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Tristan Caro

@tacaro

Microbiologist and geochemist | Postdoc @ Caltech | Formerly @ CU Boulder, NASA, Berkeley | Isotope, dataviz, and ceramics enjoyer

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19.09.2023
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Latest posts by Tristan Caro @tacaro

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A single course of antibiotics can have lasting effects on your gut microbiome, with changes that last well beyond 4 years. Three types of antibiotics stood out for their long term disruptive impact (3 at left, Figure)
nature.com/articles/s41...

11.03.2026 17:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 217 ๐Ÿ” 89 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10 ๐Ÿ“Œ 7
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Water-Isotope Proxies in Lake Sediments: Calibrations, Uncertainties, and New Directions Paleoclimatologists have long recognized that H and O isotopes of materials in lake sediments can help reconstruct past climate and environmental change. Here, a global synthesis of O isotopes in lab-...

A deep dive into a suite of water isotope proxies, many thanks to this great team: @yarrowaxford.bsky.social
Bryan, Gabe, Wil & Jeemin

10.03.2026 20:57 ๐Ÿ‘ 10 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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What Is The Antidote to Capitalism? Economic Democracy | Jason Hickel With democratic control over our productive capacities we can stop climate breakdown in short order. We can overcome the capitalist law of value, and organize production around social and ecological o...

โœ๏ธThe climate crisis isnโ€™t a tech problem โ€” itโ€™s a system problem.

๐Ÿ‘จJason Hickel (ICTA-UAB researcher): capitalism keeps fossil fuels profitable and blocks the transition.

The alternative? Economic democracy ๐ŸŒ

www.filmsforaction.org/articles/wha...

@jasonhickel.bsky.social

05.03.2026 17:05 ๐Ÿ‘ 4 ๐Ÿ” 6 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Uncertainties of enhanced rock weathering for climate-change mitigation - Nature Reviews Earth & Environment Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategy that converts atmospheric CO2 to stable carbonates by applying minerals to agricultural land. This Perspective discusses the p...

Enhanced rock weathering (ERW) on agricultural soils is being considered as a carbon dioxide removal strategy. However, uncertainties remain regarding feedstock availability, plant-soil impacts, CDR efficiency, and socio-economic considerations, limiting large-scale deployment. ๐Ÿงช

04.03.2026 17:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 45 ๐Ÿ” 8 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Bacteria Decide the Oceanโ€™s Dissolved Organic Carbon Abundance - Eos Dissolved organic carbon prevalence follows from how many bacteria are around to eat it, modeling suggests.

Owusu et al. say that either top-down control (e.g. grazing) or nutrient limitation (e.g. N) shape bacterial communities which in turn set DOC levels in the oceans. The EOS piece by @saimamay.bsky.social is a good summary.

eos.org/research-spo...
@saimamay.bsky.social

04.03.2026 17:39 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Our perspective on ERW -Uncertainties of enhanced rock weathering for climate-change mitigation- was featured in the New Scientist

Here is the paper: www.nature.com/articles/s43...

03.03.2026 18:23 ๐Ÿ‘ 7 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

๐Ÿ‘‡a highlight for all alphaproteobacteriologists, don't miss it! #MicroSky

02.03.2026 21:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Would it be possible to plot all directorates on the same plot, normalized to 2024 funding rates (so we get a sense of which directorates may be prioritized?)

02.03.2026 00:59 ๐Ÿ‘ 0 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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โ€˜Unbelievably dangerousโ€™: experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases

Study finds ChatGPT Health did not recommend a hospital visit when medically necessary in more than half of cases. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

27.02.2026 19:47 ๐Ÿ‘ 1275 ๐Ÿ” 724 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 43 ๐Ÿ“Œ 189

We want your input! Join one of our community workshops to learn and share your thoughts on geothermal energy in Washington:
๐Ÿ“† Today, Feb. 26: Mount Baker
๐Ÿ“† March 4: Mount St. Helens
๐Ÿ“† March 5: Wind River Valley
Learn more at ecology.wa.gov/geothermal

26.02.2026 17:58 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 2 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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The Biden Admin directed hundreds of billions to clean energy/manufacturing.

Did these investments shift public opinion?

We find that these projects are visible but not traceable: People notice nearby investments, but connect them to Governors, not Biden.

Thread ๐Ÿ‘‡
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

26.02.2026 17:20 ๐Ÿ‘ 197 ๐Ÿ” 66 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 13

As someone who was, I think, an effective note-taker in college, this discourse about LLM note-takers is alarming. For me, the act of *taking* notes is the important part. If I had thrown the notes away immediately after a lecture or reading a chapter I'd still have gotten 80% of the value.

