Next Monday @riceuniversity.bsky.social we have a panel discussion on the geopolitics of critical minerals for the energy transition. Geology does not distribute natural resources fairly. This leads to a complex web of trade and geopolitical tensions. events.rice.edu/event/415347...

Basaltic dike crosscutting Precambrian granites and arc cumulates. Arabian Shield on the flank of the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.

A Western Willet flying over me. In the fall, the Eastern Willets along the coast fly south to their wintering grounds and are replaced by Western Willets returning from the north. Willets are here year round, but the two species trade places every season. And yes, they are different species.

We r having a panel discussion on critical minerals Dec 8 @riceuniversity.bsky.social in conjunction with the French Consulate of Houston.

AI is great for speeding certain processes up. It's a good tool for those who already have decades of domain expertise. But the race to bring AI into our world is sure to produce the most uncreative and unimaginative generation in the history of human evolution.

After seemingly disappearing for 5 days, our Allen's Hummingbird @riceuniversity in Houston, TX has returned. Where did to go to all this time?

so I've been playing around with AI (GPT), asking it how Pt-bearing sulfide layers form in layered intrusions. I asked critical questions, prompted it to think about physics, and after many iterations, it came up with this model. Utter nonsense, violating physics! Be very careful of AI.

Galveston, upper Texas coast this am. What appears to be a Vega Gull, the recently split Siberian counterpart of the Herring Gull complex. We had a good gull day.

Another Allen’s Hummingbird @riceuniversity.bsky.social in Houston. Amazing we’ve now had two. Our garden is working!

I need help! Scaly-breasted Munias. How many birds in this photo? Trying to estimate how many birds we have, but they keep moving around. Curious how much variance there might be between observers. So first, give me your quick estimate and then count them carefully. How do your numbers compare?

Billion year old shallow water stromatolitic carbonates contact metamorphosed. Green layers with diopside and occasional grossular garnet. Sedimentary layers are preserved, including ripples! Franklin Mountains, El Paso, Texas.

A view of the mid-Tertiary andesitic porphyry of Cristo Rey in El Paso, straddling the Mexican-US border. The laccolith intruded into Cretaceous sediments, pushing them apart. @riceeeps.bsky.social @riceuniversity.bsky.social geology field trip to west texas

In search of pegmatites in the Precambrian Arabian shield. These dikes show the more fine-grained nature of the dike margins and the coarse-grained nature of the dike core due to differential cooling rates. Saudi Arabia.

Here in Houston @riceuniversity our soccer fields attract migrating meadowlarks in late October and early November. One might assume they are the expected Easterns but most have turned out to be Westerns. They r difficult to identify: subtle differences in face, tail and tertial patterns and vocals

And it continues. a winter wren in our urban little patch. One cannot restore urban spaces to their original state, but one can build a diversity of microhabitats that provide cover for migrating birds.

Our little bird habitat @riceuniversity is still on fire. And migration is still on. Yesterday, an Ash-throated Flycatcher showed up. First record for my local patch, making this the 276th species documented for an urban hotspot.

Birds, birds, birds. Showing Christian Cooper the birds of Houston Audubon’s Bolivar flats bird sanctuary on the upper Texas coast and learning from him how to tell stories.

Cedar waxwings are not here yet. But I’m waiting for them. When they come, I know it’s winter. Pen and ink.

800 Wood Storks flew over @riceuniversity.bsky.social at noon today. on their way back south to Mexico for the winter. A magical sight that happens every year, but largely unnoticed because they fly high.

I have emptied out my lab. 25 years. We will soon tear it all down and rebuild for new faculty. The lab looks much bigger without the mass spectrometer. Some of the most critical parts are in my office now. A new chapter awaits.

A little rain in Texas would be nice. It’s been quite dry.

The sidewalk in front of my house, I’ve lined with rocks from all over the world, from two billion years ago to the present, from all types of geologic environments. I wonder how many people pass by and never know they are walking back in time. LOL

When a rare bird shows up, especially one as cool as a calliope, birders flock. @riceuniversity.bsky.social

Still don’t know what is going on. This morning I stumbled across a rare Calliope Hummingbird in my hummingbird garden @riceuniversity.bsky.social. Last week, an Allen’s hummingbird.

Allen’s Hummingbird @riceuniversity.bsky.social, our 274th species for this urban hotspot. Long overdue.

