@sjrafloat
Horticulturist. #Biosecurity lead at the RHS. 💙Our NHS, 💚Nature,♥️the Arts. Value honesty, treasure kindness. #Devonian. Passionate about #Dartmoor #plants #gardens #spaniels #sustainability #history #genealogy #community #co-ops.Views my own.
🚨 WATCH: Labour MP Charlotte Nichols reveals she was raped as an MP as she opposes the jury trial reforms
"I waited 1,088 days to go to court. We've been told [by the Government] that if we have concerns about this Bill, it's because we've not been raped"
Sadly, this is absolutely necessary and I welcome it for at least 2 reasons: Books are personal, about sharing experience & exploring ideas - if you’ve read my books, you’ve met me. And a human author is *accountable* for what they/we write: we take responsibility & influences/money are traceable.
Students who used ChatGPT scored significantly lower on the retention test (57.5 % correct) compared to those who studied traditionally (68.5 % correct) … while AI assistance may ease initial learning, it appears to undermine the effortful processes needed for robust learning.
(120 students)
⏰ The Government consultation on the future of the BBC closes at midnight tonight, so do have your say.
It takes about 40 minutes to respond, but you don't need to answer every question, you can skip the open ended questions if you want.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Please dear followers do fill this in. Most important points IMO: BBC is ambitious+capable but can do nothing without proper funding; World Service to be funded by govt; BBC needs a permanent Charter; no more party political appointees to its board; political independence.
Home Office Home Office refuses to exempt exceptional students from tough immigration rules Exclusive: Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper concerned about student visa ban on female Chevening scholars from volatile countries such as Afghanistan Pippa Crerar Political editor Tue 10 Mar 2026 The Home Office rejected an appeal from the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, that would have protected outstanding students in some of the world's most dangerous countries from changes to the UK's immigration system, the Guardian understands.
That Starmer keeps Mahmood in post shows this is not just the actions of an inhumane Home Secretary, but a deeper rooted ideology of hostility and xenophobia within this government. No-one benefits from blocking Chevening scholars. This is cruelty for sake of it.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Billionaires in the UK:
1990: 15
2025: 156
While our communities struggle to keep the heating on, they’ve increased their wealth tenfold.
Don't blame your neighbour for a crisis created by the top 1%.
taxjustice.uk/blog/scale-o...
BREAKING: MPs have voted to progress jury trial reforms
Yes: 304
No: 203
There is still time to stop the Prime Minister undermining and restricting this fundamental cornerstone of our democracy. The battle to stop this shameful act of constitutional vandalism just beginning
FACTS:
Net Zero barely nudges your bill.
Fossil‑fuel wars send it through the roof.
So when Farage and his ilk slags off renewables while fanning conflict, remember who actually hikes your costs.
Green graphic with white and yellow bold text reading "BSA Awards with a March 15, 2026 Deadline." Lists nine awards with leaf icons: Distinguished Fellow; $2,000 Emerging Leader Award; $2,000 Mid-Career Excellence in Research Award; $4,000 Michael Cichan Paleobotanical Research Grant - Paleobotanical Section; $2,500 Herman Becker Student Field Work Grant - Paleobotanical Section; $500 Undergraduate Student Research Awards; $1,000 Developing Nations Travel Awards; $500 Professional Members Travel Awards; $595 BSA Student and Postdoc Travel Awards. Includes the URL www.botany.org/home/awards.html, the Botanical Society of America logo, and a QR code.
BSA is set to give out over $150,000 in awards and grants this year — and many have deadlines that are THIS SUNDAY, March 15th!
Travel awards, research awards, and recognition for early-career, mid-career, and professional members.
Learn more: botany.org/home/awards.... #BSAawards #IamaBotanist
A new report from wildlife charity Buglife reveals that pesticides from common flea and tick treatments are now widespread in rivers across Britain and may be contributing to major declines in freshwater invertebrates bit.ly/4b1Pu50
Can you just imagine what a pickle we'd all be in if one of the central pillars of current global economic growth plans had a massive and ever-growing dependency on both energy AND water consumption?
