Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 3h

A log, petrified with malachite + azurite. University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 2012. ⚒️

A big log sitting on concrete with a rock wall behind it and a scale pencil on top of it. The log is blue and green!

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 4h

50%

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 15h

I had my first Yellow-bellied sapsucker of the fall this morning, and first Golden-crowned kinglet. The seasons roll on despite the chaotic machinations of humans. 🦉

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 15h

Stoked!
Taking my kid to see our third Godzilla movie in the theaters together.
drafthouse.com/charlottesvi...

Pixelated Godzilla image, flames in the background and smoke trailing from the saurian monster's mouth.

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Reposted by Callan Bentley

Matthew Gillikin @mtgillikin.bsky.social · 17h

It’s ridiculous to me that there’s not a multimodal path from the city to PVCC and Monticello

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 18h

Quite plain and blatant

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 18h

I'm listening to Naomi Klein's "Doppelganger" now, & it initially seemed pointless & specific, but she has built it out into something societal + essential. Amazing how trivial matters sometimes take on colossal importance.
Sending optimistic encouragement; I would read anything you write!

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 19h

Big music recommendation; I'm catching up on the @wtjuradio.bsky.social shows I missed during last week's Jazz Marathon. This one, on Japanese psychedelic "jazz" (I'd classify a lot of it as rock), is very much worth a listen: www.wtju.net/recent-shows...

Recent Shows - WTJU 91.1 FM

www.wtju.net

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 19h

My wife and I watched the Jane Goodall episode of FAMOUS LAST WORDS last night (Netflix); enjoyed the journey. I think it's a pretty cool concept for a show. I didn't agree with everything she said, but I did find the conversation stirred a lot of parts of my brain. Worth watching.

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 19h

👇

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 19h

This has nothing to do with crime. This is an attempt to crush political dissent.

Never before, in our entire 250 year history, has the military or immigration agents been used like this. It's dystopian, illegal, and it should stop.

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 19h

It's only the law...
No need to abide by it.

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 19h

Breaking News: President Trump signaled that he may try to deny federal workers back pay after the shutdown, in contradiction to U.S. law.

Trump Suggests Furloughed Federal Workers May Not Receive Back Pay After Shutdown

Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers say the move would run afoul of a law adopted under President Trump’s first term.

nyti.ms

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 23h

Free Union, VA,
Site of the old Maupin Brothers gasoline station:
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦
𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯?
𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔

A beautiful field of pink, magenta, and white flowers

2017 Google Earth screenshot showing the location of the old gas station building in Free Union

2025 Google Earth screenshot showing the building is now gone - "it's only fields and trees"

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 1d

Sorry to add to the load. So many things suck these days.
To me, this one stings particularly acutely - it was such an iconic global cooperation success story; a problem solved. And then Musk & fellow satellite-swarm-launchers blithely sabotaged it. 😖

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Reposted by Callan Bentley

Patrick Lynch @patrlynch1.bsky.social · 1d

An iconic keystone species of the U.S. Atlantic Coast, the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus), or "beautiful, savory swimmer." For a new project.
🧪🌿🌎 #sciart #wildlife #scicomm #sciviz #wildlifeart #illustration #scientificillustration #natureart #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #crabs #BlueCrab

A very detailed top-view illustration of a female Blue Crab. Drawn with Photoshop and a Wacom drawing tablet.

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Reposted by Callan Bentley

Sandra Aamodt @sandra-aamodt.bsky.social · 1d

Whooping motmot in Gamboa, Panama
#birds #photography

Bird with a long black tail ending in rackets, standing upright on a horizontal branch with its head turned to the left. Its belly and chest are rufous, with a black and turquoise patch at the center of the chest. Around its red eye, its face has a black spiky diamond-shaped patch with turquoise edges. The top of its head is turquoise, and its long beak is gray. Its wings are green, edged in turquoise. The background is green leaves and blue sky.

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 1d

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Potential Ozone Depletion From Satellite Demise During Atmospheric Reentry in the Era of Mega‐Constellations

We present the first atomic-scale molecular dynamics simulation of high-temperature aluminum ablation during reentry from low-Earth orbit The amount of aluminum oxide nanoparticles generated is q...

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 1d

...And destroying the ozone layer as they burn up...

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 2d

"There are currently one to two Starlink satellites falling back to Earth every day ... Soon, McDowell told us, there will be up to 5 satellite reentries per day." 😳

1 to 2 Starlink satellites are falling back to Earth each day

earthsky.org

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Reposted by Callan Bentley

kosmi.bsky.social @kosmi.bsky.social · 6d

2015-2024

😊📹

bsky.app/profile/kosm...

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 1d

We have some fun speakers & activities coming up this month in Geology Club! ⚒️

Flyer for Kelly Weinersmith's talk "A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have we Really Thought This Through?" Wed. Oct. 8, 12:45pm

Flyer for Activity Day, featuring games like Quartetnary, new lab samples, and socializing. Wed. Oct. 15, 12:45pm

Flyer for Edith Rojas's talk "Volcanic Eruptions that Changed the World" Wed. Oct. 22, 12:45pm

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Reposted by Callan Bentley

Don Haas (formerly Don Duggan-Haas) @drdonhaas.bsky.social · 1d

Central New York educators!
Join us Saturday for Teacher Resource Day. It's going to be our biggest giveaway ever!
This educator-only event is more than just a giveaway!
See more details and register by clicking through to the event.
tockify.com/paleontologi...
#scienceteachers

Teacher Resource Day

Sat 11 Oct, 9:00 AM - Sun 12, 12:30 PM [EDT]: PRI's annual Teacher Resource Day on Saturday, October 11th, from 9 am to 12:30 pm, at the Museum of the Earth has tables full of free fossil and geologic...

tockify.com

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 2d

Correlation is not causation.

A cat perched on a concrete wall, surrounded by a hole in a chain link fence.

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 2d

Cool frog.
The rock is not porphyritic though; It's amygdular (amygdaloidal).

The distinction: porphyritic texture involves big crystals surrounded by a mass of much smaller crystals. Amygdules are mineralized volcanic gas bubbles: fossil volcano burps.

Both can manifest as a polka dot pattern.
⚒️

Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 3d

A marvellous #Egyptian #frog amulet, made of porphyry (height 1.2 cm).
Because of their numerous offspring, #frogs were considered a symbol of fertility.

Dating ca. 1295–1185 BC, New Kingdom.

📷Metropolitan Museum

🏺 AncientEgyptBluesky

A small frog-shaped amulet carved from dark reddish-brown porphyry, patterned with irregular white spots, shown in a crouching position against a plain light background.

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 2d

That makes so much more sense. Thank you for clarifying!

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 2d

Enjoyed listening to @jamellebouie.net interviewed on @onthemedia.bsky.social today (on @npr.org) on my commute back to Cville from DC. Bonus - learned about the complicated place into which Humphrey Bogart fits, in the era of McCarthyism. www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Jamelle Bouie Says Your Fear of Trump Isn't Helping. Plus, Humphrey Bogart’s Betrayal. | On the Media | WNYC Studios

Jamelle Bouie doesn’t mince words; lessons from Casablanca.

www.wnycstudios.org

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 2d

@ichnologist.bsky.social @coastalpaleo.bsky.social You must sample the alcids of Al(cid)aska:

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