John Spear

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules

Like to breathe?
Yea, me too.
Like a climate that sustains life?
Yea, me too.
Like to make less impact on Earth?
Yea, me too.
…then there is the U.S.A.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...

Trump orders Pentagon to buy power from coal plants Trump declared coal essential to U.S. national and economic security last April.

Another giant step backwards for the health of the planet.
Another giant step forward for those who need even more money.
Both oil and coal are too valuable, as substrates, to be burning.
Shame to the greed.
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/t...

Big Daddy Bagels!

Microbial Diversity | Marine Biological Laboratory The goal of the course is to teach professors, postdocs and advanced graduate students how to discover, cultivate, and isolate diverse microorganisms catalyzing a breadth of chemical transformations, ...

Want to ride the front of the wave of all-things-microbiology; field work, cultivation, microscopy, molecular, bioinformatics and AI tools? Me too!
Please join us @mblscience.bsky.social for the 2026 Summer Microbial Diversity Course!
Applications due soon.
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

Another awful day in American history.
Another life lost in the name of…what?
None of this should be happening.
Where are the adults; politicians with brains; policy makers?
As for this adult, I am ashamed to be American. ‘Nuff said.

Trump’s post on Rob Reiner sparks outrage from lawmakers and celebrities President’s statement blaming acclaimed director’s death on his dislike of him described as ‘disgusting’ and ‘vile’

A major loss of an outstanding creator.
An amazing gain of a true meathead.
Don’t ever treat any human in such fashion.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Whoa!—that’s definitely above the 2 ppb human detection limit = stinky!

What, H2S too much? H2S = smell of home = Yellowstone

Winogradsky column algae + afternoon ☀️ = a bunch of oxygen 🫧 🫧 🫧 🫧

Here's what the remediation for environmental issues may look like at Burnham Yard The historic railyard likely contains subsurface contamination from decades of industrial use that will need to be addressed before the planned stadium.

Thanks @spencersoicher.bsky.social @nexton9news.bsky.social for a story on the importance of environmental contamination, site clean-up and of course, microbes!🦠 🦠

www.9news.com/article/spor...

The Aurora Borealis over Castle Rock, Golden, CO—outstanding!

Every now again walking to class @coschoolofmines.bsky.social you have to make sure you look up and take in the view!

Science and the impact of people who work for more knowledge in all fields can and do change the world—lessons for all of us on the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall.

Filamentously tethered, afternoon fresh, photrophically generated, oxygen bubbles on top of a new @mblscience.bsky.social Microbial Diversity Course produced Winogradsky column!

A Comprehensive Framework for Assessing Terrestrial Analogue Field Sites for Ocean Worlds The choice of analogue field site for ocean worlds research requires traceability to a well-developed science question We present a two-step process to evaluate field sites with respect to their ...

The latest and greatest from an amazing team of authors. See what you think:

A Comprehensive Framework for Assessing Terrestrial Analogue Field Sites for Ocean Worlds - Stern - 2025 - Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets - Wiley Online Library agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...

Today’s first day @coschoolofmines.bsky.social ain’t yesterday’s. A small, niche engineering school discovered.

@michaelbennet.bsky.social

Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the process of Federal

Insanity, the dominant paradigm, will disintegrate world class health and science research in America.
What say you Congress?
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

How to Winogradsky from 2025 Microbial Diversity @mblscience.bsky.social

Monitor image of a stromatolite’s top from Yellowstone National Park; microbially complex; builders and tenants present. Thx @mblscience.bsky.social for a nice tool in the toolbox!

Science is Art.
Art is Science.
Not a bad afternoon with scanning electron microscopy @mblscience.bsky.social with Microbial Diversity!

Never ceases to amaze how one can pull an entire lab out of 2 closets; conduct and teach science to 20 Amazing! students at the Microbial Diversity Course and have great science produced @mblscience.bsky.social
…stay tuned for publications….

CBS Canceling ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ After Next Season

I once had a joyful evening in the Ed Sullivan Theater watching magic happen in front of me. An educated, civil, democratic society values the jesters—Stephen Colbert is a master teacher we all learn from.

Apparently CBS Paramount does not, enhancing our decline.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/b...

Need to see the live action!

Week two on Microbial Diversity. One of our course directors, John Spear, spoke about H2 and sulfur metabolism, including his adventures doing research in caves.
@mblscience.bsky.social

A media extravaganza at Microbial Diversity ‘25 @mblscience.bsky.social difficult to pull off anywhere—Thank you Juan Parales et al.!

Thanks!

Hey George—took it last year, Jenn is TA-ing this year. We are almost ready for mayhem to start tomorrow evening. Hope all is well your way!

At @mblscience.bsky.social preparing for Microbial Diversity ‘25; takes a lot of preparation for both aerobic and anaerobic cultivation of amazing microbiota from diverse environments.
(and yes, this is what this course has ‘diversity’ in the title…)

Hydrothermal Hazards on Display in Yellowstone National Park - Eos Tourists and officials were startled by a hydrothermal explosion at Black Diamond Pool in July 2024. Geoscientists are working out how and why it occurred to better understand these hazardous events.

When doing field work, or being anywhere, always important to pay attention to your surroundings. Nice writeup on Biscuit Basin @yellowstonesv.bsky.social 2024: eos.org/features/hyd...