Here it is - hungry woodpecker chick(s?) noisily demanding to be fed, and not getting full satisfaction. A wonderful, unexpected start to a week's break in Shropshire.

Yesterday I witnessed something extraordinary: the author Sarah Wynn-Williams sitting silent on a stage at @hayfestival.bsky.social. And she got a standing ovation. I hope the attempt to censor her backfires magnificently. I have just ordered her book. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

The White House today announced it plans to make major changes in how the U.S. government manages research funding. https://scim.ag/43HgW4s

Summary of Key Changes in OMB’s Proposed Federal Financial Assistance Rule. Russell Vought is going destroy American Science. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

Incredible frontline reporting in the @nytimes.com from the epicenter of the #Ebola outbreak. People are dying from lack of basic healthcare. In world with so much wealth, that this is happening is an indictment of the state of our world. A must read! www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/w...

AND PROFOUNDLY UNETHICAL

This is amazing. Note: Lots of math, plus orbital mechanics.

Remember, this guy refused to build any nuclear while he was in Downing St. That time was peak, short-termist dash-for-gas that's now left us vulnerable to global market swings. Not so Nostradamus after all?

I was looking for something on Twitter/X and came across a very recent retweet from Director Bhattacharya, continuing to promote Matt Ridley's "lab leak" position with cherry-picked data, not critically examined. So I wrote to Director Bhattacharya (again). 1/4

In light of the ongoing situation with Ebola in the DRC, I'm sorry to have to remind you that evolutionary biology makes it abundantly clear that ignoring a catastrophic disease outbreak because it's there, not here, is a terrible, terrible idea.

Yep. Here's the list of telescopes that were used to achieve the goals of NASA's DART mission, and basically every single one of them outside the USA depended on collaborations with and labor* from scientists and non-scientists who are not US residents. *and that labor paid for by non-US sources

This is what the antivax movement does to kids. You are under no obligation to kowtow to these people when they try to impose their delusionals on your school districts or anywhere else.

TWF when you're not a granivore but that's all you've got. (Autocorrect previously morphed 'granivore' into 'grandparents' 🤪)

Phenomenal. Wiltshire (Lyneham) temperatures leapfrogging >2°C above recorded temps +/-7days either side of 24May in past 55yrs. HT istheukhotrightnow.com

Cosplaying as a naturalist. But I can't transfer the snaps yet so you'll have to wait.

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

Slightly rain-blotched, but Gertrude Jekyll is out in force and smelling glorious.

The Proximal Origin of the MV Hondius Andes virus outbreak. virological.org/t/potential-...

@listentotimesradio.bsky.social asked me to discuss #Ebola response and vaccine timelines. Had to mention that when there’s an outbreak like this we all imagine it’s like a Thunderbirds episode - International Rescue/WHO will appear and make it ok. But…1/2

The news here (Taubenberger out as head of NIAID) tells you a lot about the chaos reigning at top science institutions in the US. 16 of 27 NIH institutes now have acting directors. And the second paragraph tells you about the chaos journalists face trying to get government responses…

We talked about this encouraging news on #BBCInsideScience today, with marine biologist and conservationist @amandavincent.bsky.social - if bottom-trawling bans can work in long-impoverished fisheries round Europe, she argues, the effort should work worldwide.

Just a shout-out to the folks over at @pathoplexus.org and, importantly, all the scientists sharing genomic data with such amazing speed. It's great to see the field having moved to a new platform, with non-transparent platforms being a thing of the past. Fantastic.

It's almost like the return of Science in Action, for one week only, with @garethmitchell.bsky.social and a dip into the developing El Nino, a deep dive into animal origins in the Ediacaran seas, and a dig into the harm caused by ocean-bottom trawling. Nice to be back. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I think I'll take a look.

In the 1870s, many thinkers felt that it would be impossible to ever work out how the brain produced the mind. Darwin didn't know either, but he decided he could live with that – the main thing is that natural selection could affect the form of the brain, and therefore change how animals think.

Radio 4 Inside Science www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... Today with our favourite science journalist @peaseroland.bsky.social

The NIAID Director has apparently stepped down. The situation is still murky. www.statnews.com/2026/05/21/n... 1/2

Jan 16, 2026: The New Vision from NIAID Taubenberger, Powers and Bhattacharya May 21, 2026: Taubenberger is out, more in @statnews.com via @helenbranswell.bsky.social & @aniloza.bsky.social www.statnews.com/2026/05/21/n...

Not to get involved with the 'you must check all the references' business, but I have spent today trying to get to the bottom of a mystery from the 1750s. In 1752, as is well known, Maupertuis described a family with polydactyly and calculated the likelihood of the pattern occurring by chance. 1/n

Bring back Science in Action!

Talking of complex life, another paper on my reading list.

This is a truly interesting study on the prelude to the rise of complex animals and plants. Would have loved to have included it on #BBCInsideScience, but alas they don't give us enough time.

Wonderful Life

🧪 #AcademicSky 🇬🇧 30% staff cut in Chemistry at Nottingham. Two years ago, the Department received the RSC Prize in Excellence for Higher Education. Resources and talent going to waste. UKG doing nothing to preserve strategic know-how for the country. www.chemistryworld.com/news/notting...

A proposed mission to Kuiper Belt object 2002 XV₉₃ • Launch: 2034 • Jupiter gravity assist • Uranus plane-change maneuver • Flyby in 2043 Trajectory found by @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHV4... 2002 XV₉₃ is in the news because it may possess a thin atmosphere.

Andes hantavirus NEJM paper. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Reform thinking on climate change, a detailed and hard hitting interview from Bloomberg, well worth delving into (link to transcript down thread)

von Karman vortices are legitimately one of the coolest things our Earth creates. These gorgeous swirls formed off of Guadalupe Island earlier this week. Watch these wondrous whirls go.

People have asked me what I think, so... Scenarios, schmenarios… www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...

Very interesting

Dawkins: “But they are both conscious!”

Latest multimodel plume of El Niño forecasts courtesy of @columbiauniversity.bsky.social/IRI. As we begin to cross the spring predictability barrier, model consensus converging toward peak Niño3.4 anomaly of 1.8-2.2C in late winter (comparable to 2023/2024 event). iri.columbia.edu/our-expertis...

Calls for a meme

"As of 17 May 2026, approximately 400 to 800 cases of BVD may have occurred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, there is considerable uncertainty around these estimates, with values of over 1000 not being able to be excluded given current data." So, up to ~twice as many as known of.

Hadn't seen this before. A neat, ~home-built earthquake physics demonstrator.

“No cases [of pediatric deaths] were classified as certain in relation to COVID-19 vaccination”. This the topline sentence in the results from the executive summary of the report that Prasad, Makary, and Hoeg claimed to show that 10 children died from the COVID19 vaccine.

GBnews denial of climate change BREAKING apart

One reason why the world needs outward facing organisations like the #BBCWorldService that take the global view.

Initial genomic characterization of the Bundibugyo virus outbreak in Eastern DRC with cases in Uganda. Join work between INRB in DRC and CPHL in Uganda plus many partners. virological.org/t/initial-ge...

Still thinking about this (from @ferrisjabr.bsky.social 's Becoming Earth): "a single gallon of gasoline represents 100 tonnes of ancient life, roughly equivalent to 20 adult elephants". I knew it was big, but never worked it out. A tank of petrol is a LOT of ancient life. +1 reason to electrify!