscuit Basin @yellowstonesv.bsky.social 2024: eos.org/features/hyd...

Not the America I grew up in, nor one any of us should condone. Speak up on the wrongs!

God Only Knows… Good Vibrations. etc., etc., etc…. Brian Wilson dented the universe. Passed. Sad. 😅 😎 In today’s world, my job, your job, is to embrace, and share, the vibe. The world needs us—to do that. Be the Beach Boy. Make A Dent.🙏

Hey world—like to breathe? Me too. Don’t follow the insanity of American air pollution rollbacks. Step up and lead ‘cause we ain’t. Trump’s EPA announces major rollbacks to power plant pollution limits - The Guardian

If you are into subsurface microbiology, hydrogen and serpentinization, this is a great read (in my biased opinion) from Dan Colman. See what you think! Microbial ecology of serpentinite-hosted ecosystems url:https://academic.oup.com/ismej/article/19/1/wraf029/8019724

You know what’s the best thing in the world? People: your family; your co-workers; your neighbors; those encountered on your travels, etc. Then, there is fascism, particularly in leadership, that ruins it all. The U.S. is exporting citizens, naturalized, green card holders, etc. Not good. Stand up!

Congratulations to the new Dr. Carmen Villarruel! Ph.D. work on wildland-urban interface wildfire and the mobilization of metals—an important story of our climate-changing (there, I wrote it) times.

You can worry about the world, but sometimes best to focus on what is right in front of you.

After Svalbard’s warmest summer on record, we have shocking winter warming underway right now in the Arctic www.theguardian.com/environment/...

An important, key, element of American democracy passed today; former Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming. A republican centrist (today’s world a democrat) who did so much. Lesson served, educate yourself on how we can make our own local world’s better—by looking at the role models.

Presidential Address to a joint session of Congress; not sure if my liver can take these next 4 years. Insanity, is the dominant paradigm in America.

America, 28 February 2025: Hey! Welcome to my house. First, my dog takes a dump on your foot (did not happen). Then, my partner yells at you. Next, I’m going to scream at you. Last, I throw you out of the house and let you fend for your self. Good luck. Adults, please enter the room. Needed….

Isn’t the goal of being a human being, to make humanity, better? As a microbiologist, we know that it is the ‘little things,’ life that can only be seen with some variety of microscope, that matter. Fix what is being broken. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/h...

Question for all: Where are the adults in the room? EPA, to be gutted up to 65% of work force. Like clean water via Clean Water Act? Like clean air via Clean Air Act? Like to have an environment that supports your lifestyle via the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)? Me too. Step up y’all.

A well written and timely must-read! : www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

If the amazing thing that U.S. research is as a collective machine that has done great things and transformed the world-- Say goodbye to the machine with indirect costs capped at 15%. Please be vocal to your representatives. America does not need this. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Want to dive into all-things-microbial in one of the best ways possible? Join us for the Microbial Diversity Course @mblscience.bsky.social this summer! We have extended application deadline to 10 February. www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

You know, I needed something else to worry about over the weekend. The continued thought that America, is not America. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

This is not what America is supposed to be.

Nothing like being a scientist, spending 100’s of hours finding $$$ for impactful research—to then have the whole rug pulled out. Political appointee review of grants, shutdown of funding, ensure that research fits administration priority, etc.—is the death of society. Continue to pay attention.

Capitalism in America: The LA Fires that burned billions in property, will cost all of us 100s upon 100s of billions to recover—was in itself caused by private equity. A worthy read: www.thebignewsletter.com/p/did-a-priv... Be concerned; very concerned.

I’m gonna: —do away with FEMA —do away with DEIA —do away with birthright citizenship —do away with the best medical research in the world; NIH study sections —do away with security detail for person with pubic health in their heart Adults in the room have to be vocal, step up and refute the above.

Where and when you can, pay attention to things like Executive Orders, now and to come. Use your voice to supplant the wrongs….

Join the thriving community of researchers in Boulder, CO, as a CIRES Visiting Fellow! Work alongside stellar scientists and staff at the world-class @colorado.edu and Boulder’s NOAA Laboratories. Apply by Jan 2, 2025: https://buff.ly/3OZjy6q

🌎 Are you an early career researcher keen on Earth surface processes? Want to learn about numerical modeling & software development? Apply for the *free* @csdms.bsky.social ESPIn immersive training experience May 5-12, 2025 in Boulder Colorado. Apply starting 02 Dec buff.ly/40Uefwu

Continue to pay attention to bird flu cases / outbreaks:

The school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin today was the 39th school shooting in America—this year. Insane. More insane that there is even one. The collective ‘we’ need to make the world better, imo.

www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/h... Got polio? Me neither. Pay attention to the potential for vaccine rollbacks; use your voice.

As someone passionate about research on microbes in the Arctic—a worthy read www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

If you read nothing today, read this—nice Opinion Zeynep, and spot on. This will/may increase the have / have-not divide; that, is not good for any of us. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/o....

Think of how much science could have been accomplished with $250M. Minimum, 500 Ph.D.’s and >1500 publications advancing humanity. Instead, we have what we have. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/u...

Disturbing trend of politicized justice in America continues with Biden-pardon-Biden. If it were the rest of us…different outcome. Like science, democracy only works out when we do it right. We all need to practice good style.

Justice in America—Trump hush money sentencing postponed indefinitely. He really can have 34 felony counts and walk. If it were John Spear, jail-for a long time. Messed up world. We need to make our local world’s better than that.

It is rare to see any one company / platform such as here where the sky is blue expand as fast as it is currently growing. From my perspective, a good thing—thanks to all @blsky.app for the work! Collectively, let’s all make the platform the best thing possible. The world needs that.

Devastating news for the U.S. on 6 November. For a goal: continue to make your local world better, every day, in every way—it is the only way. With all of us in symbiosis, the world can and needs to be better.

Join us for Microbial Diversity 2025! Life changing…still is…for me.

Congratulations to Dr. Kalen Rasmussen for a great paper out in Geobiology on microbiota, silica, biosignatures and relevance to the rock record from Yellowstone National Park--a geobiology meatball! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,551,320. Dunno, perhaps a new lucky number? Would be better if # sign was $ sign for science work!