Achieving technological and economic growth sustainably is seen by many as key if we are to meet the needs of a growing global population. Professor Shadreck Chirikure explores whether the cosmologies of past advanced civilisations can help us address present challenges. https://bit.ly/43rMb40

Delighted to have been given the chance to review ‘Don’t burn anyone at the stake today’ the new and thought-provoking book from @naomialderman.bsky.social (published by Penguin/FigTree) in today’s @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Looking for an November read? Why not check out our monthly discount? Use code LETTERS20 at checkout for 20% of selected titles in our Lives and Letters collection:⬇️ www.carcanet.co.uk/

Important reflections from Jo Ritzen and Job Zomerplaag on next steps for Europe's universities www.universityworldnews.com/post-mobile....

I tried to do something that was (for me) quite a challenge: describe precisely how the word "that", in the right place, can make "all the difference" to a poem someflowerssoon.substack.com/p/that-vase

Delighted to see Corinna Riva's outstandingly innovative essay on the 1st millennium BCE now published link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Such a good idea from @orkneylibrary.bsky.social #GreenLibraries #LoveLibraries #BrilliantLibraries

It's always sad to see a church sold, but maybe this piece will encourage a few new readers of A Scots Quair @asls.org.uk www.bbc.com/news/article...

"I don’t think it’s much of an exaggeration to say that societies are defined by their libraries — by what we hold, what we lend, what we borrow and return, the knowledge we create, the values we defend" placesjournal.org/article/extr...

amid fascinating work on 12th c. developments in Chinese & Japanese poetic exegesis, there's a really clever suggestion here on the future of #philology THE WIND THAT MELTS THE ICE: REFLECTIONS ON THE SCALE OF PHILOLOGY - Lurie - @histandtheojrnl.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Nice little report on high performance research culture at an extremely productive chemistry lab churning out major discoveries. Mentions Hideki Yukawa - an underappreciated figure outside Japan Chemistry Nobel Prize winner Susumu Kitagawa research mindset | - share.google/MS39nXGW1vHS...

and something else was with me in the dark spirits were in the land, but no one's ghost for, had they been there, out behind the yards, I would have seen them in their gloves and scarves dusted with moonshine and frost for the Great Beyond John Burnside for #Halloween

I have been thinking a lot about what the future of libraries could be in an algorithmic economy. A real pleasure to share these thoughts and provocations through the fantastic Katina Magazine. Let me know what you think? katinamagazine.org/content/arti... #Libraries #FutureofWork #FutureLibrary

We're proud to officially launch ResearchPlus in Parliament today 🎉 ResearchPlus is a collaboration between 10 research focussed unis with a common goal – to advance economic growth, prosperity, and societal wellbeing. https://researchplus.ac.uk/new-collaborative-of-research-focused-universities/

We are proud to have officially launched ResearchPlus (@researchplusunis.bsky.social) in Parliament, today 🎉 ResearchPlus is a new collaboration between ten long established and highly regarded research focussed universities, of which we are one. Learn more: ow.ly/R9i050XjfgX

"Since the war [in Ukraine] started we are asking everyone to pull away from Russia, but we forget how may decades Russia has invested in their economy, education and society." @andihoxhaj.bsky.social on challenging Russian influence in the Western Balkans. Watch in full ➡️ bit.ly/4qkZnS0

Which is why, amid all this talk of economic growth, it is the TYPE of growth - its sustainability, its resilience, and above all its distribution - that matters.

R. S. Thomas, ‘The Bright Field’, from Laboratories of the Spirit (1975) #NationalPoetryDay

We are immensely saddened by news of the death of Tony Harrison, aged 88, who had been unwell for some years. A tribute has been published on our website. www.bloodaxebooks.com/news?article...

💯right!!!!

So I’ve begun a Substack where I keep detailed reading notes on #Schattenfroh, a new novel from #DeepVellum claimed by some to be a masterpiece (I tend to agree so far). Read or spread it around, if you can. I’m working hard on this. open.substack.com/pub/schatten...

Sorry, but disagree with @hausfath.bsky.social here. You open Pandora's box, you ain't closing it again. We've already seen with Paris that well intentioned international agreements do not translate into physical reality and SRM governance is a much harder problem. Zero is the only safe level. /1

Every so often I find seven short poems from new books in my reading pile and put them together with the idea that people might like to read one a day over the week (binge reading is also fine, of course). Here's the latest selection:

“I think [economists] have mathematics envy... They just want to prove theorems. That’s my main peeve about economists. They seem more interested in solving logical problems and aesthetic puzzles rather than a deep desire to understand what the real driving forces are.”  @financialtimes.com

Acclaimed historian and novelist Marina Warner’s latest book, Sanctuary, is a rich exploration of what it means to make space for the “arrivant”, writes Franklin Nelson.

Impassioned plea for more mixed-methods research (quant & qual) from @timharford.ft.com "The hard data is never as eloquent as a good story. Humboldt would measure the cactus but also sketch it; drag his barometer up a volcano, but spin a yarn about the epic climb." www.ft.com/content/d419...

This is a time of extraordinary geopolitical change & uncertainty, shaping and being shaped by rapid technological change, w/ major shifts in data&AI deployment, capabilities & markets This risks undoing a period of slow but meaningful steps towards ensuring data and AI work for public benefit.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v... @ukri.org

Nice to see my talk at World Design Congress quoted in this roundup. “The challenge is that we have to work at two speeds simultaneously: with immediate urgency, and with the vision to begin the slow project of reimagining our relationship with the living world” www.dezeen.com/2025/09/16/w...

"There is no point growing the economy if it is not done sustainably and with regeneration at its heart" #design www.dezeen.com/2025/09/16/w...

Robert Redford, 1936-2025

Morning! Society for Hopeful Technologists newsletter #2 is arriving in inboxes now. A little bit on Musk and X, much more about future plans + organising buttondown.com/society-of-h... and great to have a group of fellow organisers coming together 💪

We’re delighted to announce the third #RLUK #AHRC @armauk.bsky.social Research Catalyst Cohort #REPRCC for academic libraries. Over the next year they will develop their research confidence, skills & capabilities bit.ly/47JXXty 🎉 Congratulations #librariesXresearch cohort! 👇

Call for Applications: www.ukri.org/opportunity/...

"it’s not only engineering degrees that inspire invention." 💯

Pierre Bourdieu and Erwin Panofsky: Architecture, Scholasticism and the Concept of Habitus progressivegeographies.com/2025/09/14/p...

@stuartelden.bsky.social is a master of the illuminating microstories of intellectual history; this one on how Bourdieu's translation of Panofsky shaped his and contemporary French thinking is a gem progressivegeographies.com/2025/09/14/p...

After a superb week for #design, with the World Design Congress, a major AHRC investments and the London Design Festival, here are my reflections on what design means to me - a discipline of care, and our laboratory for the future anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/w...

This is what love of country looks like to me, and it's all about helping others. @britishcouncil.bsky.social @scott-mcd-1.bsky.social

I visited the British Council team in Kyiv this week after the bombing of our office. I could feel their anger, defiance and determination to continue with our important work.

After a superb week for #design, with the World Design Congress, a major AHRC investments and the London Design Festival, here are my reflections on what design means to me - a discipline of care, and our laboratory for the future anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/09/13/w...

St Andrews top in Scotland and second in the UK in the @theguardian.com University Guide 2026 🎉 Maths, History, and International Relations take the top spot in the new rankings with a further 16 subjects ranking in the top 10 🎉 Read more 👇 ow.ly/hzCj50WWe9R #EverToExcel

Summary of an extremely important report on China's investment in the green energy transition

1/ New report from @bentleyallan.bsky.social's Net Zero Policy Lab: As the US withdraws from green tech industries and pressures allies to follow suit, China is stepping in to power the developing world's energy transition. The scale is staggering. www.netzeropolicylab.com/china-green-...

This Science Park will be such a terrific opportunity if all its inhabitants work together... www.bbc.com/news/article...

Have just read on the BBC that "the UK's first 'super-university', stretching across an entire region" is to be creaed by merging the universities of Kent and Greenwich, and I'm thinking it's a shame they've never heard of the University of the Highlands and Islands.

"It is particularly telling that those with science and engineering jobs, who you might expect to be more au fait with new technologies, are some of the most sceptical " Steve Thomas, Prospect www.politicshome.com/news/article...

BHP are excited to welcome our September guest editor - Alexander Booth!!! @wordkunst.bsky.social THEME/S: _LANDSCAPE LABYRINTH_ __Submissions are open from today 1st September – and will remain open until 25TH SEPTEMBER__ Sendxxx burninghousepress.com/2025/09/01/s...

British research has perfected discipline and outsourced magnificence. The fix is to practise demonstration statecraft – visible proofs of capacity that pair theatre with delivery. A new essay by me for the Better Science Project: betterscienceproject.substack.com/p/the-counte...