Brandon Bishop
@brandontbishop.bsky.social
Seismologist, investigates the Andes and subduction zones, currently complexly affiliated with St. Louis University and looking for new projects.
Replies to my geoscience posts that include ChatGPT content get hidden and get your account blocked.
Replies to my geoscience posts that include ChatGPT content get hidden and get your account blocked.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Scientists have a whole new understanding of how the overlooked lichen helped plants turn Earth's land green. Which means, ahem! Please lichen subscribe to our excellent news stories!!! 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
This Fossil Is Rewriting the Story of How Plants Spread across the Planet
An enigmatic group of fossil organisms has finally been identified—and is changing the story of how plants took root on land
www.scientificamerican.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Scientists have a whole new understanding of how the overlooked lichen helped plants turn Earth's land green. Which means, ahem! Please lichen subscribe to our excellent news stories!!! 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Like seriously, an AGU Fall Meeting abstract is usually what people *hoped* would work out in July for what they'd get done by December.
It's not *always* that, but usually there are fairly significant differences/things that didn't get to a point all authors are comfortable presenting.
It's not *always* that, but usually there are fairly significant differences/things that didn't get to a point all authors are comfortable presenting.
November 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Like seriously, an AGU Fall Meeting abstract is usually what people *hoped* would work out in July for what they'd get done by December.
It's not *always* that, but usually there are fairly significant differences/things that didn't get to a point all authors are comfortable presenting.
It's not *always* that, but usually there are fairly significant differences/things that didn't get to a point all authors are comfortable presenting.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
For the Brits a bit of American wildlife so classic we've got a holiday and nursery rhyme (next post) dedicated to them: woodchucks. Roughly the size of a beaver, but w/o the oily coat and (as you can see) w/a furry tail.
Big news! The groundhog is back at my sister's and she gave him a plum
November 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
For the Brits a bit of American wildlife so classic we've got a holiday and nursery rhyme (next post) dedicated to them: woodchucks. Roughly the size of a beaver, but w/o the oily coat and (as you can see) w/a furry tail.
Stop Reporting on AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts That Haven't Even Been Presented Yet Challenge....
New observations of Uranus’s small inner moons to be presented at #AGU25 reveal that they’re darker, redder, and more water-poor than their larger counterparts. And they’re not always where they should be. 🧪🔭🪐 eos.org/articles/ura...
Uranus’s Small Moons Are Dark, Red, and Water-Poor - Eos
…Except for Mab, which is even weirder than expected.
eos.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Stop Reporting on AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts That Haven't Even Been Presented Yet Challenge....
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
It's not the first time a hidden volcano has caught us unawares and it won't be the last. This is why we founded the Global Volcano Risk Alliance @gvra.bsky.social, to improve preparedness, strengthen monitoring and make sure the next “unexpected” eruption doesn’t become a global crisis.
November 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
It's not the first time a hidden volcano has caught us unawares and it won't be the last. This is why we founded the Global Volcano Risk Alliance @gvra.bsky.social, to improve preparedness, strengthen monitoring and make sure the next “unexpected” eruption doesn’t become a global crisis.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
While I was writing an article for the @uk.theconversation.com about why the world's little-known volcanoes may pose the greatest threat, an eruption from a volcano that has had no major documented eruption since the ice age erupted: #HayliGubbi volcano, Ethiopia theconversation.com/the-worlds-l...
The world’s little-known volcanoes pose the greatest threat
In regions like the Pacific, South America and Indonesia, an eruption from a volcano with no recorded history occurs every seven to ten years.
theconversation.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
While I was writing an article for the @uk.theconversation.com about why the world's little-known volcanoes may pose the greatest threat, an eruption from a volcano that has had no major documented eruption since the ice age erupted: #HayliGubbi volcano, Ethiopia theconversation.com/the-worlds-l...
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
I hope Khan doesn't hear about this
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
I hope Khan doesn't hear about this
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Great Blue Herons (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae: Ardea herodias) range between Central America and Canada depending on season, but they're present year-round in most of the US. Since they mainly eat fish, they're usually found near water. Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, 28 Oct 2018.
November 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Great Blue Herons (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae: Ardea herodias) range between Central America and Canada depending on season, but they're present year-round in most of the US. Since they mainly eat fish, they're usually found near water. Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, 28 Oct 2018.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Half the breeding population of Elephant Seals on South Georgia lost to H5N1 (bird flu). The impact this will have on the species, the local food web, and even ocean fertilization is hard to comprehend.
November 25, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Half the breeding population of Elephant Seals on South Georgia lost to H5N1 (bird flu). The impact this will have on the species, the local food web, and even ocean fertilization is hard to comprehend.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
50 years ago today, the New York Times reported that the US Army planned to deactivate the Safeguard antiballistic missile system in North Dakota less than two months after it was declared fully operational, vindicating scientific and congressional critics who had warned it would never be effective.
November 25, 2025 at 2:06 PM
50 years ago today, the New York Times reported that the US Army planned to deactivate the Safeguard antiballistic missile system in North Dakota less than two months after it was declared fully operational, vindicating scientific and congressional critics who had warned it would never be effective.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
November 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
The all-purpose headline for our times is really just 'rich person says something and we report it!', isn't it?
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
The all-purpose headline for our times is really just 'rich person says something and we report it!', isn't it?
