Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️
@obialik.bsky.social
Sediment, climate change, and impostor syndrome | Science and SFF for the win | Writing for a living and fun | Opinions are my own (or the characters' in my head).
Academic stuff: https://obialik.weebly.com
Non-academic writing: https://ombialik.weebly.com
Academic stuff: https://obialik.weebly.com
Non-academic writing: https://ombialik.weebly.com
Pinned
BECAUSE MY MOM SAID SO
Meet Ismat and follow them as they try to navigate their identity, workplace romance, their mom, and somehow also thwart a conservative conspiracy.
itch.io: obialik.itch.io/because-my-m...
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSG7WBLY
B2R: books2read.com/u/31oj9W
🌈📚🪐 | 📚💙 | 🌈🚀💫
Meet Ismat and follow them as they try to navigate their identity, workplace romance, their mom, and somehow also thwart a conservative conspiracy.
itch.io: obialik.itch.io/because-my-m...
Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSG7WBLY
B2R: books2read.com/u/31oj9W
🌈📚🪐 | 📚💙 | 🌈🚀💫
This is a surprisingly helpful cheatsheet for anyone who has do geospatial things.
How Long is Longitude? Granted, this took me a minute to understand. Source: buff.ly/jJg7PDZ
February 7, 2026 at 9:18 AM
This is a surprisingly helpful cheatsheet for anyone who has do geospatial things.
If and when we'll have nuclear fusion - it'll still run a steam engine, since we haven't figured out a more efficient way to turn heat into electricity. People keep thinking of thermocouples, but the ones we have won't do... a solution may come from quantum. 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
February 7, 2026 at 8:12 AM
If and when we'll have nuclear fusion - it'll still run a steam engine, since we haven't figured out a more efficient way to turn heat into electricity. People keep thinking of thermocouples, but the ones we have won't do... a solution may come from quantum. 🧪
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A downer with a bit of politics.
There was a short clip in a video I saw today with Missile Command, which made me want to play it a bit. Finding a clone was easy, but once I started, it felt a bit of a bummer when I realized I actually lived through this, huddling at nights in a dark staircase.
There was a short clip in a video I saw today with Missile Command, which made me want to play it a bit. Finding a clone was easy, but once I started, it felt a bit of a bummer when I realized I actually lived through this, huddling at nights in a dark staircase.
February 6, 2026 at 4:52 PM
A downer with a bit of politics.
There was a short clip in a video I saw today with Missile Command, which made me want to play it a bit. Finding a clone was easy, but once I started, it felt a bit of a bummer when I realized I actually lived through this, huddling at nights in a dark staircase.
There was a short clip in a video I saw today with Missile Command, which made me want to play it a bit. Finding a clone was easy, but once I started, it felt a bit of a bummer when I realized I actually lived through this, huddling at nights in a dark staircase.
Microgrids are useful tools that allow communities to integrate renewables and increase resilience. But at the larger scale, their implementation has to be managed to minimize exacerbating existing inequalities between communities. 🧪
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 6, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Microgrids are useful tools that allow communities to integrate renewables and increase resilience. But at the larger scale, their implementation has to be managed to minimize exacerbating existing inequalities between communities. 🧪
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
It's the little things you can't get here that sometimes drive me crazy. Take Cheddar Powder, a delicious condiment with no local supplier, and it's unclear if you can legally import it.
Maybe it's time to get a spice grinder and make my own blends.
Maybe it's time to get a spice grinder and make my own blends.
February 6, 2026 at 12:29 PM
It's the little things you can't get here that sometimes drive me crazy. Take Cheddar Powder, a delicious condiment with no local supplier, and it's unclear if you can legally import it.
Maybe it's time to get a spice grinder and make my own blends.
Maybe it's time to get a spice grinder and make my own blends.
Once I realized how similar the form is to a Knight Abominant, I had to give her a tale.
Time to fix all the holes and see if it can be printed.
Time to fix all the holes and see if it can be printed.
February 6, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Once I realized how similar the form is to a Knight Abominant, I had to give her a tale.
Time to fix all the holes and see if it can be printed.
Time to fix all the holes and see if it can be printed.
#WeekendReading: Ouyang et al. on the Phanerozoic onset of large-scale continental weathering. It does lean on K/Al, which I am having some issues with, but a good amount of other proxies show up as well. 🧪⚒️
Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
February 6, 2026 at 5:40 AM
#WeekendReading: Ouyang et al. on the Phanerozoic onset of large-scale continental weathering. It does lean on K/Al, which I am having some issues with, but a good amount of other proxies show up as well. 🧪⚒️
Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Link: agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
Neurotics and sexual fantasies... yep, went straight to read the original study. The correlation with depression is weird, you'd think that would suppress rather than enhance, and if any the fact that intimate fantasies are the least common is not what I expected. 🧪
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
February 5, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Neurotics and sexual fantasies... yep, went straight to read the original study. The correlation with depression is weird, you'd think that would suppress rather than enhance, and if any the fact that intimate fantasies are the least common is not what I expected. 🧪
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
I sort of love the fact that the baen of so many old plots is the handy smartphone.
(Then again, some of those plots would crumble anyway if people just talked to each other, so they might find smartphones rather useful)
#WritingCommunity
(Then again, some of those plots would crumble anyway if people just talked to each other, so they might find smartphones rather useful)
#WritingCommunity
February 5, 2026 at 1:09 PM
I sort of love the fact that the baen of so many old plots is the handy smartphone.
(Then again, some of those plots would crumble anyway if people just talked to each other, so they might find smartphones rather useful)
#WritingCommunity
(Then again, some of those plots would crumble anyway if people just talked to each other, so they might find smartphones rather useful)
#WritingCommunity
So often, I get someone following me here, liking a few posts, maybe leaves a comment, and then I never hear from them again. I checked a few, some dropped off the platform, some follow 10Ks, and I guess I just vanish there, and some... apparently just don't like anything else I post.
February 5, 2026 at 7:36 AM
So often, I get someone following me here, liking a few posts, maybe leaves a comment, and then I never hear from them again. I checked a few, some dropped off the platform, some follow 10Ks, and I guess I just vanish there, and some... apparently just don't like anything else I post.
This one is a bit of a headscratcher, but is interesting. The authors looked at the relationship between nightmares and cardiovascular disease. Controlling for PTSD, they argue there is a relationship, although directionality isn't clear to me. 🧪
Link: academic.oup.com/sleep/articl...
Link: academic.oup.com/sleep/articl...
February 5, 2026 at 6:05 AM
This one is a bit of a headscratcher, but is interesting. The authors looked at the relationship between nightmares and cardiovascular disease. Controlling for PTSD, they argue there is a relationship, although directionality isn't clear to me. 🧪
Link: academic.oup.com/sleep/articl...
Link: academic.oup.com/sleep/articl...
The danger in wanting something in a model, and knowing just enough digital sculpting to get into trouble, is that you go "I'll just take this old digibash and add some fluting," and suddenly the evening is gone as you're reworking an entire new model.
February 4, 2026 at 8:56 PM
The danger in wanting something in a model, and knowing just enough digital sculpting to get into trouble, is that you go "I'll just take this old digibash and add some fluting," and suddenly the evening is gone as you're reworking an entire new model.
Nerinea are an extinct type of fossil sea snails. They used to build huge banks in the Mesozoic, their distribution expanding and contracting latitudinally as the oceans and global climate shifted. 🧪⚒️
Link: pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
Link: pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
February 4, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Nerinea are an extinct type of fossil sea snails. They used to build huge banks in the Mesozoic, their distribution expanding and contracting latitudinally as the oceans and global climate shifted. 🧪⚒️
Link: pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
Link: pubs.geoscienceworld.org/sepm/palaios...
Going over some outreach document and mood is "I want to be famous, and I don't mind taking all of you with me if that's what it takes to get there".
February 4, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Going over some outreach document and mood is "I want to be famous, and I don't mind taking all of you with me if that's what it takes to get there".
Clinker is a residue from burned coal, and it's essential to make most modern cements. Some clays are a promising alternative (with some needed adjustment to concrete laying if they are used). 🧪⚒️
Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
February 4, 2026 at 6:04 AM
Clinker is a residue from burned coal, and it's essential to make most modern cements. Some clays are a promising alternative (with some needed adjustment to concrete laying if they are used). 🧪⚒️
Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
You know, I get why companies keep trying to shift us to use their app on a phone - it's a much worse experience there.
You can't run ad blockers and counter scripts, giving them more control over the experience and content; also, you can't move the content to the background and do something else.
You can't run ad blockers and counter scripts, giving them more control over the experience and content; also, you can't move the content to the background and do something else.
February 3, 2026 at 8:33 PM
You know, I get why companies keep trying to shift us to use their app on a phone - it's a much worse experience there.
You can't run ad blockers and counter scripts, giving them more control over the experience and content; also, you can't move the content to the background and do something else.
You can't run ad blockers and counter scripts, giving them more control over the experience and content; also, you can't move the content to the background and do something else.
You know, I might be being badly influenced by @loricaclothing.bsky.social, but I can't but not think that we need a bit more fluting in our sci-fi armor designs.
(If nothing else, it'll be fun to paint on #minatures, sort of want to see how it'll work with dry brushing)
(If nothing else, it'll be fun to paint on #minatures, sort of want to see how it'll work with dry brushing)
February 3, 2026 at 6:28 PM
You know, I might be being badly influenced by @loricaclothing.bsky.social, but I can't but not think that we need a bit more fluting in our sci-fi armor designs.
(If nothing else, it'll be fun to paint on #minatures, sort of want to see how it'll work with dry brushing)
(If nothing else, it'll be fun to paint on #minatures, sort of want to see how it'll work with dry brushing)
Experiments are a powerful tool to answer many geochemical questions. That said, they also take a lot of time and physical effort. The experiment I'm running this week is keeping me in the lab every day well past 2000.
