Dr. Lynne Elkins
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ljelkins.bsky.social
Dr. Lynne Elkins
@ljelkins.bsky.social
Volcanologist, petrologist, isotope geochemist, & geology instructor and researcher at West Chester U! I study the Earth using fieldwork, geochemistry, and computational modeling.
**Personal account, does not reflect employer positions.
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
THEN YOU PURCHASE THEM AND DO NOT USE THE PROPERTY OF OTHERS
November 14, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
A new state-by-state evaluation of the projected energy and water use of "AI" data centers in the US. Looks… real bad. Like, "undoing tech sector climate gains" bad.

Strongly recommends immediately ensuring any & all new "AI" data centers to run on existing & expanded renewables grids. Which… yeah.
Environmental impact and net-zero pathways for sustainable artificial intelligence servers in the USA - Nature Sustainability
The rapid expansion of AI server installations in the United States poses sustainability challenges in terms of water usage and carbon emissions. A study now quantifies these potential impacts and out...
www.nature.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Sounds exciting! Now just stop working with Wiley (or any for-profit publisher that sells our stuff to AI) and stop charging APCs for open access, and we'll really be talking. It's long past time to reconsider the (not-for-profit) society publishing model at AGU.

Relevant: bsky.app/profile/paol...
AGU Publications is pleased to welcome five new Editors-in-Chief to our journals program in 2026!🎉

We thank the outgoing EiCs for their leadership and contributions during their terms, and offer a warm welcome to their successors!

🔗 buff.ly/PZKSOuC

#AGUPubs #Publishing
Announcing New AGU Journal Editors-in-Chief Starting in 2026 - Eos
AGU is excited to welcome new Editors-in-Chief for five of our journals in 2026.
buff.ly
November 12, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
UPDATE: Kp8 (EIGHT!)
November 12, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
“Nobody knows what magnets are”
November 12, 2025 at 3:34 AM
I want to see an aurora WITH MY EYEBALLS
November 12, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
Very disheartened by the UNL chancellor's decision to recommend the Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Department for elimination, despite the opposition from the Academic Planning Committee's vote.

Both the opposing and in favor summary noted the value EAS provides to the discipline, and both sides
November 11, 2025 at 3:23 AM
They are really planning to go through with these cuts at Nebraska, despite recommendations not to. Unbelievable.

If you want to hire highly qualified, very successful earth and atmospheric sciences faculty in teaching and research, quite a few are probably looking for jobs for next year.
Final Budget Reduction Plan | Budget Process | Nebraska
budgetprocess.unl.edu
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
Rosalind Franklin died at 37 of ovarian cancer attributed to radiation exposure from the methods she & her assistant used to photograph a cross-section of the DNA double helix.

Meanwhile, Watson won a Nobel off that work & survived to the ripe old age of 97 by simply: stealing those notes!
November 7, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
This is all to say that yes Watson was a dyed in the wool bigot, but we shouldn't forget that was he was also a huckster.
November 7, 2025 at 9:00 PM
James Watson was a deeply hateful human being who stole the credit for the work he was celebrated for, and apparently was unable to refrain from offensive comments on almost any public occasion.
November 7, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
It's really important to note that not only was Watson a racist and misogynist but his contribution to the double helix was listening to a Rosalind Franklin lecture and getting mad because Francis Crick wouldn't invite him to his sex parties.
November 7, 2025 at 7:59 PM
To be fair, the actual difference between these groups (criminals dressed as thugs doing violence for profit, and officially recognized thugs who do violence for fun) is paper thin to nonexistent.
November 5, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Feeling this today
there was a time i never thought i could hate a politician more than i hated that guy. in retrospect, very naive of me
November 4, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
They fired me from the paleontology department cause I kept drawings the dinosaurs too sexy
November 3, 2025 at 2:11 AM
This is going to be a completely niche comment for allergy sufferers, but wow, the OTC version of azelastine tastes really weird. They have obviously added sweet flavoring to it to mask the horrendous bitterness. I'm not sure how I feel about it!
November 3, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
as a bird artist, in honor of tonight’s game i have attempted to draw the gorgeous blue jay as accurately as possible. as always please let me know if you have any constructive criticism
October 31, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This is an extremely bad idea.
November 1, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
Melissa is the worst Atlantic storm you could imagine, and it’s making landfall in Jamaica as I write this. Very few places on the planet have experienced conditions like some portions of Jamaica will in the coming hours. Our thoughts are with the Caribbean. Details below or at theeyewall.com.
Melissa is now a top 5 storm all-time, and it is about to make landfall in Jamaica
Jamaica is experiencing impacts that few places have ever experienced from a hurricane
open.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:28 PM
WHOA
UTTERLY SURREAL LOW ANGLE GLACIER SLIDE!! 😮😱

On Saturday at 11:00 am, a 2 km-long, 25 m-high, and 150-200 m in width section detached off the Ismoil Somoni Glacier (Tajikistan) and slid down the gorge! 🧊🌊

asiaplustj.info/en/node/354309
📽️ via @volcaholic1
October 28, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I have designed a (if I may say so) pretty awesome Mineralogy lesson using asbestos grain mounts, and I'm pretty excited about it, but I also had to make asbestos grain mounts*. That was a little harrowing.

*in a fume hood with abundant safety precautions, but still
October 28, 2025 at 4:31 PM
By the time the eye makes landfall, the island has already been battered by the leading edge for hours. I hope people have access to shelters on high ground and are as safe as possible, under the circumstances. It's awful to watch this in slow motion from afar (but worse to be in it).
October 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Recharging the aquifer around here in eastern PA would be nice! Our property is normally riparian and very squishy. But the creeks and pond have been bone-dry for weeks now, and the smell of decomposing little fishes and tadpoles is sad and unpleasant.
Significant precipitation finally headed for areas of the northeast that are in severe and extreme hydrological drought
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
My feed this morning reminds me of that tennis match the BBC liveblogged. I take it there was a game of perpetual baseball last night?
October 28, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Reposted by Dr. Lynne Elkins
What we're witnessing with #Melissa is ultra rare in the history of known hurricanes in the Atlantic. This level of sustained intensity and feasting on every joule of ocean heat content without any real disruption is incredible.

Not hyperbole: Jamaica is facing a generational catastrophic event.
October 28, 2025 at 2:23 AM