Tristan Caro
@tacaro.bsky.social
Microbiologist and geochemist | Postdoc @ Caltech | Formerly @ CU Boulder, NASA, Berkeley | Isotope, dataviz, and pottery enjoyer
Reposted by Tristan Caro
![Comic: Typical Geologic core sample. [Cylindrical core sample with labels for difference sections from top to bottom] Topsoil, till, granite bedrock, bottomsoil, roof of subway car, floor of subway car, more granite, municipal water main [gouge in core sample], slightly different granite, piece of screaming spelunker’s forearm, cool crystals with no resale value, mangled fragments of drillbit from previous attempt, some boring intrusive rock that’s basically granite but has a name like “diorite” or “Andalite” that you always have to look up, netherrack, Balrog wing. [break between next chunk of core sample] Granite, topsoil, cement, floorboards, carpet, possessions of a confused and angry homeowner in the other hemisphere.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreicffnydtpbb2x24cfbblv2qtcwbr37zyw44vtqx47ocj2a26b2j2u@jpeg)
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Tristan Caro
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
November 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵
#protistsonsky 🧵
Reposted by Tristan Caro
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Wonderful to see a writeup of our recent permafrost work out in @natclimate.nature.com ! "Microbes wake up"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Microbes wake up - Nature Climate Change
Nature Climate Change - Microbes wake up
www.nature.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Wonderful to see a writeup of our recent permafrost work out in @natclimate.nature.com ! "Microbes wake up"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Amazing, depressing article about RFK Jr by Michael Scherer in The Atlantic. This graf at the end stayed with me. Our national policy is now based on the difference between 17 and 21 outcomes out of populations of 22000. As usual, hard to know if it is stupidity or dishonesty.
November 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Amazing, depressing article about RFK Jr by Michael Scherer in The Atlantic. This graf at the end stayed with me. Our national policy is now based on the difference between 17 and 21 outcomes out of populations of 22000. As usual, hard to know if it is stupidity or dishonesty.
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Editor-In-Chief for FEMS Microbiology Reviews of @femsjournals.bsky.social @femsmicro.org
#SocietyJournal #Microbiology #EditorInChief
fems-microbiology.org/opportunitie...
#SocietyJournal #Microbiology #EditorInChief
fems-microbiology.org/opportunitie...
November 24, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Editor-In-Chief for FEMS Microbiology Reviews of @femsjournals.bsky.social @femsmicro.org
#SocietyJournal #Microbiology #EditorInChief
fems-microbiology.org/opportunitie...
#SocietyJournal #Microbiology #EditorInChief
fems-microbiology.org/opportunitie...
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
I agree with this, but I think 'learning requires effort' is sadly not something many internalize. I encounter loads of students who view difficulty learning as evidence of their inherent insufficiency; therefore they self-select out of certain subjects the moment things get tricky (1/2)
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I agree with this, but I think 'learning requires effort' is sadly not something many internalize. I encounter loads of students who view difficulty learning as evidence of their inherent insufficiency; therefore they self-select out of certain subjects the moment things get tricky (1/2)
Reposted by Tristan Caro
One of the arguments against letting gay people serve in the US military was "unit cohesion", because gay people might disrupt social bonds & mutual trust, an argument that was always in bad faith.
Imagine the impact on unit cohesion this might have. Yet somehow totally fine.
Imagine the impact on unit cohesion this might have. Yet somehow totally fine.
“The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol”
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
www.washingtonpost.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:01 PM
One of the arguments against letting gay people serve in the US military was "unit cohesion", because gay people might disrupt social bonds & mutual trust, an argument that was always in bad faith.
Imagine the impact on unit cohesion this might have. Yet somehow totally fine.
Imagine the impact on unit cohesion this might have. Yet somehow totally fine.
Reposted by Tristan Caro
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
November 12, 2025 at 10:31 AM
What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma.
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
It's *scientific publishing*.
We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing.
Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_...
Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇
I've always been a fan of markdown format for code notebooks but....wow, editing python with quarto in positron is genuinely a more pleasant experience than jupyter notebooks!! #rstats
November 12, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I've always been a fan of markdown format for code notebooks but....wow, editing python with quarto in positron is genuinely a more pleasant experience than jupyter notebooks!! #rstats
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Why are planetary scientists, astrobiologists and and SETI scientists so negative (pissed off, even) about Avi Loeb’s repeated claims that 3I/Atlas may be an invading alien spaceship?
🧵
🧪🔭🛸
(1/7)
🧵
🧪🔭🛸
(1/7)
November 10, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Why are planetary scientists, astrobiologists and and SETI scientists so negative (pissed off, even) about Avi Loeb’s repeated claims that 3I/Atlas may be an invading alien spaceship?
