Dr. Brendan Anderson
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fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social
Dr. Brendan Anderson
@fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social
Paleobiologist. evolution and paleoclimate. Coffee enthusiast. Snail evangelist. Visiting Professor @ SUNY Oneonta. Paleontological Research Institution Research Associate. Dartmouth, KU, Cornell alum. He/him. Opinions my own. https://www.brendan-anderson
Pinned
ACTUAL GOOD NEWS EVERYONE: The Paleontological Research Institution and the Museum of the Earth have made it through the crisis!

Thanks to everyone who shared or donated-every donation mattered! Please share the good news just as widely!⚒️🧪🦑 Together we did #savePRI

www.ithaca.com/news/ithaca/...
‘Every Single Dollar Mattered’: Donations Save Museum of the Earth From Foreclosure
Just days before a year-end foreclosure deadline, the Museum of the Earth has paid off its mortgage following a wide fundraising campaign that rescued the Ithaca area landmark.
www.ithaca.com
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
SPPOOOSSSHHH... PHHHFFFFFFF... SSSSSSHHHHHHHH...

To paraphrase Bob Ross, you have to make the noises when looking at #paleoart, otherwise it doesn't work.

2018 illustration of giant Triassic ichthyosaurs Shonisaurus, surfacing in waters that once covered Nevada. #art #fossil #paleontology #sciart
January 16, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Its #FossilFriday !

Aria and Caron (2024) reported the deep origin of articulation strategies in panarthropods: evidence from a new luolishaniid lobopodian (Panarthropoda) from the Tulip Beds, Burgess Shale.

Read the study here: buff.ly/BJazJ5G

#PaleoSky #PaleoArt #NewSpecies #Fossils #Cambrian
January 16, 2026 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Knowing that the earliest form of art in human and pre-human history could be an Indonesian shell that some Homo erectus dude engraved with zigzags 500,000 years ago definitely satisfies the shell nerd in me.

#FossilFriday #PaleoSky 🏺 🦑
January 16, 2026 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Also, people going hard for Newsom, who are never, ever from California, have you noticed how many of the people who hate him are FROM California? THAT'S B/C WE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ELECT GAVIN NEWSOM AS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS & IT IS VERY NOT GREAT & WE ARE TRYING TO TELL YOU TO AVOID THAT.
January 16, 2026 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
"The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses."

Properly disposing of this hexavalent chromium costs millions. Dumping it in the river is free. Therefore, EPA says do the latter.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Seeing Zohran instantly getting a bunch of shit done in like a week makes you realize that politicians could always do that on some level if they wanted it bad enough and very few of them actually do.
January 15, 2026 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
This story about the Right’s ousting of a new law dean before she even started is insane.
Cancel culture much?
arktimes.com/arkansas-blo...
Culture warriors cancel new U of A law dean before she started - Arkansas Times
Culture warriors claim the scalp of Emily Suski, the would-be law school dean whose legal opinion on transgender athletes seems to have offended Arkansas officials.
arktimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
What we need is the episode of West Wing where CJ meets the Cartographers for Social Equality.
January 14, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
I am calling for a complete and total boycott of the Mercator projection in all news stories about Greenland until every member of the American public has seen this
January 13, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Mollusc-related Academic Grant alert

Deadline: February 28, 2026

For:malacological topic, usually within biology or paleontology, with any molluscan taxon or taxa as the focus. All scientific disciplines in studying mollusks eligible

Please see : www.conchologistsofamerica.org/grants/
🦑 #snails
Grants - coa
COA Grants to Malacology Since the inception of the program in June 1985, COA has awarded over $200,000 US in grants toward research in malacology. Individual grants range between $1,000 and $2,500. I...
www.conchologistsofamerica.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
I also like how Block is calling them "students." I feel like the bigots often forget this point. We're talking about kids, in this case a literal minor, who just wants to play with their friends.
January 13, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Starting a new thread for West Virginia v. BPJ because BlueSky is starting to time me out of the other one.

West Virginia bans trans athletes as well but this time it's been challenged by a minor.

Michael Williams, Solicitor General for West Virginia, is arguing on behalf of bigotry.
January 13, 2026 at 5:03 PM
EPA will effectively no longer consider health "Air pollution causes more than 200,000 early deaths each year in America. It drives up rates of asthma, heart disease, and stroke. It disproportionately harms children, low-income communities, and communities of color"
open.substack.com/pub/heated/p...
Air pollution denial is now EPA policy
Dirty air may kill people, but Trump's EPA won't count the bodies.
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
Today is the Smithsonian's deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."
n.pr
January 13, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
On my way to the Supreme Court where I'll be proud to support 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, West Virginia's only transgender athlete, as she opposes the state's effort to ban her from playing as herself.

Win or lose, Becky and her family are heroes for standing up for what's right
January 13, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
DOJ staff resign over the department’s disinterest in Good killing.
A new spate of Justice Department officials quit because their section didn't want to probe Renee Good's shooting
At least four leaders of the Civil Rights Division resigned because the section's head, Harmeet Dhillon, decided not to investigate shooting of Renee Good.
www.ms.now
January 13, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
And, the word of the day is now "perfidy."

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/u...
January 13, 2026 at 12:12 AM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
BREAKING: Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a “transformational” donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group. This large gift comes just months after the Trump administration shut down counseling services for queer youth.

My latest for @wired.com:
MacKenzie Scott Donates $45 Million to the Trevor Project
Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife has made a donation to the LGBTQ+ advocacy group that the organization calls “transformational.”
www.wired.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Newsom's already calling for a joining of hands with the Nazis and let atrocities be bygones.
January 10, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
Know your rights
January 10, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you."

The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"

"Learned what?" she asks

Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
January 10, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
WSJ investigation: In the past 6 months ICE agents have fired at vehicles 13 times, leading to:

* 8 people shot
* 5 of which were U.S. citizens
* 2 died
* no victims drew a weapon

The playbook: Agents box in a vehicle, block attempts to flee, then fire

www.wsj.com/us-news/vide...
Videos Show How ICE Vehicle Stops Can Escalate to Shootings
A WSJ visual investigation found that the Minneapolis ICE killing is one of 13 incidents where federal immigration agents have used deadly force against civilians in vehicles since July.
www.wsj.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Dr. Brendan Anderson
"Ocean Heat Content Sets Another Record in 2025" | Our (Yuying Pan et al) new article in Advances in Atmospheric Science: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
January 9, 2026 at 1:26 PM