joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
@mepjoe.bsky.social
210 followers 230 following 110 posts
Microbial biogeochemistry, non-equilibrium thermodynamics, Maximum Entropy Production (MEP). Defining how life differs from fire, maybe. he/him
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mepjoe.bsky.social
Fantastic news! Julie Huber @julesdeep.bsky.social was just awarded the prestigious Rachel Carson Lecture by @agu.org! Not only well deserved, but also a fitting tribute. Rachel Carson was one of Julie’s childhood heroes that guided her path. Congratulations Julie!! 🎉🙌 www.whoi.edu/press-room/n...
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Julie Huber Awarded Prestigious Rachel Carson Lecture by the American Geophysical Union
WHOI’s Julie Huber Awarded Prestigious Rachel Carson Lecture by the AGU
www.whoi.edu
mepjoe.bsky.social
SES students got to measure bacterial production in their Winogradsky Columns using radioactive 14C-Leucine yesterday! My favorite lab! ☢️🦠❤️
mepjoe.bsky.social
Ugh, disappointing to see the bias continue into cyberspace.
mepjoe.bsky.social
However, as Philip Morrison states in his 1964 paper, A thermodynamic characterization of self-reproduction: "Nearly all the manifest visual and mechanical intricacy of organisms, like their apt behavior, turns out to be without quantitative thermodynamic importance." Beauty is not low entropy 😁
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
mepjoe.bsky.social
A beautiful day for a field trip to Little Sippewissett Marsh for the annual construction of Winogradsky columns for the Microbial Methods course in the Semester in Environmental Science program @mblscience.bsky.social

Purple sulfur bacteria at low tide 🦠💜
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
science.org
After learning it would be evicted from its current headquarters and left in limbo about its future home, the National Science Foundation appears headed to new digs just down the street—and soon. https://scim.ag/4p1zzto
NSF could be moving down the street
Government sets requirements for new space that sound like nearby patent office campus
www.science.org
mepjoe.bsky.social
Interesting. If you're a scientist who publishes, your papers are likely in the database.
alexdecampi.bsky.social
There are tons of graphic novels, academic papers, film and TV scripts, & prose novels/nonfiction on the LibGen list Anthropic used.

As settlement approaches, make it easy for the class action lawyers to contact you! Here’s how

Part 1: is your work in Libgen?

www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
mepjoe.bsky.social
Beyond the Second Law: Darwinian Evolution as a Tendency for Entropy Production to Increase

www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/27...

or, to a faster heat death of the universe, use life!
www.mdpi.com
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
morgan-mouchka.bsky.social
Our opinion piece is hot off the presses! Cutting science funding has profound implications for STEM education & training & will negatively impact the San Diego region. TAKE ACTION by calling your congressional reps & demand no cuts to science funding! #StandUpForScience 🧪
tinyurl.com/ywxkvv25
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
jjmarlow.bsky.social
Check out "the deepest and the most extensive chemosynthesis-based communities known to exist on Earth" - methane seeps along Russia's NE coast, down to a depth of 9500 meters! 😮

It's amazing that such incredible ecosystems remain to be found in the deep sea...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Flourishing chemosynthetic life at the greatest depths of hadal trenches - Nature
The discovery of chemosynthesis-based benthic communities at depths of 5,800 m to 9,533 m in the Kuril–Kamchatka and western Aleutian trenches challenges traditional perspectives on the energy sources...
www.nature.com
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
scott-delaney.bsky.social
A quick update re NIH and NSF terminated grant tracking:

Grant Watch has a new name!

We're now called **Grant Witness**

You can find us at grant-witness.us

Please update your bookmarks and spread the word! 🙏

(And no, this wasn't our preference, but trademarks are a thing. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️)
mepjoe.bsky.social
Anyone know someone, or a company, that can analyze brackish pond water (0.3%) samples for simple substrates (specifically, glucose, xylose, acetate, ethanol, and methanol) in the 0 to 200 micromolar range? The number samples is between 15 to 100 depending on cost per sample.
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
nasawatch.bsky.social
There is a new, rather detailed and annotated "Statement of Solidarity and Support" out called "The NASA Voyager Declaration" regarding the current state of affairs at #NASA. It is modeled after similar efforts by employees at #EPA and #NIH nasawatch.com/activism/the...
The NASA Voyager Declaration
Statement of Solidarity and Support
nasawatch.com
mepjoe.bsky.social
Preaching to the choir here, but if you've been living under a rock, this👇

"In the past six months, the Trump administration has systematically and recklessly undermined federal science. Read the new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists here:" act.ucsusa.org/Trump6Months
Science and Democracy Under Siege
This administration's first 6 months have been characterized by destruction, division, and chaos.
act.ucsusa.org
mepjoe.bsky.social
17. Vote for politicians who will stop burning fossil fuels
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
julesdeep.bsky.social
This was a very scary but incredibly positive experience for me-connecting to the deeply personal, funny, & scary parts of our scientific journeys. I encourage you to listen as intended- full long form radio, with host @jayall.bsky.social & live music. Links at end of article. #stemstories @prx.org
transom.bsky.social
Scientists took the stage last month to tell their stories to a crowd of community members. The room was filled with warmth and awe. Listen to the stories and read all about the night.
transom.org/2025/making-...
Making Waves - Transom
Making Waves - Transom
transom.org
Reposted by joe vallino ∫🦠dxdt ≻∫🔥dxdt
neilshubin.bsky.social
Some personal news…
nasonline.org
The NAS Council has approved the nomination of Neil H. Shubin to be the next president of the National Academy of Sciences. An evolutionary biologist and science communicator, Shubin would succeed Marcia McNutt when her term ends on June 30, 2026. Read more: www.nasonline.org/news/neil-h-...