Tim Varga

FYI, this grant program is open to anyone communicating science.

It does not require that you went to school for science.

You could be a Ph.D. student, an artist, a community organizer, a teacher, or any other profession. As long as you are communicating science IRL in the US, you're eligible.

The Past and the Curious is a great history podcast for kids!

greatest headline of my adult life

Unpaid Debts In the midst of a battle against a dying industry, a Kentucky judge said Oakland owes hundreds of millions of dollars to a bankrupt corporation that exists only on paper. What do cities owe to whom as...

This is easily some of the best journalism published by @oaklandreviewofbooks.org so far. Absolutely essential reading for anyone who lives in an American city, not just Oakland.
www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/unpaid-debts/

1) California Quail (naturally) and 2) not really in my direct neighborhood but also easy to find not very far away (probably <3 miles)

This is an incredible resource!

Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming

Did you know that Trump himself had not posted the video when you defended it? Why would you accuse people who were offended by a racist video of lying about their reactions? What percentage of Trump's Truth Social posts are made by someone else? What percentage of Trump's Truth Social posts are made without his knowledge? How many people aside from Trump have access to his social media account? Who are those people? Which of Trump's other Truth Social posts were posted by someone else? How can anyone be sure that posts under Trump's name come from Trump? Why should anyone believe that this particular post did not come from Trump since it is consistent with his well-reported history of racist remarks and conduct? If people can't be sure any post is his, why should anyone take any post under his name either literally or seriously? What was the impulse for the staffer to make that post? Has the staffer been disciplined in any way? Will the staffer continue to have access to his account? What does it say about Trump's judgment that he would choose a staffer with this kind of judgment to have access to his account? Is the anonymous staffer a hastily invented concoction to which you pivoted once you realized that the story was going to outgrow your attempts to dismiss it? How do you react to the almost universal condemnation of the post? The President's late-night posting sprees are filled with lapses in taste and judgment as well as threats and pronouncements that go nowhere. What does that say about the President's emotional stability? What does it say about the President's honesty? What does it say about the President's credibility? Hasn't your own credibility been damaged by your defense of something widely seen as indefensible? What does it say about you that you were comfortable not only defending the video but attacking those who were offended by it? Doesn't the amount of lying Trump does, and that you do for him, undermine your ability to be trusted on anything?

White House press corps, I know some of you are shy, so let me help you get started. This isn't fifty questions--I could only fit twenty-one in alt text--but let me know if you need more!

ICE at the polls! Bannon is basically yelling “fire” in a crowded theater here. His objective is to cause chaos (and suppress votes on the left). And it’s already working.

This threat works on multiple levels and doesn’t have to be “real” to serve its purpose.

Let me explain & offer some advice.

30 is hot, 20 is pleasing, 10 is not, and 0 is freezing!

You’ll have to pay to see the movie to find out! 😂

Geo-Launchpad | EarthScope Consortium 🌎 Ignite Your Geoscience Passion this Summer! 🌎 STUDENTS: applications for summer 2026 are now OPEN! Please scroll below for instructions and the application link. MENTORS can apply to host a Geo-Laun...

Applications open for a community-college-student-focused summer REU in Earth Science: www.earthscope.org/education/st...
⚒️

This isn’t ‘Nam, Smokey. There are rules.

They have an enormous murder near Oakland’s Lake Merritt, lately. It’s been awe inspiring to watch the wheel and light beside the cathedral

The rot in this government starts at the top. The President must be impeached and removed.

Twitter post screenshot of the San Miguel Sheriff account. 5 years ago they posted about a boulder on the road but referred to it as "Large boulder the size of a small boulder".

Happy 6th "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" anniversary to those who celebrate! #Geology ⚒️

Following the killing of AFGE Member Alex Pretti and the subsequent slanderous rhetoric that followed from top Trump administration officials, AFGE National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement: “Yesterday, AFGE brought together labor and faith leaders from Minneapolis and across the nation to mourn our fallen brother from Local 3669, Alex Pretti. We honored his life and legacy and lifted up his family, his friends, his union, Minneapolis, and our nation in prayer. “Today, we demand accountability. “In the immediate aftermath of Alex’s killing, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem betrayed the public trust by slandering the good name of our union brother and calling him a “domestic terrorist.” Alex Pretti was a patriotic ICU nurse at a VA hospital who devoted his life to serving America’s veterans. That claim was reckless, defamatory, and unsupported by the facts. Noem was preceded in this false statement by Stephen Miller, Deputy White House Chief of Staff, who is also the architect of the chaotic and failed immigration policy in Minnesota. “Our demand is clear: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was responsible for carrying out the policy that led to Alex’s needless killing, and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, the architect of that policy, must resign immediately. If they refuse, President Trump must dismiss them.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents border patrol officers at the National Border Patrol Council, calls on Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller to resign or be fired

The president should be impeached and convicted, as should everyone responsible for these outrages. ICE should be disbanded. So should the Department of Homeland Security. And the people who have killed should be investigated and brought before judges and juries.

The fact that most of Republican America does not care, if not endorses, the executions in Minneapolis and the harassment of U.S. cities is a direct product of decades of anti-urban, anti-city, and anti-immigrant rhetoric pushed on Fox News, AM Radio and now social media

14 minutes ago Mitch Smith Midwest reporter Superintendent Evans said that state investigators had a signed warrant to access the shooting scene, but they were denied access by federal officials. Even though state investigators "were not ave to do really any work at the scene once we had access,"he said, they had been talking to witnesses and seeking videos.

Multiple officials of the US federal government are spending their day rather blatantly obstructing Minnesota law enforcement and covering up a murder.

beautiful maps to advertise the GIS for Climate Action web course

Free GIS for Climate Action course starts Feb 18, register today

Meanwhile, Esri's popular climate action MOOC opens on Feb 18. Explore how GIS is uniquely suited to address our changing planet. I’m pleased as hostess to guide you thru this free, 6-week course, that features @globalecoguy.bsky.social + @katharinehayhoe.com

Save your spot → ow.ly/7jiJ30sS4i6

I love reading about isotopes!

A painting of a bird beside the text "this is some next-level dogshit"

It would take a two-word amendment to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to subject ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers to the same liability for constitutional violations that local and state officers currently face.

If Congress actually cared about what it's seeing, it could pass that overnight.

"The freedom of individuals verbally to oppose or challenge police action without thereby risking arrest is one of the principal characteristics by which we distinguish a free nation from a police state."

—William J. Brennan Jr., joined by White, Blackmun, Stevens, & Marshall, Houston v. Hill, 1987

ICE OUT OF OAKLAND. AVENGE RENEE GOOD AND ALL THOSE MURDERED, DEPORTED, AND DETAINED BY ICE.

ice protest in #oakland tomorrow (Saturday) 6pm, lake merritt amphitheater.

Spread the word 🔥

SCIENCE TALK '26 • Association of Science Communicators Join us for SCIENCE TALK's 10th anniversary in Portland, OR! Learn more about SCIENCE TALK, the premier conference for science communicators.

Attention scicommers: the annual Science Talk meeting will be March 26/27 in Portland Oregon! This is a wonderful gathering of educators and communicators and will be a terrific experience. I was a keynote speaker once and had a great time.

www.associationofsciencecommunicators.org/conferences/...

Screenshot of the Nullschool app in landscape orientation showing wind streams over the Northern Pacific Ocean with the action menu overlaid on top.

I'm excited to announce the official Nullschool app is here!

earth.nullschool.net on mobile browsers works fine, but the app is nicer. Full screen display, persistence across sessions, text size that matches device settings. Even landscape works well.

And, like the website: no ads!

Links below ⬇️

The constitutional remedy for a president who launches a war of acquisition against an ally is impeachment, removal, disqualification, and ultimately a criminal trial. And the same is true for every member of his cabinet involved in such an illegal undertaking.

As should be obvious by now, this is not idle chatter.
If the Republicans in Congress don’t get off their cowardly asses, we’re going to witness even more insanity.