Niels de Winter
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @ VU Amsterdam & @ VUBrussel
#Paleoclimate, short-term #climate variability 🌦️, mollusks🐚, #running, popular #science, #gamer, plant-based #vegan 🌱
Sharing new #paleoclimate, #geology and #sclerochronology #science papers + own results
#Paleoclimate, short-term #climate variability 🌦️, mollusks🐚, #running, popular #science, #gamer, plant-based #vegan 🌱
Sharing new #paleoclimate, #geology and #sclerochronology #science papers + own results
Support people and their livelihoods rather than fossil-fuel industries www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Support people and their livelihoods rather than fossil-fuel industries
Geopolitical trends might be heading in the wrong direction, but economic forces are aligning around a future economy centred on clean electricity.
www.nature.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Support people and their livelihoods rather than fossil-fuel industries www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Good read!
Does AI already have human-level intelligence? The evidence is clear www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Does AI already have human-level intelligence? The evidence is clear www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Does AI already have human-level intelligence? The evidence is clear
The vision of human-level machine intelligence laid out by Alan Turing in the 1950s is now a reality. Eyes unclouded by dread or hype will help us to prepare for what comes next.
www.nature.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:41 AM
Good read!
Does AI already have human-level intelligence? The evidence is clear www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Does AI already have human-level intelligence? The evidence is clear www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Wow, these fossils are really stunning! 😮
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A Cambrian soft-bodied biota after the first Phanerozoic mass extinction - Nature
The Huayuan biota exhibits extraordinary biodiversity, illuminating the impact of the Phanerozoic mass extinction around 513 million years ago and offering critical insights into the transformation of...
www.nature.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Wow, these fossils are really stunning! 😮
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
What we eat is more than just a health choice. There are massive sustainability gains quite literally left on the table.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How to eat well and within Earth’s limits
Dietary change, supported by bold policies, is essential for a sustainable planet.
www.nature.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:03 AM
What we eat is more than just a health choice. There are massive sustainability gains quite literally left on the table.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This takes me back to my MSc years in college @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, specifically the fieldwork in Bighorn Basin hunting for early mammals. Wild to learn that Hyracotherium is not an actual horse. Found dozens of its teeth back then with that in mind! 🤯🐎
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Earliest perissodactyls reveal large-scale dispersals during the PETM | PNAS
Perissodactyls were a diverse order of mammals in the Northern Hemisphere during the
Paleogene, but very few species remain today. They first appea...
www.pnas.org
January 29, 2026 at 6:20 AM
This takes me back to my MSc years in college @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social, specifically the fieldwork in Bighorn Basin hunting for early mammals. Wild to learn that Hyracotherium is not an actual horse. Found dozens of its teeth back then with that in mind! 🤯🐎
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
⏰New paper⏰
Happy to play a part in this nice study led by Xiulan and Jingjing using over 1100 (!) clumped isotope analysis for seasonal-scale temperature and precipitation reconstructions on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last Ice Age. 🐚🌦️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Happy to play a part in this nice study led by Xiulan and Jingjing using over 1100 (!) clumped isotope analysis for seasonal-scale temperature and precipitation reconstructions on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last Ice Age. 🐚🌦️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Unlocking sub-annual hydroclimate and temperature variability through land snail shell records
Currently available reconstructions of past East Asian monsoon (EAM) variability achieve annual resolution at best, which limits their ability to reso…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:29 PM
⏰New paper⏰
Happy to play a part in this nice study led by Xiulan and Jingjing using over 1100 (!) clumped isotope analysis for seasonal-scale temperature and precipitation reconstructions on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last Ice Age. 🐚🌦️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Happy to play a part in this nice study led by Xiulan and Jingjing using over 1100 (!) clumped isotope analysis for seasonal-scale temperature and precipitation reconstructions on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last Ice Age. 🐚🌦️
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
I was fortunate to serve as @egubg.bsky.social editor for this fascinating study by Iris Arndt and colleagues in which giants clams (Tridacna maxima/squamosa) were cultured and spiked with barium to deconvolve their daily growth. Worth a read! 🐚🔬⚛️
bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...
