Author | Lightnews

Dr Val Finlayson

@justsomeisotope.bsky.social

420 followers 490 following 530 posts

UMD Assistant Research Scientist; views entirely mine. NSF-funded #saveNSF #saveNOAA. Isotopes, volcanoes, and Earth's mantle. Midwestern by birth, sort of all over these days. Sometimes at sea, learning the stories seamounts tell. she/they

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · Apr 30

New paper out by my team, led originally by the late Jasper Konter, an amazing human being and scientist, and with important contributions from the late Paul Wessel, both of whom we lost during review.

The whole team stepped up to get this paper to the finish line.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Pacific hotspots reveal a Louisville–Ontong Java Nui tectonic link - Nature

Geochemistry and geochronology show that Samoa and Rurutu–Arago are the longest-lived Pacific hotspots, providing better constraints on plate rotation and support for a link between the Louisville vol...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

gamera obscura @ohrobin.bsky.social · 1d

I think a lot about the chance we had at the start of COVID to finally become a more compassionate, collectivist nation, and how profoundly we were failed not only by the sociopathic greed of the ruling class but by each other.

It doesn’t mean we won’t get there, but the lost opportunity haunts me.

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 1d

Remember how just a few years ago during the worst of the pandemic when we saw how the govt can actually do big things and saw that our collective health & well-being are intertwined, and then corporations got mad that they lost a modicum of power and helped fund a backlash of amnesia and fascism?

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Jeremy DeHart @jeremydehartwx.bsky.social · 3d

From a crewmember on yesterday's Teal 74 mission into now-Category 5 Hurricane #Melissa. As clear of an eye as you will see in the Atlantic basin.

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · 3d

This story is detailing EXACTLY why we need to socialize healthcare in this country.

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Why the ACA needs young people — and the looming 'death spiral' for health insurance

Young and healthy people who get Affordable Care Act health insurance are thinking about dropping coverage next year, as the government remains shutdown over health care tax credits.

www.npr.org

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Chris Levesque @levesque-chris.bsky.social · 9d

Single points of failure (like this) are generally frowned upon.

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · 11d

Oh that sounds AMAZING

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 15d

you have the right to not hang out with assholes. you deserve not to hang out with assholes. you are under 0 obligation to socially interact with assholes in your free time.

it is truly terrible that our culture tricked so many people into thinking that they’re obliged to be friends with assholes!

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 15d

we have spent the last decade witnessing a national epidemic of “it should be illegal to not hang out with me just because I’m a mean asshole” behavior

Kurtbert Barlowko @albertburneko.bsky.social · 15d

"disliking me is persecution" describes so incredibly many people's entire outlook these days defector.com/free-press-r...

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · 15d

That's an excellent decision independent of age.

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 15d

Seen in Chicago

Handmade label sticker on street pole

The scariest thing this Halloween is ice terrorizing our communities

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

ProPublica @propublica.org · 16d

People experiencing miscarriages in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves.

We created this guide for anyone who finds themselves in the same position 👇

(Published Dec. 2024)

If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life

Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselv...

www.propublica.org

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 16d

Another reminder that a 13-year study found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users.

ALL ROAD USERS.

And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all.

For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them.

Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org

Separated Bike Lanes Means Safer Streets, Study Says — Streetsblog USA

Cities that build protected lanes for cyclists end up with safer roads for people on bikes and people in cars and on foot, a new study of 12 large metropolises revealed Wednesday.

usa.streetsblog.org

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

🇵🇸Martin “Doomsday” Pfeiffer🖖🏳️‍🌈 @nuclearanthro.bsky.social · 17d

Screaming resumes.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, report says, with coral reefs facing ‘widespread dieback’

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘as fast as possible’, warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 19d

QUEEN GERTRUDE
(places her hand on HALL’s chest)

Stay, you lion-maned pair, tell me
Of your distant City of Brotherly Love,
That we may, as they say, get to know
The heft and measure of each other’s thoughts.

HALL
I can’t go for that.

OATES
No can do.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and Hall and Oates

ACT II, SCENE II Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, HALL, OATES, and Attendants. KING CLAUDIUS Welcome, gentlemen; our...

buff.ly

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

PinkNews @pinknews.bsky.social · 22d

Chiles vs Salazar: US Supreme Court case to determine future of conversion therapy bans
https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/10/07/chiles-v-salazar-us-supreme-court/?utm_content=1759987200&utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky

US Supreme Court case could decide future of conversion therapy bans

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on Chiles v Salazar this week, here's what the legal case could mean for conversion therapy.

www.thepinknews.com

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · 22d

AKA "we can't do our cash grab scheme if we do this ethically"

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 24d

One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 24d

@lataco.bsky.social first began as a blog documenting local Mexican cuisine. Now, it’s an essential reporting powerhouse to the city as Trump’s mass deportation plot unfolds.

Check out the latest from our friends at Reveal: tinyurl.com/4cm2bsdr

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 25d

Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words.

The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

J. Mijin Cha @jmijin.bsky.social · 24d

“Even today, when the planet is dark, there still is hope. Don’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you become apathetic and do nothing” Don't lose hope. Also, send Musk and Trump into space on a one-way ticket. 😍

Jane Goodall said she would launch Trump and Musk on one-way trip into space

Primatologist said in interview released after her death she would also put Putin, Xi and Netanyahu on that spaceship

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Bohemia Mountain @bohemiamountain.bsky.social · 26d

gofund.me/1f347780

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Dr. Robin Tanamachi 🌪️ @tornatrix.bsky.social · 24d

Read the entire statement about the EF5 upgrade (linked below). EF5s are, by definition, rare and extraordinary events requiring extraordinary evidence and extra scrutiny.

Science doesn’t always operate on social media-friendly time scales. It’s better to have the rating be accurate than fast.

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · 27d

And everywhere else please

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 27d

“... do you want to subsidize E-bike lanes in Portlandia?”

well…yes

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 27d

VARNEY: You canceled almost $8b of energy projects, most of them in blue states. Are you punishing the blue states?

CHRIS WRIGHT: We are punishing the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars ... do you want to subsidize E-bike lanes lanes in Portlandia?

(That's not a no!)

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Mary (geographile) @geographile.bsky.social · 29d

CW heartbreak

abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Jane Goodall, famed primatologist and conservationist, dies at 91

Jane Goodall, the most prolific primatologist of a generation, has died. She was 91 years old.

abcnews.go.com

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · Oct 1

yes please

Burrito Justice @burritojustice.bsky.social · Oct 1

quick while the government is shut down let’s all switch to metric

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Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · Sep 29

👍

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Dr Val Finlayson @justsomeisotope.bsky.social · Sep 28

I grew up in Grand Blanc. Not even sure what to think right now.

apnews.com/article/morm...

Multiple people shot at Mormon church in Michigan and shooter is down, police say

Police say multiple people have been shot at a Mormon church in Michigan, and the shooter is down. The shooting happened Sunday at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc, about...

apnews.com

Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson

AAUP @aaup.org · Sep 27

Since returning to office, the Trump admin has cut lifesaving federal science programs, medical research &grants.

The AAUP and AFT launched a campaign to halt these cuts and continue the longstanding bipartisan commitment to funding scientific research that saves & improves the lives of Americans.

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