Caitlín R. Kiernan's Avatar

Caitlín R. Kiernan

@caitlinrkiernan.bsky.social

Paleontologist & two-time World Fantasy Award winning F&SF author. McWane Science Center & University of Alabama research associate (mosasaurs, turtles, PETM). Humanist. Classical liberal. Irish Appalachian. Math nerd. Anti-fascist. LGBTQ+ They/them.

720 Followers  |  119 Following  |  257 Posts  |  Joined: 09.01.2024  |  1.7448

Latest posts by caitlinrkiernan.bsky.social on Bluesky

There is, but I'd have to look it up in the (enormous) catalog.

07.11.2025 15:27 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
A very toothy Plesioplatecarpus skull laid out bone by bone on a red tablecloth.  Curatorial hand for scale

A very toothy Plesioplatecarpus skull laid out bone by bone on a red tablecloth. Curatorial hand for scale

I missed #MosasaurMonday but holy moly, Winnie is prepped!

Here's the main part of the skull, without the palate laid out. She came out great and im so happy she's covered in pathologies. Just like me, we both have interesting skeletal injuries. Lower Niobrara, 86.5 million years old 🧪

12.08.2025 20:00 — 👍 65    🔁 14    💬 1    📌 2
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daamn Caitlin R. Kiernan was looking sooo good in this H.P. Lovecraft documentary from 2008 like wow shes so goals. Bleaching the top + front while keeping the ponytail dark was srsly such a high-tier maneuver for the time (she wrote a really good book called The Drowning Girl & you should read it)

27.09.2025 00:47 — 👍 64    🔁 9    💬 3    📌 2
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Trump’s Acting NASA Chief Wants to End Agency Science Focused on the Most Important Planet in Space - Ours The latest move in Trump's demolition of Earth-focused science

Still proud to be an EARTH scientist...Just saying. It is where we live (except perhaps for Elon)🧪

Trump’s Acting NASA Chief Wants to End Agency Science Focused on the Most Important Planet in Space - Ours open.substack.com/pub/revkin/p...

17.08.2025 15:23 — 👍 32    🔁 11    💬 1    📌 2
An ancient intrusion of magma (the striated rocks at center) in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt is 4.16 billion years old, researchers say. Credit: Jonathan O’Neil

An ancient intrusion of magma (the striated rocks at center) in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt is 4.16 billion years old, researchers say. Credit: Jonathan O’Neil

This striped formation may contain the oldest intact rocks on Earth.* A new study suggests that they are at least 4.16 billion years old--relics from a time before plate tectonics, probably before oceans, even.

* The pocket knife is a more recent element. 🧪

www.sciencenews.org/article/eart...

16.08.2025 19:49 — 👍 100    🔁 27    💬 6    📌 1
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Government papers found in an Alaskan hotel reveal new details of Trump-Putin summit Documents with sensitive details about the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin were left behind on a public hotel printer.

Why spy, they just hand it out
tinyurl.com/4a8b9why

16.08.2025 14:33 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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DC Union Station tonight. Unreal.

15.08.2025 04:14 — 👍 5367    🔁 2106    💬 731    📌 556

I shall take that as a compliment....

13.08.2025 21:07 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Scientists uncover new fossils—and a new species of ancient human ancestor A team of international scientists has discovered new fossils at a field site in Africa that indicate Australopithecus, and the oldest specimens of Homo, coexisted at the same place in Africa at the s...

This is super cool. New paper: "New discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo from Ledi-Geraru, Ethiopia," phys.org/news/2025-08... 🧪🏺

13.08.2025 15:06 — 👍 22    🔁 9    💬 1    📌 1
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Huff Post White House correspondent 👇🏽

11.08.2025 01:41 — 👍 6504    🔁 2622    💬 319    📌 134

Every study about vaccines that comes out is like "this vaccine is 97% effective at preventing this disease & also 3 other diseases & it somehow helps you play the violin beautifully" and antivaxxers are doing their own research that's telling them they can cure measles by eating polar bear liver.

06.05.2025 15:00 — 👍 3977    🔁 1257    💬 63    📌 17

foundationally dishonest is a pretty good summary of ai tools

11.08.2025 12:45 — 👍 12    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
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I developed mRNA vaccines. RFK Jr is endangering US public health Katalin Karikó says the health secretary’s decision to pull research funding for the technology is akin to ‘dropping a bomb on the US’

Katalin Kariko won the Nobel Prize for mRNA vaccine technology. She is certain that RFK Jr is endangering public health by killing $500 million in mRNA research www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

11.08.2025 03:40 — 👍 452    🔁 210    💬 14    📌 4

Women WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS SLAVERY CRAP! The hell with that drunk idiot. His TRUMPEDUP days are numbered, because we will not forget these scum & justice will be served by WE THE PEOPLE. I hope nobody but his hand is fuking that loser in the meantime.

