Stephanie Pappas

An excellent longread.

Anyone wanna join me in some light panic-gibbering?

Our research study's recruitment flyer. The flyer reads, "Call for Research Participants! Caregivers Challenging Ed-Tech in Schools. Across the United States, caregivers are pushing against educational technologies (ed-tech) in K-12 schools. We want to know why and how caregivers are questioning technology in the classroom. Who can participate? Caregivers with one or more children attending K-12 school in the United States, who...Currently and/or in the past worked to challenge the purposes and roles of ed-tech in your children's K-12 schooling. What is involved? Complete one ~15-minute survey. Participate in one ~60-minute recorded Zoom interview (optional). Questions? Contact our Research Team. Dr. Charles Logan. Northwestern University. charles.logan1@northwestern.edu. Dr. Tony Talbert. Baylor University. Tony_Talbert@baylor.edu. Allie Thrall. Baylor University. Allie_Thrall@baylor.edu. To participate, please complete our survey here: https://tinyurl.com/CaregiversEdTech

Are you a caregiver concerned about ed-tech in K-12 schools in the United States and engaging in work to challenge how your child’s school uses ed-tech?

If so, Tony Talbert, @alliethrall.bsky.social, and I invite you to participate in our new project. Join the study at tinyurl.com/CaregiversEd...

It’s official: this was Colorado’s warmest winter on record, and it wasn’t close.

Average statewide Dec-Feb temperature of 33.6° was almost 2° warmer than the previous record of 32.0° (1980-81).

La Niña + warming climate to blame (notice linear temp increase below).

#COwx

Agaricocrinus is a common Mississippian crinoid, but very beautiful. This specimen is from the Edwardsville Fm of Indiana near Crawfordsville. Each arm has delicate pinnules that would filter water for food.

#FossilFriday

It took 12,000 years for us to give wolves anxiety, so I see this as a testament to the unrivaled creative power of the human imagination.

I love her.

A sphinx moth came to slurp at a desert lily as we were watching the sunset over the Anza Borrego badlands.

Totally, from what I've heard talking to peds is that the fear is on both sides - fear of the vaccines + fear of the disease. So just saying the disease is scary is not necessarily effective alone - tho antivaxxers tend to play down disease risk so that's not to say the facts aren't important.

I think this is a mess not just for disclaimer reasons but also because afaik, fear-based motivation is pretty limited in changing vaccine hesitancy. Does anything we write (in the Atlantic no less) matter when www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...
I am really asking.

Don't get me wrong, we do spend a horrible amount on groceries these days currently, but I would not call $525/week affordable

You made me think about it for a second, but then I remembered I like rice too much. But question, is this $15 per meal on a per-person basis? Bc I'd also like to see this challenge for a family and that's $525/wk for my family of 5 not including the AMPLE SNACKS my children require for survival

Zircon crystals are nearly indestructible, and are some of the only things to survive the hellish pressure and heat of the Haldean Eon, when the earth was formed. The oldest zircons are found in Jack Hills, Australia, where our specimen was found. It may be small, but it's 4.4 billion years old!

Zircon crystals are nearly indestructible, and are some of the only things to survive the hellish pressure and heat of the Haldean Eon, when the earth was formed. The oldest zircons are found in Jack Hills, Australia, where our specimen was found. It may be small, but it's 4.4 billion years old!

Me Too started in the Year of Our Lord 2017, not 1582!

Sorry, but in what universe was adults having sex with 16-year-olds accepted before Me Too? We were all alive then and have memories, it was absolutely not considered okay??

I *love* freelancing. I have done the best work of my career as a freelancer. But the idea that several hundred new freelancers, newsletter writers, and worker-owned co-ops is remotely feasible, much less a replacement for The Washington Fucking Post, is insane.

Happy Penguin Day everyone!

Kennedy, obsessed with vaxxed/unvaxxed studies that would not be approved by US ethical review boards, planned to fund one in West Africa — one that would have caused unnecessary disease and death for extremely vulnerable children. After negative media attention, it was canceled. Coverage matters.

FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.

Hm.

Trump administration cuts up to $1.9 billion from mental health and addiction treatment programs SAMHSA canceled up to $1.9 billion in grants without staff consultation, accelerating the mental health agency's deterioration under President Trump.

#Breaking: SAMHSA canceled up to $1.9 billion in grants without staff consultation, accelerating the mental health agency's deterioration under President Trump. www.statnews.com/2026/01/14/s...

One agent literally moves to stand in front of the vehicle (she has no other way to move) and two
more agents, including the one who shot her, approach the vehicle. Those are not the actions of people who have a reasonable belief that they are in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury

Honk if you love RSV, I guess.

It would be an honor to be hated by Nelly Dean.

Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach More than 400 leather hobnailed boots, thought to date back to the 19th Century, have been found.

Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach

R.F.K. Jr. Likely to Swap U.S. Childhood Vaccine Schedule for Denmark’s

RFK Jr. is expected to announce in the new year that American children should be immunized according to the schedule followed by Denmark — which is much smaller, mostly homogenous and has universal health care.
(Free link)

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/h...

Thanks for talking with me about this! Such a cool find.

Fossil bee nests in fossil bones! News article by @sipappas.bsky.social in @sciam.bsky.social (with a few quotes by Yours Truly) about this very cool discovery from a Late Quaternary cave in the Dominican Republic. 🧪🐝🕳️🦴

Purple and white flowers on the desert floor with sunrise-color on the distant mountains

Rare winter bloom in the Anza Borrego desert

@anzaborrego.bsky.social

Abstract landscape: swirling storm clouds with a wall cloud and rain underneath, yellow field and trees

For #ArtAdventCalendar day 13, one from my 2018 Turbulent Skies Project.

I Can See It…With My Imagination
44x60 112×152cm
Oil on Canvas
2018

It feels WEIRD