Howard Lee
@hlee.bsky.social
Geologist and Science Writer: If you want to see what climate change can do to the planet just look at Earth's past!
https://h-lee.com/
https://h-lee.com/
Pinned
Howard Lee
@hlee.bsky.social
· Aug 11
How old is the earliest trace of life on Earth?
A recent conference sees doubts raised about the age of the oldest signs of life.
arstechnica.com
My latest article 👇 gets into how hard it is to date stuff in some of the oldest rocks on the planet, and why it matters ⚒️🧪
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
arstechnica.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Howard Lee
Since we're talking about magnets....
One of the more interesting about igneous rocks is that they have a Curie temperature.
Below that temperature, the magnetization caused by the interaction of iron in various minerals and Earth's magnetic field is "locked in."
One of the more interesting about igneous rocks is that they have a Curie temperature.
Below that temperature, the magnetization caused by the interaction of iron in various minerals and Earth's magnetic field is "locked in."
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Since we're talking about magnets....
One of the more interesting about igneous rocks is that they have a Curie temperature.
Below that temperature, the magnetization caused by the interaction of iron in various minerals and Earth's magnetic field is "locked in."
One of the more interesting about igneous rocks is that they have a Curie temperature.
Below that temperature, the magnetization caused by the interaction of iron in various minerals and Earth's magnetic field is "locked in."
Reposted by Howard Lee
A view of the mid-Tertiary andesitic porphyry of Cristo Rey in El Paso, straddling the Mexican-US border. The laccolith intruded into Cretaceous sediments, pushing them apart. @riceeeps.bsky.social @riceuniversity.bsky.social geology field trip to west texas
November 11, 2025 at 4:21 AM
A view of the mid-Tertiary andesitic porphyry of Cristo Rey in El Paso, straddling the Mexican-US border. The laccolith intruded into Cretaceous sediments, pushing them apart. @riceeeps.bsky.social @riceuniversity.bsky.social geology field trip to west texas
Reposted by Howard Lee
We surprised Rosemary and Martin yesterday.
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 PM
We surprised Rosemary and Martin yesterday.
Reposted by Howard Lee
The president was met with a flurry of boos at a NFL game. A Fox News panel thinks that was just a (really loud) select group of fans.
Fox Gushes That Liberals Will Want to Experience ‘Joy’ of Trump NFL Stadium
The president was met with a flurry of boos on Sunday. A Fox News panel thinks that was just a (really loud) select group of fans.
trib.al
November 11, 2025 at 12:40 PM
The president was met with a flurry of boos at a NFL game. A Fox News panel thinks that was just a (really loud) select group of fans.
Reposted by Howard Lee
315 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Picromerite:
- A hydrous sulphate mineral
- Forms in bedded salt deposits in the ocean and as a sublimate in fumaroles
- Its name comes from the Greek words "πικρός/pikros" (bitter) and "μέρος/meros" (part) because it contains magnesium #minerals
Picromerite:
- A hydrous sulphate mineral
- Forms in bedded salt deposits in the ocean and as a sublimate in fumaroles
- Its name comes from the Greek words "πικρός/pikros" (bitter) and "μέρος/meros" (part) because it contains magnesium #minerals
November 11, 2025 at 12:41 PM
315 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Picromerite:
- A hydrous sulphate mineral
- Forms in bedded salt deposits in the ocean and as a sublimate in fumaroles
- Its name comes from the Greek words "πικρός/pikros" (bitter) and "μέρος/meros" (part) because it contains magnesium #minerals
Picromerite:
- A hydrous sulphate mineral
- Forms in bedded salt deposits in the ocean and as a sublimate in fumaroles
- Its name comes from the Greek words "πικρός/pikros" (bitter) and "μέρος/meros" (part) because it contains magnesium #minerals
Reposted by Howard Lee
Everything that actually made America great is being destroyed
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
Lowell Observatory slashes research funding in the midst of financial struggle
Flagstaff’s Lowell Observatory plans to cut nearly all its research funding and reduce the number of paid science staff to just two positions next year.
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Everything that actually made America great is being destroyed
Reposted by Howard Lee
Are you a journalist covering COP30 looking for new and diverse sources?
Check out the Global South Climate Database.
This publicly available, searchable database features 1,000+ climate scientists and experts from the global south.
🌍🔗 bit.ly/GSClimateDatabase
Check out the Global South Climate Database.
This publicly available, searchable database features 1,000+ climate scientists and experts from the global south.
🌍🔗 bit.ly/GSClimateDatabase
November 11, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Are you a journalist covering COP30 looking for new and diverse sources?
Check out the Global South Climate Database.
This publicly available, searchable database features 1,000+ climate scientists and experts from the global south.
🌍🔗 bit.ly/GSClimateDatabase
Check out the Global South Climate Database.
This publicly available, searchable database features 1,000+ climate scientists and experts from the global south.
🌍🔗 bit.ly/GSClimateDatabase
Reposted by Howard Lee
Waking up to news 🚨 that 6 (!) Roman statues were stolen from Syria’s National Museum, in Damascus, on Monday. No details on which statues yet, but I had a few pics below from the GRB gallery with the famed Al-Lat Athena. Heartbreaking news.
thehill.com/homenews/ap/...
thehill.com/homenews/ap/...