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
if your press asks for names, give 6 to 8--NOT the biggest, most senior stars in your field. None of them will do it. part of the problem is that the ppl best poised are "mid-career"--i.e. have a book, tenure. TWIST: the mid-career folx, IF THEY EXIST, are so fucking overloaded I can't even tell you
November 25, 2025 at 1:49 PM
if your press asks for names, give 6 to 8--NOT the biggest, most senior stars in your field. None of them will do it. part of the problem is that the ppl best poised are "mid-career"--i.e. have a book, tenure. TWIST: the mid-career folx, IF THEY EXIST, are so fucking overloaded I can't even tell you
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Scientists have pinpointed how the brain generates ‘aha’ moments. Neuroscientists have identified a clear brain pattern behind the phenomenon of sudden insight, by scanning volunteers as they deciphered hidden images. buff.ly/pW93qmK
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
How Your Brain Creates ‘Aha’ Moments and Why They Stick | Quanta Magazine
A sudden flash of insight is a product of your brain. Neuroscientists track the neural activity underlying an “aha” and how it might boost memory.
buff.ly
November 25, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Scientists have pinpointed how the brain generates ‘aha’ moments. Neuroscientists have identified a clear brain pattern behind the phenomenon of sudden insight, by scanning volunteers as they deciphered hidden images. buff.ly/pW93qmK
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Okay, I hestitate to even share this link, because while I like NYMag I do not want to send this journalist in particular clicks, b ut:
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
Is ChatGPT Conscious?
Many users feel they’re talking to a real person. Scientists say it’s time to consider whether they’re onto something.
nymag.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Okay, I hestitate to even share this link, because while I like NYMag I do not want to send this journalist in particular clicks, b ut:
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
If your framing is that an academic is the "dominant voice" and the underdogs are OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, maybe a fact check in is order??
>>
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
This paper raises the possibility that lichens had evolved by the late Ordovician, contemporary with earliest vascular plants 🧪⚒️
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The rise of lichens during the colonization of terrestrial environments
Evidence reveals Spongiophyton as one of the earliest and most widespread lichens in Earth’s history.
www.science.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
This paper raises the possibility that lichens had evolved by the late Ordovician, contemporary with earliest vascular plants 🧪⚒️
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
🧪⚒️ One fascinating implication of this study is that this “seafloor weathering” mechanism is more prevalent at slow spreading ridges where there is more talus-generating faulting: so an increase in global spreading rate would increase degassing at ridges *and* decrease sequestration in the crust.
⚒️ Article: Mass wasting deposits against mid-ocean ridge faults store seawater carbon dioxide as calcium carbonate
@unisouthampton.bsky.social @ukiodp.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@unisouthampton.bsky.social @ukiodp.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A geological carbon cycle sink hosted by ocean crust talus breccias - Nature Geoscience
Mass-wasting deposits that accumulated against mid-ocean ridge faults have high porosity in which calcium carbonate precipitated, storing seawater carbon dioxide, as revealed by cores of a 61-million-...
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:34 PM
🧪⚒️ One fascinating implication of this study is that this “seafloor weathering” mechanism is more prevalent at slow spreading ridges where there is more talus-generating faulting: so an increase in global spreading rate would increase degassing at ridges *and* decrease sequestration in the crust.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
The biggest clue to cranks that there is no vaccine conspiracy is that Doctors and Scientists continue to vaccinate their own children at record rates.
"I asked Offit if he saw a way to reverse the public’s rising distrust in science. “I don’t think there is any way to regain that trust other than have the viruses do the education, and the bacteria do the education, and then people will realize they paid way too high a cost,” he said."
Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?
How an outsider, once ignored by the public-health establishment, became the most powerful man in science
www.theatlantic.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The biggest clue to cranks that there is no vaccine conspiracy is that Doctors and Scientists continue to vaccinate their own children at record rates.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Two miles of ice core on the shelf at our national ice core facility in Lakewood, Colorado. The WAIS Divide core from West Antarctica is a 3400m long (deepest US core, 2nd deepest ice core ever) 68,000 year old record of high resolution climate.
November 24, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Two miles of ice core on the shelf at our national ice core facility in Lakewood, Colorado. The WAIS Divide core from West Antarctica is a 3400m long (deepest US core, 2nd deepest ice core ever) 68,000 year old record of high resolution climate.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
You're told it'll sabotage your career if you're a vocally politically opinionated, queer, woman. But things sabotaging my career are systemic xenophobia, sexism, and horrible job market. Which are a direct consequences of people not being vocally opinionated in the first place.
November 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
You're told it'll sabotage your career if you're a vocally politically opinionated, queer, woman. But things sabotaging my career are systemic xenophobia, sexism, and horrible job market. Which are a direct consequences of people not being vocally opinionated in the first place.
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
10/10
You're told it'll sabotage your career if you're a vocally politically opinionated, queer, woman. But things sabotaging my career are systemic xenophobia, sexism, and horrible job market. Which are a direct consequences of people not being vocally opinionated in the first place.
November 25, 2025 at 6:55 AM
10/10
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
At some point, if Trump & co actually do start bombing Venezuela, what obligations does the international community have to try and stop them?
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 AM
At some point, if Trump & co actually do start bombing Venezuela, what obligations does the international community have to try and stop them?
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
I think the Pope should toss some holy water of Peter Thiel just to test something
November 25, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I think the Pope should toss some holy water of Peter Thiel just to test something
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
"How do men make friends in their 30's?"
a man in a white shirt is flying through the air with a flag
ALT: a man in a white shirt is flying through the air with a flag
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:34 PM
"How do men make friends in their 30's?"
Reposted by Brandon Bishop
Departments don't generally solicit endowments for coffee, pastry, beer, or local field trips, but they exist and probably have a decent ROI if well managed.
arxiv.org/html/2408.10...
arxiv.org/html/2408.10...
November 25, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Departments don't generally solicit endowments for coffee, pastry, beer, or local field trips, but they exist and probably have a decent ROI if well managed.
arxiv.org/html/2408.10...
arxiv.org/html/2408.10...