23.02.2026 17:22 ๐Ÿ‘ 799 ๐Ÿ” 117 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 33 ๐Ÿ“Œ 46
Anergiobiosis: a testable framework for microbial life under extreme power limitation

New preprint! We propose "anergiobiosis" to describe microbial life at thermodynamic limits as a way of separating the physiological state from questions about aeonophilic extremophile specialization. ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
#Microbiology #Extremophiles #SubsurfaceMicrobiology #MicroSky

20.02.2026 17:35 ๐Ÿ‘ 21 ๐Ÿ” 11 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Data Reporter Remote, United States

Seen online: ProPublica is hiring a data reporter, 5 yrs data journalism exp req'd. Salary $110K-$135K. Knowledge of Python or #RStats.
US remote or option to work in NY, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix or Berkeley
More info:
job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/j...
#DDJ #JournalismJobs

19.02.2026 23:49 ๐Ÿ‘ 35 ๐Ÿ” 19 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The peer review system is breaking down. Hereโ€™s how we can fix it Peer review is so integral to the scholarly system that research would grind to a halt without it.

The peer review system is breaking down. Hereโ€™s how we can fix it.
#PeerReview #academicSky

theconversation.com/the-peer-rev...

17.02.2026 22:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Illustration of a conventional geothermal system. Enhanced geothermal creates deeper fractures in hot rock, often at depths of 5 kilometers or more, and circulates water to pick up heat and so generate power. Image credit: Shutterstock/Papia Majumder.

Illustration of a conventional geothermal system. Enhanced geothermal creates deeper fractures in hot rock, often at depths of 5 kilometers or more, and circulates water to pick up heat and so generate power. Image credit: Shutterstock/Papia Majumder.

How #NextgenGeothermal could bring clean power to more of the planet. A PNAS Core Concept piece: https://ow.ly/lCRF50Yf3Z9

#GeothermalEnergy #CleanEnergy #AlternativeEnergy #ClimateChange #OilandGasIndustry

13.02.2026 18:01 ๐Ÿ‘ 3 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities Spatial structure naturally emerges in microbial communities, shaping growth, interactions, and evolution, and revealing how microscale processes scale up

Most microbes don't live in shaking flasks; spatial structure shapes how microbes interact and evolve at every scale, as we discuss in our recent review @jeroenmeijer.bsky.social @simonvanvliet.bsky.social @bedutilh.bsky.social @bramvandijk.bsky.social and others
academic.oup.com/femsre/artic... ๐Ÿงต๐Ÿ‘‡

12.02.2026 15:46 ๐Ÿ‘ 50 ๐Ÿ” 28 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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NSFโ€™s flagship fellowship program is rejecting applicants without peer review Students seeking graduate research scholarships speculate that biology is being disfavored

NSF's graduate research fellowship (GRF) program is designed to teach aspiring scientists how to write a winning grant proposal. So why are so many applicants being denied that learning experience? www.science.org/content/arti...

12.02.2026 18:31 ๐Ÿ‘ 43 ๐Ÿ” 32 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Astrobiologists search for alien life, and help life on Earth in the process A team of early-career researchers say that exploring how life may have evolved on far-away worlds could lead to advancements on Earthโ€”from new sources of

Astrobiology and extreme microbiology is not just about searching for life on other planets โ€“ it also helps society and life on *our* planet! Check out our new early career perspective www.colorado.edu/today/2026/0...

12.02.2026 19:07 ๐Ÿ‘ 13 ๐Ÿ” 3 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

For those familiar w/ "ARkStorm/ARk2.0" flood scenarios for California, a comparable event has been unfolding on the Iberian Peninsula. These ridiculous rainfall accumulations, caused by a long series of extremely moist atmospheric rivers, have brought widespread severe flooding to Spain & Portugal.

10.02.2026 05:03 ๐Ÿ‘ 570 ๐Ÿ” 227 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 18 ๐Ÿ“Œ 12
Cold Self-Lubrication of Sliding Ice The low kinetic friction between ice and numerous counterbodies is commonly attributed to an interfacial water layer, which is believed to originate from preexisting surface water or from melt water i...

It turns out weโ€™re wrong about what makes ice slippery for 200 years.

We thought ice was slippery due to pressure or friction. New research reveals the cause is molecular dipole interactions. These electrical forces disrupt ice's crystal structure, creating a liquid layer even at extreme cold.

