@mattotcha.bsky.social

@mattotcha.bsky.social

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Geologist from Wisconsin living in Japan for some decades. Always in wonder at the way the world is changing!

Jackie Molloy/For The Washington Post People gather outside a shop in Little Egypt in Astoria, Queens.
Artistic Representation of Mesocyon Coryphaeus Kaori Chambers, University of Michigan graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology, created an artistic representation of Mesocyon coryphaeus. U-M paleontologist Anne Kort identified a fossil as one of the most complete Mesocyon coryphaeus specimens found yet. The specimen was a fossil dog the size of a coyote. Credit: Kaori Chambers, University of Michigan
Using genealogical relationships in DNA, TRACE uncovers hidden contributions from extinct human populations that left no sequenced genomes. Credit: Meaghan Marohn
An image of a passport that Binns shared in an email to KrebsOnSecurity in Feb. 2023.
The data for this visualization comes from WalletHub. Cities were ranked using a weighted composite score based on educational attainment (80%) and education quality and equality (20%).
Hannah Beier/For the Washington Post A Freedom Fuel gas station in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
A lawn gnome carrying a gun chases a small, frightened dog.
The large impact crater known as Stickney is the largest crater on the Martian moon Phobos. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Perseids meteors – which coincide with the Southern Delta Aquariids at the tail end of July – streak over Sequoia National Forest in this 2023 NASA file photo. Credit: NASA/Preston Dyches
The Perseverance rover on Mars inspects a rock dubbed Cheyava Falls with the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument on its robotic arm. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fresh Beetroot Juice Glass Beetroot juice may offer a safe, low-cost way to support pregnant women with chronic kidney disease. Credit: Shutterstock
Ornithodoros turicata is a soft tick found in parts of the southern United States and Mexico. It can transmit Borrelia turicatae, the bacterium that causes soft tick-borne relapsing fever, and may live in animal shelters, caves, and occasionally buildings. Credit: U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
Super-deep diamond from Juína mounted for analysis at the Sirius particle accelerator. Credit: Léo Ramos Chaves/Pesquisa FAPESP
There are huge rift valleys on Venus. They suggest that the planet is still geologically active. (Image: NASA/JPL/USGS)
This photo taken on Aug. 6, 2024 shows the residue of a grain-based alcoholic drink from the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC) in Guyuan, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)
Two-photon imaging at day 27 using Ly6G-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter mice to visualize neutrophils. IL-4/C1q-EV + MAPS implants exhibited dense vascularization and focal accumulation of GFP+ cells within scaffold pores. Credit: Duke University
Daytime meteor (left), impact site, and a fragment of the Hillsborough meteorite. Credit: SETI Institute
Shrine to Konohanasakuya-hime mikewalker / Atlas Obscura User
A microscopy image of two 3-day-old zebrafish larvae. The immune cells are labeled with fluorescent proteins: the neutrophil cells are visible in green and the other immune cells in magenta. The similar pattern of distribution of immune cells shows the remarkable consistency within their immune responses, even among distinct individuals. It is precisely these intrinsic mechanisms of regeneration that the researchers in the Becker group at the CRTD are exploring. Credit: Xiaobo Tian/ Becker Group / CRTD
Bones from five ancient Egyptian princesses hint that the weapons buried beside them may have reflected real training rather than ceremony alone. Credit: Shutterstock
Game industry hardship fund - Bundle To Support Game Workers
Using newly published research based on National Vital Statistics System data, this map shows where births among women ages 40–49 are most common across the country.
Created by Julie R. Peasley using data from Golden Gate Weather Services, the National Centers for Environmental Information, and NOAA, the graphic places the developing 2026 El Niño into historical context alongside some of the strongest events on record.
Sextortion emails are messages claiming that scammers recorded you through your webcam while you watched pornography and now demand payment. They have been around for years and keep evolving with small changes in wording and fake technical detail. What hasn’t changed is the basic truth: there is no malware, no recording, and no credible evidence behind the threat. Despite seeing countless versions of these emails over the years, I’ve yet to encounter one that was backed up by the evidence the sender claimed to have.
A list of landholdings by equivalent sized states 🌎 State Sized Equivalents for America’s Largest Landowners 🟦 1. Stan Kroenke — 2,700,000 acres = 4,219 sq mi Closest state: Connecticut (4,249 sq mi) 🟩 2. Emmerson Family — 2,440,000 acres = 3,812 sq mi Closest state: Delaware × 2.4 🟧 3. John Malone — 2,200,000 acres= 3,438 sq mi Puerto Rico (3,515 sq mi — nearly identical) 🟪 4. Ted Turner — 2,000,000 acres= 3,125 sq mi Closest state: D.C. × 44 Closest real state: Puerto Rico 🟫 5. Reed Family — 1,615,000 acres= 2,523 sq mi Closest state: Delaware (2,489 sq mi) 🟨 6. Peter Buck — 1,320,000 acres= 2,063 sq mi Closest state: Delaware × 0.83 🟫 7. Irving Family — 1,267,000 acres= 1,980 sq mi Closest state: Delaware × 0.80 🟥 8. King Ranch Heirs — 911,000 acres= 1,424 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 2.0 🟦 9. Pingree Heirs — 830,000 acres= 1,297 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.8 🟩 10. Cullen Heirs — 800,000 acres= 1,250 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.7 🟧 11. Briscoe Family — 738,000 acres= 1,153 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.6 🟪 12. Wilks Brothers — 652,000 acres= 1,019 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.4 🟫 13. Thomas Peterffy — 647,000 acres= 1,011 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.4 🟨 14. Stefan Soloviev — 629,000 acres= 983 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.3 🟥 15. Brad Kelley — 624,000 acres= 975 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.3 🟦 16. Lykes Heirs — 615,000 acres= 961 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.3 🟩 17. Ford Family — 600,000 acres= 938 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.3 🟧 18. Westervelt Heirs — 600,000 acres= 938 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.3 🟪 19. Stimson Family — 552,000 acres= 863 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.2 🟫 20. Martin Family — 550,000 acres= 859 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.2 🟨 21. Jeff Bezos — 462,000 acres= 722 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Island × 1.0 (Rhode Island 1,034 sq mi) 🟥 22. Zane & Tanya Kiehne — 455,000 acres= 711 sq mi Closest state: Rhode Is…
