It is happening!!!!!

Jamming, glass transitions, yielding and percolation are key concepts in soft matter that we connect to geophysics problems: soil creep, debris flows, river channel networks, and earthquakes. I also discuss the centrality of randomness and disorder in universality. This lecture pairs with Lecture 8.

"Soft Earth 7: Details don't matter" is the key "theoretical" lecture in the series. I discuss how and why we might expect generality in the behavior of different geophysical systems, especially in the vicinity of critical points.

Sedimentary rocks preserve snippets of these grain and landform memories. We discuss how these memories are stored in landscapes, and how they are erased.

Now up: "Soft Earth 6: Landscapes are memories". From river beds to faults, particles arrange into structures that indicate the direction and magnitude of stresses that act on them. Particles conspire to create landforms such as sand dunes, which encode the history of transport at larger scales.

Dropped "Soft Earth 5: Earth is resilient". Although Earth materials are fragile they're also resilient; soils, for example, evolved to withstand the barrage of environmental stresses under which they formed. This resilience is key to building sustainably using Earth materials. Pairs with Lecture 4.

In a study led by my colleague Hugo Ulloa, we reveal a surprising new mechanism for erosion by raindrops. Sandballs form when rolling drops mop up sand, even reaching a jammed state! #SoftEarthGeophysics

We explore the consequences of fragility in disordered materials for the Earth's surface, with a special focus on soil creep. This lecture pairs with Lecture 5.

Just dropped: "Soft Earth 4: Earth is fragile". 'Fragile' has a special meaning for materials. It means that particles -- molecules, colloids, sand grains -- form metastable structures that incessantly rearrange, even under very little disturbance. Fragile solids don't stay HOW you put them.

Find out why Plato was right about one of the elements, and how water can be detected on other planets from fractures alone!

Just dropped: "Lecture 3: Things Fall Apart. The Geometry of Failure". I introduce a simple geometric framework for describing the geometry of fracture networks, and show how this lens reveals distinct patterns that are related to the mechanisms of cracking.

@apsdsoft.bsky.social @aguepsp.bsky.social

I introduce the concept of self organized criticality, and its consequences for the dynamics of the Earth's surface. You'll never look at a sandpile the same!

PennSED https://pennsed.seas.upenn.edu Profile photo: Yukon Delta, satellite image from USGS

Just dropped: "Lecture 2: The world is a sandpile. Why everything is threshold, and threshold is everything" in the Soft Earth Chalk Talk series youtube.com/@pennsed?si=...
#SoftEarthGeophysics
Mountains, faults, rivers & sand dunes are perched on the threshold of failure.

PennSED https://pennsed.seas.upenn.edu Profile photo: Yukon Delta, satellite image from USGS

New lectures will drop every few days on our PennSED channel: youtube.com/@pennsed?si=...
We just posted the prologue to learn what the series is all about, and "Lecture 1. Everything flows: The squishy concept of solid". Please have a look and share!

If you wanna find out why soil is creepy, why rocks are soft, why the world is a sandpile, why earth is made of cubes, why details don't matter until they very much do, and why i'm the Nas of geophysics...then dive in!

Each lecture has a theme that links concepts in soft matter to problems in geophysics. Target audience is geoscientists and physicists looking for new approaches and problems, but hopefully is accessible to anyone passionate about science learning.

🧪Today we begin releasing the #SoftEarthGeophysics Chalk Talks, INFORMAL lectures laying out how to think of Earth's surface as a soft matter landscape.
This labor of love started w/ a @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social blackboard talk, and grew with support across @sas.upenn.edu @pennengineering.bsky.social

Building momentum for our @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social conference "Hard problems in soft Earth geophysics" this January. Sign up, and bring your friends!
www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/s...

I am beyond honored to be recognized by @apsphysics.bsky.social !
Being an "adult learner" in physics is hard, but the community has been so supportive!
More important, to me, is the recognition of #SoftEarthGeophysics and its home in APS.

The significance of Mars rover's latest discovery This week, NASA said scientists took the biggest step yet toward discovering whether there was ever life on Mars when a rock sample collected by the Mars rover Perseverance contained potential…

Recently, NASA announced that samples from an ancient dry riverbed on Mars may contain potential biosignatures, possible evidence of ancient microbial life. On CBS News, @dougjerolmack.bsky.social of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science discussed the exciting news.

On the "seminar circuit" I keep finding people who didn't know about our #SoftEarthGeophysics conference at @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social and that want to come. Please share with your colleagues and research groups. Details below.

Check me out on @cbsnews.com talking about Mars rocks and using landscape patterns to search for life on other planets. #SoftEarthGeophysics
@upenn.edu

www.cbsnews.com/video/the-si...

If there was ever a time where deep and original thinking in science is needed.
Thanks @davidjonfurbish.bsky.social

Will Struble Tectonic Geomorphology and Surface Processes at the University of Houston

Can forests damp earthquake waves and thus limit co-seismic landslides? What does this mean for Critical Zone development? Postdoctoral position with Will Struble and a multi-disciplinary team (including me🌲🌲🌊🌳🪾). Position is open until filled.

willstruble.com
#CZScience #Postdoc

KITP conferences are special. Early career researchers will find ample opportunities to interact and build new relationships, and more senior scientists will find themselves rejuvenated. Hit me up if you have questions, and please SPREAD THE WORD!

Ezequiel Ferrero, Centro Atómico Bariloche
Rachel Glade, U. Rochester
Jill Marshall, Portland State
Olivia Meng, Purdue
Tejas Murthy, IIT Bangalore
Shravan Pradeep, Penn
David Weitz, Harvard

Paulo Arratia, Penn
Mahesh Bandi, OIST
Katie Barnhardt, USGS
Cacey Bester, Swarthmore
Justin Burton, Emory
Karen Daniels, NC State
Emanuela Del Gado, Georgetown
Itai Einav, U. Sydney
Ahmed Elbanna, USC

There will be lively, long and luxurious poster sessions -- with great interactions and snacks.
There will be surf lessons!
We will be building the community of #SoftEarthGeophysics and defining problems TOGETHER, that will feed a 3-month program to follow.
CHECK OUT INCREDIBLE CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:

Check out the @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social conference we're (Vashan Wright, Sujit Datta, Nathalie Vriend) organizing:
www.kitp.ucsb.edu/activities/s... for THIS JANUARY 6-9!
Geoscientists, physicists and engineers: are you intellectually adventurous and been wondering "is this all there is?" 🧪