Luke is part of a government that is selling off our NHS data to a US spy tech firm, Palantir. Luke is part of a government that is subservient to Donald Trump - a dangerous President who wants to annex Greenland. Luke is part of a government that is increasingly desperate & utterly rudderless.

Happy Valentine's Day! In honour of the occasion, we thought you'd enjoy seeing an anatomical paper model of a heart. It was delivered in a letter, from Spalding Gentlemen's Society member Cromwell Mortimer, in 1735. It will feature in our next exhibition - details coming soon. #HappyValentinesDay

With that special someone this Valentine’s Day? Give them the gift of Indo-European etymology. Passing the day on your own? Treat yourself to some Indo-European etymology. dannybate.com/2026/02/14/a...

Happy Valentines Day ❤️

Lovely thread: this is how they celebrate in @hookland.bsky.social …

They always spend the winter at Charlie Gee's farm in Binsey, and he brings them back to Christ Church Meadow in April. There's a film about them here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYQn...

Christ Church Meadow: the dramatic flood of November 1852 (when railway passengers had to be rowed in boats to the city), and the much less dramatic flooding today (13 Feb 2026), viewed from the opposite direction

So the court rules on trans rights, and the Labour government claims they are powerless, but the court rules on Palestine Action, and the government wants to fight it?

Today’s judgment makes one thing very clear: the reality of trans lives still goes ignored by the courts. Read Jo Maugham’s response to the crisis of empathy that’s harming the UK’s trans community – and the law 👇 https://goodlaw.social/np26

Across Oxfordshire a small army of volunteers help children find joy in reading. In this guest post from Emma Orton of ARCh Oxfordshire, we find out more. oxfordclarion.uk/arch-oxfords...

This is really important to understand. Wetter winters are coming because every 1C temp rise produces 7% more atmospheric moisture.... Meadows all around Oxford are extensively flooded yet again.

The Oxfam Bookshop on St Giles, the charity’s first ever dedicated bookshop, could be closed. Landlords Regent’s Park College have applied to convert the premises into a Middle Common Room for graduate student use.

'Smyte fast, give gode knocks!'

Reform is threatening Bangor University over a student society’s decision. The society isn’t Bangor University—but this is a neat preview of how a Reform government would work: public money for supporters only. Trump-style politics, UK edition. Authoritarian reflex is already working just fine.👇

Oxfordshire Tories whine about any money that isn't poured into potholes (possibly literally) then they come up with this virtue-signalling nonsense 🤦‍♂️ Its only conceivable purpose is to be able to whine about patriotism when it's inevitably voted down

"Benedictus benedicat"

Nothing new about this news, sadly, but a useful reminder:

Some more information about the Magdalen 1964 Ball, from the College archives. It looks like the Rolling Stones played three sets! No wonder they were annoyed. And it looks like the Star Attraction might have been John Lee Hooker. Wow.

‘Look what you made me do’

Gotcha!

Hidden in the binding of this 16th century French herbal, a book describing the uses of plants, are sheets of printed 'waste' used by the binder to bulk up the cover. This seems to be a frame for something never printed #fragments #bindings

My favourite scam email so far. 75-year recluse Patrick Süskind, author of modern gothic classic Perfume - a man who rarely grants interviews and allows no photos - has contacted me to tell me he loves my book and wants to connect as a ‘fellow author’. I should tell him he’s misspelling his own name

It’s a multi year project for renovating a world heritage site and Parliament of the United Kingdom and year on year it’ll probably cost the budget of a mid-range council so no, not really

Oxford Professor of Astrophysics, Founder of Zooniverse and presenter of BBC’s Sky at Night, Chris Lintott, warns the Government against cuts to fundamental research in an article for the University of Oxford.

"Man who really doesn't even bike too often thrilled at the opportunity to defend the behaviour of every cyclist in every city for all of time."

This photo shows members of the Magdalen College Fire Brigade in 1935. Founded at some point before 1925, it was formed exclusively of college staff. College fire brigades would often compete with one another, including for a rowing ‘Challenge Cup’.

Excellent piece on how universities are important economic players in local economies, but also how they have been giving people hope about the future in very practical ways. 5min read.

