Kat Long
@katlong.bsky.social
19th-century Arctic enthusiast, currently writing a biography of polar pioneer William Scoresby, Jr. Former science editor at Mental Floss, now science journalist for hire
Reposted by Kat Long
David Denby's biography advice: "Think of the reader’s needs as well as your own needs. Which means you must think of yourself as a writer first, before thinking of yourself as a biographer." 🔥
January 24, 2026 at 3:08 PM
David Denby's biography advice: "Think of the reader’s needs as well as your own needs. Which means you must think of yourself as a writer first, before thinking of yourself as a biographer." 🔥
@richardconniff.bsky.social's bizarre life and work of Charles Waterton, pioneer of taxidermy—and let's not forget his bitter feud with John James Audubon over whether North American vultures hunted by sight or smell. Also, you'll never guess what this strange humanoid figure is made from
Slavery, Bird-Stuffing, & Nature: Truth or Fiction?
Charles Waterton was a crackpot, or worse--& a pioneering voice for protecting nature.
open.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:02 PM
@richardconniff.bsky.social's bizarre life and work of Charles Waterton, pioneer of taxidermy—and let's not forget his bitter feud with John James Audubon over whether North American vultures hunted by sight or smell. Also, you'll never guess what this strange humanoid figure is made from
1. Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people.
2. 80 percent of Greenland is covered by an ice sheet
3. Have the network bros heard of Camp Century?
2. 80 percent of Greenland is covered by an ice sheet
3. Have the network bros heard of Camp Century?
Why Greenland?
"Peter Thiel, who wants to set up crypto-empowered 'network states' on undeveloped territory, has invested in Praxis, a start-up that aims to do just that and which has scouted Greenland. Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, was a co-founder with Thiel and Elon Musk of PayPal."
"Peter Thiel, who wants to set up crypto-empowered 'network states' on undeveloped territory, has invested in Praxis, a start-up that aims to do just that and which has scouted Greenland. Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, Ken Howery, was a co-founder with Thiel and Elon Musk of PayPal."
January 11, 2026 at 2:00 AM
1. Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people.
2. 80 percent of Greenland is covered by an ice sheet
3. Have the network bros heard of Camp Century?
2. 80 percent of Greenland is covered by an ice sheet
3. Have the network bros heard of Camp Century?
Road builders in Brazil dismantle ancient coastal middens in the 1940s-'50s. Random bones and artifacts sent to local museum, boxes stored for decades without being studied. Now, researchers finally look and discover oldest-known whale harpoons, pointing to Indigenous open-sea whaling 5000 yrs ago!
In a new study, researchers from @uab.cat claim people have been whaling for almost 5,000 years – and that the earliest evidence comes from the warm coastal waters of Brazil, not the Arctic. www.science.org/content/arti... @science.org
World’s oldest whale harpoons discovered in Brazil
Far from the icy Arctic, ancient South Americans hunted whales using whalebone tools
www.science.org
January 9, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Road builders in Brazil dismantle ancient coastal middens in the 1940s-'50s. Random bones and artifacts sent to local museum, boxes stored for decades without being studied. Now, researchers finally look and discover oldest-known whale harpoons, pointing to Indigenous open-sea whaling 5000 yrs ago!
Reposted by Kat Long
I received an email today from a woman who had heard all her life she was a descendant of Harriet Tubman.
Mary Dennard helped her prove it.
Now, the woman is educating all of her nieces and children that they are Harriet's cousins.
This cynical scribe shed a tear.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Mary Dennard helped her prove it.
Now, the woman is educating all of her nieces and children that they are Harriet's cousins.
This cynical scribe shed a tear.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
As Trump targets Black history, a Maryland ranger guards Harriet Tubman’s place in it
Mary Dennard has served as a guardian of Harriet Tubman's history since the 2000s, when residents and later federal and state officials came together to develop a plan for the $21 million Harriet Tubm...
www.thebanner.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:39 PM
I received an email today from a woman who had heard all her life she was a descendant of Harriet Tubman.
Mary Dennard helped her prove it.
Now, the woman is educating all of her nieces and children that they are Harriet's cousins.
This cynical scribe shed a tear.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Mary Dennard helped her prove it.
Now, the woman is educating all of her nieces and children that they are Harriet's cousins.
This cynical scribe shed a tear.
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...
Reposted by Kat Long
An interesting thing about Greenland is on the road between Kangerlussuaq (Greenland's only inland community because it used to be a US military base) and the ice sheet there are signs warning you to under no conditions go off road.
The US mined the area during WWII but didn't map the mines
The US mined the area during WWII but didn't map the mines
January 4, 2026 at 1:46 AM
An interesting thing about Greenland is on the road between Kangerlussuaq (Greenland's only inland community because it used to be a US military base) and the ice sheet there are signs warning you to under no conditions go off road.
