The one reference listed for radioactive waste disposal in salt is junk (it claims WIPP is in a salt dome). And is followed in the same paragraph with two references to pseudo-science about wellness spas. Not a very scientific article by EOS standards.
Equalisation of trouser and pant, too
Scotch tape has been a household mainstay for nearly a century, but it still holds some scientific surprises.
Stacked area chart of US annual electricity generation from 1950 through 2025. Total generation rose dramatically and pretty steadily through around 2007, then flattened until around 2021, and is now rising again. Coal generation accounted for about half the total until 2007 but has fallen dramatically since then, though it ticked upward in 2025. Gas, wind, and solar have grown dramatically in the last two decades, although wind has grown only slightly since 2022.
Log-scale line chart of US electricity generation by source from 1950 through 2025. Generation from coal, hydro, gas, and petroleum all grew dramatically during the earlier decades. Nuclear grew even more dramatically from 1960 through the mid-1970s, then more slowly through about 2000. Geothermal grew dramatically until around 1990 but then plateaued, remaining a minor contributor. Gas resumed its growth from 1990 until nearly the present. Wind and solar grew dramatically in recent decades, although wind has grown only slightly in the last few years. Percentage contributions in 2025 were gas 40.2%, nuclear 17.4%, coal 16.3%, wind 10.3%, solar 8.6%, hydro 5.5%, biomass 1.0%, petroleum 0.4%, and geothermal 0.3%.
EIA has posted electricity generation data for 2025, so I've updated these charts. Solar and coal are up from 2024, gas is down, other sources are pretty flat. The upward trend in total demand is now unmistakable. 🔌💡
growing up in Nebraska, I remember the grass between the yard and street being called the Devil's strip. Folks said it was "harder than the devil to grow grass there"?? I had no idea the term originally came from streetcars
Pencil drawing of two crows in a tree with heavy snow fall. One crow is pulling a PRIVATE PROPERTY sign off of the tree. The crows are now on the snowy ground. One says "Hold on tight!" the other replies "To what?" looking down at the sign it is standing on. The first crow pushed the second and it slides down a hill screaming AAAAAHHHH. Perspective from between the legs of the crow going down the hill. Snow streams by as it continues to scream AAAAAAHHHHHHHH. The first crow watches from the top of the hill as the second screams "I'll never forgive youuuuuuu". The second crow's scream continues "uuuuu–oh I've stopped. That was thrilling!" It is covered in snow, face is plastered with the stuff. In the distance at the top of the hill, the first crow is crying "my turn! my turn!"
Hold On Tight
The 3 hardest things to learn as a scientist:
1. Trust the data.. especially when it’s not what you expected,
2. Trust the data.. allowing it to change your direction,
3. Trust the data.. but not too much: test with new data at every turn.
a dog in a work shirt and hard hat captioned i specialize in roofing
I will never apologize for a post
Teenagers snowshoeing in a ponderosa forest on the east side of Sandia Peak outside Albuquerque
Went snowshoeing on Sandia peak with the scouts. Just barely enough snow, but had a good time
Those subway 12” cookies are fookies
Take me down to the Parallax city where the far moves slow and the near moves quickly
How many STEM Ph.D.s were lost from the U.S. federal government last year?
My colleagues @mghersher.bsky.social and @policyhound.bsky.social dug into a recent data release to find the answer. A @science.org exclusive.
www.science.org/content/arti...
This balance of having the confidence to tackle hard things while keeping open and honest about one’s limitations and ignorance is only now settling with me as I get older. I was intolerable for decades.
What an odd AI graphic to make as the cover
They have few or no employees. They are built by private equity, since they can make a quick buck
True, but Hungary and then Italy did precede Germany. Maybe not so many movies made about it though en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szeged_...
Weather bureau?
Crazy spicy food!
Book cover. Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century, by István Hargittai (2006)
Finished an interesting book on 5 Hungarian scientists, “Martians of Science” by Hargittai. Had read about most of them already, but an interesting take on what was different about them and their situation
Church fountain and tower at night with lights projected on them in Berlin, Germany
I saw a light show projected on a tower in Berlin last year that looked similar
I live above that elevation and have never seen this happen
We love family charades. We have a bunch of “classics” that we now have shorthand for “taking my pet turtle ___ (skiing, skydiving, etc)” is an example
Just listened to this with the family, and can attest it is excellent
Screenshot of the iTunes app playing the Patrick Stewart recording of Dickens’ Christmas Carol
NOW it’s officially the Christmas season.
Did cellular data go out too? Do the cars really stop at no traffic light?
A transparent bag of broccoli, labeled “Sweet Baby Broccoli”
Well, now I have something new to shout when startled.
Steve on rock!
Rock on, Steve!
Yeah. AGU said “use pdf.” it would make as much sense to get rid of windows :) most people use Macs
