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Liz Hearn

@liz-hearn.bsky.social

Geophysicist studying fault systems and earthquakes. USGS, formerly UBC and NSF. Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent the US government.

805 Posts628 Follower280 Folgt
Dr. Judith Hubbard@judithgeology.bsky.social · last wk.

⚒️ 🧪 A M6.8 earthquake struck Kyushu, Japan today. Large quakes in Japan are common and often pass without much notice, but this one is serious - instead of occurring offshore in the subduction zone, it is a shallow, strike-slip event near Kumamoto. Damage and deaths have already been reported.

Southern Japan struck by deadly M6.8 earthquake

A reminder of the neighboring 2016 Kumamoto M7.0 earthquake

earthquakeinsights.substack.com

Dr. Judith Hubbard@judithgeology.bsky.social · last mo.

⚒️ 🧪 A catastrophic earthquake just struck northern Venezuela. Large buildings have collapsed, and the USGS PAGER is forecasting thousands of fatalities. Our colleague in Caracas, Dr. Frank Audemard, has shared with us what the earthquake felt like and footage from the region. Here’s what we know.

Catastrophic M7.5 earthquake strikes northern Venezuela

Severe damage; collapsed buildings; significant fatalities possible

earthquakeinsights.substack.com

Noam Ross@noamross.net · 2mo ago

I was struck when I corrected data for inflation and population growth. In no way is Trump policy a correction of some overreach. The Biden years were middling for science funding in the 21st century. This is retrenchment to a time before most Americans were born. grant-witness.us/posts/2026-0... 🧪

A line graph titled "Cumulative NSF Funds Awarded Per Capita (2024 dollars) by Day of Fiscal Year" shows inflation-adjusted per-capita NSF funding from October to September. A color-coded legend groups lines by decade from the 1960s through the 2020s. A thick bright red line labeled "2026" runs far below all other years, reaching only about $3–4 per person by mid-June. Year-end labels on the right show FY2024 in teal at the top (around $23 per capita), FY2025 in dark red (around $17), and "1987" in green (around $15). A red dot marks the FY2027 President\'s Budget Request at roughly $11 per capita, with "1973" in gold labeled as the closest historical year-end value. "1969" in brown at the very bottom (around $5) marks the historical year most closely matching FY2026's current pace.
Liz Hearn@liz-hearn.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Proposed changes to federal grants are a pending disaster for US science. The linked article clearly explains why. Sorry if I come across as a Cassandra, but this is a big one. The public can comment on the proposed changes until July 13, so I think it's important to spread the word.

DDennis Geist@magmacanteenboy.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Reputations take decades to build and overnight to destroy. The corrupt regime understands and has weaponized this strategy: open.substack.com/pub/elizabet...

Liz Hearn@liz-hearn.bsky.social · 3mo ago

So after archiving the Earth Science postdoc program, we have the following half-baked, brand-new bro 'science' solicitation. It appears to have been posted before they were done writing it (see screen cap in comment). Just embarrassing - I don't know NSF ever recovers from this.

Jacquelyn Gill@jacquelyngill.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Cool, so NSF is now going to be used to essentially launder money to tech bros because universities are just too cumbersome and disciplinary oversight and regulations and accountability are all just too stifling for innovation. $1.5B for “X-Labs.”

Liz Hearn@liz-hearn.bsky.social · 3mo ago

“What will happen is that NSF will essentially become a pass-through for implementing things in the domain of sciences and technology that the administration just wants to do,” said Stassun, the Stevenson Professor of Astrophysics at Vanderbilt University.

Carl T. Bergstrom@carlbergstrom.com · 3mo ago

More details on the firing of the National Science Board. The NSF now has no director, deputy director, or board. They have issued almost no new awards in 2026. The plan appears to be to completely destroyed the agency. The details are horrifying and have Russ Vought written all over them.

Liz Hearn@liz-hearn.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Everyone on the National Science Board, which advises NSF, has apparently been fired. Also, NSF currently has no director (just someone who is "acting"). Who is actually overseeing NSF now, and what is the endgame? democrats-science.house.gov/news/press-r...

Ranking Member Lofgren Reacts to Latest Trump Scheme to Undermine Science | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

democrats-science.house.gov

Liz Hearn@liz-hearn.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The M 9.1 Tohoku Japan earthquake was 15 years ago today. I had never seen this footage from the Sendai Airport until just now. It shows both the quake (eternal violent shaking) and the tsunami. There really are no words to convey how traumatic this must have been to those who experienced it.

Henning@geohenning.bsky.social · 5mo ago

It was this video which came out years later which really blew my mind. Not only the intensity but how looong the shaking lasted! ⚒️🧪 (3/4) youtu.be/mk68bZ701s0?...

Kelsey Atherton@atherton.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Cancel the LA Olympics, scrap the World Cup, the United States cannot be a trusted part of the international community so long as the White House operates this violently and with impunity.