Sushi chefs make sushi rolls. The Yomiuri Shimbun
The Yomiuri Shimbun Lines of Buddha statues are seen on Mt. Shirataki in Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture.
Yogi Bear, Winnie the Pooh, Paddington Bear, Smokey bear, Ted, Fozzie Bear
Fig. 4. Margin unit traverses highlighting western Margin unit sedimentary structures observed on Sol 1052. (A and B) 3D visualization of Sol 1052 traverse indicating the geometry of layers present. (C) Side view of a 3D visualization for the Sol 1052 traverse, with annotations highlighting the presence of clinoforms, Cr, Bs, scours, and mouth-bar lobes. Ol and multiple rising brink trajectories are present. All radargrams have an assumed velocity of 0.126 m/ns.
MingKwai typewriter
The Norton Disney Dodecahedron
The following is the introductory paragraph to the prospectus for the NPC's proceedings next week: Next week, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) is expected to adopt a Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress (Law) [民族团结进步促进法]—designed to codify General Secretary Xi Jinping’s new orthodoxy for governing China’s ethnic minorities. That doctrine, known as the “Important Thinking on Improving and Strengthening Ethnic Work,” reflects the “Second-Generation Ethnic Policies” promoted by several prominent scholars. In a nutshell, this new “assimilationist” approach aims “not just to strengthen citizens’ sense of belonging to a larger, unified Chinese nation under the Party but also to mute expression of other—in the Party’s view, competing—identities.”
Grammarly recently became part of Superhuman, and then began the shockingly unethical practice of pretending to offer writing advice from living people, without getting their permission or even informing them. Some coverage: "Grammarly Is Offering ‘Expert’ AI Reviews From Your Favorite Authors—Dead or Alive", Wired 3/4/2026:
Timeline of a Migraine Attack
A schematic of the key processes included in our abiotic Earth model. Remotely observable quantities (surface temperature, albedo, and atmospheric H2O and CO2) are in bold.
The donor’s parents said: “Losing our daughter has shattered our world in ways we can barely put into words.” But they added: “Through organ donation, she has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing and now life. As her parents, we feel tremendous pride at the legacy she leaves behind – a legacy of compassion, courage and love that continues to touch lives even after her passing.”
Karen Newton: ‘I am not a dangerous criminal. I don’t even have parking tickets.’ Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt/The Guardian
Yomiuri Shimbun file photo An aerial photograph, taken in May 2023, of Narita Airport’s Runway B, which is scheduled to be extended in 2029
The bear from Annihilation
SINO-PLATONIC PAPERS Number 381 February, 2026 Relations Between Greece and Central Asia in Antiquity: An Examination of the Written Sources by Yu Taishan
A Tamil Brahmi inscription identified by scholars with the name Cikai Koṟraṉ at the entrance of one of the tombs at Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
Fig. 7. Power spectra generated using the multi-taper method from simulated time series of annual surface temperature over 1000 years extracted from an equatorial region containing open tropical water in two of the scenarios (red box on maps; 5°S-5°N, 67.5°W-7.5°W) for three different snowball Earth scenarios. Images above the panels denote the continental configuration (grey) and the location of ice (white) and open ocean (blue) in each scenario. (A) Hard snowball (99 % sea ice); (B) Equatorial oasis (85 % sea ice); (C) Waterbelt (60 % sea ice).
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable on rural health, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 16, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The Kennedy Center will close for two years in July as its Trumpy rebrand gathers pace. The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im
Japanese Inscription, Kanheri Caves, Cave no. 90, Maharashtra, Late 13th century CE or later
Published in 1950, this map introduces the Azimuthal Equidistant Projection to Time Magazine’s readers. Time Magazine
1. The "Foundational" Signers Long-term Rejecters) These members have historically refused AIPAC money and form the core of the Reject AIPAC electoral defense. They are frequently the targets of AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), which spends millions to unseat them. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez NY-14 Rashida Tlaib MI-12 Ilhan Omar MN-05 Ayanna Pressley MA-07 Summer Lee PA-12 Greg Casar TX-35 Delia Ramirez IL-03 Pramila Jayapal WA-07 - Chair, Congressional Progressive Caucus Ro Khanna CA-17 Becca Balint VT-AL Maxwell Frost FL-10 2. The "New 2026" Converts (Former Recipients) The most notable growth in the movement is among established Democrats who officially broke ties with AIPAC in late 2025/early 2026. Seth Moulton MA-06 - A Marine veteran and moderate who publicly spurned AIPAC funds in late 2025. Valerie Foushee NC-04 - Previously accepted over $2M; has now officially joined the Reject AIPAC cohort. Deborah Ross NC-02 - Publicly announced a "no-AIPAC" policy for the 2026 cycle. Morgan McGarvey KY-03 - The latest addition to the "Reject" list following shifts in caucus dynamics. 3. The "Comeback" Candidates Cori Bush MO - Announced a 2026 run to reclaim her seat specifically on a platform of rejecting lobbyist influence.