Peace. 💙🚲
Freelance writer (she/her) interested in paleontology and archaeology. Avatar by Natalia Jagielska. https://mostlymammoths.wordpress.com/freelance-work/
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Peace. 💙🚲
And there it is. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
As national medical, scientific, public health and patient organizations, we call for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure the health of the American people. Read our statement: asm.org/press-releas...
Nongovernmental groups like the League of Women Voters are now barred from registering new voters at naturalization ceremonies, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced. n.pr/4g7YKqg
9 CDC Directors going back to 1977 speak out. What RFK Jr has done to our nation’s public health system "should alarm every American." It "is unlike anything we have ever seen at the agency, and unlike anything our country has ever experienced." www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...
"...fighting back matters. And many are doing so. It works — both in fact, as to specific outcomes, and also to dismantle their propaganda of fear." @chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Wasn't able to stay long at today's protest in Concord, but happy to be there while I could be.
It’s always a good day to support workers! This Labor Day, we honor the hardworking people who build the foundation of our future. As a member of the @laborcaucus.house.gov and a former union member, I’m proud to have your back in the fight for fair wages, good jobs, and dignity for all.
Happy Labor Day everyone! A reminder that Trump has just about decimated the federal workforce. Nearly 10% of all federal workers forced out of their jobs since Jan. "We’re seeing the arson of our government." www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
#FossilFriday which reminds me, SNM also have an excellent 3d-preserved crab fossils from the Oligocene(?) of Slovakia, Mnich mountain 🦀
never seen a living one, but while working w. Haugs, I have to show a lot of fossil ones from my table, as Carolin needed ton of them to finish her higher doctorate (Habilitation) I also got to see this fabulous ichnofossil+body fossil of solnhofen xiphosuran, 5 m track ! 🦀 Eichstatt, Jura Museum
Alanqa is a very interesting animal, with a slender beak that is 'pinched' at the apex, alongside protrusions that suggest a shellfish-crunching lifestyle. It may also be part of a lineage that led to the giant azhdarchids, and so I reconstructed it as a sort of proto-azhdarch.
Moving on from theropods, we now look at the pterosaurs of the Kem Kem, beginning with the azhdarchoid (?) Alanqa! Some thoughts and size comparison below ⬇️ #sciart #paleoart
And, it shouldn't go unnoted that Judge Sparkle Sooknanan, who has done her job at all hours today over a holiday weekend, was one of the final Biden appointees confirmed to the bench. Each one of those lame-duck confirmations very much matter.
This was incredible, important lawyering from National Immigration Law Center (@nilc.org) over the past 24 hours. Here's their case page: www.nilc.org/litigation/l... Here was the statement from Efrén Olivares, NILC VP of litigation, from earlier today regarding the TRO:
Anna has had excellent coverage of this developing case in which the Trump administration tried to use the holiday weekend to secretly and illegally deport children.
WOW!!
Judge Sooknanan: "These children are going to be deplaned. They're going to be returned to ORR custody. And no attempts will be made to remove them from ORR custody and remove them to Guatemala, in light of my order, while these preliminary emergency proceedings are pending."
Judge Sooknanan continues her monologue: And so, absent action and intervention by the court, all of those children would have been returned to Guatemala, potentially to extremely dangerous situations.
Judge Sooknanan: And I tried to reach the government. I have been up since then..and didn't reach anyone from the government until later this morning. And the imminence that the plaintiff claimed proved true, because, in fact, those planes *were* loaded. One actually took off and was returned.
Judge Sooknanan: As I said at the start of this hearing, I got a call at 2:36 am [last night] because the government chose the wee hours of the morning on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend to execute a plan to move these children. That's why we're here.
Judge Sooknanan to Ensign: "This is why we have process. This is why we have courts." Then she says that she also took the opportunity to look at the provision that Ensign cited. "I'm pretty skeptical that it gives the government the authority to do what you are claiming it does," she says.
Sooknanan: Every one of these 10 children who are named plaintiffs speak about being afraid of going back to Guatemala. She reads a series of quotes in which the children express being afraid of return because they experienced neglect or abuse from one or both of their parents.
Sooknanan: I have counsel telling me that there are children whose parents did not request their return to Guatemala. I have declaration representations contrary to what you're telling me. How does that [factual discrepancy] get resolved?
Sooknanan: And from the plaintiff's perspective, you do not think that that's true? Plaintiff's counsel: We know that is not true for all the children in the class...and even if it were, the provisions the government cites as legal basis does not override other protections in the statute
Sooknanan: So to be clear, you are representing that all of the children who were put on the planes are children whose parents have requested their return? Ensign: That's what I've been told...Through the government of Guatemala, it's been a month long process to ID children who meet criteria
Thank you, @annabower.bsky.social, for this thread.
@jacquelyngill.bsky.social: one of the snapping turtles at that pond. :)
I am enchanted by how snapping turtles move through the water, and I will often wait--as long as it takes--for one to come close to shore. 💚
Glorious day for a bike ride. 💙🚲
Thank you! Yes--there are at least 6 snapping turtles (and at least ~40 painted turtles) in that particular pond.
