Riley Balikian
@rbalik.bsky.social
Geophysics | Geospatial | Water | Resilience
Saw an aurora tonight for the first time, in Central Illinois of all places
November 12, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Saw an aurora tonight for the first time, in Central Illinois of all places
Reposted by Riley Balikian
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
November 3, 2025 at 8:17 PM
New video: A glacier on Antarctica’s Eastern Peninsula experienced the fastest retreat recorded in modern history—in just two months, nearly 50 percent of the glacier disintegrated. Watch this video to understand what happened. Study by @ciresnews #Antarctica #glaciermelt
Reposted by Riley Balikian
If you're a storymap kind of person, here's one that nicely explains what's happening & why with the glacial lake outburst flooding now underway on the Mendenhall River near Juneau. #akwx #ClimateChange #Flood #Glacier @spiraledu.bsky.social @alaska.bsky.social
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/72ce...
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/72ce...
Glacier Outburst Floods: Mendenhall Glacier
Every year since 2011, Juneau, Alaska, has been impacted by a unique type of flood that can only occur near places with glaciers.
storymaps.arcgis.com
August 13, 2025 at 1:42 AM
If you're a storymap kind of person, here's one that nicely explains what's happening & why with the glacial lake outburst flooding now underway on the Mendenhall River near Juneau. #akwx #ClimateChange #Flood #Glacier @spiraledu.bsky.social @alaska.bsky.social
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/72ce...
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/72ce...
Reposted by Riley Balikian
This interactive online map is a must for animal tracking enthusiasts. We see the travel paths of GPS tagged whales. This is who I can spot in my neck of the woods (or seas) if I wasn't constantly looking at maps. Make sure to explore your favourite regions. Source: buff.ly/siQJUb3
June 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
This interactive online map is a must for animal tracking enthusiasts. We see the travel paths of GPS tagged whales. This is who I can spot in my neck of the woods (or seas) if I wasn't constantly looking at maps. Make sure to explore your favourite regions. Source: buff.ly/siQJUb3
Reposted by Riley Balikian
I am speechless...
>> First fault movement ever filmed. M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar
m.youtube.com/watch?v=77ub...
>> First fault movement ever filmed. M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar
m.youtube.com/watch?v=77ub...
First fault movement ever filmed. M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar
YouTube video by 2025 Sagaing Earthquake Archive
m.youtube.com
May 12, 2025 at 1:17 AM
I am speechless...
>> First fault movement ever filmed. M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar
m.youtube.com/watch?v=77ub...
>> First fault movement ever filmed. M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar
m.youtube.com/watch?v=77ub...
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Hilarious idea for a map beautifully executed: Does your country “Live, Laugh, Love”? Source: buff.ly/G1T6Iho
March 21, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Hilarious idea for a map beautifully executed: Does your country “Live, Laugh, Love”? Source: buff.ly/G1T6Iho
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Maybe because, per NY Times - Francis Collins, the NIH Director resigned today. Sad day for science. #StandUpForScience2025
standupforscience2025.org
standupforscience2025.org
STAND UP FOR SCIENCE
March 7, 2025. Washington DC and nationwide. Because science is for everyone.
standupforscience2025.org
March 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Maybe because, per NY Times - Francis Collins, the NIH Director resigned today. Sad day for science. #StandUpForScience2025
standupforscience2025.org
standupforscience2025.org
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Gorgeous vintage map compares the longest rivers and biggest lakes around the world. Source: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~312672~90081910#
February 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Gorgeous vintage map compares the longest rivers and biggest lakes around the world. Source: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~312672~90081910#
Reposted by Riley Balikian
I dug into this a couple weeks ago and wrote about it on my blog. While it's properly just one part of a layered defense system against contamination, it is indeed true: bivalves control valves.
www.someweekendreading.blog/valves-bival...
www.someweekendreading.blog/valves-bival...
Valves and Bivalves
It appears a Polish city has a particularly clever way of sensing pollution in their water
supply and closing valves. With bivalves.
www.someweekendreading.blog
February 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I dug into this a couple weeks ago and wrote about it on my blog. While it's properly just one part of a layered defense system against contamination, it is indeed true: bivalves control valves.
www.someweekendreading.blog/valves-bival...
www.someweekendreading.blog/valves-bival...
