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Berkeley’s Cosmic Breakthrough and the Alvarez Discovery That Rewrote Earth’s History

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 14h

In light of the amazing news of all the Nobel prize winners this year from the University of California, here’s a story about one of the great discoveries in earth’s history, which was also made at Berkeley by a father and son team. californiacurated.com/2025/03/04/b...

The Alvarez’ work led to one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century: the discovery that a massive meteorite impact was responsible for the extinction of the dino…

The Salton Sea Was California’s Strangest Catastrophe

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 1d

Most people, even Californians, don’t know that the Salton Sea is actually the result of a huge human triggered accident. Here’s the story. californiacurated.com/2025/07/15/c... #california

Support California Curated with a small donation. In California’s southeastern desert, the Salton Sea stretches across a wide, shimmering basin, a lake where there shouldn’t be one. At about 340 sq…

Manzanitas are California’s Sculptured Survivors

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 1d

We’d love to contribute to this feed.

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 2d

Let’s just say California did pretty well in today’s Nobel’s physics prize.

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 2d

Manzanitas are everywhere in California’s chaparral, but they have some unique abilities. Longevity, for one. californiacurated.com/2025/07/01/m...

At Inspiration Point, Yosemite, sticky whiteleaf manzanita tends to occupy south slopes, greenleaf manzanita tends to occupy north slopes. (Photo: NPS) Would you support us? Just a few bucks. We&#8…

Why are California's redwoods and sequoias so big and tall?

Reposted by California Curated

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 7d

California’s coast redwoods and giant sequoias are both massive and ancient, but they thrive in very different environments. But how?
californiacurated.substack.com/p/why-are-ca...

A mix of climate, fire, and genetics helped these ancient giants reach record-breaking size.

Corals Revealed as Never Before Through a Groundbreaking New Microscope in California

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 2d

The brilliant folks at @scrippsocean.bsky.social graciously showed us a groundbreaking new underwater microscope they are using to better understand coral bleaching around the planet and maybe get some clues how to slow it down. californiacurated.substack.com/p/a-microsco...

A new imaging system developed at Scripps allows researchers to see coral polyps and their algae symbionts like never before, offering insights that could help save reefs before they vanish.

Corals Revealed as Never Before Through a Groundbreaking New Microscope in California

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 4d

Scientists at Scripps institution of Oceanography have developed an amazing new microscope to watch corals in the wild. 🌊 californiacurated.com/2025/10/03/a...

What this new tool allows scientists to do is determine whether corals may be under stress from factors like warming seas, pollution, or disease. Ideally, these warning signs are detected before th…

Creosote Bushes Are the Mojave Desert’s Time Travelers

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 4d

The Mojave’s creosote bush is a true time traveler—some are over 12,000 years old. Slow-growing, drought-proof, and endlessly resilient, they’ve witnessed the rise of civilization itself. A humble desert shrub that’s practically immortal. 🌵⏳ #MojaveDesert californiacurated.com/2025/02/24/c...

In the Mojave Desert, one creosote plant known as “King Clone” is estimated to be over 12,000 years old, making it one of the oldest living clonal organisms on Earth.

Corals Revealed as Never Before Through a Groundbreaking New Microscope in California

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 4d

Please watch!

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 5d

New video just posted about an amazing, groundbreaking new underwater microscope developed at @scripps_ocean to better understand coral bleaching. youtu.be/UD-vz2HBLbg

YouTube video by California Curated

youtu.be

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 5d

New video just posted about an amazing, groundbreaking new underwater microscope developed at @scripps_ocean to better understand coral bleaching. youtu.be/UD-vz2HBLbg

Corals Revealed as Never Before Through a Groundbreaking New Microscope in California

YouTube video by California Curated

youtu.be

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 5d

The brilliant folks at @scrippsocean.bsky.social graciously showed us a groundbreaking new underwater microscope to better understand coral bleaching around the planet. Here’s the story. (there's video, too!) californiacurated.substack.com/p/a-microsco...

Corals Revealed as Never Before Through a Groundbreaking New Microscope in California

A new imaging system developed at Scripps allows researchers to see coral polyps and their algae symbionts like never before, offering insights that could help save reefs before they vanish.