Crude oil prices, showing a very sharp increase in the last day, from around 65 to 101 dollars per barrel..
Oil prices wouldn't be all over the news today if more of our economy was powered by local, secure renewable energy.
This isn't an "energy crisis". It's a fossil fuel crisis.
44% of UK electricity came from renewables in 2025. More of that plus an electrified economy => no more oil shocks.
A country lane with a church tower at the end
View of Peter Tavy church tower last week, #Dartmoor, #Devon. #photography #countryside
As well as being the local Dipper hotspot, the banks of the Tees at Broken Scar (Darlington) support an interesting bulb flora. This includes Sand Leek, Field Garlic and, notably, numerous patches of Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem which are most obvious now, in early spring.
@teesbirds.bsky.social
Along with Natural England and volunteers, we have been monitoring the UK's largest population of snake’s-head fritillary at North Meadow NNR in Wiltshire since the 1970s.
Sign up to join us for this year's count on Thursday 23rd April here: floodplainmeadows.org.uk/keep-updated...
treated image of Tony Blair, Larry Ellison, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and Benjamin Netanyahu with the caption: "As Tony Blair criticises Starmer for not joining Trump’s war, read Carole Cadwalladr on Blair, Big Tech and the Israel connection"
As the right wing press praises Tony Blair for his "rebuke" of Keir Starmer for not supporting Donald Trump's war on Iran ("We should have backed America from the very beginning."), time to re-up @carolecadwalla.bsky.social's investigation into the Tony Blair Institute
(mini 🧵)
For International Women's Day, I highly recommend the Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks: four books that ought to be known as the Masterworks of Fantasy that they bloody well are. And a bonus: the gorgeous cover art for these editions is by @tanaudel.bsky.social, a very fine writer herself.
This is no longer about saving the corner building. It's lost. All the SFRS can do is try to prevent what would be a catastrophic spread to Glasgow Central Station.
📷 Vyro Media
While #AI #datacenters enrich the Big #Tech elite, our water, climate, and communities pay the price. Read the top 10 reasons data centers must be stopped.
Reddit screenshot from Glasgow thread. Bright flames rising out the side of a Victorian building.
Video screenshot from Reddit. Building is now a shell with flames visible in every window.
The roof has collapsed embers rise into the night sky.
The fire at Glasgow central station is utterly devastating. Shops, homes and our transport link to England are being wiped out.
I am amazed by the limited news coverage.
The “privatisation premium” sees almost a quarter of the average household energy bill – roughly £450 – flow today into corporate profits. Other services are hit. Nearly 30% of a water bill in the privatised system goes to shareholder returns and paying debt. 😠
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
🦇 Only 1 space left for our Landscaping for Nature and People course at RHS Wisley on 25 March!
Learn to apply nature based landscaping design principles to master planning to achieve real wins for nature and people!!
More info and to book: www.bats.org.uk/our-work/tra...
"Stan" is an exceptionally moving and affectionate play by the multi-talented Neil Brand, someone who's very much attuned to the personal relationship between Laurel and Hardy. Looking forward to hearing it again!
“Met Police may want to intimidate us into contributing to gov’s closing off of the right to protest”
“But Quakers have been accustomed to oppression by the state for over 350y. We will continue to hire space to explicitly nonviolent groups, with appropriate checks in place, just as we always have”
Seems excessive.
As we witness the horror of attacks on desalination plants, we need to be aware, on a warming planet, conflict over water, using water as a weapon of war, & targeting people seeking water is on the rise
- in the past 4 years, it's nearly doubled:
share.google/p0PrSGiLMdz0...
👇👇
'with hindsight, some have suggested that Glasgow’s capacity to punch above its weight on the international arts stage resulted in a perception that all was well when development funding and coherent strategy were desperately needed.'
As it’s #IWD26 seems appropriate this message should be heard loud and clear
