David Bapst
@dwbapst.bsky.social
2.6K followers 5.8K following 1.3K posts
Paleontologist, Graptolite Geek, R Programmer, creator of paleotree, Tabletop Roleplaying Game Nerd, Catcher of Pokémon, faculty senator. All comments are my trash opinion alone.
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dwbapst.bsky.social
You know what happens when you don’t have a faculty senate? In a crisis, there is no one to ask questions — even to give illusion of holding anyone responsible — so misinformation spreads like wildfire among faculty & students, admin aren’t believed, and no one else has authority to clarify facts.
dwbapst.bsky.social
(Taps the sign)
dwbapst.bsky.social
You know what happens when you don’t have a faculty senate? In a crisis, there is no one to ask questions — even to give illusion of holding anyone responsible — so misinformation spreads like wildfire among faculty & students, admin aren’t believed, and no one else has authority to clarify facts.
Reposted by David Bapst
omearabrian.bsky.social
Just a reminder that AFAIK there is no* evidence that giant sauropods *didn't* create bowers

[* ok, maybe parsimony since only a few extant dinos make bowers]

Alt text for image: a trail of pebbles and other gray and white detritus, including a gear, leading to a tunnel made of thatch
lauraakelley.bsky.social
Back in the land of bowers this week! Investigating how male courtship signals are affected by urbanisation #greatbowerbirds @uniexecec.bsky.social
Reposted by David Bapst
lhliow.bsky.social
Always wonderful to do a bit of bryozoan work with @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social, led by Ma Junye from NIGPAS in Nanjing!
nhmbryozoa.bsky.social
The Incredible Shrinking Bryozoans. Published today, our study of long-term zooid size decrease in the cyclostome form-genus 'Berenicea'. doi: 10.1111/pala.70027
Reposted by David Bapst
edithrojas.bsky.social
Students calling a rock VASCULAR instead of VESICULAR will always be funny!
dwbapst.bsky.social
Just think about all those spider babies that float down those rivers to new homes
Reposted by David Bapst
andrejpaleo.bsky.social
Interesting study by Norbert and co about the determination of coherent spatio-temporal structures ("atmospheric rivers") in ephemeral realm of the atmosphere.
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Complexity #Atmosphere
Example output of the AR identification algorithm, showing contours and axes of AR shapes
Reposted by David Bapst
extinctblog.bsky.social
So, back in February I posted the first part of a reading list in the history of geology, intended mostly for people in philosophy and HPS who want to gain a footing in the subject. Here, 8 months later, is Part 2. (You can find the link to Part 1 within...)
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025...
A History of Geology Reading List, Part 2 — Extinct
In which Max has finally completed his two-part reading list for people interested in learning more about the history of geology
www.extinctblog.org
Reposted by David Bapst
daveyfwright.bsky.social
Sometimes I (blissfully) forget there was a group of hardcore cladists that philosophized so hard they rejected even parsimony-based phylogenetics and inadvertently became science nihilists
Reposted by David Bapst
pbump.com
Portlandia is a central document of the American anti-fascist movement.
Reposted by David Bapst
gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social
Just fucking call his bluff. Oh, you're gonna send troops everywhere? Gonna do Zero Dark Thirty on random Chicago apartments? With what money, bozo?
Reposted by David Bapst
gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social
Okay. Well, if Trump is going to attempt legal end-arounds like federalizing the NG of GOP states to send them to Dem states over the objections of governors and courts, I think the Democrats should just keep the federal government shut down indefinitely.
Reposted by David Bapst
theatlantic.com
Donald Trump’s deployments of the National Guard to American cities “are best understood as an effort to erode the nation’s sense that such use of the military is unacceptable,” Quinta Jurecic argues.
Trump Is Destroying One of America’s Oldest Traditions
America has always had a strong aversion to seeing the military on the country’s streets. That is not stopping the current president.
bit.ly
Reposted by David Bapst
charig.bsky.social
"if you take seriously that the President has managed at some level to enact his goals—have to engage in similar actions to prevent the military from acting as a center of power against your political prerogatives."
gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social
Babe, wake up. I'm complaining about civil-military relations by making references to The Beths again.

othermeans.io/p/expert-in-...
Expert in a Dying Field
The Breaking of the Bipartisan Military Consensus
othermeans.io
Reposted by David Bapst
sumitapahwa.bsky.social
Trustee, Full Professor, Assistant Professor.
ryanbeckwith.bsky.social
Editor in chief, city editor, features editor
Reposted by David Bapst
akalhan.bsky.social
University general counsel, university trustee, university president
Reposted by David Bapst
discopriest.bsky.social
Petroleum geologist, marine geologist, paleontologist
ryanbeckwith.bsky.social
Editor in chief, city editor, features editor
Reposted by David Bapst
colinmacpherson.bsky.social
Quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar
ryanbeckwith.bsky.social
Editor in chief, city editor, features editor
Reposted by David Bapst
Reposted by David Bapst
rincewind.run
Discworld QOTD, from I Shall Wear Midnight
What was it that Granny Weatherwax had said once? "Evil starts when you begin to treat people as things". And right now it would happen if you thought there was a thing called a father, and a thing called a mother, and a thing called a daughter, and a thing called a cottage, and told yourself that if you put them all together you had a thing called a happy family.