Reposted by Riley Balikian
The 2024 Headline of the Year Nominees
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December 22, 2024 at 6:48 PM
The 2024 Headline of the Year Nominees
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Thanks @kellyhereid.bsky.social for making the #AGU24 feed. It really enhanced my experience there. I felt like I was able to at least catch glimpses of 2x what I would have otherwise, and I saw or heard about events/things I wouldn't have otherwise known were happening.
December 17, 2024 at 2:15 AM
Thanks @kellyhereid.bsky.social for making the #AGU24 feed. It really enhanced my experience there. I felt like I was able to at least catch glimpses of 2x what I would have otherwise, and I saw or heard about events/things I wouldn't have otherwise known were happening.
Reposted by Riley Balikian
An oldie from Inktober 2018: trilobyte
November 26, 2024 at 2:19 AM
An oldie from Inktober 2018: trilobyte
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Oh hey, in case you need some good news, the population decline of honeybees has actually reversed: fortune.com/2024/04/03/h...
Hobbyist beekeepers are buzzing after reversing America’s critical bee shortage in just 5 years
Tax breaks for beekeepers and the country’s need for pollinators help explain the busier hives—but climate change still threatens colony collapse.
fortune.com
November 2, 2024 at 10:18 PM
Oh hey, in case you need some good news, the population decline of honeybees has actually reversed: fortune.com/2024/04/03/h...
Saw the comet! (Binoculars on a tripod helped, but also the pre installed android camera app has an "astrophotography" mode that will activate if you use "Night Sight" and hold it up very still (ie, with a tripod or leaning against something)). Anyway... Yay, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS!
October 17, 2024 at 2:06 AM
Saw the comet! (Binoculars on a tripod helped, but also the pre installed android camera app has an "astrophotography" mode that will activate if you use "Night Sight" and hold it up very still (ie, with a tripod or leaning against something)). Anyway... Yay, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS!
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Wanna know how dark the sky can get? You have to get away from city lights, and atmosphere lights, and even solar system lights. In fact, launching a probe to interstellar space past Pluto is the way to go. And then you find the universe itself glows..…
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
How Dark Is the Night Sky?
The night sky isn’t perfectly dark—instead it glows faintly, and the source isn’t exactly local
www.scientificamerican.com
October 5, 2024 at 5:44 PM
Wanna know how dark the sky can get? You have to get away from city lights, and atmosphere lights, and even solar system lights. In fact, launching a probe to interstellar space past Pluto is the way to go. And then you find the universe itself glows..…
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Some of the most surreal shots of #helene
Left picture from Kat P in Pass-a-Grille and right from the Pinellas County Sherff’s in Pass-a-Grille as well.
Left picture from Kat P in Pass-a-Grille and right from the Pinellas County Sherff’s in Pass-a-Grille as well.
September 28, 2024 at 1:32 AM
Some of the most surreal shots of #helene
Left picture from Kat P in Pass-a-Grille and right from the Pinellas County Sherff’s in Pass-a-Grille as well.
Left picture from Kat P in Pass-a-Grille and right from the Pinellas County Sherff’s in Pass-a-Grille as well.
Reposted by Riley Balikian
Very cool:
Travelling nearly 10,000 miles by train, British photographer Katie Edwards crossed the United States capturing the landscape through a window.
Travelling nearly 10,000 miles by train, British photographer Katie Edwards crossed the United States capturing the landscape through a window.
Framing the United States through a train window
Photographer Katie Edwards captures America from the window of a train.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 26, 2024 at 2:07 PM
Very cool:
Travelling nearly 10,000 miles by train, British photographer Katie Edwards crossed the United States capturing the landscape through a window.
Travelling nearly 10,000 miles by train, British photographer Katie Edwards crossed the United States capturing the landscape through a window.
Reposted by Riley Balikian
You want to check out the free BBC sound effects library.
BBC Sound Effects
BBC Sound Effects
sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk
September 25, 2024 at 3:52 PM
You want to check out the free BBC sound effects library.
Reposted by Riley Balikian
This is such a GREAT way to explain a science paper. Love it 🧪
The Youtube video has had 104000 views as of 09:00 CET Saturday morning. I showed it on the big screen at work to a small group of colleagues yesterday and it really worked well in large format too.