If something the size of Godzilla was looking at me, I would not get out of the water.
Picture from a hike last year.
Brave and curious little painted turtle....and another type of turtle at the end
A while ago I did a short series of illustrations showing extinct species coexisting with still living ones in my home country of Brazil, as would have happened around 15-10k years ago. #paleoart #SciArt #artbyjulio
Skull of a titan
www.axios.com/2025/08/29/c...
Current situation with COVID19 vaccines at CVS. ACIP is meeting September 18-19 so it will likely become available at pharmacies w/o a prescription then, unless ACIP pulls the rug out. Prescription requirement related to state laws requiring ACIP approval for pharmacist administration.
#WhaleSharkDay
Made a new piece only to realize that today is #whalesharkday 🦈 🦊 😀
In other ways no: -I am involved peripherally as a supportive (mostly informal) mentor to students involved in lawsuits/title IX investigations at least a few times a year every single year -bad systems and bad actors are still causing a lot of damage -the current political environment
In some ways yes—driven by: -folks in my field wrestling with these problems -some profoundly problematic people finally retiring -students feeling more confident speaking up and having more people they can go to for support -the existence of MISSelasmo.org
Has anything changed - for better or worse - since you wrote that in 2020?
When I wrote this for SciAm, the thing that genuinely surprised me most was the number of emails I got (mostly from men) telling me that prior generations of women in science would be ashamed of me for my weakness in writing it. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
I think when we talk about harmful systems making people “tough” we should distinguish between the kind of toughness that makes you hard to crush and the kind that makes you think those less tough than you are weak.
Thank you so much for the gift link!
Here's a #GiftLink for those who want to read the full NYT obit of historian of science & gender, Margaret Rossiter. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/s... #histSTM 🧪🗃️
Glaringly, NH is missing
"...what the DOJ is asking is unprecedented. It's an abuse of power & it contravenes what the founders set forth in the Constitution. & as a defender of voter privacy, to protect the freedom to vote, that's why we're saying today, 'No, you've gone too far.'" www.mainepublic.org/politics/202...
"Shenna Bellows, Maine’s Secretary of State, reacted coldly to the request, telling the federal government it could 'go jump in the Gulf of Maine.'" - Todd Bookman @nhpr.org
"States including Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Maine and Wisconsin have also received similar requests from the Trump administration about their voting systems, according to published reports."
Harmeet Dhillon, asst AG for the federal DOJ, "specifically requested names, dates of birth, addresses, as well as the last four numbers of each registrant’s Social Security number & their full driver’s license number, for both active & inactive NH voters." @nhpr.org www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2025...
!! "...despite longstanding bipartisan support for providing vaccines to the poorest countries, Secretary Kennedy announced in a video at the replenishment conference of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance last month that the US would cease future funding." @drsethberkley.bsky.social
This piece is authored by @drsethberkley.bsky.social, founder and former president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and former CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
#EleFunFactFriday, the critically endangered African Forest Elephant lives in a mutualistic relationship with ebony, in which elephant dung protects ebony seeds against seed predators... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
it's as tall as a tree, but it's not a tree
This is such a poorly known animal, and so I've based my reconstruction entirely on the description of it being 'deinonychosaurian' in nature. Adding it to the lineup, we've got our smallest critter so far - again eyeballing the size to some extent.
Onto the most fragmentary of the Kem Kem theropods so far, an indeterminate dromaeosaurid known from some teeth and claw material! Size comparison and some thoughts below ⬇️ #sciart #paleoart
Art depicting “Sandwich Guy” now at the scene of the alleged misdemeanor.
"For Americans concerned about their health and vaccines, he advised people to consult their doctors or pharmacists."
"This is a five-alarm fire. If people don’t act now, ideology will fully consume science." - Dr. Demetre Daskalakis Story by Christopher Wiggins. www.advocate.com/politics/dem...
I’m so grateful that I have tenure and the academic freedom to call it like I see it. “Dr. Kathleen Bachynski, a professor of public health at Muhlenberg College, described Kennedy’s comments as “absolute gibberish” and slammed the HHS secretary as a “dangerous buffoon” who is “threatening us all.”
If you’re a current CDC employee and would like to share information anonymously, please reach out via Signal: @slooterman.18
I want a politics that widens the circle to include everyone, not one that shrinks the circle by throwing *undesirables* under the bus. I think this is basic. I am interested in a politics that is rooted at the sources of people's suffering. I am interested in a politics that attends to basic needs.
You have to organize. I don't know what else to tell people. And organizing is not sexy and it is difficult and it matters that you be persistent. We need long-distance runners right now.
In 7 months, Trump and Republicans have done generational damage to the United States, our economy, our national security, our reputation, and our health care. They're hollowing it out. Rich will get richer, and Putin will get what he wants.
"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.
Korbessa flew into our lives as a tiny calf and has blossomed into a confident lady! Keeper Joseph remains by her side every step. Raising newborn orphans requires years of hands-on care, providing love and guidance for their eventual wild lives. Korbessa has come so far already: swt.bio/korbessa
Just want to be clear that I am very much using both of my kidneys.
