Well, credit to Italy, but England continue to be 💩. Thought that Scotland beating France might have just shown that England weren’t actually so awful, but no England are indeed just awful.
What a game at Murrayfield!
I agree that economic arguments are most likely to be persuasive. But it might be worth a sentence on the cultural benefits of blue skies research. Discovering the nature of the universe and our place in it is surely one of the most important questions any civilisation should be trying to answer
I and every other academic I know worked non-stop to adapt and provide as good and ‘normal’ education as we could. Far, far more hours went into teaching activities than at any other time. Whilst homeschooling our own families.
An international team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from @universitedeliege.bsky.social, has published new observations of Ganymede revealing a striking similarity between its auroras and those on Earth. A 🧵 about 🔭. #planetsci #jupiter #juno #aurora www.star.uliege.be/cms/c_136561...
I’ve written a poem! It’s called:
The Perils of Commuting in a Town Bisected by a Railway Line
Due to freight, we’ll be late at eight
Not only that, but the Mrs now tells me she’s accidentally bought an effing vegetarian wellington instead of a real one ☹️
I repeat this statement. It’s tacky, @itvx.com.
What. 🏉
Oof yeah. Scotland were so close earlier! Horrendous conditions
Adverts in the middle of play ruins the atmosphere and enjoyment of the game, @itvx.com. All they are are a successful advert for the BBC
When STFC was created it was noted that it was the only research council to not have “Research” in the title.
Politicians and mandarins will always think they know what is the best science that scientists should undertake. They don’t. Even scientists argue over this. It is the continual duty of science advisors and research council leaders to push back and explain the huge benefits of just funding science.
When STFC was formed, it was noted that it was the only research council to not have “Research” in its title
Great to put a face to a name!
This letter more or less confirms that once again the need to fund the ‘fixed’ costs of STFC - essentially the labs - those of us who work in areas funded by the council can go swivel. So stupid and shortsighted.
What is most irritating is that all Governments say the same thing: “UK science super power blah blah”, “we need STEM graduates blah blah”, “Strategic and blue skies research are vital to our vision for a UK at the forefront of tech blah blah” but all they ever do is cut funding. And then cut more.
![Comic. My experience seeing the Northern Lights: [Graph: x axis is increasing time, y axis is increasing aurora coolness, going from visible glow on the horizon, color only visible in photos -> sheets and pillars of light, colors faintly visible -> “oh wow, it’s getting really bright now.” -> spectacular ribbons of color spanning the sky and illuminating the landscape. Graph shows dips and peaks over many hours with the topmost peeks for only around 5 or 10 minutes.] [caption] Aurora tip: If you get good views of the aurora, keep watching the sky; you might suddenly get great ones.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiaobzgmrzo7wpvwm3z7h334szdf42salbn6skjuhfcxgsoeu7qjya)
Comic. My experience seeing the Northern Lights: [Graph: x axis is increasing time, y axis is increasing aurora coolness, going from visible glow on the horizon, color only visible in photos -> sheets and pillars of light, colors faintly visible -> “oh wow, it’s getting really bright now.” -> spectacular ribbons of color spanning the sky and illuminating the landscape. Graph shows dips and peaks over many hours with the topmost peeks for only around 5 or 10 minutes.] [caption] Aurora tip: If you get good views of the aurora, keep watching the sky; you might suddenly get great ones.
Aurora Coolness
xkcd.com/3196/
Goldfinger: A case study in concrete brutalism
Also:
Goldfinger: Mistakes in early medieval alchemy
Make a Bond movie academic.
Dr No: the outcome of your grant application.
Well, now the days are drawing in…
'The Emerald Sea'
4,427 images from 3 sequences by Don Pettit are remastered & retimed to create this stunning 10m54s 4k UHD video with music by Chris Zabriskie.
Experience on a large screen if you can, its worth it.
Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
youtu.be/bEWAHP31UGc
There are important practical reasons why we study space plasma physics, in addition to its being super cool! (Or hot, rather…)
www.bbc.co.uk/weather/arti...
I still can’t believe they said my name!! I got the Global Space Award 2025 in the category of Science Breakthrough for my leadership of the M-MATISSE mission concept to Mars! A really wonderful night! Next step is to do our super best for the mission to be selected in June 2026!
Wow, congratulations! Very well deserved!
The sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma @tmbg.bsky.social
Huh. Curious as to what they mean by “intense radiation from the Sun” www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...
Microsoft Copilot in Word just helpfully told me how to adjust the format of a document… in LaTeX. After I told it that I was not using LaTeX, that it was Microsoft Copilot in Word, it said “Ah, thanks for clarifying! In Microsoft Word…” 😖
Yeah, difficult to see this as anything other than the continuation of a policy of managed decline of UK higher education - and intellectual and technological standing in the world
Fool’s Gold on loud 🤘 #mani