I had so much fun exploring the medieval vaults of Oxford’s Mitre Inn (now Gusto Restaurant) as part of @lincoln.ox.ac.uk’s Hidden Spaces series- check out the video on YouTube or Instagram! 🤗🎉 youtu.be/OkDTotazAhs?...

When writer and tech entrepreneur @anildash.com first heard about Wikipedia, his reaction was: “Well… good luck to those guys.” That was 25 years ago. Now, he recognizes Wikipedia’s unbelievable collective generosity and reflects on how it’s adapted to each new era of the internet.

Neil Gaiman: it's me neil gaiman, imagineer and dreamweaver Gaiman: have you ever considered Gaiman: the incredible power of story? Gaiman: but perhaps even more powerful are the stories that we don't tell Gaiman: anyway here's my NDA

This 2017 banger by Caroline Framke remains eternally relevant www.vox.com/culture/2017... @carolineframke.bsky.social

A new handrail will be installed on the spiral staircase of Magdalen’s Great Tower to help bleary-eyed choristers reach the roof on May Day morning. Currently, only the lowest third of the tower has a handrail on each side (pictured); above there, choristers must hold on single-handed.

'The MS. on which I found my text is [redacted]. And I here beg leave to offer to that Society my grateful thanks for their courtesy in allowing me to take it away, and use it at my leisure.' Man, the 1880's were a wild time in manuscript studies.

'I need not detain the reader with a history of my tedious researches among the various MSS...' *screams internally in the library*

'This principle was part of their commitment to equality in higher education: like male students, they should have the right to be both serious and silly at University.' @somervillecollege.bsky.social

Local residents removed 8 flags hung around Oxford last night in response to an organised campaign from a group calling themselves the ’Raise the Colours Oxford’, who brought activists from the Midlands and Sheffield to ‘make Oxford look patriotic’

Fun astronomy/archives story - Kate Bond @royalastrosoc.bsky.social has tracked down the only photograph of 19th century astronomer Richard Carrington, who spotted the first recorded solar flare. academic.oup.com/astrogeo/art...

It’s funny you never hear any university leaders saying “we must make sure we end our genocidal complicity immediately in case the Greens get in government!!” but the racist far right can basically rule without winning 🤷🏼‍♀️

Outside the Level 2 Reading Room in @bodleian.ox.ac.uk there is a wellbeing display. Here are some it's little zines that genuinely made me smile.

you: [stressing for days to send the perfect single email] billionaires: hi, . w=en r we mee&ting to do iLlegiL stuff , . ?

This is Oxford's HS2 (actually that's a better description of the Oxpens River Bridge)

A recent cartoon for @newscientist.com. p.s. my new book of science cartoons, ‘Physics for Cats’ is out now. Links at www.tomgauld.com

I’m not sure the writers on this website necessarily match the image of the profession being taught to the first grader in her career unit

The important fact about Oxford zoo (from Wikipedia): "In 1933 or 1934, a winged black-and-white cat was claimed to have been captured in Oxford, England by Mrs Hughes Griffiths. She claimed it used its six-inch wings to aid in jumping long distances. It was exhibited for a while at Oxford Zoo."

Our friends at UCL are hosting an event examining how archives, libraries, and museums underpin a functioning democracy: www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/events/...

There are 250 vulnerable people in Oxford’s asylum hotels. For 27 years, local charity Refugee Resource has been supporting asylum seekers, refugees and vulnerable migrants. We find out more about their work in a long read: oxfordclarion.uk/holding-hand...

w.b. yeats died on this day in 1939. if, instead of dying, he had begun to age again but in reverse, he would have reached his birth - i.e. become 0 years old - in 2012. Assuming that he then began ageing in the normal direction again, he would currently be 14 years old and preparing for his gcses

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @ox.ac.uk - or at least a good proportion of its colleges and facilities What in the picture can you put a name on? If you like this image, please repost it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

A little stop motion video I made of an almanac in the University of Rochester collection to try and give viewers an idea of how it functions 😊 (Video of RCL cod. a.1, a late 14th century folding almanac from England, likely Oxford)