From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.

Monday mood

A 2,000 year-old Roman mosaic glass bowl with a dazzling swirl of colours resembling a kaleidoscope of tiny flags! V&A Museum 📷 by me #Archaeology

Attribution science allows us to link climate impacts to fossil fuel companies. In response, the industry and Republicans are trying to stop climate liability laws and lawsuits, and seek legal immunity like gun manufacturers got two decades ago. You don't do that unless you're guilty.

“If they need SNAP they should work”. Most people receiving SNAP are working. Some are working two jobs. Be angry at the employers who pay such a pittance that people are living below the poverty line. Be angry at the billionaires hoarding the wealth Stop blaming the poor.

Cyclamen flowering in Cambridge. #WildflowerHour

Homage to Xavier Bou: little swifts at the Olifants River high-water bridge, Kruger National Park. Unstacked from video taken with an Iphone 14. #birds #photography #SouthAfrica #iPhone

May this be your spookiest reminder that the clocks have gone back! ⏰💀 This silver-cased verge watch in the shape of a human skull is engraved with 'memento mori' exhortations – reflections on death and the after life. 💀 Silver cased verge watch in the form of a skull, c.1650. WA1947.191.58

Just a pile of reeds at the edge of the marsh. Definitely no bird here. Nope. #birds

Look. At. Him. Look at him!!!!

Jamaica, in particular, will likely suffer catastrophic impacts from now rapidly-intensifying (but slow-moving) Hurricane #Melissa. A *Category 5* landfall now appears to be the most likely outcome, & 30-40+ inches of *additional* rain in mountains will lead to extreme flooding.

Here in Seattle, furloughed NOAA employees were out in the pouring rain cleaning up beaches yesterday, part of a national week of service organized by federal workers who can't do their jobs due to the shutdown. Story by @heyjohnryan.bsky.social at KUOW, our federally defunded public radio station.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep… The misty, foggy, moody mountain west coast rainforest in the midst of an atmospheric river.

It really is the season of purple shrooms. Violet webcap (Cortinarius violaceus). #fungifriends

Billionaires are now in the business of advocating policies that will make the vast majority’s lives tangibly worse in order to make their lives unnoticeably better. Money is an abstraction to keep score for them. But it’s food, health, and shelter for everyone else.

this is what will happen if mamdani makes bus rides free

The glorious Awebo Bird :) These are willow ptarmigan. They are quite common on the tundra. You can see the various stages of transition from their summer plumage to their winter plumage. Once the snow is down, they are hard to spot. Their fluffy feet keep them warm on the snow. #birds 🌿

It's Caturday! And I'm revealing a new cat portrait. This is Mietze, curled up on his favorite lap! 🧡

Enough with the passive constructions. When authorities shoot people, say so. This New York Times headline could have easily said, “Coast Guard Police Shoot 2 People at Protest Site Outside Base in California.”

American Kestrel in his nest for the #inside theme if the #BlueSkyArtShow #birds #photography #nature #birdphotography #naturephotography #wildlife

Oh, Jamaica. This isn't good. Melissa poised to dump 30+ inches of rain in the mountains surrounding the island's largest city.

Orange crowned warbler at blooming agave. Lookin’ for insects. 🪶

NEW: DHS is asking companies to submit plans to turn standard 4x4 trucks into AI-powered watchtowers—combining radar, cameras, and autonomous tracking to extend surveillance on demand. by me @ wired:

#FrogFriday: A Three-striped Poison Frog (Ameerega trivittata) from NE Peru. A large poison #frog, up to 50mm (2in) in length. Males care for the eggs, laid terrestrially, and after hatching, they carry the tadpoles on their backs to water. #herps #frogs #NaturePhotography 🌿

To all of my US East coast friends, rest assured that your neighborhood Black-and-white Warblers are having an excellent time on their #CostaRica winter vacation, eating all kinds of delicious insects in the rainforest here. #birds #nature

Oop down the hatch

I don’t need to explain why it’s wildly unacceptable for the military to be illegally privately financed by the president’s wealthy allies, right?

#scape #ForestFriday

What do a leaf, a twig, a pinecone, and a single moose turd have in common? Nature won't waste any of them. 🍄📷🌎

Australian Rainforests Become the First to Emit More Carbon Than They Absorb

Roman water spout in the shape of a wolf's head. Beautifully detailed and full of character it looks like a good boy proudly fetching the paper! 🐾 ❤️ Bronze, 2nd century AD. From Trier (Augusta Treverorum), Germany. Rheinisches Landesmuseum 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

The Trump administration has repeatedly blamed offshore wind farms for whale deaths, contrary to scientific evidence. Now the administration is quietly abandoning key research programs meant to protect marine mammals living in an increasingly busy ocean.

Kuro REALLY enjoys couch time

Trotting into the weekend like #mammals 🌿

The East Wing, where first ladies created history, planned state dinners and promoted causes, is now history itself. The two-story structure of drawing rooms and offices, including workspace for first ladies and their staffs, has been turned into rubble. buff.ly/8BZfvkN

SNAP, the country's largest anti-hunger program, dates back to the Great Depression and has never been disrupted this way. Most recipients are seniors, families with kids, and those with disabilities. n.pr/48PNNIt

im sorry but if you think “normies” dont care about the white house being demolished for a half billion dollar golden vanity ballroom as the economy implodes then you just arent as plugged in as you think you are

Odin's Gateway

A lovely stroll through the woods today! #Quebec #Photography #EastCoastKin

Offshore wind had been poised to take off on the East Coast, with about 30 large farms planned. But as the Trump administration pulls support for the industry, most of those projects have been abandoned.

The autumn-blooming crocuses I planted last month are blooming now. #TinyJoys #BloomScrolling #FlowerReport

New findings in Science offer insights into Wyoming’s “dinosaur mummies,” revealing that the stunningly preserved skin, spikes, and hooves of duck-billed dinosaurs are not fossilized flesh at all, but delicate clay molds formed by microbes as the creatures decayed. https://scim.ag/47DYjBi

ABC News pulled the satellite imagery of the White House comparing Sept. 26 to today. abcnews.go.com/Politics/new...

With no snow on the ground yet around Churchill, the Arctic hares are fairly easy to spot. In the summer, they are a dark grey, which blends in with the rocks. #mammals 🌿

Nice lighting in the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, Yosemite NP. (With a horsetail bonus!) 🏞️

Trends in October temperatures over land areas for the last 50 years... Data from www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/lan...

It's International Snow Leopard Day. I suppose for me it's an "iconic" species, since I've used my photo of a Gene-Simmons-style snow leopard (which I took in my formative years at our local zoo) as my avatar for a couple decades now. I assure you, the rest of these photos were taken in the wild!

Ophelia dunked her face in my mug of tea. Apparently wet food and formula is not enough. Unrepentant baby.

Exclusive: Leaked documents detail Trump's plans to open East and West coasts to offshore oil drilling. www.yahoo.com/news/article...

Autumn Moon #31DaysOfHalloween #autumn #moon #photography