I’m so sick of performative parenting. Parents barking at their kids to apologize for a minor/accidental offense. Parents loudly telling their child to say thank you when they receive a compliment on their outfit. Or to “SHARE!!!” when another kid takes a fleeting interest in their toy.

climate scientists: what’s the most iconic thing related to your work you might be seen holding??

Motor on my coffee grinder gave out this morning so I went online to see if I could order a spare. Was delighted to discover a spare parts page with the exact product I need! But… They only deliver to states with right to repair laws 😡👩‍🔧

If the rest of the world replaced fossil fuels with renewables at this pace, we’d be cruising toward than 2 degrees of global warming right now…

Best thing I’ve gotten to do this month was interview Expanse writers Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck about how speculative biology, the politics of academia and a Bible story all shaped their latest novel, The Faith of Beasts. Check it out! www.importantnotimportant.com/p/the-expans...

Any astronomers/astrophysicists out there up for a brief chat this week about Super Mario Galaxy? LMK!

Feels like not enough people appreciate the facts that millions of years ago, we shared the Earth with other species of humans or that billions of years ago, our two nearest neighboring planets had rivers, oceans and possibly life. The deep time perspective is humbling and awe-inspiring.

Last night, Automatic Noodle won the Octavia Butler Award!! I'm so honored and happy!!! 🤖❤️🎉 www.instagram.com/p/DUI5pCokno...

Watching Starfleet Academy yet, or planning to do so soon? Read my way-TMI explainer on the science of The Burn before you start (bonus: you get to learn how a warp drive could actually work AND how future humans solve the mystery of dark matter): www.importantnotimportant.com/p/the-burn-s...

Had a source I really needed to interview who hasn’t responded to calls or emails so this past week I drove to his house and knocked on his door an wound up talking to him for four hours. Turns out he’d just missed me emails. Never be afraid to follow up!

I had a fascinating chat with @themadstone.bsky.social about Frankenstein a few weeks ago.

I interviewed the world's first "artificial humanities" expert about how new science fiction can help us build better AI, if only we could get ourselves off narrative tropes from 2,000 years ago www.importantnotimportant.com/p/a-literary...

On Earth, minerals like neodymium and gallium are becoming the currency of power. The same, apparently, is true for the Star Wars galaxy, at least according to Andor’s fabulous 2nd season. Please read my latest on why Andor is the best of Star Wars: www.importantnotimportant.com/p/andor-show...

Exciting times ahead! Kaiju science is fascinating—did you know Godzilla's radiation reflects nuclear anxieties? 🌍💥 What real-world actions are you considering? 🪐📚 #SciFi #Kaiju

Big news in my little corner of the multiverse! The Science of Fiction has a new home over at @important.bsky.social! That means more posts, plus steps to translate articles on Kaiju science into real-world action. Sign up here: www.importantnotimportant.com/the-science-...

Nice piece by @emorwee.bsky.social on the former Microsoft employees demanding the company hold itself accountable for its oil contracts. Astounding that a year after I reported a similar story for @grist.org and @drilledmedia.bsky.social, MFST has no comment! heated.world/p/he-helped-...

I'm delighted to share a new guest post from one of my favorite humans, @themadstone.bsky.social‬. Nobody thinks more clearly about the intersection of sci-fi and how it impacts the real world. Making our fossil record a better place www.importantnotimportant.com/p/making-our...

Imagine, hundreds of millions of years from now, aliens landing on Earth and digging up the fossil remains of an ancient industrial society. What kind of story will our rock record tell? I lay out some ideas in my latest Science of Fiction piece! www.importantnotimportant.com/p/making-our...

When your government calls for rapidly boosting domestic mineral supplies while rolling back policy support for clean energy, what does it mean on balance? That’s the existential question US battery recycling companies are asking right now. My latest for @grist: grist.org/technology/t...

Here's my SimEarth interview with James Lovelock — 10 years ago — just before he died: slate.com/technology/2...

35 years ago, game studio Maxis released the planet simulator SimEarth. It taught 7-year-old me the basics of Earth science, evolution, and human-caused climate change. For my latest Science of Fiction newsletter, the forgotten history of this truly one-of-a-kind game: www.sciof.fi/how-a-videog...

Attn Earth & planetary science folks: I’m trying to get in touch with researchers who work at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies to learn how the lab’s imminent shutdown is impacting them. Can grant anonymity. Please share if you can and DM me if you’d like to talk. #climate #NASA

How did I not know that season 2 of Andor is basically an allegory for the Trump admin’s energy policy, complete with a critical minerals mining subplot?? I must catch up immediately!

From Ohio to Texas, Republican lawmakers are pushing bills that would cut carbon emissions, eliminate toxic waste and curb rampant consumerism. They’re just not talking about them that way. My latest, for @grist, on the conservative case for the right to repair: grist.org/politics/rig...