Shatter cones in a recently discovered Precambrian impact site near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Shatter cones are the result of shock waves generated by the energy of a point source impact. These shockwaves radiate outwards from the point of impact, fracturing rock along the way.

CEOs are saying AI is going to replace many jobs. that may be true. But the most AI replaceable job is that of the average CEO and MBA fortune.com/2025/10/10/k...

All hands on the great unconformity in the Sandias, New Mexico. Pennsylvianian limestones on 1.4 billion years A type granites. @riceuniversity.bsky.social geology trip.

Not sure what's going on. This past week I discovered Red-footed Booby, Tropical Parula, and Western Wood-Pewee... and then today, an Allen's Hummingbird from California popped up on my morning walk to school. Houston, Texas. @riceuniversity.bsky.social

Here we go. We finally figured out where this bird disappears to. Red-footed Booby. One of very very few inland records of this seafaring bird. Houston, TX. Much better photos than yesterday's grainy shot of a flying bird from half a mile away.

In just a few days near Houston, Texas I found a red-footed booby, tropical Parula and a western wood-pewee, a truly bizarre and unlikely combination of birds.

We found this amazing katydid in Honduras. Haemodiasma tessellata. Camouflage at its finest.

How about a coral snake up close? Foothill forests of the Caribbean slope in Honduras.

One of the most important and magical shorebird stopover sites in the country is the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary in Texas. It is currently under threat from development and we are in a race to save it. houstonaudubon.org/conservation...

A storm blew over last evening in Houston, TX. This AM, at Rice University, I was surprised to see a Vermilion Flycatcher (rare for an urban environment). While looking at the flycatcher, I saw a dragonfly I had never seen before - Twelve-spotted Skimmer! The 2nd record for our county.

Our paper by student Jia-le Mou, former student Jackson Borchardt and myself, Calibrating olivine Forsterite content as a measure of melting degree, is out. A simple and general calibration of how forsterite content varies with melting degree www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Grace's Warbler, a bird of mountain pine forests from southwestern United States south into northern Central America. This one I photographed in Honduras.

The Fulvous Owl, a bird of mountain forests in northern Central America. Always a magical feeling when one encounters an owl deep in the woods. This one we photographed in Honduras.

The Honduran Emerald, a beautiful hummingbird endemic to the dry oak-pine forests of Honduras. I recently had the pleasure of being in Honduras to learn more about their conservation and sustainable ecoutourism efforts. Honduras has so much to offer, from birds to geology to amazing culture.

Continuing on the City of Moreno Valley's (California) plan to build a 3,000 single family housing complex on the San Jacinto Fault and in the San Timoteo badlands. I have overlain the proposed development footprint onto a geologic framework. You cannot geo-engineer your way out.

The City of Moreno Valley in California is planning the Rancho Belago estates, a 3,000 single family home complex right along the active San Jacinto Fault and on the slopes of the San Timoteo badlands, the mecca of landslides. Do not do this. www.moreno-valley.ca.us/.../RanchoBe....

Coastal Tiger Beetle along the upper Texas coast. These beetles are found on the beaches, but they seem to be strictly found at the top of the littoral zone, right at the high tide line where the beach sands are coated with thin algal biofilms, giving the sand a slightly mottled green-brown color.

Lilac-breasted Roller, an iconic bird of eastern and southern africa. This one we photographed in Zimbabwe.

Night time with a thermal imaging telescope. African leopard lumbering along the trail. Zambia.

It's that dreaded time of the year when one has to sort thru Willow and Alder Flycatchers. Primary tip spacing can make one's life much easier as outlined in Andrew Birch's and my article in Western Birds. Photo below from @evornithology.bsky.social static1.squarespace.com/static/54b9b...

An adult male Eastern Kingbird dragging its bill along the surface of a pond. I've never seen such behavior. Have I just overlooked this behavior over the years? Have anyone seen such behavior?

The piney woods of east Texas with @edyong209.bsky.social and Melanie Barboni. These regenerating longleaf pine forests r the haunts of Prairie Warblers. Songbird migration this season has been slow (birds are not stopping), so heading to the breeding grounds was the way to go. My son in foreground.

Garnet phenocrysts from a dacitic volcano in southern Spain. Like candy!

Where in the world can you get a Red-footed Booby, Bullock's Oriole, Chuck-will's-Widow and an Amur Stonechat within 60 miles of each other in a span of a week? The Upper Texas Coast of course, where east meets west, north meets south.

Green-tailed Towhee from Madera Canyon, Arizona.