🧵
🧪🔭🛸
(1/7)
🧵
🧪🔭🛸
(1/7)
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Murine norovirus and influenza virus H5N1 can survive the process of making cheese from raw milk, persisting for weeks. Thus, it is recommended that milk contaminated with viruses be heat-treated to ensure safety. Get more info in #AppEnvMicro: asm.social/2Gi
November 10, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Murine norovirus and influenza virus H5N1 can survive the process of making cheese from raw milk, persisting for weeks. Thus, it is recommended that milk contaminated with viruses be heat-treated to ensure safety. Get more info in #AppEnvMicro: asm.social/2Gi
Reposted by Tristan Caro
A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT.
We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)
We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)
Plastic degradation by enzymes from uncultured deep sea microorganisms
Abstract. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-hydrolyzing enzymes (PETases) are a recently discovered enzyme class capable of plastic degradation. PETases are
academic.oup.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
A wonderful collaboration between my lab and Andy Ellington and Edward Marcotte here at UT.
We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)
We obtained lots of thermal stable plastic degrading enzymes from the deep sea (Guaymas Basin, Gulf of California)
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man
Reposted by Tristan Caro
The US withdrawal from WHO could impact the flu shot.
Flu samples sent to CDC from around the world are down 60% this year, as of July.
"When those viruses are not coming in, we don't know what to put in the vaccine, and you're going to have less effective vaccines."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Flu samples sent to CDC from around the world are down 60% this year, as of July.
"When those viruses are not coming in, we don't know what to put in the vaccine, and you're going to have less effective vaccines."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Why next year's flu shot might not be as good as it should be
America's withdrawal from the World Health Organization is affecting the ability of U.S. scientists to track flu and other pathogens. That could be a blow to the development of the 2025 flu vaccine.
www.npr.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The US withdrawal from WHO could impact the flu shot.
Flu samples sent to CDC from around the world are down 60% this year, as of July.
"When those viruses are not coming in, we don't know what to put in the vaccine, and you're going to have less effective vaccines."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Flu samples sent to CDC from around the world are down 60% this year, as of July.
"When those viruses are not coming in, we don't know what to put in the vaccine, and you're going to have less effective vaccines."
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
this is a nightmare and i love it
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:29 PM
this is a nightmare and i love it
Reposted by Tristan Caro
purrr 1.2.0 out now — mostly removing long deprecated functions but a few small performance nad parallel processing improvements. Learn more at www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/11... #rstats
purrr 1.2.0
This release tightens up the package by removing long-deprecated functions, making `map_chr()` and predicate functions more type-safe, and requiring a newer version of carrier to make `in_parallel()`...
www.tidyverse.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:10 PM
purrr 1.2.0 out now — mostly removing long deprecated functions but a few small performance nad parallel processing improvements. Learn more at www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/11... #rstats
Reposted by Tristan Caro
BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories).
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
November 2, 2025 at 4:55 AM
BREAKING: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is illegally closing 13 campus buildings (including ~100 laboratories).
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
Report coming from GESTA, the Goddard employee union
Reposted by Tristan Caro
A devastating set of decisions on the part of UC leadership to withdraw support from our nationally recognized postdoc program that prioritizes research excellence combined with addressing our university public service mission. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
UC to Stop Funding Systemwide Postdoc Program
Established in 1984 to encourage women and minority Ph.D.s to pursue academia, the program has attracted right-wing criticism for prioritizing diverse candidates.
www.insidehighered.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:53 PM
A devastating set of decisions on the part of UC leadership to withdraw support from our nationally recognized postdoc program that prioritizes research excellence combined with addressing our university public service mission. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Dartmouth’s Earth Science Department is hiring in Geobiology and/or Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry!
New Assistant Professor Posting:
@dartmouthears.bsky.social @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social
Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry and/or Geobiology
apply.interfolio.com/176517
🧪🌎
@dartmouthears.bsky.social @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social
Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry and/or Geobiology
apply.interfolio.com/176517
🧪🌎
November 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Dartmouth’s Earth Science Department is hiring in Geobiology and/or Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry!
Reposted by Tristan Caro
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Dismantling of US federal agencies will ‘destroy science’
From NASA to the National Institutes of Health, federal agencies conduct research that universities cannot. Agency scientists speak out about the irreplaceable facilities, institutional knowledge and ...
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:58 PM
"Science is being destroyed across many agencies" say federal researchers.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
For my latest @nature.com piece, I spoke to 19 different scientists across EPA, NOAA, NIH, NASA, and USGS to document how science is being dismantled across US federal agencies.
Reposted by Tristan Caro
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century: