How hard would it have been to replace the word "and" with "including"?

New author photo? It's hard to be serious when @pwcraddock.bsky.social is around. We met years ago and were instant friends. He's a medical historian like me, and he wrote a great book on the history of transplant surgery called SPARE PARTS! You should check him and the book out.

Norwegian novelist Sigrid Undset won the #Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. Her masterpiece: Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy of historical realism that follows the life of a woman in 14th-century (Middle Ages) Norway from her childhood to her death. She was born #OTD in 1882. #litsky #booksky

The mathematician Alexander Grothendieck is revered in the world of math; outside of it, he’s known for his unusual life, if he’s known at all. But what were his actual mathematical contributions? www.quantamagazine.org/how-alexande...

"Northeast Heat Wave Smashed May Record In Philadelphia" (at 98F, broke old record of 96F, and in mid-May). Via #TheWeatherChannel: weather.com/forecast/reg...

Yet again, Thony shows us how complicated the history of science is, and how widespread (and foolish) are the myths that have sprung up around it.

In a new article for @antiquity.ac.uk, we find that a quantitative analysis of housing at Mohenjo-daro, one of the world’s first cities, reveals that inequality sharply declined over time. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Because “I’m not a scientist” is a shield, and “I’m basically a gynecologist” is a weapon.

TONIGHT

I was on Ollie Guilou's WHAT WE DID BEFORE podcast, talking about the brain. It was a lot of fun. You can listen to it on audio platforms [https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before/episode/bbb49cc98c47282f5603d98c64999b6beb52db4d/view] or watch it on YouTube:

If 'bots ever figure out quantum mechanics they'll make us walk the planck badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/captcha-er... 🔭 🧪

@tealcartoons.bsky.social and I on our way into London for a recording of Best Medicine on Radio 4! I’m in full sequins on a Monday … but I challenged the host Kiri Pritchard McLean to a sequin war. Who will win? Stay tuned…

TOMORROW: @tealcartoons.bsky.social and I will be recording another episode of BEST MEDICINE for Radio 4! It's a panel show of comedians, experts, and randoms like us. We record it in front of a live studio audience in London. Do come along. Tickets are FREE: www.sroaudiences.com/application....

Tfw you realise that the ivy trunk you cut through yesterday was in fact the honeysuckle…

Erica Wagner wrote a biography of Washington Roebling who engineered/built the Brooklyn Bridge - & also now a novel on the same subject - Wash As a #STEM it'll be #lablit #booksky ericawagner.co.uk/book/wash/

An antiviral pill has, for the first time, been shown to prevent COVID-19 in people exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus go.nature.com/4tCD7Ua

bah

Vein finders are revolutionizing patient care by using near-infrared light to map veins in real-time, reducing failed punctures and improving comfort.

My friend just pointed out venison is probably going up at M&S!

You're entitled to your own opinion. You're NOT entitled to your own facts. #BelieveTheScience What he said 💯 👇 👇 👇

I love and respect this scientist. Carl Sagan answers a question about creation vs evolution.

The Muntjac have eaten everything on our allotment site so are now shopping at Marks and Spencer. BBC News - Muntjac deer gets stuck on Norwich M&S escalator - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Dendroxena quadrimaculata (AKA the Caterpillar hunter) is one of our most distinctive British beetles, and what a beauty it is! It likes to hang out in ancient woodland on Oak trees and Hawthorne, where it hunts its prey 🐛

What will I find in the slither of woodland adjacent to Spring Road? Firstly, that the council has ruined it by removing trees and building a path and big central clearing. Great, well done :( The more fragmented a habitat, the less resistant it is to weather extremes, the less good for wildlife.

We met a giant at Holme Fen! The largest lowland birch woodland hosting our largest birch sawfly!

Either way, Brits don't understand it, I'm afraid. Perhaps because I'd be Chris P Coates, which would make me sound like well-fried bacon

Younger daughter & I found these fossilised crinoid rock stars (segments of the ‘stem’ of Jurassic feather stars/sea lilies, related to starfish & sea urchins) in the gravel on the edge of a lake nr Peterborough UK. She used them to make an ammonite:

Are we sure Wes Streeting isn't a covert Reform party member?

Take a deep breath, relax, and see how weird people can be. Especially on mushrooms.

First hawk moth of the year at light last night - a male Poplar Hawk Laothoe populi. Buckfastleigh, Devon

10 Reasons to Love Solar Power 1. Zero CO₂ to run 2.Infinite fuel 3.sunlight 4Cuts air pollution 5.Creates local jobs 6.Low water use 7.Price keeps dropping 8.Powers homes + grids 9. Works off-grid too 10. Energy independence Future-proof tech

A reminder that this is why we make fun of The Odyssey. The book would not exist if Odysseus was not such a complete chaos goblin who was busy causing problems for himself by arguing with Gods and being a shit navigator. There is no way to make an extremely serious movie out of this material.

Today, Penguin have invited staff to have “Tea Time with Dr Fitzharris.” It’s like meeting Disney characters on a cruise, but more macabre with a twist of steampunk (see handbag) 😂

Greater Black-backed Gull and Moorhen for #BirdsSeenIn2026 at Conwy RSPB in North Wales today.

The emperor insists his new clothes aren't see-through apnews.com/article/supr...

Lest we doubt the power of classical allegory in the 19th century, here is Karl Marx as Prometheus, tortured by the eagle of Prussian censorship (1843).

Our Scientist at Work photo competition closes tomorrow! Submit your entries now 👉 go.nature.com/4tw6WWA

This is true. #WritingCommunity Don't give up. (Just in case you needed to hear that today.)

...and to eat cake!

After 45 years of neoliberalism the UK isn't self-sufficient in food, energy, drugs, auto, steel, bricks, cement, semiconductors, and more. The state cannot guarantee clean rivers, safe wastewater disposal, affordable energy, timely healthcare, good housing, decent roads. Taking back control?

I'm presenting SLEUTH-HOUND to Penguin on Thursday and bringing along objects from medical history. It occurred to me that I need a macabre Mary Poppins bag for future events. Which of these (left or right) do you think fits the bill for a book about Victorian forensics & Sherlock Holmes?

Just had an email telling me that Chinese rights for "About Time" have been sold for several thousands of pounds. Kind of shocked to find out what a tiny percentage of that has gone towards paying off my advance. Yes, I probably should have been aware of the numbers but fucking hell.

Nature research paper: Demography and life histories across the Roman frontier in Germany 400–700 ce go.nature.com/4cHRUb6

Maybe it’s because our work is now proximate to prompt tokens in the embedding/latent space 🤣 www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....

If you are the editor of a journal and you have received a submission from me that looks a bit weird (weirder than usual) please assume it is a LLM-generated paper from a ghost author. This has happened four times in recent weeks. In each case it is possible to see how a genuine published paper 1/2

UK involvement in €90bn #EU loan to #Ukraine Wider context of European security, w EU setting target of €800bn in defense investment and production over 5 years & possible role of companies Influence of chaotic Trump camp which sees no need for alliance with either Brussels or London #Brexit

The middle chambered tomb was in use for 1,200 years - three tombs really oldest to right