Thank you! (I missed that!)
I love this series of artwork and posts!!
Interestingly enough, this animal is really hard to pin down a size for. I've eyeballed a reasonable 5-6-ish metre long size based on comparisons in the literature to Rugops, but some sources do point to a 9m long giant!
I guess this is a series now! Here's the next in the Kem Kem lineup - an indeterminate abelisaurid. Size comparison below ⬇️ #paleoart #sciart
Today's bike ride. 💙🚲
El proximo 4 de septiembre podrás participar del conversatorio “Paleontología inclusiva en Colombia Voces, Retos y Futuro”, una invitación a reconocer y visibilizar el papel de las mujeres en la paleontología en Colombia ⛏️⚒️🧪 #Ciencia 1/
AMAZING!!
On my desk for #FossilFriday - these small bones (Northern Leopard Frog) and the spruce cone being removed from a small block of 80,000 year old mud collected during the 1991 Mastodon dig. These have been in a freezer for over 30 years! Will the 80,000 year old spruce cone have viable seeds?
🏺🧪🐻 Cool stuff from the @archaeobears.bsky.social crew #BoxOfficeBears
Thank you, @skyemcdavid.com @sailorrooscout.bsky.social!
Same thing in person if you walk in. You tell the pharmacist that you have an underlying condition and check a box on the form saying you have an underlying condition. I got the vaccine.
"...the heavy armor and rows of chunky spikes found on Cretaceous ankylosaurs were actually subdued compared to the massive rows of meter-long spikes and bony collars found on Spicomellus." @jtimmer.bsky.social arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Unacceptable that they gave her family $5 million to begin with and now this? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Wow, this is an excellent article. @dfriedman.bsky.social @h-lev.bsky.social
BREAKING: Big moment as CDC staff stage a mass walkout. They have lined the street outside its HQ to greet and salute the four top officials who have resigned in protest at RFK Jr’s attack on the agency’s science base. (🎥 AP)
It’s time to reclaim our power. Together, we can lower the cost of living, fix the housing crisis, guarantee healthcare for all, and protect New Hampshire’s future. karishmaforsenate.com
BIG NEWS: I’m running to represent the people of New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate. I’m a scientist, not a politician. I follow the facts. And the fact is: our system is broken. But together, we can fix it. Join me if you’re ready for fresh leadership.
National Weather Service meteorologist applicants are now being asked to pledge their support for Trump’s executive orders. (Image reposted with alt-text)
I’ve said it before but reading all the medieval history books I’ve been reading lately has been so comforting. Makes you realize that there have always been mad and incompetent kings and they almost always die in ignominy and everyone piles shit on them for centuries after they’re gone.
"Tao is one of the most prominent mathematicians and academics to publicly oppose the administration’s actions, calling them an “existential threat” to his field, and academic science, more broadly. He said public advocacy is a priority over his research, for now." www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...
“…I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.” - Dr. Demetre Daskalakis Story by Christopher Wiggins. www.advocate.com/news/demetre...
They all knew who they were voting for. They all knew RFK Jr. could and likely would be as reckless as he's been, and will likely get way worse.
For no particular reason, here's the breakdown of the Senate's vote to confirm RFK Jr. to lead HHS. Every Republican but one -- Mitch McConnell -- voted to put a guy notorious for pushing dangerous lies and disinformation about vaccine safety into this job. www.senate.gov/legislative/...
Hang onto this image of CDC's full list of underlying conditions tied to severe risk of COVID. If you're an adult aged 18-64, RFK Jr. is now making you show some proof of one of these underlying conditions in order to get a COVID vaccine.
"Some of the impacts of the staff cuts are visible to the public, but many are not yet. And all of this is only going to get worse." - Phil Francis, a 40-year veteran of the park service Story: Eileen Sullivan, Photos/Video: Erin Schaff, Graphics: Ani Matevosian
Thank you very much for the gift link.
New #watercolor - the skull that launched a thousand papers - Aetiocetus weltoni, the ~25 myo toothed baleen whale that likely had teeth and baleen - from the Oligocene of Oregon. I started this last winter and only finally finished it yesterday. 🐡 🦖🐬 #sciart #whaleontology #whalewednesday #art
New osteological characteristics identify the first stem sleeper goby (Gobioidei, Odontobutidae) from the upper Eocene onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @datadryad.bsky.social #PapersinPalaeontology
#paleoart I’m looking for people willing to talk to my students this semester about paleo reconstruction/art. I’m going to make out a big component of the paleo class I’m teaching. Students are 9/10 the graders. Local to Colorado would be wonderful, but happy to videochat people in from anywhere!
Online Exhibit 🪲 Bark Beetle Calligraphy Jiri Hulcr is a forest entomologist that asked "Can insects create art?" He looks at these little beetles with scientific scrutiny but also a touch of poetry. www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/onl... 🪲 Feat.: Ips calligraphus “worm of beautiful writing”
Enjoying #InverteFest? I am! Share your invertebrate art and photos with the hashtag!
