Zoltán Sylvester
@zzsylvester.bsky.social
Research professor at UT Austin | geology | sedimentology | rivers | python | mountains | running | opinions are my own | he/him
zsylvester.github.io
zsylvester.github.io
Pinned
Zoltán Sylvester
@zzsylvester.bsky.social
· Sep 30
A thread about how two geologists went to a beach with a plywood board and a protractor to see how variable wind directions influence bedform orientation - and published a paper in Science that blew my mind. 🧪⚒️🧵 1/23
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
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 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Moqui marbles - concretions from the Navajo Sandstone in Utah (images created from a photo taken in the field) 🧪⚒️
November 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Moqui marbles - concretions from the Navajo Sandstone in Utah (images created from a photo taken in the field) 🧪⚒️
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
I honestly think we would all be a lot more productive if papers were bullet points with plots.
November 14, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Dang, hard disagree. The best papers to write and read are works of art, not merely a list of data and statements.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Don’t let LLMs take this away too, for gods sake.
Trying to decide which Matplotlib colormap is a good colormap for differentiating grains in an image
November 14, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Trying to decide which Matplotlib colormap is a good colormap for differentiating grains in an image
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
Tectonic plate puzzle anyone? 🌎
Made by me, one at a time. I’m planning to have a really limited number available before the holidays - if you want to find out when I do, sign up to my newsletter! I will share them through it first.
Sign up > www.luciaperezdiaz.com#newsletter
(No spam, I promise)
Made by me, one at a time. I’m planning to have a really limited number available before the holidays - if you want to find out when I do, sign up to my newsletter! I will share them through it first.
Sign up > www.luciaperezdiaz.com#newsletter
(No spam, I promise)
November 11, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Tectonic plate puzzle anyone? 🌎
Made by me, one at a time. I’m planning to have a really limited number available before the holidays - if you want to find out when I do, sign up to my newsletter! I will share them through it first.
Sign up > www.luciaperezdiaz.com#newsletter
(No spam, I promise)
Made by me, one at a time. I’m planning to have a really limited number available before the holidays - if you want to find out when I do, sign up to my newsletter! I will share them through it first.
Sign up > www.luciaperezdiaz.com#newsletter
(No spam, I promise)
As I said before, I am not a big fan (to say the least) of using AI for writing or generating images / movies, but it has completely changed the game when it comes to coding. Again, this does not mean that you don’t need to know anything about coding or that the work is less complicated/intense.
November 9, 2025 at 8:41 PM
As I said before, I am not a big fan (to say the least) of using AI for writing or generating images / movies, but it has completely changed the game when it comes to coding. Again, this does not mean that you don’t need to know anything about coding or that the work is less complicated/intense.
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
lol she got his ass and he knows it
November 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
lol she got his ass and he knows it
I got this cutting board and these coasters from Kurtis Burmeister’s Etsy shop and they are among my favorite objects in the house www.etsy.com/shop/Burmeis...
November 9, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I got this cutting board and these coasters from Kurtis Burmeister’s Etsy shop and they are among my favorite objects in the house www.etsy.com/shop/Burmeis...
I just blocked all emails from MDPI journals in my email app. They are relentless. They are the worst.
October 31, 2025 at 1:04 PM
I just blocked all emails from MDPI journals in my email app. They are relentless. They are the worst.
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
The perplexing (to me, anyway) phenomenon of laminated loess deposits (Bignell Hill, Nebraska)
October 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
The perplexing (to me, anyway) phenomenon of laminated loess deposits (Bignell Hill, Nebraska)
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
A new study argues that in the past, Cascadia quakes have triggered the San Andreas to go off, and that it could happen again.
But other experts, while recognizing that may technically be possible, want more evidence.
Read more at NatGeo:
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
But other experts, while recognizing that may technically be possible, want more evidence.
Read more at NatGeo:
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
How ‘the big one’ near Seattle could trigger an earthquake in San Francisco
Are two of the deadliest earthquake zones in North America linked? It's possible—but controversial.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:43 PM
A new study argues that in the past, Cascadia quakes have triggered the San Andreas to go off, and that it could happen again.
But other experts, while recognizing that may technically be possible, want more evidence.
Read more at NatGeo:
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
But other experts, while recognizing that may technically be possible, want more evidence.
Read more at NatGeo:
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
I was recently interviewed by @drlauraguertin.bsky.social as part of her 'Tales from the Deep' series focused on the people involved in scientific ocean drilling ⚒️🧪⛴️ –– lots of great stories from many others there to check out
archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i...
archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i...
“I kept asking all these questions like, How do we know that? The other scientists [would respond] - Yeah, how do we know that?”
Virginia Tech sedimentologist Brian Romans knows how scientific ocean drilling can be a particularly good mechanism or vehicle for pivoting in a career – that’s because he has many examples to share a...
archive.storycorps.org
October 23, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I was recently interviewed by @drlauraguertin.bsky.social as part of her 'Tales from the Deep' series focused on the people involved in scientific ocean drilling ⚒️🧪⛴️ –– lots of great stories from many others there to check out
archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i...
archive.storycorps.org/interviews/i...
