James Dinneen

Big U.S. West Coast earthquakes could come as a one-two punch Cascadia and San Andreas fault zones appear to generate synchronized earthquakes

Scary news for West Coast friends in my latest for @science.org. Disturbed ocean sediments off California suggest big earthquakes on the Cascadia fault can trigger big quakes on the San Andreas. The "Big One" could well become the "Big Two"...

NEWS: I'm writing a book about Earth's interior, from innermost inner core to the deep biosphere. Can't wait to share all I've learned about what's happening inside this planet and how it shapes the surface world we care about. 🌏 Subscribe here to follow along: northeastsouthwest.substack.com

We all must do our part.

Thanks to @xiyang.bsky.social, @drbiogc.bsky.social and the rest of THE LORACS team for having me along to see this important work in action.

Based on this research by Henry Yeung et al.
www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

Some ghosts captured on camera:

AI reveals vast ‘ghost forests’ along U.S. coast Machine learning method counts nearly 12 million dead trees, many likely killed by rising seas

I joined a team of ecologists wading through the muck of the Carolina coast in search of "ghost forests" killed by rising seas for @science.org. We were guided by a a new map that reveals millions of dead trees standing along the East Coast, marking an overlooked consequence of climate change...

Honored to have won an @sciencewriters.org "Science in Society" award for my @newscientist.com story on the Panama Canal's chronic water shortages. It's something the canal's visionary builders never imagined would be possible in one of the rainiest parts of the planet...

Atmospheric hydrogen is rising, which may be a problem for the climate Ice core records of atmospheric hydrogen reveal a huge rise in concentration since the Industrial Revolution which has contributed to global warming – and could sway the debate over hydrogen as a fuel

Whoa! First long-term ice core record of atmospheric *hydrogen*, which amplifies warming effects of methane, shows there has been a 60% rise since the industrial revolution.
rt/ @tinymaddie.bsky.social
www.newscientist.com/article/2497...

The Dinos’ Demise Gave Rivers Their Shape Their extinction left an indelible mark on the landscape

Dinosaurs, like beavers or elephants or buffalo, were ecosystem engineers. I discuss a new study on how their extinction also transformed landscapes in @nautil.us.
🧪

Asgard archaea frozen in Siberia appear to have remained alive for more than 100,000 years based on DNA analysis. Genetic overlap with other Asgards suggests astonishingly long lifespans could be common trait among the closest living relatives of all eukaryotes. Per @karenlloyd.bsky.social etal.🧪

Is Africa about to see the solar energy boom it needs? African countries imported a record number of solar panels in the past year, which could be the beginning of a green energy boom on the continent

Solar panel exports from China to Africa surged 60 per cent over the past year, says @ember-energy.org. Unlike previous jumps, this upward trend was spread across the continent – with 20 countries seeing import records and 25 countries importing more than 100 megawatts worth of panels.🔌💡

Also learned that Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah (pictured below) is one of just a few US mines that have installed additional circuits to refine byproducts. Mainly a copper mine, but now also extract tellurium.

BUT during a DOE workshop I went to yesterday on critical minerals, undersecretary P. Wells Griffith III made clear the agency's support for byproduct recovery didn't rule out new mining in pursuit of "energy dominance".

“We should never apologize for our modern way of life,” he said.🌞

We could get most metals for clean energy without opening new mines An analysis of active US mines finds they already collect virtually all of the minerals the country needs for batteries, solar panels and wind turbines – but these critical minerals mostly go to waste

The huge volume of ore extracted from existing US mines is full of critical minerals, but nearly all of this goes to waste. New analysis finds out just out how much is getting tossed out.🧪🔌💡

The sun has MOODS.🌞

How cocoa beans' microbiomes are key to the finest chocolate flavours Nine species of fungi and bacteria have been found in cocoa beans that produce fine chocolate, and this knowledge could help producers develop better flavours

Mouth-watering news...We've identified microbes that produce fine flavours in chocolate, a discovery that could lead to entirely new kinds of the delectable treat.

www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

New subtype of diabetes found in youths from sub-Saharan Africa In sub-Saharan African youths diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, 65 per cent do not have antibodies or genetic risks associated with the disease, suggesting they have a novel non-autoimmune subtype of th...

Very interesting here.
www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims

NEW – Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims | @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org @leohickman.carbonbrief.org @ceciliakeating.carbonbrief.org @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org @tomoprater.carbonbrief.org

Read here: buff.ly/AvcB7Aw

2024 saw a record-breaking number of dangerously humid days As the planet heats up, the atmosphere is holding more moisture – and this is resulting in more days with weather conditions close to the limits of survivability

Nothing to see here, just the planet edging ever closer to deadly hot & humid conditions www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Pacific Ocean changes may 'lock in' US megadrought for decades A major cycle of Pacific Ocean temperatures is shifting due to climate change, and that could drive decades of megadrought in the western US

Big new modeling study finds climate change may have locked temperatures in the Pacific Ocean into a pattern could drive drought in the western US for decades. More broadly, this suggests climate models may generally underestimate how much our emissions influence longterm cycles of ocean temps.🧪

Microwaving rocks could help mining operations pull CO2 out of the air A carbon dioxide removal company in Canada is experimenting with ways to treat mining waste to capture and store more CO2

Don't try this at home! Or maybe do?
www.newscientist.com/article/2492...

Don't sleep on liming
www.newscientist.com/article/2488...

Can Aging U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Withstand More Extreme Weather?

With Duane Arnold restart announcement, some interesting background here about why it was shut down early: extreme weather.🔌💡
e360.yale.edu/digest/u.s.-...

cryptic crosswords anyone?

this is a cool idea

80 years since Hiroshima: Forgotten victims of the atomic bomb Podcast Episode · The world, the universe and us · 08/05/2025 · 34m

It’s eighty years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
On a special episode of the podcast:
- The ‘forgotten’ human and environmental cost of the Manhattan Project
- Annie Jacobsen on the current threat of nuclear weapons
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/8...

Deep-living microbes could 'eat' energy generated by earthquakes When rocks fracture in underground faults, they generate a variety of chemical compounds that could provide more energy sources for microbes in Earth’s depths

Earthquakes fracturing rock could unlock a wide menu of chemical energy sources for microbes living deep underground. 👀
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...

E. coli genome has been remade with 101,000 changes to its DNA The recoded bacterium uses only 57 of the 64 possible genetic codes, freeing up seven to be used for different purposes

We have gone further than ever before in reshaping life, resynthesising the 4-million base pairs-long genome 🧬 of E. coli from scratch with 100,000 changes 🧪

Making that many changes screws up a lot of things, so getting it working was a "gargantuan effort"

www.newscientist.com/article/2490...

Kamchatka earthquake response shows tsunami warnings are improving After an 8.8-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, early tsunami warning systems kicked in and helped millions of people safely evacuate

Tsunami warning are getting better, but there are still some big gaps. 🧪
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...