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Whimsical Wavelengths

@whimsicallambda.bsky.social

320 followers 240 following 280 posts

I Dr Jeffrey Zurek (volcanologist/geophysicist) am the host for this science podcast whimsical wavelengths! Also juggling day job, fatherhood & a “normal” life 😅. Pod found everywhere! https://open.spotify.com/show/62yumbmTFvGAAsX2aQVTTj?si=0dbca8884aa949

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Nov 19

I am Dr Jeffrey Zurek and your host of Whimsical Wavelengths! A #science #podcast!
Brining some social media to here to hopefully reach more people offering a #scientific escape from a messed up world with scientific dad #jokes and #puns
“Whimsical wavelengths” everywhere pods are found

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 3d

Got the next few episodes loaded and ready to go and now I the host am off to Saudi Arabia! Day job time in Geophysics! Hopefully new pics on geology and the like in a few weeks!

Reposted by Whimsical Wavelengths

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 9d

The Department of Energy has added these terms to its growing “list of words to avoid” because words are dangerous:

climate change
green
decarbonization
emissions
energy transition
sustainability
sustainable
clean energy
dirty energy
carbon footprint
CO₂ footprint
tax breaks
tax credits
subsidies

Energy Dept. adds ‘climate change’ and ‘emissions’ to banned words list

It is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to dispute, silence or downplay climate change.

www.politico.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 9d

3/3 Our guest studied fat networks within dairy #food s Now she applies 🧪as an industry consultant &🧪communicator. Dr. Abigail Thiel!
#foodscience #scicomm
Don't forget to check out her colouring books too!
www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGJWXGHD
abbeythefoodscientist.com
www.youtube.com/@AbbeytheFoodScientist

Abbey the Food Scientist

Hey all! My name is Abbey and I'm a food scientist by PhD, a science writer, and a YouTuber. I like to think about food molecule by molecule instead of what we can see with the naked eye. I started ...

www.youtube.com

Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 9d

2/3 #volcano discipline crossover! Ready to chill as we scoop into the coolest #science? The guest is no soft serve when it comes to #sweet 🧪— grab your spoons & prepare for the🧠🥶. #scicomm
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...
open.spotify.com/episode/3QjR...

The Science of Ice Cream - fat networks, sugar, temperature, air and temperature with Dr. Abigail Thiel!

open.spotify.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 9d

1/3 I scream U scream we all scream for Ice cream #science?
🕘for sweet delicious 🧪delivered here
#love the breath here. We investigate the 🧪that goes into the greatest frozen dessert🍦!🍦like other materials (like magma) melt, freeze & deform in complex ways depending on structures within the material

A waffle cone with two scoops of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with colorful bits, surrounded by crumbs, sugar pieces, and star-shaped decorations on a white surface.

(nighttime photo): A hand holding a waffle cone with three scoops of yellow ice cream, some containing mix-ins, against a blurred background of colorful city lights at night.

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Reposted by Whimsical Wavelengths

Smaksked Skåne AB @smaksked.bsky.social · May 16

A #physicist’s guide to ice cream

@haroldsinnott.bsky.social
@nicochan33.bsky.social
@dg-collective.bsky.social
@andrewincontact.bsky.social
@treasadovander.bsky.social
@pierrecappelli.bsky.social
@anthonyrochand.bsky.social
physicsworld.com/a/a-physicis... #FoodScientist #materials

A physicist’s guide to ice cream: the complex science behind one of the world’s most popular desserts – Physics World

From foaming to phase transitions, Douglas Goff explains the physics behind a perfect scoop

physicsworld.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 21d

Is a scientific #oxymoron on your #crisis bingo card for the year? Basaltic plinian eruptions are rare and weird. (Ie clickbait headline for something interesting but rare enough not to worry about)🧪⚒️🌋
Learn about them and Masaya Volcano on this week's episode!

open.spotify.com/episode/0vmK...

Masaya Volcano is a Strange Volcano - The science Journey Towards Understanding Masaya's Basaltic Plinian Eruptions

open.spotify.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 23d

🧪⚒️🌋1/2
1. Masaya is persistently active. It has been in a perpetual state of unrest for 100’s of years.
2. It can have basaltic Plinian eruptions……
This may seem like an #oxymoron.
Join the pod to find out all this! #scicomm
open.spotify.com/episode/0vmK...
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...