If you missed Grist’s mining issue earlier this week, its a phenomenal collection of stories about the materials needed to build a low-carbon economy and the thorny trade offs involved in extracting them. Great weekend reading! grist.org/series/unear...

My colleague Peter Cook weighs in for this @gristnews.bsky.social @themadstone.bsky.social piece on EarthMRI federal critical mineral mapping efforts at the USGS: “This is a program that has survived both the Trump and Biden administrations.” grist.org/energy/criti...

Many Biden-era climate & energy programs are still in limbo following Trump's freeze on BIL and IRA-funded initiatives. But as I report for the first time in @gristnews.bsky.social, one infrastructure-law funded program got an early greenlight to proceed: grist.org/energy/criti...

Many Biden-era climate & energy programs are still in limbo following Trump's freeze on BIL and IRA-funded initiatives. But as I report for the first time in @gristnews.bsky.social, one infrastructure-law funded program got an early greenlight to proceed: grist.org/energy/criti...

Just read Trump's latest EO on critical minerals and unless I've come unglued clean energy technologies—including, gasp, wind!—are defined as 'mineral production projects' that can be expedited using wartime powers. Which renegade staffer snuck THAT one in? www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Hearing this morning that NASA has just laid off their chief scientist, among others….

It’s like America is in a dick measuring contest with itself heatmap.news/climate/natu...

New, by me for @gristnews.bsky.social: for Americans to fully embrace EVs, we need reliable public chargers. The Biden admin had a plan to build them — and ensure they are maintained & repaired — but Trump’s funding freeze has thrown it into disarray. grist.org/transportati...

I was wondering why I’d never heard about Ukraine’s vast rare earth wealth before the last few weeks. It’s because there is no actual scientific evidence it exists. Great reporting: heatmap.news/economy/trum...

Can anyone explain why Trump wants the US to both control vast rare earth resources and stop building offshore wind, expected to be the biggest future demand driver after electric vehicles?

It’s no longer politically smart for oil companies to greenwash. Ditto for Big Tech & most other economic sectors. Expect to see a lot of masks slipping over the coming months.

Happy Friday! As an antidote *gestures everywhere,* I bring you an exclusive interview with Star Trek's science advisor on how the quantum reality drive from Lower Decks allows ships to explore the multiverse. Enjoy and please share with your physics/Trek nerd friends! www.sciof.fi/quantum-real...

Hey look! Some Star Trek Lower Decks science for you as a Friday treat!

Happy Friday! As an antidote *gestures everywhere,* I bring you an exclusive interview with Star Trek's science advisor on how the quantum reality drive from Lower Decks allows ships to explore the multiverse. Enjoy and please share with your physics/Trek nerd friends! www.sciof.fi/quantum-real...

The great @themadstone.bsky.social at @gristnews.bsky.social -->> The US-China trade war could absolutely screw up the flow of two *actually* critical minerals required for clean tech grist.org/technology/g...

A good example of why the Trump administration might not be as apocalyptic for clean energy as many fear: shocker, Republicans getting significant federal dollars to stand up manufacturing plants in their districts actually want that money and those jobs. www.canarymedia.com/articles/air...

Gallium and germanium are key to some clean energy tech. China blocked exports of the metals to the U.S. in December, leaving the country searching for a new source. Reporting by @themadstone.bsky.social via @gristnews.bsky.social

Great new piece by @themadstone.bsky.social on US-China skirmishing over germanium and gallium, and freshly renewed interest in byproduct recovery of these critical metals in Canada, the US, and beyond. grist.org/technology/g...

In December, China banned US exports of gallium and germanium, two obscure metals vital for clean energy. Canadian producers stand ready to help meet America’s needs—if Trump tarrifs don’t derail them. I go deep on the latest rare metal drama for @gristnews.bsky.social: grist.org/technology/g...

There are literally not enough journalists employed in the US to cover the bad shit that is happening right now. We are now going to experience the social consequences of a weakened news industry--which are the same as the benefits of a weakened news industry, to those who weakened it.

Ive been thinking aboht this paradox for weeks now. Trump has made clear, in multiple EOs, that he wants the US to be a critcial mineral powehouse. But he also wants to kneecap clean energy— which is set to drive most future demand for the metals: heatmap.news/economy/trum...

Over the holidays I finished Absolution, an incredible encore to @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social’s Southern Reach Series . It reminded me of a blog I published a decade ago on the speculative biology underpinning Annihilation. I’m revisiting it for my newsletter this month: www.sciof.fi/absolution-a...

Energy.gov has already been Trump-ified

How long before someone does the study showing that all of those ready-to-cook bags of microwave produce are just leaching plastic all over our food?

The DOE’s sprint to get money out the door for clean energy projects before the Trump takeover has been astounding. Just in the past week, the LPO has announced $7.5 billion for EV manufacturing plants in Indiana, $6.6 billion for EV maker Rivian & $996 million for lithium company Ioneer.

Got my first “hey can you not attribute this quote to anyone so we don’t piss off the Trump admin” call from a federal agency today. It begins…