Dr. Rebecca Barnes (she/her)

Nature Report, Killed by Trump, Is Released Independently

Scientists and other experts were preparing an assessment of the health of nature in the US when Trump returned to the White House. He canceled the report. The researchers went ahead and compiled it on their own. This week, they released a 868-p draft for public comment and scientific review.

Importantly they are planning to hire these people on 2 year contracts so what actually happened is they fired everyone so they could rehire them with worse working conditions and an easy revolving door with industry 🫩 🔭

Two!

UV light photo of a gel electrophoresis of two species of lemurs. The bright bands are DNA fragments of different sizes - that allow us to distinguish the species

This follows a week long activity last week where they ran lemur DNA to determine if the dwarf lemurs were one or two species (unit: evolution)

Sort of.. I had them each research a species of lemur, what are its traits, adaptations, habitat, etc. tomorrow I am giving them a scenario (essentially what is happening now but worse in Madagascar) and asking them to figure out who will survive, who will adapt, and who will go extinct.

Approximately 25 laminated lemur playing cards researched and designed by my high school students in preparation for their game "adapt, survive, or die" tomorrow. Each one focuses on one of the 108 lemur species and includes facts about their adaptations and niche

Lemur trading cards researched and designed by my students - tomorrow we play "Adapt, Survive, or Die"

Resentment of expertise shows up clearly in issues like denial of climate change & vaccines, but I think it's also a lens through which to view other problems like transphobia.

The self is the ultimate subject matter expertise. Resentment of that expertise leads to denial of others' experiences.

Things that make me happy:

Astronomers spot a young sun blowing bubbles inside the Milky Way A baby sunlike star blowing a bubble of hot gas called an “astrosphere” was captured for the first time by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory

It is a truth universally acknowledged that babies love bubbles 🔭🧪

What the actual fuck @harvard.edu

This is one of the many reasons why bringing back parity pricing - where farmers are guaranteed a price if they grow certain crops and participate in land set-asides as in the 1930s - is extremely problematic. These committees would become much more powerful, and over 94% of US farmers are white.

Tell Congress: Demand AG Bondi release ALL of the Epstein files now Contact Congress today!

FACTS. The regime repeatedly broke the law in order to conduct the biggest coverup in American history.

Tell Congress right now: DO YOUR JOBS and demand the DOJ release ALL of the Epstein files.

For the love of god, please learn to express disagreement on this app without talking like an absolute piece of shit who can’t understand that the person on the other end is a thinking, feeling human too

There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to federal climate action—from silencing science to disregarding the health impacts. We can respond by making it personal and local, building collaborations, and sharing our stories.

“We’re all in this fight together.” #OPOH26

The West has been in a 32-year drought. But it may be worse than that A drought has a beginning and an end. What's happening in the West doesn't seem to have an end, so what is it?

'After 30 years, is the West's drought still a drought?' - Arizona Republic's long piece on aridification and its consequences for Arizona, featuring the LTRR's Dr. Margaret Evans and her research on rising temperatures and changing forest dynamics www.azcentral.com/story/news/l...

A horse's whinny is unlike any other sound in nature Horses use their larynx to make two sounds simultaneously, so they are effectively singing and whistling at the same time

Horses use their larynx to make two sounds simultaneously, so they are effectively singing and whistling at the same time

Vanderbilt Will Stop Providing Gender-Affirming Surgeries to Trans Adults The hospital cited “operational limitations” for the decision.

Horrifying and also as predicted. This is genocidal shit. The only hospital in Tennessee that offered this kind of care. www.them.us/story/vander...

Photo of a white puttie with black spots and a black nose with pink around her mouth, nose and ears. She is wearing a rainbow harness. She's sitting on a couch in a patch of sunshine with blue bird skies visible through the windows

Ruthie is grateful to be reminded of what sunshine feels like

My own contribution to lace weight knitting, Stargazer Studio’s Wolf Moon pattern.

Whenever I find myself doom-scrolling, I immediately slide over to the knitting feed. It never fails.

This week is lace week on #showmeyourknits and there are some really inspiring designs!

Also, did you know knitting has a long history of civil resistance? knittingforclimate.com/knitting-as-...

They have an endless contempt for all logic, evidence, and history.

You know, I don’t do a lot of IR reading but one that I’m familiar with is this one about the women’s rebellion from my publisher @pantheonbooks.bsky.social that was just long-listed for the National Book Award

www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/741909...

Had a student ask if it was ok to call her parents during class to check and see if they are ok 😥

Political cartoon of Donald Trump adding a comma after "no" in the sentence "No More Wars!) with a voice bubble saying "there, I fixed it." And a small sign that says "Iran" with an arrow

Given that he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, it seems unlikely he would understand the consequences of a comma. But yeah this 🤬

Sepia photo of a girl and her favorite camp counselor (college aged woman) - they are both smiling

A camp friend shared this photo of me (I'm 13) and my fav camp counselor (how I still long to be as amazing as Susan when I grow up) and it makes me sooooo happy, wistfully thinking about those summers hiking and studying nature in WV. No other place played a larger role in shaping my interests 💚

this is what many men say when they know they can’t compete on their own merits… sorry

"For the boys in the club, the arrangement worked to their benefit. Epstein donated millions of dollars to their research, hosted them at networking dinners at his home, invited them to visit his island or his ranch in Santa Fe, and connected them to potential funders to further their work."
1/

Manels are henceforth known as Epstein Panels.

I still come across individuals, perhaps on a weekly basis, who subscribe to this toxic ideology. They might be careful not to say it, but they let it rip whenever there is chance for anonymity or behind closed doors.

They can positively get in the bin.

This brings back so many memories from when I used to raise money to get women to science and skepticism conferences and how often men adjacent to these guys would refuse to donate because they said they only donated causes for “everyone.” 🙄

"Our dataset revealed the importance of restoring hydrologic flows to potentially increase aerobic conditions that minimize freshwater marshes as methane sources and to maximize carbon dioxide uptake in healthy and recovering mangroves" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...