19.01.2026 08:19 ๐Ÿ‘ 146 ๐Ÿ” 22 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 8 ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Microbial growth rate is a stronger predictor of soil organic carbon than carbon use efficiency - Nature Ecology & Evolution Microbial carbon use efficiency is a strong predictor of soil organic carbon stocks. Here the authors reveal that the microbial growth rate is a more reliable and informative predictor, and that model...

Soil microbes grow, respire, die. Because their biomass eventually becomes necromass, and necromass can be stabilized in soil, growth rate emerges as a powerful predictor of soil carbon: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

06.02.2026 15:09 ๐Ÿ‘ 29 ๐Ÿ” 12 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3 ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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Microbial growth rate is a stronger predictor of soil organic carbon than carbon use efficiency - Nature Ecology & Evolution Microbial carbon use efficiency is a strong predictor of soil organic carbon stocks. Here the authors reveal that the microbial growth rate is a more reliable and informative predictor, and that model...

Folks interested in soil carbon and microbes, you may want to check these two papers recently published in @natecoevo.nature.com: Xianjin He et al., Microbial growth rate is a stronger predictor of soil organic carbon than carbon use efficiency... (1/4) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

06.02.2026 15:08 ๐Ÿ‘ 28 ๐Ÿ” 10 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
A digital illustration of Skeletor as depicted in the 80s He-Man cartoon. For those unfamiliar he is a a blue man with a fantasy bodybuilder physique. He wears a cross-body harness with some little bones at the center and a matching purple hood that frames hood face which is somehow just a yellow skull. Here he is seen yelling up to the sky and shaking his little blue fists at the heavens. Cutting him off at mid-abs is some gleaming 3D lettering in the style of the Masters of the Universe logo that reads โ€˜Maybe it will happen todayโ€™.

A digital illustration of Skeletor as depicted in the 80s He-Man cartoon. For those unfamiliar he is a a blue man with a fantasy bodybuilder physique. He wears a cross-body harness with some little bones at the center and a matching purple hood that frames hood face which is somehow just a yellow skull. Here he is seen yelling up to the sky and shaking his little blue fists at the heavens. Cutting him off at mid-abs is some gleaming 3D lettering in the style of the Masters of the Universe logo that reads โ€˜Maybe it will happen todayโ€™.

06.02.2026 14:12 ๐Ÿ‘ 1889 ๐Ÿ” 503 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 19 ๐Ÿ“Œ 16
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Two fully funded PhD candidate positions in Electromicrobiology (3 years) Application deadline: 4 March 2026 at 23:59 hours local Danish time

In addition to the 2 postdoc jobs posted yesterday, weโ€™re recruiting 2 PhD students (environmental microbiology/ molecular ecology) to join us from April. The projects will map microbial populations across niches in bioelectrochemical systems relevant to biomethanation & link them to performance.

04.02.2026 16:17 ๐Ÿ‘ 8 ๐Ÿ” 16 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
PubPeer - Search publications and join the conversation. PubPeer enables scientists to search for their publications or their peers publications and provide feedback and/or start a conversation anonymously.

Leave a comment on PubPeer so others down the road don't have to do the guesswork! pubpeer.org

03.02.2026 01:04 ๐Ÿ‘ 2 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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'They saw them on their dishes when eating': The mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans Only recently described by science, the mysterious mushrooms are found in different parts of the world, but they give people the same exact visions.

"Make sure you cook them thoroughly or you'll start seeing tiny people."

Me: ๐—ก๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—œ๐—ป ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด แต—แต˜สณโฟหข แตˆแต’สทโฟ สฐแต’แต‡

www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

29.01.2026 17:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 14 ๐Ÿ” 4 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It's a mistake to assume ignorance at this point. It is certifiable malevolence.

29.01.2026 19:43 ๐Ÿ‘ 1 ๐Ÿ” 0 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Excited to join the Editorial Board of @plosbiology.org, the #PLOS flagship journal in the Life Sciences, that's blazing a trail in support of selective, equitable #OpenScience and reaching global audiences to help advance science faster ๐Ÿ“ ๐Ÿค“ ๐ŸŒฑ

29.01.2026 17:28 ๐Ÿ‘ 34 ๐Ÿ” 7 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Multi-omics reveals nitrogen dynamics associated with soil microbial blooms during snowmelt - Nature Microbiology Soil microbial populations bloom and then die-off in ecosystems with seasonal snowpack. This study showed that distinct taxa utilize different N sources for growth or energy during the microbial bloom...

Multi-omics reveals nitrogen dynamics associated with soil microbial blooms during snowmelt www.nature.com/articles/s41... #jcampubs

29.01.2026 18:29 ๐Ÿ‘ 5 ๐Ÿ” 1 ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0 ๐Ÿ“Œ 0