The US mined the area during WWII but didn't map the mines
The US mined the area during WWII but didn't map the mines
👀
Hidden beneath Pacific waters, centuries-old whaling shipwrecks tell their stories.
Maritime archaeologist Jason Raupp brings these lost vessels to life in his new book, Wrecked on the Reef.
🌐 Jason Raupp's Website: bit.ly/49l8CKt
📘 Wrecked on the Reef: amzn.to/4sl0Rg0
Maritime archaeologist Jason Raupp brings these lost vessels to life in his new book, Wrecked on the Reef.
🌐 Jason Raupp's Website: bit.ly/49l8CKt
📘 Wrecked on the Reef: amzn.to/4sl0Rg0
January 3, 2026 at 2:08 AM
👀
WHAT
Um, cookie cutter shark teeth are a single, intact unit!? And when it needs to be replaced, they swallow it whole?! What! 🧪
Scientists Solved the Mystery of the Shark That Bites Perfect Circles gizmodo.com/scientists-f...
January 3, 2026 at 1:49 AM
WHAT
Reposted by Kat Long
It's dangerous to go alone. Take these.
January 1, 2026 at 10:20 PM
It's dangerous to go alone. Take these.
I *just* learned about this exhibit about the history of studying whales at MIT’s museum through Jan 5, so I don’t have time to check it out! But I hope #WilliamScoresbyJr makes an appearance
mitmuseum.mit.edu
January 1, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I *just* learned about this exhibit about the history of studying whales at MIT’s museum through Jan 5, so I don’t have time to check it out! But I hope #WilliamScoresbyJr makes an appearance
“… home to a fishing fleet that regularly trawls up the bones of ancient megafaunae from the drowned Doggerland in its nets, among them hippopotamus, rhinoceros and mammoth, as well as the remains of Atlantic grey whales …” @philiphoare.bsky.social on the natural history of these islands
Often brutal, always beautiful: the sea hounds of the Frisian Islands – in pictures
For 10 years, the scientist and photographer Jeroen Hoekendijk has been observing pinnipeds such as seals and walruses on the fragile North Sea archipelago. Highly susceptible to warming and rising se...
www.theguardian.com
January 1, 2026 at 1:30 PM
“… home to a fishing fleet that regularly trawls up the bones of ancient megafaunae from the drowned Doggerland in its nets, among them hippopotamus, rhinoceros and mammoth, as well as the remains of Atlantic grey whales …” @philiphoare.bsky.social on the natural history of these islands
Gateway Arch shrouded in fog from my visit to St. Louis today
December 28, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Gateway Arch shrouded in fog from my visit to St. Louis today
Visited Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia on my road trip from Maryland to Oklahoma for the holidays. A popular 19th C. tourist attraction that was painted by Frederic Edwin Church and once owned by Thomas Jefferson!
December 17, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Visited Natural Bridge State Park in Virginia on my road trip from Maryland to Oklahoma for the holidays. A popular 19th C. tourist attraction that was painted by Frederic Edwin Church and once owned by Thomas Jefferson!
Reposted by Kat Long
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
tandfonline.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:42 PM
🧪🧵: For years, the 15th-century Voynich Manuscript (VMS) has puzzled medievalists, linguists & codebreakers.
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
Today, I’m publishing a peer-reviewed paper describing a new model for how it may have been written. Presenting the Naibbe cipher:
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01611194.2025.2566408
“Indian people have long known of the land and our history and presence here,” said Anne Richardson, chief of the roughly 300-member Rappahannock Tribe. “But so often things aren’t considered ‘real’ until they’re found or ‘discovered.’ This validates what we’ve long known.”
Location of historic Native American village was unknown — until now
Archaeologists have found what they say is proof of Native American villages mentioned by English explorer John Smith.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:56 PM
“Indian people have long known of the land and our history and presence here,” said Anne Richardson, chief of the roughly 300-member Rappahannock Tribe. “But so often things aren’t considered ‘real’ until they’re found or ‘discovered.’ This validates what we’ve long known.”
Pre-Thanksgiving Day hike along the Potomac. It’s 70 degrees!!!
November 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Pre-Thanksgiving Day hike along the Potomac. It’s 70 degrees!!!
Reposted by Kat Long
This seems like a play to cut NPS profitability to make it easier to open these lands up to extraction. 35% of NPS visitors are from overseas
US triples national park fee for non-residents, amid ‘new’ fee for Americans
Interior department, which has defunded conservation organizations, claims fee hike is for conservation
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:27 PM
This seems like a play to cut NPS profitability to make it easier to open these lands up to extraction. 35% of NPS visitors are from overseas
Reposted by Kat Long
Charming marginalia of a 'sea horse' from William Scoresby Senior's whaling journal of 1794. Unfortunately it didn't end well for the poor walruses
November 26, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Charming marginalia of a 'sea horse' from William Scoresby Senior's whaling journal of 1794. Unfortunately it didn't end well for the poor walruses
Reposted by Kat Long
Traditions that sustained the Inuits for many generations in some of the world’s most hostile conditions are vanishing along with the ice. Ben Taub reports from the most remote settlement in Greenland. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/2irCnd
November 24, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Traditions that sustained the Inuits for many generations in some of the world’s most hostile conditions are vanishing along with the ice. Ben Taub reports from the most remote settlement in Greenland. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/2irCnd
Was researching something else and stumbled upon this intriguing gem
Descent into Madness: Psychiatric Treatment of Royal Navy Seamen, 1793-1818
The Royal Navy witnessed a substantial increase in psychiatric cases between 1793 and 1818 due to the compounding psychosocial stressors experienced from a rigorous life at sea. The British Admiralty ...
