tomjwebb

Chuckling to myself that my calendar entry for today was 'finish paper'

What I could do with is some kind of machine that will hallucinate exactly the references that I need…

Being thorough is hard work though isn't it? e.g. when you find a statement in a high profile paper that you want to include, but you feel you should check and then find that the source they have cited doesn't actually show that at all.

Can we at least agree a global standard for which key you press to accept an autocomplete suggestion?

Supposed to be writing again today so you can imagine how well organised my Chrome tabs are by now.

This is our final call to send in your abstracts for #WCMB2026

The call for abstracts is closing on 17 March 2026. There will be no extensions and no exceptions.

wcmb2026.org/call-abstracts

@unoceandecade.bsky.social @vliz.be #marinebiodiversity

Two paid Marine Futures Internships in Bangor with the @northwaleswt.bsky.social
www.northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk/jobs/marine-...

For candidates who are passionate and enthusiastic about the seas, are willing to learn, organised, self-motivated, and can work well in a team.

Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Associate Professor of Plant Science Associate Professor of Plant Science Salary: Grade 9 (£61,759 - £73,708 p.a, depending on experience)This role will be based on the university campus, with scope for elements of the job to be undertak...

Very excited to announce that we are hiring for three faculty positions at @universityofleeds.bsky.social in @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social: A/Prof Plant Science, A/Prof Animal Biology and Lecturer in Ecology, Zoology, Biodiversity or Ecosystem Management. Please do get in touch to chat. Links below:

Is there a more self-aggrandising, solipsistic pair of words than 'Emergency Podcast'?

"The Methods should be written in the passive past tense and in the third person" - I see somebody has been watching Look Around You again…

On the back of being quoted I was contacted by a research administrator at a different Uni. She wants to stay anonymous. She has worked on this call all weekend. She didn't feel able to say no. Nor did the researchers. Unlike them she will not benefit in any material way if her Uni wins this money.

Human Intelligence - Series 1 - Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner - BBC Sounds The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.

Just listened to this excellent profile of Meitner in Naomi Alderman’s Human Intelligence (the whole series is great) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Spent the best part of four hours today watching things happen that I hoped wouldn’t happen. Stupid sport.

Can’t disagree with this from the Guardian live rugby report

I was really tempted to put some cryptic comments in the two weird extra text boxes on the right!

Another addition to the 'weird and unhelpful ways universities ask you to submit a reference for a student' wall of shame. What the hell is this?

🌊 Join Global Fishing Watch as a communications manager, innovation!
Help turn ocean data, science and technology into compelling stories that advance transparency at sea.

📍 Remote (US, UK, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Senegal)
https://bit.ly/4b9lBjc

ggview::canvas() is the best thing I have learned in 2025!

Reminded again today that the healthcare system in the United States is completely awful and is designed to squeeze every last dollar from a patient, with little or no regard for the patient's well-being. 🧵

Biodiversity and Conservation Develop your knowledge about major conservation issues and their human and environmental drivers across a range of ecosystems. Gain the skills you’ll need to understand how we can balance human needs ...

If this sounds like the kind of thing you fancy doing - places still available on our MSc Biodiversity & Conservation for 2026-27! sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Tech legend Stewart Brand on Musk, Bezos and his extraordinary life: ‘We don’t need to passively accept our fate’ He was at the heart of 1960s counterculture, then paved the way for the libertarian mindset of Silicon Valley. At 87, Brand is still keen to ensure the world is maintained properly – not just today, b...

Also quoting from this serendipitously timed interview with Stewart Brand from last week on how you 'negotiate your way into a future you were glad of' www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Global Strategic Trends: Out to 2055 This publication describes the future global strategic context, offering tools to test assumptions and prepare for an uncertain world.

Also going to touch on the 'future worlds' scenarios developed in the MoD's Global Strategic Trends report www.gov.uk/government/p...

Radical Ocean Futures

(Both of these come out of radicaloceanfutures.earth)

Reimagining coral reef futures - npj Ocean Sustainability npj Ocean Sustainability - Reimagining coral reef futures

We'll also cover this new paper on Reimagining Coral Reef Futures www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Radical ocean futures-scenario development using science fiction prototyping Scenarios can help individuals, communities, corporations and nations to develop a capacity for dealing with the unknown and unpredictable, or the unl…

I'm running a session on 'Imagining Ocean Futures' for our MSc Biodiversity and Conservation students this afternoon. We'll be discussing this Radical Ocean Futures paper www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I know language evolves and usage is everything, but I keep seeing 'singular' used as a fancy synonym for 'single' and I have to say I don't like it. We risk losing a singularly useful word.

iDiv and @uni-jena.de are recruiting a Postdoctoral Researcher (f/m/d) in Trait-Based Community Ecology and Modelling.

Highlights:
🔺Full-time (100%, 40 h/week) with the option to reduce to 80%
🔺Fixed-term for 2 years
🔺Salary up to E13 TV‑L

📆 Apply by: 29 March 2026

www.idiv.de/career/job-o...

I was the wrong side of the country but I vividly remember hearing Glory Box for the first time at some student club night in Norwich and thinking ‘wow, what is this?!’

I’ve broad and eclectic musical tastes but I’ve been listening to a lot of 90s Bristol stuff recently (essentially Portishead, Tricky, Massive Attack) and it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that that was just the best, as far as music goes.