Dr Val Finlayson
@justsomeisotope.bsky.social
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
Pinned
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
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...
The whole team stepped up to get this paper to the finish line.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
We’re so close to the end, wrapping this whole horrible thing up, can you help or share please? It’d mean the whole world to me. I really don’t want to have to ask any more. Thank you ❤️
gofund.me/49faaee01
gofund.me/49faaee01
Donate to Help Matt replace tools burned in Eaton fire., organized by Matt O'Brien
As a member of the Altadena community for over a decade, I’m absolutely dev… Matt O'Brien needs your support for Help Matt replace tools burned in Eaton fire.
gofund.me
November 28, 2025 at 10:55 PM
We’re so close to the end, wrapping this whole horrible thing up, can you help or share please? It’d mean the whole world to me. I really don’t want to have to ask any more. Thank you ❤️
gofund.me/49faaee01
gofund.me/49faaee01
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
The land grant University System shows that a University System is for everyone of all ages, not just enrolled students through extension work
the economic success of the U.S. is significantly built on the land grant universities and in particular their excellent agricultural science tradition.
Really important to stress that the Crown Jewels of the US higher education system were never the Ivies or elite SLACs (other countries have equivalents of these) but the well-funded, large, cheap, and excellently staffed public state university systems bringing high quality education to the masses.
November 23, 2025 at 6:53 PM
The land grant University System shows that a University System is for everyone of all ages, not just enrolled students through extension work
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
There has literally never been a universal basic income trial program that didn't deliver real and measurable results above and beyond any other form of social welfare, and every time another concludes with the same findings the powers that be go "interesting! Anyway," and pretend it wouldn't work.
November 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM
There has literally never been a universal basic income trial program that didn't deliver real and measurable results above and beyond any other form of social welfare, and every time another concludes with the same findings the powers that be go "interesting! Anyway," and pretend it wouldn't work.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
Time to post the Tony Hoagland November poem again
November 18, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Time to post the Tony Hoagland November poem again
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
I was just handed this puppy.
November 16, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I was just handed this puppy.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
We’re so close, I can nearly see the finish line. Can you help or share to finally shut me up? I just want to get back to feeling like I have a normal life and a purpose. Thanks friends 🙏
I hope everyone has a restful Sunday. A couple of wonderful people have helped this weekend, and it has really lifted my spirits. I’m still hopeful we can close this out this weekend. If you can help or share, I’d really appreciate it!!
gofund.me/85d838153
gofund.me/85d838153
Donate to Help Matt replace tools burned in Eaton fire., organized by Matt O'Brien
As a member of the Altadena community for over a decade, I’m absolutely dev… Matt O'Brien needs your support for Help Matt replace tools burned in Eaton fire.
gofund.me
November 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
We’re so close, I can nearly see the finish line. Can you help or share to finally shut me up? I just want to get back to feeling like I have a normal life and a purpose. Thanks friends 🙏
Days since I've washed a tissue: 0
November 16, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Days since I've washed a tissue: 0
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
Get in, losers, we’re going to the Cambrian Explosion.
ZOMG LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THE SHALE
Okay, so the Burgess Shale is a fossil bed in British Columbia that contains a whole bunch of fossils of weirdass creatures from the Cambrian era, over 500 million years ago. But the great thing about the shale is that it has fossilized SOFT PARTS!
Okay, so the Burgess Shale is a fossil bed in British Columbia that contains a whole bunch of fossils of weirdass creatures from the Cambrian era, over 500 million years ago. But the great thing about the shale is that it has fossilized SOFT PARTS!
November 14, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Get in, losers, we’re going to the Cambrian Explosion.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
I've been a bit quiet the last two weeks. Caught the classic early autumn community cold, and, well, a break's not so bad now and again.
But today's thread's about something you're probably already aware of—it's the 50th anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
But today's thread's about something you're probably already aware of—it's the 50th anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
November 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I've been a bit quiet the last two weeks. Caught the classic early autumn community cold, and, well, a break's not so bad now and again.
But today's thread's about something you're probably already aware of—it's the 50th anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
But today's thread's about something you're probably already aware of—it's the 50th anniversary of the loss of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
November 10, 2025 at 4:31 AM
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
It's like Chuck Schumer wakes up every day by asking "what can I do to make young people despise my party even more?"
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
It's like Chuck Schumer wakes up every day by asking "what can I do to make young people despise my party even more?"
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
This is a really remarkable piece of writing and in its particulars it describes so, so many people
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:31 AM
This is a really remarkable piece of writing and in its particulars it describes so, so many people
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
I still remember my anthropology professor’s favorite joke from college:
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I still remember my anthropology professor’s favorite joke from college:
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
November 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The #FindThatLizard Scholarship is accepting applications until 12/10.
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
We fund girls, women, and gender non conforming persons pursuing herpetology🦎🐍🐸🐢
I can’t wait to read your application! earynmcgee.com/findthatliza...
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
Today seems like a good day… well, full stop, really. But also a good day to learn about the Project for the New American Century and how its architects will all burn in hell for eternity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project...
Project for the New American Century - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 4, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Today seems like a good day… well, full stop, really. But also a good day to learn about the Project for the New American Century and how its architects will all burn in hell for eternity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project...
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
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.
It doesn’t mean we won’t get there, but the lost opportunity haunts me.
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?
October 30, 2025 at 4:02 AM
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.
It doesn’t mean we won’t get there, but the lost opportunity haunts me.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
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.
October 27, 2025 at 4:11 PM
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.
This story is detailing EXACTLY why we need to socialize healthcare in this country.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
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
October 27, 2025 at 2:37 PM
This story is detailing EXACTLY why we need to socialize healthcare in this country.
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
www.npr.org/sections/sho...
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
Single points of failure (like this) are generally frowned upon.
October 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Single points of failure (like this) are generally frowned upon.
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
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!
it is truly terrible that our culture tricked so many people into thinking that they’re obliged to be friends with assholes!
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
"disliking me is persecution" describes so incredibly many people's entire outlook these days defector.com/free-press-r...
October 15, 2025 at 11:03 PM
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!
it is truly terrible that our culture tricked so many people into thinking that they’re obliged to be friends with assholes!
Reposted by Dr Val Finlayson