11.08.2025 09:59 — 👍 9    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0

Fresh hell.

11.08.2025 15:00 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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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.

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...

11.08.2025 13:07 — 👍 54    🔁 13    💬 4    📌 1

Ignorance you'd not expect beyond first grade children.

10.08.2025 14:07 — 👍 9    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
A large slab with a fossil shark head and jaws, lots of clay pigeon sized and shaped shark vertebrae, and cranial elements and ribs of a giant toothy fish

A large slab with a fossil shark head and jaws, lots of clay pigeon sized and shaped shark vertebrae, and cranial elements and ribs of a giant toothy fish

Happy #FossilFriday from the BEST fossil shark specimen on display anywhere (it’s at KU)

This Cretoxyrhina mantelli skeleton has the bones of a big Xiphactinus audax mixed in with it, showing the shark died shortly after ingesting the absolute worst fish in the late Cretaceous seaway. 🧪🦈

08.08.2025 13:43 — 👍 56    🔁 15    💬 5    📌 0
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Cornyn Says F.B.I. Will Help Find Texas Lawmakers Who Fled State

This is very, very bad.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/u...

07.08.2025 13:48 — 👍 321    🔁 95    💬 29    📌 40
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Advancing science- and evidence-based AI policy Policy must be informed by, but also facilitate the generation of, scientific evidence

What kind of AI governance do we need? Our new piece in @science.org answers this: we need policy grounded in evidence and built to generate more of it. Evidence-based policymaking is not a slogan—it’s a design challenge for democratic governance in the age of AI www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵

31.07.2025 23:27 — 👍 129    🔁 55    💬 7    📌 3
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An endorsement from renowned palaeontologist & bestselling author, Steve Brusatte. “THE SECRET LIVES OF DINOSAURS”, by @deanrlomax.bsky.social, illustrated by @bobnichollsart.bsky.social & published by @columbiaup.bsky.social, is out Sept 2025 (pre-order now!).

#SciArt #PaleoArt #Dinosaurs #Books

06.08.2025 17:38 — 👍 42    🔁 9    💬 1    📌 0
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Paleontologists Unveil New Species of Plesiosaur | Sci.News Paleontologists have identified an unusual new genus and species of early-diverging plesiosauroid plesiosaur from a nearly complete skeleton found in the Lower Jurassic Posidonia Shale of Holzmaden, G...

www.sci.news/paleontology...

05.08.2025 14:51 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

The great dismantling

05.08.2025 12:14 — 👍 322    🔁 176    💬 32    📌 16

What do fossils tell us about evolution? Kinda a broad topic...and I tried to give it a go in 20 minutes. Using dinosaurs and mammals as my guide (sorry foram and brachiopod fans!). Check out the video here:

05.08.2025 16:47 — 👍 15    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
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Amy Sherald’s Trans Lady Liberty Painting Graces New Yorker Cover The artist withdrew her exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery over concerns that the artwork would be censored.

Take that, Tr*mp transphobes! @charliejane.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social @transgenderreport.com @cherylmorgan.bsky.social hyperallergic.com/1031893/amy-...

05.08.2025 16:42 — 👍 18    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0
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New Caitlin R Kiernan collection. #BrightDeadStar
I’m gonna need a bigger bookshelf.

06.06.2025 21:01 — 👍 7    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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#BrightDeadStar from @caitlinrkiernan and @subpress is featured in last week's #newbooks roundup on youtube!

watch the whole thing here: youtu.be/EeCQFfYm1z8
visit linktr.ee/locusmagazine for all things SFFH!
links in bio

04.08.2025 21:20 — 👍 14    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
TetZoo badges, t-shirts and more.

TetZoo badges, t-shirts and more.

dinosaur-themed stickers by TetZoo.

dinosaur-themed stickers by TetZoo.

Just some of the #TetZoo merch we'll be selling from our stall at @dinoconuk.bsky.social on Aug 16th-17th... available while stocks last! #DinoConUK #dinosaurs

04.08.2025 07:44 — 👍 28    🔁 8    💬 0    📌 0

Ah, very cool.

04.08.2025 21:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
Post image 04.08.2025 20:37 — 👍 8    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 1

@caitlinrkiernan is following 20 prominent accounts