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
It can not be exaggerated just how wild the climate of the Pleistocene was in which we evolved. All of recorded history is in pixel at the very top of the very last zigzag, all the way to the right of this graph. From a new paper on sea level over past 4.5 million yrs www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
It can not be exaggerated just how wild the climate of the Pleistocene was in which we evolved. All of recorded history is in pixel at the very top of the very last zigzag, all the way to the right of this graph. From a new paper on sea level over past 4.5 million yrs www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
Next week at the #GSA2025, I'll be presenting my newly developed Python tool, 𝒑𝒚𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒆𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓. We apply it to quantitatively re-examine the correlatability of Cascadia deep-water turbidites, previously interpreted as synchronous deposits of paleo-earthquakes.
Abstract: lnkd.in/gJ_KHH2j
Abstract: lnkd.in/gJ_KHH2j
October 17, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Next week at the #GSA2025, I'll be presenting my newly developed Python tool, 𝒑𝒚𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒆𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓. We apply it to quantitatively re-examine the correlatability of Cascadia deep-water turbidites, previously interpreted as synchronous deposits of paleo-earthquakes.
Abstract: lnkd.in/gJ_KHH2j
Abstract: lnkd.in/gJ_KHH2j
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
Headed out into the field. Josh printed out 3D maps of the region for reference. ⚒️
October 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Headed out into the field. Josh printed out 3D maps of the region for reference. ⚒️
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
Did you know that sand records its transport history as it moves across Earth's surface? We developed a new tool to investigate billion-year-old rocks by looking at microscopic features on zircon sand grains. Check out our new paper in @geosociety.bsky.social to see how!
doi.org/10.1130/G537...
doi.org/10.1130/G537...
October 16, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Did you know that sand records its transport history as it moves across Earth's surface? We developed a new tool to investigate billion-year-old rocks by looking at microscopic features on zircon sand grains. Check out our new paper in @geosociety.bsky.social to see how!
doi.org/10.1130/G537...
doi.org/10.1130/G537...
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
It was a pleasure to contribute to this article, which talks about how AI contributes to seismology - indeed, we have seen tremendous progress in the use of machine learning to detect small events.
1/
1/
“Like putting on glasses for the first time”—how AI improves earthquake detection
AI is “comically good” at detecting small earthquakes—here’s why that matters.
arstechnica.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:14 PM
It was a pleasure to contribute to this article, which talks about how AI contributes to seismology - indeed, we have seen tremendous progress in the use of machine learning to detect small events.
1/
1/
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
An excellent response by MIT’s President Sally Kornbluf rejecting the Trump compact.
Other universities should do the same.
Other universities should do the same.
October 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
An excellent response by MIT’s President Sally Kornbluf rejecting the Trump compact.
Other universities should do the same.
Other universities should do the same.
It's not a big deal but I find it annoying when I am told to use only one slide (or three, whatever) when giving a short talk. I am old enough to figure out how to use visuals in a limited amount of time; let me decide if I want to use fifty slides or none
October 8, 2025 at 3:38 PM
It's not a big deal but I find it annoying when I am told to use only one slide (or three, whatever) when giving a short talk. I am old enough to figure out how to use visuals in a limited amount of time; let me decide if I want to use fifty slides or none
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
ah the leaves are turning and the men are giving each other prizes again the first whispers of winter
October 8, 2025 at 12:37 PM
ah the leaves are turning and the men are giving each other prizes again the first whispers of winter
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.
October 4, 2025 at 10:33 AM
It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
🚨FOUR tenure track positions in my dept @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social in applied & computational geophysics, subsurface geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and sustainable soil science. careers.ucalgary.ca/search/jobs?...
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
Opportunities
matching 'earth'
Search 4 Careers available at University of Calgary.
careers.ucalgary.ca
October 3, 2025 at 5:57 PM
🚨FOUR tenure track positions in my dept @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social in applied & computational geophysics, subsurface geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and sustainable soil science. careers.ucalgary.ca/search/jobs?...
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
(please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦
Reposted by Zoltán Sylvester
“It trades autonomy for subservience, academic freedom for censorship, gender science and history for ideology, and the best interests of UT students and faculty for the favor of an administration intent on destroying our university.” www.texastribune.org/2025/10/02/u...
UT-Austin considering offer to adopt Trump priorities for funding advantages
The funding deal would reportedly ask the university to adopt a stricter definition of gender and a tuition freeze, among other conditions.
www.texastribune.org
October 2, 2025 at 8:30 PM
“It trades autonomy for subservience, academic freedom for censorship, gender science and history for ideology, and the best interests of UT students and faculty for the favor of an administration intent on destroying our university.” www.texastribune.org/2025/10/02/u...