February 3, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Experiments are a powerful tool to answer many geochemical questions. That said, they also take a lot of time and physical effort. The experiment I'm running this week is keeping me in the lab every day well past 2000.
Who are all these people, and why do they all care about the Devonian so much?
(context, some Devonian papers I was involved in get relatively more trafic then papers I was involved with on, let's say, the Cretaceous)
(context, some Devonian papers I was involved in get relatively more trafic then papers I was involved with on, let's say, the Cretaceous)
February 3, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Who are all these people, and why do they all care about the Devonian so much?
(context, some Devonian papers I was involved in get relatively more trafic then papers I was involved with on, let's say, the Cretaceous)
(context, some Devonian papers I was involved in get relatively more trafic then papers I was involved with on, let's say, the Cretaceous)
Work in in vaccume, such as on Luna, in a pressure suit, or by a robot, is energy-intensive. Trying to minimize energy expense is critical to get stuff done there, and being smart about using local unprocessed stones in an optimal way. 🧪
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
February 3, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Work in in vaccume, such as on Luna, in a pressure suit, or by a robot, is energy-intensive. Trying to minimize energy expense is critical to get stuff done there, and being smart about using local unprocessed stones in an optimal way. 🧪
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s44...
I rather like this drawing by Hayon 427 of the IOLR building (where I work now). Managed to get a hold of a sticker that was made from it for my laptop, and rather happy with it.
If the institute ever gets a souvenir store, we need to sell these (and the socks, there is a version on socks)
If the institute ever gets a souvenir store, we need to sell these (and the socks, there is a version on socks)
February 3, 2026 at 1:05 PM
I rather like this drawing by Hayon 427 of the IOLR building (where I work now). Managed to get a hold of a sticker that was made from it for my laptop, and rather happy with it.
If the institute ever gets a souvenir store, we need to sell these (and the socks, there is a version on socks)
If the institute ever gets a souvenir store, we need to sell these (and the socks, there is a version on socks)
Someone reminded me recently that when I applied for undergraduate, it was for chemistry, but I wasn't accepted.
I moved far away from that (was almost a structural geologist at some point) and yet somehow ended up hired as an environmental chemist.
Life is weird sometimes.
I moved far away from that (was almost a structural geologist at some point) and yet somehow ended up hired as an environmental chemist.
Life is weird sometimes.
February 3, 2026 at 10:57 AM
Someone reminded me recently that when I applied for undergraduate, it was for chemistry, but I wasn't accepted.
I moved far away from that (was almost a structural geologist at some point) and yet somehow ended up hired as an environmental chemist.
Life is weird sometimes.
I moved far away from that (was almost a structural geologist at some point) and yet somehow ended up hired as an environmental chemist.
Life is weird sometimes.
We have an open position for an analytical chemist, the position is in Haifa. Contact via the email in the ad.
יש לנו משרה פתוחה לכימאי.ת אנליטי.ת, העבודה בחיפה, יצירת קשר באמצעות הדואל במודעה.
יש לנו משרה פתוחה לכימאי.ת אנליטי.ת, העבודה בחיפה, יצירת קשר באמצעות הדואל במודעה.
February 3, 2026 at 7:36 AM
We have an open position for an analytical chemist, the position is in Haifa. Contact via the email in the ad.
יש לנו משרה פתוחה לכימאי.ת אנליטי.ת, העבודה בחיפה, יצירת קשר באמצעות הדואל במודעה.
יש לנו משרה פתוחה לכימאי.ת אנליטי.ת, העבודה בחיפה, יצירת קשר באמצעות הדואל במודעה.
One of the things that really suck about getting old is just how hard it is to retain or grow muscle mass. One reasons related to T, but another is a growth regulator called mTORC1. The good news is that keeping active and exercising helps keep that in check. 🧪
Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
![Drosophila DEAF1 regulates aging- related muscle weakness via mTORC1. (A–C). Deaf1 knockdown alleviates, while overexpression worsens, aging- induced muscle wasting. Experimental design using Mef2- Gal4, Mef2- Gal4>UAS- Deaf1, and Mef2- Gal4>Deaf1- RNAi (A). Muscle function was assessed by climbing assay at 1, 3, and 6 wk (B). Muscle cross- sections were stained with phalloidin to visualize actin organization and assess muscle morphology. [Scale bar, 20 µm (C)].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ywwbhwuq4sszjve7kdshnahd/bafkreidaheugiligljtqbrm2o7yuob7i3wsprk3je5fciw2z7almmhcsqy@jpeg)
February 3, 2026 at 6:27 AM
One of the things that really suck about getting old is just how hard it is to retain or grow muscle mass. One reasons related to T, but another is a growth regulator called mTORC1. The good news is that keeping active and exercising helps keep that in check. 🧪
Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Meanwhile said scientists won't say a peep about how it's applicable to flood or wildfire risk unless I threaten to come after their toenails with pliers.
(I promise this only happened once)
(I promise this only happened once)
February 2, 2026 at 10:03 PM