#climate #glacialmelt #rockslide #tsunami #seismic #Greenland
youtu.be/60T9TKuuujs
#climate #glacialmelt #rockslide #tsunami #seismic #Greenland
youtu.be/60T9TKuuujs
How climate change triggered a landslide tsunami in a Greenland fjord, vibrating Earth for 9 days
YouTube video by Stephen Hicks
youtu.be
September 15, 2024 at 1:16 AM
This is such a GREAT way to explain a science paper. Love it 🧪
Reposted by Riley Balikian
In case you don’t believe the same equations describe motion in the atmosphere and the ocean.
September 14, 2024 at 6:01 PM
In case you don’t believe the same equations describe motion in the atmosphere and the ocean.
Reposted by Riley Balikian
In Sept 2023 a strange global seismic signal lasted 9 days & oscillated every 92 seconds. Very unlike an earthquake. No one knew what caused it.
Paper just out points to a giant glacial collapse & subsequent 200 m (650') wave that sloshed for 9 days inside a tall & narrow east-Greenland fjord. 🧪⚒️
Paper just out points to a giant glacial collapse & subsequent 200 m (650') wave that sloshed for 9 days inside a tall & narrow east-Greenland fjord. 🧪⚒️
Mysterious 9-day seismic event was caused by a mega tsunami bouncing around inside a fjord, study reveals
In September, a strange nine-day signal rocked our planet and baffled scientists. Now they have finally found the cause.
www.livescience.com
September 13, 2024 at 11:06 PM
In Sept 2023 a strange global seismic signal lasted 9 days & oscillated every 92 seconds. Very unlike an earthquake. No one knew what caused it.
Paper just out points to a giant glacial collapse & subsequent 200 m (650') wave that sloshed for 9 days inside a tall & narrow east-Greenland fjord. 🧪⚒️
Paper just out points to a giant glacial collapse & subsequent 200 m (650') wave that sloshed for 9 days inside a tall & narrow east-Greenland fjord. 🧪⚒️
Reposted by Riley Balikian
🧵 Shortlist of Geosciences starter packs🧵
Share and let us benefit from the current growth to bring people (back) to @bsky.app. 🧪⚒️🌋🌍 💎🦖🪐🌊
Geosciences all topics
go.bsky.app/VFn34zW
Seismology
go.bsky.app/ND4oS9k
Paleontology by @alinemghilardi.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/QWhLarC
Share and let us benefit from the current growth to bring people (back) to @bsky.app. 🧪⚒️🌋🌍 💎🦖🪐🌊
Geosciences all topics
go.bsky.app/VFn34zW
Seismology
go.bsky.app/ND4oS9k
Paleontology by @alinemghilardi.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/QWhLarC
September 7, 2024 at 9:00 AM
🧵 Shortlist of Geosciences starter packs🧵
Share and let us benefit from the current growth to bring people (back) to @bsky.app. 🧪⚒️🌋🌍 💎🦖🪐🌊
Geosciences all topics
go.bsky.app/VFn34zW
Seismology
go.bsky.app/ND4oS9k
Paleontology by @alinemghilardi.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/QWhLarC
Share and let us benefit from the current growth to bring people (back) to @bsky.app. 🧪⚒️🌋🌍 💎🦖🪐🌊
Geosciences all topics
go.bsky.app/VFn34zW
Seismology
go.bsky.app/ND4oS9k
Paleontology by @alinemghilardi.bsky.social
go.bsky.app/QWhLarC
Saw somebody else post it, but can't find it now, so just posting myself. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Rancho Palos Verdes faces 'unprecedented new scenario' over landslide danger
New drilling in Rancho Palos Verdes has revealed that devastating land movement has been caused, at least partially, by a deeper slip plane — meaning a larger area could be affected.
www.latimes.com
August 27, 2024 at 2:23 AM
Saw somebody else post it, but can't find it now, so just posting myself. www.latimes.com/california/s...
Reposted by Riley Balikian
CORN SWEAT www.scientificamerican.com/article/corn...
‘Corn Sweat’ and Climate Change Bring Sweltering Weather to the Midwest
A heat wave is sending temperatures soaring in the Midwest, and “corn sweat” is pushing humidity sky-high
www.scientificamerican.com
August 26, 2024 at 11:06 PM
CORN SWEAT www.scientificamerican.com/article/corn...