Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
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spacefire.ca
Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
@spacefire.ca
Academic researcher in the field of Futures Studies, futures literacy specialist, and international consultant. I help groups explore transformation to innovatively address climate change. Photo credits: Skies and Universes- Uuchu (cfca-fig2-full) & Nasa.
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
Renewable generation and discharging storage equalled 51% of yesterday's electricity demand, with a peak of 92% at 01:00. Fossil fuel generation (mostly gas) equalled 37% of demand. 4% of generation was exported, 16% of demand was met by imports.
November 16, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
#plastic debris
We are finding a large amount of plastic debris in the nests of various urban bird species. In fact, we found 94 items in a single nest, a new personal (and sad) record. I hope we can publish the results of this project next year.
November 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
4️⃣0️⃣
October 31, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
The US is the world's largest oil and gas producer. Yet, "China is now making more money from exporting green technology than America makes from exporting fossil fuels."
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics
The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising
www.economist.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
Happy birthday to Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867 – 1934, Polish-born, naturalized-French #physicist & #chemist at work in her lab. The contents of her lab glassware in my print appropriately glow-in-the-dark! 🧪🐡👩🏼‍🔬 #histsci

Marie Curie was the 1st woman to win a Nobel prize, the only woman to ever win
November 7, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This does not look like intragenerational equity.
“It’s kind of a shocking number."

The median age of first-time home buyers in the U.S. hit an all-time high of 40 in 2025, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. nyti.ms/4hKc58V
November 6, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
🌴 Meet Ruth Spencer, a community advocate from Antigua and Barbuda who is taking action to protect biodiversity! 🌊

In this #IPBESStakeholder Spotlight, Ruth shares how IPBES assessments have opened her eyes and inspired her to make a difference.

🎥 Watch now: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Vw...
IPBES Stakeholder Spotlight - YouTube
IPBES Stakeholder Spotlight Series
ow.ly
November 6, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
An awesome thing about being a journalist, and not a politician or advocate, is you can say true things even when they’re unpopular. For example, climate change is real, perpetrated by specific actors, harms many people, and should be resolved as fast and thoroughly as possible.
November 6, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
🚨 The Bullard Center’s new report, “Green Light to Pollute in Texas,” shows how the state keeps approving petrochemical projects that harm low-income Black and Brown communities near refineries and plants. #GreenLightToPolluteInTexas

💻 Read full press release at ow.ly/v7py50XniA2
November 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Aid to Jamaica. Aid to Cuba. Aid to all island nations impacted by #HurricaneMelissa.
October 28, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
10/28/1816 — b. Mary Frame Thomas, American physician, reformer, suffrage leader, orator. The first woman admitted to the Indiana Medical Society; early female member of the American Medical Association. President of the American Woman Suffrage Assn(1880) #womenshistory #WomenInSTEM #HistMed #MedSky
October 28, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
A climate justice disaster is underway in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa moves over the island.
October 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I can think of several key venues, beyond academic publishers, who could benefit from a systematic approach to verifying all references exist in manuscript translated, generated or 'cleaned up' by an AI/LLM. Good development here to address AI Slop in Research. retractionwatch.com/2025/10/28/c...
Challenge accepted: A reader wrote a program to find fake references in books
Hermann/Pixabay Following our coverage this summer of a book with citations that did not exist, we asked you to send us examples of other books with similar issues. One reader took the request as a…
retractionwatch.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Happy 80th birthday to the United Nations. I offer this journal article about the UN and foresight as a birthday card.

doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...
October 24, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
Looks like Laura Bush’s 2008 Silver Linden may have survived, but most every green thing in immediate vicinity of the East Wing did not.

September 28, 2008, Lady Laura Bush planted a silver linden tree (#14) just south of the East Garden (Jaqueline Kennedy Garden, #16).

go.nps.gov/BushLinden2008
October 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
We wrote a consensus report on the science of health #misinformation for the APA/CDC

It includes 8 key recommendations to fight the spread of misinformation (eg avoid repeating misinformation, debunking, inoculation, leveraging trusted sources, etc) psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
October 22, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Europeans and anyone concerned about the environment will want to follow @eea.europa.eu ! Happy your on Bluesky!
October 16, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
🎯 5 key strategies for transformative change: From conserving vital places to shifting values.

Together these create pathways to just and sustainable futures.

IPBES #TransformativeChange Assessment: https://www.ipbes.net/transformative-change-assessment
October 16, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
"The lawsuit says the band's testing found 'alarming' levels of PFAS in its natural resources, including water in two lakes — Cass Lake and Pike Bay — as well as in fish and deer." www.mprnews.org/story/2025/1...
Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe sues 3M, other companies over 'forever chemicals' contamination
The lawsuit says the band's testing found "alarming" levels of PFAS in lake water, fish and deer on the Leech Lake Reservation. Tribal members depend on hunting, fishing and cultivating wild rice for ...
www.mprnews.org
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
Nature research paper: Modern sea-level rise breaks 4,000-year stability in southeastern China

go.nature.com/472YC8N
Modern sea-level rise breaks 4,000-year stability in southeastern China - Nature
Spatiotemporal hierarchical modelling of geological sea-level proxies and tide gauge data suggest that the modern global mean sea-level rise rate since 1900 has exceeded any century over at least the past four millennia, breaking the long-term stability observed in southeastern China.
go.nature.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
The universities around Finland have over 170,000 students and a staff of almost 35,000. Together, we form diverse communities in which everyone has the right to feel valued and to be treated equally, regardless of their background, status, or identity.

unifi.fi/en/inclusive...
Inclusive and Diverse University! Building together an inclusive, striving university community - Unifi
As we embark on a new academic year, we have the chance to remind ourselves that each member of the university community has an important role to play in
unifi.fi
September 1, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Reposted by Nicolas Balcom Raleigh
The Rectors’ Councils of Nordic countries highlight in their joint statement the need for joint action from all stakeholders to protect and strengthen academic freedom, university autonomy and international collaboration.

unifi.fi/en/nordic_st...
Nordic Rectors’ Councils: Call for Action to Safeguard Academic Freedom and University Autonomy - Unifi
The Rectors’ Councils of Nordic countries highlight in their joint statement the need for joint action from all stakeholders to protect and strengthen
unifi.fi
September 23, 2025 at 12:13 PM
@yliopistolehti.bsky.social looking forward to your first post!
October 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM