SETI Institute communications specialist Beth Johnson welcomed Professor Dagomar Degroot, environmental historian at Georgetown University, for a discussion on his new book Ripples on the Cosmic Ocean, released October 28, 2025. The book reframes the solar system as a dynamic network of interacting environments—a system in which planetary, solar, and cosmic processes continuously influence Earth’s history and humanity’s trajectory.
science
The sun is the largest nuclear reactor we know. We now have momentum, harnessing its power at scale. From Texas to Pakistan to China, hear how cheap solar is toppling fossil fuel with author Bill McKibben on Big Picture Science.
Listen here: https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/solar-good
How Colorful Ribbon Diagrams Became the Face of Proteins.
Proteins are often visualized as cascades of curled ribbons and twisted strings, which both reveal and conceal the mess of atoms that make up these impossibly complex molecules.
By Yasemin Saplakoglu via @QuantaMagazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-colorful-ribbon-diagrams-became-the-face-of-proteins-20240823/
This is a terrifying article.
Methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas, is increasing fast in our atmosphere — both from industrial emissions AND from "natural" sources triggered by global warming, which then cause more global warming, and so on, and so on...
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New research shows that feedbacks in the climate system are boosting methane emissions from natural sources, especially tropical wetlands.
Scientists say that an abrupt surge in methane emissions in the early 2000s is probably due mainly to the response of wetlands to warming, with additional contributions coming from fossil fuel use, “implying that anthropogenic emissions must decrease more than expected to reach a given warming goal.”
Increasing rainfall, a well-documented impact of global warming, is making wetlands larger and wetter, and a warmer world fosters more plant growth, which means more decomposing material that emits methane.
About 60% of methane emissions are from fossil fuel use, farming, landfills, and waste, with the rest coming from rotting vegetation in wetlands in the tropics and Northern Hemisphere.
A new trouble spot is in the Arctic, where scientists recently found unexpectedly large methane emissions in winter. And globally, the increase in water vapor caused by global warming is slowing the rate at which methane breaks down in the atmosphere.
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FULL ARTICLE -- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/28082024/surging-methane-emissions-major-climate-shift/
#Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis
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Hooray!
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251029002855.htm
But the takeaway in this article is this:
> Because developing new antibiotics is costly and offers limited financial reward, few pharmaceutical companies are investing in this critical area.
#ICYMI: This week on #SETILive, Simon Steel chatted with scientists Manuel Scherf and Helmut Lammer about what makes Earth so special that intelligent life evolved and how those circumstances may lower the chances of similar life developing on another world. Watch the full interview: https://youtube.com/live/qy8spTZpTNI
> Antimicrobial resistance is one of the world’s most urgent health challenges, WHO's new report showing there are ‘too few antibacterials in the pipeline’
> the limited commercial incentives deter investment in antibiotic discovery
Scientists Discover New Evidence That a Magma Ocean Once Covered the Moon
Scientists believe the Moon was created when a protoplanet impacted the early Earth, breaking off a large chunk of matter, and eventually formed a new body. This new body became the Moon we know through a cooling process over millions of years. During that time, scientists have long believed the surface was covered in an ocean of magma.
By Madeleine Muzdakis via @mymodernmet
A recent discovery from Yellowstone National Park has redefined one of biology’s most basic assumptions: that a cell must “choose” between using oxygen or other chemicals to breathe. In a recent SETI Live episode, Dr. Eric Boyd, microbial geochemist at Montana State University, joined SETI Institute communications specialist Beth Johnson to discuss his team’s groundbreaking findings.
Learn more: https://www.seti.org/news/this-microbe-breathes-two-ways-the-bacteria-that-challenge-biochemistry/
The historic first Earthrise photo from the Moon was received 60 years ago today. It was shot on film, developed onboard the Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft, scanned, transmitted home...and then meticulously restored decades later.
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/features/lunarOrbiter/ #space #science #history #tech
#OTD in 1803.
British scientist John Dalton begins using symbols to represent the atoms of different elements.
In his laboratory notebook there is a list in which he set out the relative weights of the atoms of a number of elements, derived from analysis of water, ammonia, carbon dioxide, etc. by chemists of the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalton#Atomic_theory
Books about John Dalton at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56648
La mission Artemis II représente le premier vol habité autour de la Lune depuis 1972. Un retour vers l'espace qui a inspiré à Sophian Aubin une question vertigineuse : où en est la science dans la quête de vie extraterrestre ?
Hello friends! I’ve launched a new podcast called Planetary Pandemonium 🚀🐱
Episode 0 is a short introduction to the show—planetary science, science fiction, and the humans behind both.
If that sounds interesting to you, I’d love for you to listen:
PRESS RELEASE:
The SETI Institute is pleased to open the call for applications for the 2026 Mino Postdoctoral Fellowship. This research program offers an exceptional opportunity for talented early-career scientists worldwide to contribute significant advances in several fields.
Applications open on November 20, 2025, and must be submitted by January 16, 2026.
To learn more and apply: https://www.seti.org/news/seti-institute-invites-applications-for-the-2026-mino-postdoctoral-fellowship/
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Next #SETILive: The Moon that Could Support Life
TODAY, 20 November, 11 am PST / 2 pm EST
Join host Beth Johnson for a fascinating episode of SETI Live, featuring planetary scientists Dr Georgina Miles and Dr Carly Howett from the University of Oxford. We’ll be unpacking their groundbreaking study showing that Enceladus — one of Saturn’s icy moons — may harbor a stable subsurface ocean capable of supporting life.
WATCH LIVE: https://youtube.com/live/fDf0VQ_S-Bs
#OTD in 1933.
Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light in Bloomsbury, London. He patented the idea in 1936.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Szilard
Scottish chemist and physicist James Dewar was born #OTD in 1842.
He is best known for his invention of the vacuum flask, which he used in conjunction with research into the liquefaction of gases. He also studied atomic and molecular spectroscopy, working in these fields for more than 25 years. Dewar was nominated for the Nobel Prize 8 times — 5 times in Physics and 3 times in Chemistry — but he never succeeded in winning it.
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#Science video accounts to follow:
➡️ @ruth_mottram - Climate scientist, glaciers, ice sheets, polar climate
➡️ @adam_steer - Former polar researcher, polar exploration
➡️ @makingwaves - Marine ecologist, life in the sea
➡️ @nicemicro - Scientist on chemistry, FOSS, tech
➡️ @kirk - Scientist, engineer, open hardware for energy conversion & storage
➡️ @europlanet_media - European org for planetary scientists
🧵 1/3
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Two-way mathematical 'dictionary' could connect quantum physics with number theory
by Institute of Science and Technology Austria via @physorg_com
https://phys.org/news/2024-09-mathematical-dictionary-quantum-physics-theory.html
The most extreme rogue wave occurred in November 2020, lifting a single buoy off of Canada's British Columbia coast some 58 feet high. Since then, dozens more rogue waves have been recorded (some even in lakes). @ScienceAlert has more on this aquatic phenomenon that was once considered a myth. And if buoys could talk, the one that went for a wild ride would tell you how very real rogue waves are: https://flip.it/AILAJv
#Science #Ocean #PacificOcean #Waves #RogueWaves
📣 It's been a while since we've federated a batch of publishers — so to make up for it, here are 250, and they're big ones.
Today, we're bringing names like @abc, @RollingStone, @forbes, @BleacherReport, @NationalGeographic and @newyorktimes to the fediverse. They join the 174 profiles we've already federated, which include everyone from @19thnews to @Vox
Here's a blogpost with more details on this latest batch of publications that cover news, business, cooking, home design, politics, sports, science and more. Follow their Magazine feeds if you're only interested in one topic, or their whole profiles if you want the lot. The spreadsheet below lists out all federated accounts.
https://about.flipboard.com/fediverse/flipboard-federates-250-publishers/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iUFTo6rPvhqzCReLaM1c6-xUKRuBVqlZVStZl9Al-EU
#Flipboard #Federation #SpreadMastodon #ActivityPub #Media #Publishers #Journalism #News #Politics #Sports #Entertainment #Food #Lifestyle #Science
English physicist and chemist Michael Faraday was born #OTD in 1791.
Faraday discovered that a changing magnetic field could induce an electric current in a wire, laying the foundation for the concept of the electromagnetic field. He formulated the fundamental laws of electrolysis; he was the inventor of the Faraday cage and he discovered the Faraday effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Faraday
Books about or by Michael Faraday at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Michael+Faraday&submit_search=Search
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On our latest #SETILive #podcast, Dr Carly Howett from the University of Oxford explains the kinds of Earth analogues that may exist for the subsurface ocean environment of Enceladus. Hydrothermal vents, anyone? Listen to the full episode: https://feeds.libsyn.com/462636/rss
You've been throwing a frisbee all wrong, new study finds.
From @sciencefocus: "Researchers at Berry College, Georgia, investigated professional and amateur disc golf players (yes… that’s a real sport) to explore the effect different thumb positions had on disc throwing."
The World’s Oldest Glaciers Are Buried Under South African Gold
2.9-billion-year-old evidence could be proof of a lost ice age—the first “Snowball Earth.”
by Gemma Tarlach via @atlasobscura
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/oldest-glaciers-lost-ice-age