Culturing experiments reveal mechanisms of daily trace element incorporation into Tridacna shells
Abstract. Giant clams such as Tridacna are exceptionally well suited for studying past environmental changes on daily to multidecadal timescales. The visible growth bands in their shells, which can be...
bg.copernicus.org
January 22, 2026 at 6:49 AM
I was fortunate to serve as @egubg.bsky.social editor for this fascinating study by Iris Arndt and colleagues in which giants clams (Tridacna maxima/squamosa) were cultured and spiked with barium to deconvolve their daily growth. Worth a read! 🐚🔬⚛️
bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/23/...
Reposted by Niels de Winter
One more day to submit an #abstract for #EGU26!
If you work on #macrofossils and the #paleoenvironment, submit to SSP4.4, co-organised with @egu-cl.bsky.social by January 15, 13:00 CET.
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
Check out www.egu26.eu for more details
#archives, #paleontology, #geochemistry
If you work on #macrofossils and the #paleoenvironment, submit to SSP4.4, co-organised with @egu-cl.bsky.social by January 15, 13:00 CET.
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
Check out www.egu26.eu for more details
#archives, #paleontology, #geochemistry
January 14, 2026 at 7:52 AM
One more day to submit an #abstract for #EGU26!
If you work on #macrofossils and the #paleoenvironment, submit to SSP4.4, co-organised with @egu-cl.bsky.social by January 15, 13:00 CET.
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
Check out www.egu26.eu for more details
#archives, #paleontology, #geochemistry
If you work on #macrofossils and the #paleoenvironment, submit to SSP4.4, co-organised with @egu-cl.bsky.social by January 15, 13:00 CET.
@nielsjdewinter.bsky.social
Check out www.egu26.eu for more details
#archives, #paleontology, #geochemistry
This is so important! It's mindblowing that it is not all over the news, but I guess geopolitics comes first...
The High Seas Treaty, at last | Science
www.science.org.vu/doi/10.1126/...
The High Seas Treaty, at last | Science
www.science.org.vu/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org.vu
January 16, 2026 at 5:42 AM
This is so important! It's mindblowing that it is not all over the news, but I guess geopolitics comes first...
The High Seas Treaty, at last | Science
www.science.org.vu/doi/10.1126/...
The High Seas Treaty, at last | Science
www.science.org.vu/doi/10.1126/...
🚨 New vacancy🚨
Interested in climate modelling, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop high-resolution, weather-scale climate model simulations of the warm Last Interglacial period! 🌬️🌀☔💻
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Interested in climate modelling, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop high-resolution, weather-scale climate model simulations of the warm Last Interglacial period! 🌬️🌀☔💻
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Vacature — PhD high-resolution modelling of past warmer climates
Are you enthusiastic about climate research and keen to discover how warmer climate changes the frequency of storms in the past and future? Then apply for this PhD project!
werkenbij.vu.nl
January 13, 2026 at 7:06 AM
🚨 New vacancy🚨
Interested in climate modelling, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop high-resolution, weather-scale climate model simulations of the warm Last Interglacial period! 🌬️🌀☔💻
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Interested in climate modelling, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop high-resolution, weather-scale climate model simulations of the warm Last Interglacial period! 🌬️🌀☔💻
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
🚨 New vacancy🚨
Interested in high-resolution climate reconstructions, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop reconstructions of extreme weather events in the geological past from fossil shells! 🌩️🌀🌊🐚
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Interested in high-resolution climate reconstructions, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop reconstructions of extreme weather events in the geological past from fossil shells! 🌩️🌀🌊🐚
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Vacature — PhD developing reconstructions for storms in a warmer climate
Are you enthusiastic about climate research and keen to discover how warmer climate changes the frequency of storms in the past and future? Then apply for this PhD project!
werkenbij.vu.nl
January 12, 2026 at 9:16 AM
🚨 New vacancy🚨
Interested in high-resolution climate reconstructions, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop reconstructions of extreme weather events in the geological past from fossil shells! 🌩️🌀🌊🐚
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Interested in high-resolution climate reconstructions, or know someone who might be? Apply for our exciting new, fully funded PhD position where you will develop reconstructions of extreme weather events in the geological past from fossil shells! 🌩️🌀🌊🐚
werkenbij.vu.nl/vacatures/ph...