Clair Patterson: The little-known California scientist who may have saved millions of lives.

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 6d

Clair Patterson quietly revolutionized public health by revealing the extreme rise of atmospheric lead driven by leaded gasoline, triggering regulatory change that likely spared millions from lead-related illness.
californiacurated.com/2021/11/08/t...

At Caltech, Clair Patterson’s relentless determination to understand the health impacts of atmospheric lead changed the world for the better.

Why are California's redwoods and sequoias so big and tall?

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 6d

Flags should fly at half-mast to honor Jane Goodall.

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 7d

California’s coast redwoods and giant sequoias are both massive and ancient, but they thrive in very different environments. But how?
californiacurated.substack.com/p/why-are-ca...

A mix of climate, fire, and genetics helped these ancient giants reach record-breaking size.

Riding Wave Energy in Los Angeles

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 8d

LA just launched the U.S.’s first on-shore wave energy pilot at the Port of LA: blue floats bobbing in the harbor are now generating clean power. A milestone in renewables, and just the beginning. californiacurated.substack.com/p/riding-wav...

Turning the steady motion of the Pacific into clean electricity, Eco Wave Power’s pilot at the Port of Los Angeles tests whether wave energy can become a real piece of California’s renewable future.

Unraveling the Geology Behind Palos Verdes' Ongoing Landslide Crisis

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 8d

A section of the Palos Verdes Peninsula is slowly slipping into the sea. And when I say slowly, I also mean it is speeding up, the slipping. I investigated the geology behind why this is happening and even paid a visit to the area. open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Heavy rainfall has led to severe landslides and soil instability in this coastal community, which is known for its scenic ocean views, rugged cliffs, and upscale neighborhoods.

The Majestic San Gabriel Mountains: A Deep Dive into Their Formation, History, and Biodiversity

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 10d

If you live in LA, you know them. But do you really KNOW them? californiacurated.com/2023/08/31/t...

It is believed that much of the sand on California’s legendary beaches originated in the San Gabriel mountains, the result of erosion and various rivers and streams that run into the Pacific …

open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Reposted by California Curated

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 12d

The Unsung California Labs That Powered the Digital Revolution

Federally funded research has long driven the breakthroughs that private industry later turns into world-changing technologies.

open.substack.com/pub/californ...

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 12d

The Unsung California Labs That Powered the Digital Revolution

Federally funded research has long driven the breakthroughs that private industry later turns into world-changing technologies.

The Unsung California Labs That Powered the Digital Revolution

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California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 12d

Behind today’s AI-ready chips lies a hidden California story: national labs in Berkeley, Livermore & Sandia cracked the physics, optics & systems of EUV lithography — turning lab science into trillions of dollars in impact. californiacurated.com/2025/09/26/t...

The technology is extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). And one of the most important points I want to leave you with is that the origins of EUV are not found in Silicon Valley startups or corpora…

Vicious squirrel sends 2 neighbors to ER after series of attacks: 'She almost killed me'

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 14d

It all just keeps getting weirder and weirder: Wild squirrel terror in Marin: two people sent to the ER after sudden attacks, including one woman who says, “How do you get a squirrel attached to your leg off?” abc7.com/post/vicious...

"This is beautiful, now it's following us, until she almost killed me," said a victim of the squirrel attack.

abc7.com

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 15d

It used to be so bad. They would not let us go outside during recess.

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 15d

A Californian, and one of the great unheralded scientists of the 20th century, Clair Patterson determined Earth’s age at 4.55 billion years and exposed the dangers of lead pollution, leading to regulations that drastically improved public health. open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Clair Patterson: The Caltech Scientist Who Exposed Lead Poisoning and Changed the World

At Caltech, Clair Patterson's relentless determination to understand the health impacts of atmospheric lead changed the world for the better.

The Lost Island of Santarosae off California’s Coast

California Curated @californiacurated.bsky.social · 15d

🌊 Off California’s coast lies a lost superisland: Santarosae. During the Ice Age it was three times the size of Maui, home to pygmy mammoths and some of North America’s earliest settlers.
californiacurated.substack.com/p/the-lost-i...

Most of the Channel Islands were once a huge single island.