Masaya Volcano is a Strange Volcano - The science Journey Towards Understanding Masaya's Basaltic Plinian Eruptions

open.spotify.com

Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 23d

🧪⚒️🌋1/2 #bluesky Time for Season 2! Time for Basaltic plinian eruptions, melt inclusions, viscosity and more. Today we going to head into one of my papers so volcanology!
When planning my #PhD, I wanted to do more at Masaya #Volcano. Masaya is #complicated...
#beliveitornot #scicomm

Map series showing the tectonic and volcanic setting of Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

Panel A: Regional map of Nicaragua with the Cocos Plate subducting beneath the Caribbean Plate. A green shaded zone highlights the Nicaraguan Depression, with Masaya Volcano marked.

Panel B: Zoomed-in map showing major faults (Mateare, Cofradía, Punta Huete) and volcanic centers including Apoyeque and Masaya. Managua city is marked with a star.

Panel C: Detailed topographic map of the Masaya Caldera, showing cones such as Nindirí, Masaya, Cerro Montoso, and Santiaguito. The caldera rim and Laguna de Masaya are outlined.

Microscope image of a glassy melt inclusion inside a crystal from Cerro Montoso cone within Masaya Volcano’s caldera. A circular bubble is visible inside the inclusion, with cracks radiating around the host crystal.

Conceptual cross-section of the Masaya Caldera magmatic system.

Top inset: Caldera outline map showing the location of the cross-section.

Main diagram: Magma reservoir (~10 km wide and 10 km deep) beneath Nindirí cone, containing water, carbon dioxide, sulfur, and chlorine. Red arrows indicate magma flux.

Right inset: Shallow convection zone beneath Santiago crater, with foam layers, magma mixing, and degassing.

Lower right inset: Vertical conduit schematic showing hot, gas-rich magma rising and denser, degassed magma sinking.

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 27d

2/2 🧪⚒️Dr. Pearce is a research fellow at the Cascade Institute, leading the Ultradeep #Geothermal Program.

In future (TBD) she will join me for an ep to dig even deeper into this research.
➕Season 2 is THIS MONDAY SEPTEMBER 15th!!! It starts with a bang looking at Basaltic Plinian Eruptions!!!

Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 27d

1/2⚒️Friend of the pod, Dr. Rebecca Pearce gave a TEDx Talk on an exciting frontier of 🧪: ultradeep #geothermal.
Tapping into the heat beneath our 👣 — #energy that’s always on, #renewable, & able to provide baseload #electricity for generations.

Watch her talk here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDe...

Geothermal energy: Hope for our energy crisis lies inside the earth | Dr. Rebecca Pearce | TEDxRRU

YouTube video by TEDx Talks

www.youtube.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 28d

🧪researcher with interesting results to share reach out!
To start the pod goes into #volcanology⚒️ and plinian eruptions, then into food science about ice cream, then Black holes accretionary disks🔭 and then plastic. Geophysics and paleontology episodes are planned as well!

Pahoehoe Lava flow in hawaii showing nice ropy textures

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · 28d

1/2⚒️🌋 Season 2 starts on 15th! I feel a bit hopelessness with what is taking place South of me. The anti 🧪actions and rhetoric … I am political. The pod? Not so much. It’s about the 🧪process & repeatable results with researchers that did the work or through historical storytelling. So if you are a

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 5

⚒️🌋I was a guest on a podcast! On
Going In Blind with Zach Tidwell

Not a science podcast but we talked about 🧪. The university system and the Tenure system, volcanology, water in the mantel. And more
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/4...

Zach Tidwell is blind, & a US veteran & I recommend this pod!

#44 Dr. Jeff Zurek: Geophysicist and Volcanologist

Podcast Episode · Going in Blind with Zach Tidwell · 2025-09-05 · 1h 26m

podcasts.apple.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 5

🧪⚒️

Glyn Williams-Jones @volcancanuck.bsky.social · Sep 5

Shared on behalf of the USGS: HVO Volcano Watch for September 4, 2025
#volcano

"Dick Fiske, one of HVO's very best"

www.usgs.gov/observatorie...

Volcano Watch

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.

www.usgs.gov

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 5

Hey random question…. Do you have some peer reviewed studies you are willing to come on the podcast to discuss!?