Just finished "Beastly" by Keggie Carew, and it's a wild, slightly incoherent but always thought- and emotion-provoking exposition of our strange relationship with animals and our environment. Highly recommended!
keggiecarew.co.uk/beastly-1
keggiecarew.co.uk/beastly-1
KEGGIE CAREW
“Beastly: A new history of animals and us”, published by Canongate, April 2023. Visit the website to find out more about the book.
keggiecarew.co.uk
January 12, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Just finished "Beastly" by Keggie Carew, and it's a wild, slightly incoherent but always thought- and emotion-provoking exposition of our strange relationship with animals and our environment. Highly recommended!
keggiecarew.co.uk/beastly-1
keggiecarew.co.uk/beastly-1
The junkification of research is a huge potential issue. It makes me think how we can make the way we are sharing our work resilient to AI slop and other ways of churning out low-quality content...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:16 AM
The junkification of research is a huge potential issue. It makes me think how we can make the way we are sharing our work resilient to AI slop and other ways of churning out low-quality content...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Ammonites survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. I always learned that they went extinct. Very cool finding!
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid | Science | AAAS
www.science.org/content/arti...
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid | Science | AAAS
www.science.org/content/arti...
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid
Coil-shelled mollusks called ammonites staved off extinction for thousands of years
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Ammonites survived the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. I always learned that they went extinct. Very cool finding!
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid | Science | AAAS
www.science.org/content/arti...
Against all odds, a curious sea creature survived the dino-killing asteroid | Science | AAAS
www.science.org/content/arti...
Starting my academic reading this year with a fascinating study documenting the frequency of tropical cyclones in the South China Sea over the past ~650 years. We need more of this type of data to understand extreme weather patterns and their relationship with climate.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
www.pnas.org
January 6, 2026 at 7:45 AM
Starting my academic reading this year with a fascinating study documenting the frequency of tropical cyclones in the South China Sea over the past ~650 years. We need more of this type of data to understand extreme weather patterns and their relationship with climate.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Guess what: Finally at least something half-sensible coming from RFK: While the claim that these money research centers are profit-driven is preposterous, testing on sentient animals is cruel and unnecessary and should be phased out in a sensible way.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Kennedy ‘deeply committed to ending animal experimentation’
HHS secretary vows to end U.S. monkey imports, push for retirement of research primates
www.science.org
December 24, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Guess what: Finally at least something half-sensible coming from RFK: While the claim that these money research centers are profit-driven is preposterous, testing on sentient animals is cruel and unnecessary and should be phased out in a sensible way.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Another slap in the face of (climate) science to round of the year, lots of precious things are in the process of being broken in the USA these days...😔
Trump administration moves to break up leading U.S. climate and weather center | Science | AAAS www-science-org.vu-nl.idm.oclc.org/content/arti...
Trump administration moves to break up leading U.S. climate and weather center | Science | AAAS www-science-org.vu-nl.idm.oclc.org/content/arti...
SURFconext
www-science-org.vu-nl.idm.oclc.org
December 19, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Another slap in the face of (climate) science to round of the year, lots of precious things are in the process of being broken in the USA these days...😔
Trump administration moves to break up leading U.S. climate and weather center | Science | AAAS www-science-org.vu-nl.idm.oclc.org/content/arti...
Trump administration moves to break up leading U.S. climate and weather center | Science | AAAS www-science-org.vu-nl.idm.oclc.org/content/arti...
Fascinated to learn that we are still discovering new species at the highest rate ever. Mapping Earth's biodiversity is far from over, and while we learn more and more about it, let's protect what we do know as well as we can!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time
The number of known species on Earth is increasing rapidly, suggesting unexpectedly large numbers of many groups.
www.science.org
December 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Fascinated to learn that we are still discovering new species at the highest rate ever. Mapping Earth's biodiversity is far from over, and while we learn more and more about it, let's protect what we do know as well as we can!
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
DIfferent climate models project different temperature outcomes for the same Net Zero Emission scenario:
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
A normalised framework for the Zero Emissions Commitment
Abstract. The Zero Emissions Commitment (ZEC) measures the transient climate response after carbon emissions cease, defined by whether there is a continued rise or decrease in global surface temperatu...
bg.copernicus.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:15 PM
DIfferent climate models project different temperature outcomes for the same Net Zero Emission scenario:
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...
