Snowdrops out in St Ervan, Cornwall for #wildflowerhour

The reliably magnificent Rupert Everett on R3 right now klaxon

Not a bad day at all, mind you. All’s well in the parish.

Boxing Day stroll. One of those feral rural churches that creeps up on you.

sitrep

Essential Xmas gifts from my smallholder relatives. (Not wrapped, but that’s OK).

Some optimistic (hopeful?) primroses out already for #wildflowerhour (St Ervan, Cornwall).

@ralitza.bsky.social random question, but do you know what this is? Is it a pickle/preserve? My Polish neighbours gave it to me for Xmas, but have gone home for the holiday, so I can’t ask them. I don’t want to open it if it isn’t a preserve.

What's in a name?

News from Titan. Interesting implications for any potential biochemistry (warm + potentially solute/organic rich pockets of meltwater deep in the interior). Still, just a model for now.

Delighted to report that the moths have discovered my preferred (& chunkiest) winter sweater. Help yourselves, fellas.

Apropos of nothing, I've only now read that Michael Bywater died in August. All rather melancholic; such a terrific writer. A friend of mine helped move his harpsichord ('bugger that, never again').

Excellent news!

News from the north (of Cornwall).

Treated myself to a little acrylic painting by Hester Berry for Xmas (well, why shouldn’t I?) - sharing to add a bit of Exmoor colour to your timeline.

Mr Garden Cat deciding that, no thank you, he’d rather be indoors today.

What's living in the dark, isolated subglacial waters underneath the Antarctic ice sheet, and why should we care? Read our new preprint to find out! It combines ancient DNA, microbiology, hydrology and geochemistry. 🦠🇦🇶🪨🧬 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Evening!

"During a reading of the poem, four audience members died of internal haemorrhaging and the President of the Mid-Galactic Arts Nobbling Council survived by gnawing one of his own legs off. Grunthos was reported to have been "disappointed" by the poem's reception."

Sunday evening plans.

Dining on a superficially damaged chocolate caterpillar cake courtesy of a neighbour who installs factory machinery. I'm not sophisticated enough to decline it.

🍃 Save the date 🍃 Photosynthesis 2026 is coming to Liverpool! 📆 26 - 30th July 2026 📍 ACC Liverpool, UK Join us - abstract submission is now open! Find out more 👉 photosynthesis2026.com #photosynthesis #plantscience #ICPR26

A cowpea study (genetic mapping of photosynthetic responses associated with cold stress) I was involved with a while ago. Good to see it in print!

Still a few scruffy apples around - Pitmaston Pineapple I think? - which at this time of year, and after a couple of hard frosts, taste more of pear than anything else.

Memories of an antimalarial conference years ago when one decorated researcher accused another of being a 'mouse doctor'.

There's a Nick Drake tribute concert from 2010 on BBC4 at 2215 tonight, which might be your cup of tea.

He’s decided that the best way to negotiate the staircase is by sliding down on his head, and I say don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Welcoming in the cold snap with a spritz aperitivo, because why not, damn your eyes.

Always good to read about a live beaked whale sighting (especially this one).

A rare appearance of Mozart in Wadebridge (Cornwall) this weekend. I'll be there, but not singing, THANK HEAVENS.

Two men sunbathing, August bank holiday, Blackpool, 1971, by Don McPhee.

Do we need to rethink the QA quenching model of chlorophyll fluorescence? Probably not, but here's a provocative chin stroker from Győző Garab. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

No fireworks here for miles around, (it frightens the livestock), so here’s some bonus Grandpa Ginger content for you.

So one of us (not me) got wrongly imprisoned in a shed for four days. He said he used his time incarcerated to reflect on becoming a better person.

The first (1955) Danish edition of Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451. Later editions did not convert the title, so this is the only SI-compatible edition! 🎢

So does anyone else eat their avocados with salt and vinegar? (As a treat mind you, I’m not made of money).

The academic experience.

Looking forward to putting all the cats back an hour tonight.

Once again, EVERY R1 research university depends on federal funding for ~15-25% of its budget. You simply can't unplug the largest or 2nd-largest source of $$ of every R1 university & expect it not to have devastating consequences for graduate education, which will spill over to undergrad education.

A gentle introduction to dealing with Maxwell's demon in cellular biochemistry (writes someone in need of an exorcist this afternoon).

Broke the quartz cuvette.

Not the smartest of cats.

An unfortunate incident for a friend on vacation provides AMPLE OPPORTUNITY for a gag about photosynthetic control. Honestly, you can’t buy humour like this.

SimpleFold, a lightweight protein folding modeller from Apple (- I didn't see that coming). arxiv.org/abs/2509.184...

A somewhat tatty old fox has moved into his greenhouse, which he’s not pleased about. Still, nice enough evening.

Four months on from his accident, and he’s as good as new, almost. He’s staying inside for a while yet, though.

Most foreign postdocs working in the US have J1 status, but not all (I was H-1B). H-1B visas in academia are treated differently to those in business, so it's unclear to me if this proposed $100k fee applies (but it will be the absolute death of the program for academics if so).

Some new art from Hester Berry for your timeline (- a fan writes).

Afternoon 🤔

Educational Xmas decorations for the right sort of person (it's only 101 days away!).