I typically use a researcher’s paper(s) to frame an episode around to make sure the audience understands the summary and the why! Send me a DM if willing!!!

Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 5

🧪

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · Sep 5

While sea ice melt accelerated last month across the Beaufort Sea, higher areas of sea-ice concentration continued in the East Siberian Sea. No new records will be set again this year

+ Data: nsidc.org/data/g02202/...
+ Concentration = fraction of sea ice
+ Graphic from zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...

Two polar stereographic maps side-by-side showing Arctic sea ice concentration and its anomalies relative to 1981-2010 for August 2025. Red shading is shown for less ice, and blue shading is shown for more ice. Most areas are below average for sea ice concentration along the edge of the Arctic. Continents and land are masked out in a gray shading.

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Reposted by Whimsical Wavelengths

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · Sep 4

Incredible story about an ant that lays eggs of another species (!) to create cloned males (!!) that go on to father all of the workers in the colony (!!!) www.newscientist.com/article/2494...

Queen ant makes males of another species for daughters to mate with

Bizarrely, Iberian harvester ant queens lay eggs that turn into male builder harvester ants, and some of her offspring are hybrids of the two species

www.newscientist.com

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Reposted by Whimsical Wavelengths

Marty Olliff @martyolliff.bsky.social · Sep 4

If all of your car’s electric windows except the driver’s suddenly stop working, and regardless of the dire repair scenarios that Teh Google provides, check to see if you accidentally engaged the child safety window lock before taking it to your mechanic.

Trust me on this . . .

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 3

2/2🧪⚒️ To the point, this reminds me of "Airborne Lead in Perspective" produced by the National research council in 1971. A report created to downplay the lead poisoning due to leaded ⛽...
It's amazing how much overlap between that debacle and today
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/h...
History rhymes

How the work of one researcher, Dr Clair Patterson, brought the fall of leaded gasoline and discovered the age of the Earth!

Podcast Episode · Whimsical Wavelengths - A Science Podcast · 2025-07-21 · 32m

podcasts.apple.com

Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 3

1/2 🧪⚒️Why is this happening? The data is clear. Global climate is changing at a speed that is due to us humans. And it will not be good for us. (that is a mild way of putting it)
www.latimes.com/environment/...
I see the same🤬parioted by the Fraser Institute. 🍁has it's anti science people too. More

‘Not scientifically credible’: Scientists repudiate Trump administration climate report

A group of more than 85 leading climate researchers on Tuesday publicly repudiated a Trump administration report that questions the severity of global warming.

www.latimes.com

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 1

Thank you for listening! I dislike saying this because all I want is for people to enjoy the podcast
...
leaving a rating or review in the podcast platform (Apple, Spotify etc) helps the show reach more people. Anecdotally It seems more so then posting on social media platforms.

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 1

3/3 🧪 For those that want to get involved in #Citizen #Science (PLEASE DO!) check out these apps for smartphones
Merlin: merlin.allaboutbirds.org
ebird: ebird.org/home

Also don't forget about the future when it's time www.audubon.org/community-sc...
Or
Great Backyard #Bird Count
www.birdcount.org

Merlin Bird ID - Home

Identify Bird Songs and Calls Sound ID listens to the birds around you and shows real-time suggestions for who’s singing. Compare your recording to the songs and calls in Merlin to confirm what you...

merlin.allaboutbirds.org

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 1

2/3 This Ep's guest, PhD candidate Miranda Zammarelli, research is the closest to 🧪 conditions in natural 🌎 - Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
How #birds adapt to changes in #s & #environment? How well do they share habitat, equally or do the dominant take more 🥧? Ideal #Free or #Ideal #Despotic.

Image of an Oven Bird sinning while sitting in the branches of a green leafed deciduous tree. Image taken in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

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Whimsical Wavelengths @whimsicallambda.bsky.social · Sep 1

1/3 Last encore ep before season 2 starts in 2 weeks! Here the pod showed its fitness with im-peck-able wordplay. It is for the 🐦s. At least those which have a raven-ous appetite for 📖
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/w...
If you like 🧪listen to the #podcast!

Whimsical Wavelengths - A Science Podcast

Science Podcast · Updated Biweekly · A whimsical journey through science topics hosted by Dr Jeffrey Zurek, who is a volcanologist and geophysicist. A passion for science communication, teaching, hear...

podcasts.apple.com

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