Jim French

Back where I belong, San Luis Obispo. Retired botanical academic; growing Vitis labrusca/vinifera/cinerea/inaequalis hybrids on three vineyards.

[Jim French @Selago]

https://t.co/8suhfbpK9n

[Redd @ReddCinema]

bro only wants the seeds

[Roshan Rinaldi @Roshan_Rinaldi]

The New Yorker this week;

[The San Francisco Standard @sfstandard]

Rookie pass rusher Romello Height thinks he can provide a burst of speed off the edge that the team has been missing since Ford’s departure.

📝: @LombardiHimself https://t.co/mg4af4fFHI

[Shark @Shark5881715566]

💙💙💙💙

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

Incredible K-9 takes down a criminal in one move.

[Sergei Pond @sergeilkp]

How does a lethal Patagonian rodent virus (~35% fatality rate)—and the ONLY hantavirus on Earth that spreads person-to-person—get onto an Antarctic cruise ship and infect 13 passengers & crew across 6 countries?

And did the virus mutate to pull it off?

A terrific new genomic study by Ulloa-Zepeda, Cecilia Vial & colleagues traced the 2026 MV Hondius Andes virus outbreak using open @Pathoplexus data. Adding 37 newer Chilean & Argentine genomes with our *aeon toolkit (41s on a laptop) reveals:

1️⃣ Newly linked Chilean & Argentine human cases narrow the split from Toltén forest rats from 2000 to ~2008.
2️⃣ Close rodent "neighbor" R600-UDD is actually a segment-swapping hybrid (p = 3.2e-11) across two viral clades.
3️⃣ All 47 polymerase & nucleocapsid mutations are 100% silent—leaving just ONE unique surface-spike mutation (M:T516I) on the outbreak strain.

4️⃣ Two shipboard waves (R₀ = 1.40): Unmasked genomes resolve an early-April C2144 group (n=7) and a late-April/May T2144 sub-cluster (n=6).

Maps, trees & 4-slide digest 👇

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

What’s the BEST steak doneness level?

[ZZ Santa Chevy Cruze™️ #SmokeFleet🟦 @Danphillipsresi]

I don't know art, but I know what I like.😉😜🤣

[USGS Volcanoes🌋 @USGSVolcanoes]

Kīlauea Eruption Update — Episode 56 of lava fountaining! 

Another lava fountaining episode at the summit of Kīlauea volcano on the Island of Hawaiʻi, began at 12:10 p.m. HST today, November 5, 2026, and is ongoing. 

This is the 56th lava fountaining episode to occur in the summit caldera of Kīlauea, in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, since the eruption began on December 23, 2024. It occurs following days of intermittent spatter, low-dome fountains, and lava flows from the eruptive vent complex. 

The lava fountains are currently relatively low, an estimated 300 feet high above the vent, but could grow taller. Winds in the eruption area are from the northeast, which suggests that volcanic gas emissions and volcanic material may be distributed to the southwest (primarily in a closed area of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes Nationa Park).

Fountaining episodes typically last 12 hours or less, but ash can remain in the air for longer depending on wind and weather conditions. Watch as this eruption develops on the three livestreaming cameras at Kīlauea summit, available on the USGS Youtube channel: https://t.co/fziQrDCPoK

Please stay aware of hazards and rely on official updates from USGS, National Weather Service, and Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. 

🎥 Video of episode 56 on November 10, 2026. 

#Kilauea #Eruption #Lava

[Faj @Faj1791]

You really can't make this up lol.

[Jim French @Selago]

Is this what's called a "psychotic break"? Trump is now waxing about the quality of the marble he’s using to build this ballroom. “The owner of the quarry didn’t want to sell it, but he liked me,” he says.

[HTF @enjayglowbe72]

Kornacki said there’s about 9,000 ballots left to count and Colom is expected to take in 5,400

[Ence Morse @ccemorse]

Here's what county shifts look like as of 9:50 PM.

https://t.co/QVPSgvqmXM

[Urbanponds101 @urbanponds101]

How about a minute of Fox ‘Zoomies’ to lift the spirits?

[Marc Porter Magee 🎓 @marcportermagee]

Nate Silver’s final 2026 forecast:

Senate: 53D

House: 241D

[hazel☀️ @sodiumPen]

awesome

[Mr. Chau @Srirachachau]

Saying nearly 160 people die a year in the reflecting pool is so funny. That's like a throwaway joke they'd do on The Simpsons about the people of Springfield

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

“That was not AI. That was not artificial intelligence. That was not any form of intelligence. That was the president of the United States.”

[Jeff Berardelli @WeatherProf]

FLORIDA’S EXTRAORDINARY DELUGE 🌧️
Wait for it…
An estimated 1.88 TRILLION gallons of rain in 57 hours across the area shown—enough to cover 145,000 football fields, including end zones, 30 feet deep!

Radar estimates 30 inches near Palm Bay, with multiple torrential rainfall peaks stretching down Florida’s east coast. The radar-map area saw more than 2 dozen distinct Flash Flood Warnings, including rare #Florida Flash Flood Emergencies.

The geographic extent and repeated extreme totals make this an extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, non-tropical #rain #flood event.

A historic El Niño favors wetter Florida weather. Today’s warmer oceans and atmosphere also increase the moisture available to fuel extreme downpours. #elnino