oaktrust.library.tamu.edu
November 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Was researching something else and stumbled upon this intriguing gem
#WilliamScoresbyJr identified the Arctic food web for the first time in 1816, noting that the largest animals (whales) depend on the smallest (phyto/zooplankton): "And thus we find a dependent chain of existence, one of the smaller links of which being destroyed, the whole must necessarily perish."
As the arctic warms, phytoplankton 🦠 are revising their seasonal schedule 🗓️ ... but other organisms didn't get the memo in time.
A new study from Courtney Payne and collaborators predicts disruptions in the Arctic Ocean's food web by the end of the century.
A new study from Courtney Payne and collaborators predicts disruptions in the Arctic Ocean's food web by the end of the century.
Scientists predict a sea change in Arctic ecosystems by the end of the century
A new study, led by INSTAAR’s Courtney Payne, predicts disrupted phytoplankton blooms in the year 2100, leading to knock-on effects throughout the Arctic ecosystem.
www.colorado.edu
November 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
#WilliamScoresbyJr identified the Arctic food web for the first time in 1816, noting that the largest animals (whales) depend on the smallest (phyto/zooplankton): "And thus we find a dependent chain of existence, one of the smaller links of which being destroyed, the whole must necessarily perish."
Another amazing find about British Columbia's sea wolves: wapo.st/49Z0zon
See how this wolf steals fish, a new discovery of animals using tools
Video from the coast of British Columbia may be the first documented instance of a wild wolf using a tool, according to the researchers who published it on Monday.
wapo.st
November 18, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Another amazing find about British Columbia's sea wolves: wapo.st/49Z0zon
Reposted by Kat Long
“The Vatican said Saturday the items were given back during the Holy Year, exactly 100 years after the 1925 exhibition where they were first exhibited in Rome as a highlight of that Jubilee.”
Pope Leo returns 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada
The Vatican returned 62 artifacts to Indigenous peoples from Canada, a historic restitution that is part of the Catholic Church's reckoning with its role in helping suppress Indigenous culture.
www.npr.org
November 16, 2025 at 12:39 PM
“The Vatican said Saturday the items were given back during the Holy Year, exactly 100 years after the 1925 exhibition where they were first exhibited in Rome as a highlight of that Jubilee.”
Reposted by Kat Long
14 November 1797: birth of Scottish geologist Charles Lyell at Kinnordy in Forfarshire. 'An ardent man of science with a very round, short face resembling the Emperor Alexander of Russia, a fine forehead and altogether a gentlemanly exterior’, best known for his 1830–33 Principles of Geology.
November 14, 2025 at 9:52 AM
14 November 1797: birth of Scottish geologist Charles Lyell at Kinnordy in Forfarshire. 'An ardent man of science with a very round, short face resembling the Emperor Alexander of Russia, a fine forehead and altogether a gentlemanly exterior’, best known for his 1830–33 Principles of Geology.
Reposted by Kat Long
Climate change has disastrous effects on Indigenous communities in Southwestern Alaska, and it is also damaging precontact Yup'ik #archaeology.
Charlotta Hillerdal writes on the threat and steps being taken in the latest #AntiquityBlog 🏺
📷 Rick Knecht
🔗 buff.ly/KOUaA9H
Charlotta Hillerdal writes on the threat and steps being taken in the latest #AntiquityBlog 🏺
📷 Rick Knecht
🔗 buff.ly/KOUaA9H
How climate change is threatening Indigenous Yup’ik heritage « Archaeology# « Cambridge Core Blog
On 12 October, 2025, Typhoon Halong reached the shores of Southwestern Alaska, with devastating consequences for many of the Indigenous communities living here. Whole villages were destroyed and…
buff.ly
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Climate change has disastrous effects on Indigenous communities in Southwestern Alaska, and it is also damaging precontact Yup'ik #archaeology.
Charlotta Hillerdal writes on the threat and steps being taken in the latest #AntiquityBlog 🏺
📷 Rick Knecht
🔗 buff.ly/KOUaA9H
Charlotta Hillerdal writes on the threat and steps being taken in the latest #AntiquityBlog 🏺
📷 Rick Knecht
🔗 buff.ly/KOUaA9H