Also if you're in Reykjavik this weekend, I highly recommend the street food festival! Everything I had yesterday was excellent, including an ice cream float from the US, arrepas from Venezuela, meat pies from Australia, and new locally-farmed brisket from the other side of the mountain here.

It's #caturday and here is a throwback to Gary as a kitten; please enjoy. We all could use a little cuteness in our day after the week. Mjá.

The pāhoehoe lava in question:

An apt snack for my office today. Hraun is the Icelandic word for lava, and I'm out working with this amazing pāhoehoe field in the Fagradalsfjall system.

Love & Basketball, but that's because I was at USC studying astrophysics at the time, where it was filmed, and am in the background of a few scenes. 😁🏀

One year ago today was the start of the last eruption in the Svartsengi system here in Iceland. This was an interesting eruption because given the winds at the time, the air quality at the eruption site was better than 30km away in Reykjavik. Now the question: will the #volcano erupt again?

Joyeux 14 juillet, mes amis! Yes, I may live in Iceland, but did you know I studied for two years in Paris and lived on a peniche on the Seine, just next to Pont des Arts. Below is my view from my boat ten years ago. Today is National Day there in France. Bonne Fête Nationale!

Do I have a rock?! I'm a geologist....I have too many to count. It's a problem 😅 Selected rocks: Cretaceous intrusives from New Zealand Olivine phenocryst 2021 from Fagradalsfjall Iceland Molten basalt 2023 from Sundhnúkur Iceland Oomoldic Pennsylvanian limestone from Kansas (my 1st thin sections)

Jurassic Park showed young me that scientists could be adventurous and cool, and The Piano made me interested in film scores (along with Star Wars). Other notable favorites include Event Horizon and The Hunt for the Red October. Yes, I'm old.

Thank you! He then fell asleep 😹

I missed #caturday yesterday because I was working but everybody LOOK AT MY CAT OMG he's the regalest of regal one-braincell oranges to ever orange.

Your reminder that #northernlights season starts in approximately one month here in Iceland! I've personally seen them as early as 13 Aug (below) but I've seen good pix of them as early as 10 Aug. My bookings for private, science-focused #aurora hunting tours are open now for 15 Aug or later.

There's a possibility it'll hit 30°C next week in the East here in Iceland and I'm wondering if I finish my 12 hour shift Tuesday and drive directly to the other side of the island. It's only officially been 30°C three times in recorded, modern history here, and those were in 1939/1946.

We take our sheep seriously here in Iceland. Photos by Vísir.

Big news story in Iceland is the daring rescue of a lamb who had gotten stuck on a sea cliff. Funny video was shown on the news of a man trying to "ask" the lamb if it was ok by shouting "baaahh" at it. A Search & Resuce squad came out to save the creature yesterday by rappelling over the cliff.

A small geomagnetic storm last night hit North America; saw lots of pictures from the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. Kp Index briefly grazed 7. My friends in Wyoming sent me this picture! (Since I'm here in Iceland in perpetual #midnightsun daylight right now). #northernlights #aurora

It's my birthday and I think I might have experienced the coldest temp I've ever been dealt on this day: 6°C with a wind chill of 4°C. We had classic "rainbow season" weather today. Pounding rain, hail, wind, followed by sunshine and rainbows. Repeat every 15 mins. But some sunshine persisted!

Question for the masses (always like opening a can of worms, but nonetheless I persist): if you were describing the Kalmar Union today, and listing the countries that were included, would you include Iceland in that list? Yes, I understand some nuanced understanding of history is required here.

Happy #caturday to all who recognize this auspicious day. This week Gary did a lot of seagull watching from a safe distance away from the windows, as several Glacous gulls have taken up residence nearby and dive-bomb my balcony for some reason. Gary is alarmed. #catsky #mainecoon

Today in Iceland news: Jared Kushner & Ivanka Trump are here this week, where we hope they don't announce to the world that they've "discovered" our tiny island á lá Albania. They are staying at Deplar Farms, the most expensive hotel in the country, where Bieber wrote his most recent album.

It touches on broader issues that fines are not punishment if the criminals are rich. If influences are still getting views, clicks, brand deals, and payouts for their content, then the small fine is worth it. Now some Icelanders are calling for offenders' cars to be seized and people deported.

Back to Iceland now, but still discussing France: a furor has erupted online in the community that multiple French influencers are bringing their kitted-out cars to the Highlands and illegally driving offroad. The offenders are slapped with a small fine all the while causing hard-to-repair damage.

Reports from Paris: the heat index (the perceived tempurature with humidity) reached 47°C in the city. And today is not even predicted to be the hottest day. There was a ban put in place on "transporting vertebrates" but sadly this does not extend to homo sapiens! #heatwave #climatechange #weather

Current conditions in France. #heatwave #climate

"Ungovernable" Shell reminds me of this, one of my favorite memes:

Þingvellir is the site of the first meetings of alþingi (parliament) in Iceland during settlement times, as well as an amazing on-land expression of a mid-ocean ridge zone. Sorry for horrible photo but here are throngs of ppl leaving the festival @ 23:00 (hour before sunset) through the rift zone.

Happy solstice from Iceland and our midnight sun! Even at mid-summer, the sun is only 49° high in the sky here. It was a beautiful day at Þingvellir National Park yesterday for the first concert there in 32 years. Famous Icelandic band Kaleo headlined. This might be my first sunny solstice here 😂

A snapshot into Reykjavík's real estate market: a list came out of the capital area's cheapest single family homes for sale. The "winner" - a timber home built in 1928, 120m2 with no interior pictures of the structure in the listing in 104. Price? 78.9M isk ($633k/€546k). Next "cheapest" is 98.9M.

Iceland's National Day is today, when we celebrate our nation's independence from colonization. The union with Denmark was dissolved on 17 June 1944, and is the birthday of Jón Sigurðsson, a major figure in the push for Iceland's free republic status. Gleðilegan þjóðhátíðardag og sautjánda júní 🇮🇸

I know it's not #caturday but we had unexpected sunshine today in Reykjavik, and Gary (and his magnificent tail) were out enjoying it. Although it was short-lived, as Gary the #MaineCoon is too fluffy and he got too hot. Poor lil dude! A rare occurrence in Iceland, to be sure.