Temperature extremes are amongst the most dangerous consequences of climate change. This study shows the (modelled) impact of warming on day-to-day temperature swings.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global warming intensifies extreme day-to-day temperature changes in mid–low latitudes - Nature Climate Change
Climate change is expected to lead to higher day-to-day temperature variability in mid- to low latitudes. Here the authors show that extreme day-to-day temperature changes have distinct impacts on hum...
www.nature.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Temperature extremes are amongst the most dangerous consequences of climate change. This study shows the (modelled) impact of warming on day-to-day temperature swings.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Niels de Winter
Extreme day-to-day temperature swings are becoming more frequent and intense due to Global warming, impacting human health, ecosystems, and resilience.
By 2100, these changes could increase by 17%, affecting 80% of the global population.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
By 2100, these changes could increase by 17%, affecting 80% of the global population.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global warming intensifies extreme day-to-day temperature changes in mid–low latitudes - Nature Climate Change
Climate change is expected to lead to higher day-to-day temperature variability in mid- to low latitudes. Here the authors show that extreme day-to-day temperature changes have distinct impacts on hum...
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Extreme day-to-day temperature swings are becoming more frequent and intense due to Global warming, impacting human health, ecosystems, and resilience.
By 2100, these changes could increase by 17%, affecting 80% of the global population.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
By 2100, these changes could increase by 17%, affecting 80% of the global population.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Starting the week well with a new paper! 🧑🔬 Here we show remarkable evidence of rudist bivalves in the hot, Late Cretaceous (75 Ma) tropics mineralizing their shells at temperatures of over 40 degrees C, hotter than any mollusc living today.
cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/...
cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/...
Living on the edge: Response of Late Cretaceous rudist bivalves (Hippuritida) to hot and highly seasonal climate in the low-latitude Saiwan site, Oman
Abstract. Earth's climate history serves as a natural laboratory for testing the effect of warm climates on the biosphere. The Cretaceous period featured a prolonged greenhouse climate characterized b...
cp.copernicus.org
November 24, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Starting the week well with a new paper! 🧑🔬 Here we show remarkable evidence of rudist bivalves in the hot, Late Cretaceous (75 Ma) tropics mineralizing their shells at temperatures of over 40 degrees C, hotter than any mollusc living today.
cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/...
cp.copernicus.org/articles/21/...
Reposted by Niels de Winter
There is a long list of reasons why one might want a non-animal-based protein-rich foodstuff. Getting something that could also be grown compactly (maybe on a spaceship or a submarine) is a bit more challenging, but these gene-edited mushrooms might fit the bill. 🧪
Link: www.cell.com/trends/biote...
Link: www.cell.com/trends/biote...
November 22, 2025 at 7:27 AM
There is a long list of reasons why one might want a non-animal-based protein-rich foodstuff. Getting something that could also be grown compactly (maybe on a spaceship or a submarine) is a bit more challenging, but these gene-edited mushrooms might fit the bill. 🧪
Link: www.cell.com/trends/biote...
Link: www.cell.com/trends/biote...
After a long and tense period of negotiations and protests, we have finally got some news this week, and it is overall positive: It seems we will after all keep our bachelor's and master's degrees and our department will remain. What reorganizations will be done remains unclear
vu.nl/en/news/2025...
vu.nl/en/news/2025...
VU continues offering Earth Sciences Bachelor’s Programme - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The Bachelor’s programme in Earth Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will remain in place.
vu.nl
November 21, 2025 at 4:39 PM
After a long and tense period of negotiations and protests, we have finally got some news this week, and it is overall positive: It seems we will after all keep our bachelor's and master's degrees and our department will remain. What reorganizations will be done remains unclear
vu.nl/en/news/2025...
vu.nl/en/news/2025...
Gigantic brachiopods may have been (partly) photosymbiotic and are untapped archives of climate change in deep geological time:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Brachiopod giants from the Mississippian (Asbian) of western Ireland: Fossil bioarchives of seasonality and symbiosis and far-field harbingers of climate change
Brachiopod species of Gigantoproductus have long fascinated researchers, not only because of their exceptional size and thick shell, but also as unpar…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Gigantic brachiopods may have been (partly) photosymbiotic and are untapped archives of climate change in deep geological time:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...