Maya Wei-Haas, PhD

@mayaweihaas.bsky.social

1496 Followers 426 Following

Science writer | Lover of rocks and rxns | Ex-National Geographic reporter | Words at NYT, Science Mag, Smithsonian, & more | Author of What a Rock Can Reveal | Follow for geology and weird happenings on Earth and beyond! https://bio.site/mayaweihaas

Image of three hands holding one another. The smallest is an infant's tiny hand (you can also see the pink sleeve of her sweater). The mom's hand is cupped around the baby's, and the father's hand is cupped around both of the other two.
The image is a poster featuring a picture of the author and her book, What a Rock Can Reveal. Details about the event are as follows: Reading and presentation with children's nonfiction author, Maya Wei-Haas. Saturday March 22, 11 AM, Bards Alley Bookshop, Vienna, VA. Free to attend, no RSVP required.
Person in the foreground wears an orange puffy jacket and points up to a tall mound made entirely of columnar basalt. The columns stick out in many directions, and the person is standing in front of a section where you can see the columns ends that are all arranged in a circle.
The sky is a dusky purple-blue and the water is dark blue with streaks of bright turqoise, making it look a bit like it's glowing. On the horizon is the volcanic island. It's two very sharp peaks with steeps sides. The two peaks form a little bridge with a hole that's been eroded out of them.
Light pink sands are shown in this birds eye view of the beach. Two people look tiny in the middle of the image walking through the sand toward bright blue water.
Sail boats are racing to the white sand beaches of Moana 2. The water is crystal clear blue-green, and 7ou can see behind the beaches dark very sharp cliffs partially covered by green plants. People are gathered on shore to greet Moana's boat upon her arrival
Moana vaults across a crevasse, image shows her in mid-air. On either side of the crevasse, you can see dark rocks that make up the walls. The rocks making up each of the walls looks slightly columnar, as you can see hints to hexagonal columns in the geometric break of the vertical cliffs.
Image of moana with a pink flower tucked behind her ear, paddling a small canoe with her little pig in it. The canoe is skirting in front of a rough edge of dark rock that's supposed to be an old lava flow that entered the sea
A slab of rock under normal light, when it looks "ordinary." It has speckles of grey, red, white, all running in diagonal bands.
A closeup aerial photo of the eruption at night. The darkness of the ground stands in stark contrast to the glowing red/orange of the lava. The lava is fountaining from the crack in the ground, and the glowing red lava seems to be creeping across the surface. The cloudy sky flows red, reflecting the color of the lava.
Photo shows the Icelandic eruption at night. The sky glows red from the lava, which is blasting from a long crack in the ground. The photo seems to be taken from a plane, which makes the eruption seem small, you san see the puddle of glowing red lava oozing around the fissure.
A series of sea stacks stand tall above the turquoise water. Hints of mountains can be seen in the background through the fog.
Same letter as described in the first message.
Image of a letter to the "Honorable Thomas O'Neill, in the house of representatives." The letter is from March 9, 1956 and here's a shortened summary: Dear Sir, it has been suggested to me by another congressman that I write to you in connection with a problem which now confronts me. I have studied in this country from 1949 to 1955 during which I received BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. During this past year I worked at MIT on a government research project and since February 1956 I worked at the Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation in Boston. I was born in Jamaica to Chinese parents. I now wish to be permitted to remain in my present job but I've been informed by the immigration office I cannot remain in the country after my student visas expire in August. Being Chinese by birth, I am automatically placed under the Chinese quota, which is filled up for the next few years. The remainder of the letter is requesting that Thomas O'Neill use his discretionary powers to remain in the country. He mentions there was a shortage of engineers in the US and so he was useful to the country. He states they've gone to great lengths with his company to figure out a solution and haven't yet found one so is sincerely requesting help.
This is an illustration of the seismoscope. It shows the full dragons on the jar. The precise origin of this image is uncertain, I found it posted on ZME Mag, but has no credit.
This is a schematic of the process described in the tweet. This was from ISAAC Antisismica, but it's not showing up as listed on their website, so i'm not entirely sure the source of the image.
A metallic urn or pot-like structure has dragons surrounding the design. Each dragon has a ball in its mouth and is poised over a frong with its mouth agape.
Sunset across the barren arctic landscape. The lands are mostly rocky with very few trees. The main plants are small shrubs and mosses that are all turning red, yellow, and brown in the fall. Anywhere the sun touches is brilliant rosy red.
A rocky cave partially filled with bright blue water that's stunningly clear. It almost looks like there's a blue haze over the bottom half of the cave because you can see all of the rocks and features of the cave floor through the water!
A screenshot of the listing for the book in NY Magazine's story on the best new kids' books! The description reads: ‘What a Rock Can Reveal,’ by Maya Wei-Haas, Cost: $18," Then it has a short blurb with the following description: My kids are currently in their rocks-and-gems phase, and finding a compelling way to tell the story of how these specimens came to be can be challenging. In What a Rock Can Reveal, with almost tactile-feeling illustrations of gorgeous rocks and minerals by Sonia Pulido, Wei-Haas focuses on telling the story of Earth’s geology. She explains how a rock’s shape, color, and texture can give us clues about its own story. This is a great pick for a young scientist or any kid with an appreciation for nature."
A clear marble-looking ball of collagen sits on the back of a man’s hand. He’s holding it out for everyone to look “through” the lens, you can see an image of the person behind on the lens but it’s perfectly flipped upside down.
A whale tale shown in the foreground, snowy mountains in the backgrounf
The picture is taken from a boat on a lake of bright Turqoise water in Torres Del Paine national park. In the distance rises rugged mountains of black and white rocks. A white layer of rocks cut through the center of the peaks with black tips.
Image of the total solar eclipse. The image is almost all black. You can just see the black circle of the moon and the ring of bright sun around its edges.
A book sitting in the sand on the edges of a lake. Clouds are in the sky with a series of volcanic peaks in the distance. The book's cover is an illustration of the grand canyon. A variety of minerals surround the book's title, What a Rock Can Reveal!
Brown sea lions drape themselves over the rocks sitting just above blue-green waters that fill Kenai Fjords.
A rocky path sits atop a narrow ridge line and fog surrounds the peak on either side
Creo cables from the tram extend out from the top of the picture into the clouds. The rest of the scenery is obscured by fog
Green shrubby hills in the foreground give way to a a variety of mountain peaks streaked with red and orange.
Cubic crystals of fluorite that appear to be a neon blue, shown as it’s seen under UV light.
Photo shows seven graduate students on the top of a hillside in alaska. Mountains are in the background and the sky is bright blue with scattered clouds. The students are all in a line and the photo caught them mid jump, many of their arms raised up overhead