November 11, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Waking up to news 🚨 that 6 (!) Roman statues were stolen from Syria’s National Museum, in Damascus, on Monday. No details on which statues yet, but I had a few pics below from the GRB gallery with the famed Al-Lat Athena. Heartbreaking news.
thehill.com/homenews/ap/...
thehill.com/homenews/ap/...
Reposted by Howard Lee
Great. Let the 8 splitters unite with the rest of the party and elect competent leadership to keep the party united rather than tolerate these fractures.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 10, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Great. Let the 8 splitters unite with the rest of the party and elect competent leadership to keep the party united rather than tolerate these fractures.
Reposted by Howard Lee
Yesterday too bad to describe.
November 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Yesterday too bad to describe.
Reposted by Howard Lee
Inaction is contagious. My take as we head into COP30:
Governments and Billionaires Retreat Ahead of COP30 Climate Talks
Worldwide, every other week seems to bring a new climate-related crisis. Increasingly, the response has seemed to be a dulled acceptance.
www.newyorker.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Inaction is contagious. My take as we head into COP30:
Reposted by Howard Lee
![Comic. Someone is claiming to predict the exact date of a future earthquake. Should you listen? [flowchart: start] → NO (There are big earthquakes constantly, so if anyone ever *does* figure this out, it will be immediately obvious that their method works and then the world’s seismologists will not shut up about it. You won’t need this flowchart.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreic7wdqg4w6qfevbqzzq4esd6237pojsnpwsrbb7gaxsxobqaiwazm@jpeg)
November 10, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Howard Lee
Ah. This will be the SA (with ICE being the SS). Or is it the other way round? All so very confusing. How could anyone detect signs of fascism in this mess? Maybe there is nothing to see here.
November 10, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Ah. This will be the SA (with ICE being the SS). Or is it the other way round? All so very confusing. How could anyone detect signs of fascism in this mess? Maybe there is nothing to see here.
Reposted by Howard Lee
Speaker Johnson has literally said he's "not promising anyone anything."
For once, I believe him.
For once, I believe him.
November 10, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Speaker Johnson has literally said he's "not promising anyone anything."
For once, I believe him.
For once, I believe him.
Reposted by Howard Lee
The new UNEP report is out with the latest estimates of 2100 warming outcomes under current policies, NDCs, and net-zero targets. Here is how it compares to both the IPCC scenarios and other estimates (CAT and IEA, who will release their own updates soon!).
November 4, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The new UNEP report is out with the latest estimates of 2100 warming outcomes under current policies, NDCs, and net-zero targets. Here is how it compares to both the IPCC scenarios and other estimates (CAT and IEA, who will release their own updates soon!).
Reposted by Howard Lee
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
Reposted by Howard Lee
Dems. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Dems. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory
Reposted by Howard Lee
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
November 10, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Chuck Schumer Helps Pull Democrats Back From Brink Of Courage
Reposted by Howard Lee
A new post covering some recent work on estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and pregnancy from ancient skeletons. A window has just opened a crack but it’s another fascinating area where the lives of ancient people may be encoded in their bones and teeth.
www.johnhawks.net/p/finding-ho...
www.johnhawks.net/p/finding-ho...
Finding hormone biomarkers in ancient skeletons
The widening horizon of molecular biomarkers from ancient bones and sediments may open new doors to the biology of ancient people.
www.johnhawks.net
November 2, 2025 at 2:38 PM
A new post covering some recent work on estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and pregnancy from ancient skeletons. A window has just opened a crack but it’s another fascinating area where the lives of ancient people may be encoded in their bones and teeth.
www.johnhawks.net/p/finding-ho...
www.johnhawks.net/p/finding-ho...
Reposted by Howard Lee
“Well, so why don’t you retire?” someone asked. “The member literally looked at us and goes, ‘Well, what would I do?’” nymag.com/intelligence...
November 3, 2025 at 6:50 PM
“Well, so why don’t you retire?” someone asked. “The member literally looked at us and goes, ‘Well, what would I do?’” nymag.com/intelligence...
Seems like a good idea ⚒️🧪
When science is understandable, we all win. I've started a national petition calling on all institutions of higher education, and their accreditors, to require science communication and public engagement training for all STEM degrees. Share and sign today, it only takes a few seconds: bit.ly/3LbnfHB
November 10, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Seems like a good idea ⚒️🧪
Reposted by Howard Lee
The metamorphic mineral staurolite with its distinctive penetration twinning forming a cross. It’s positively delightful!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪
November 10, 2025 at 12:23 PM
The metamorphic mineral staurolite with its distinctive penetration twinning forming a cross. It’s positively delightful!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪
Reposted by Howard Lee
Reposted by Howard Lee
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
🤯
!New #OpenAcess paper alert!
Late Pleistocene atmospheric dust dynamics reconstructed from sediment included in ice wedges from #Batagay and Central Yakutia:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Late Pleistocene atmospheric dust dynamics reconstructed from sediment included in ice wedges from #Batagay and Central Yakutia:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
East Siberian ice wedges recording dust transport variability during the Late Pleistocene - Nature Communications
Dust preserved in Siberian ice wedges reveals shifts in wind patterns during the last glacial stage. Long-range dust transport from China to the Arctic operated under similar mechanisms as today but w...
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:09 PM
🤯