This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started

Delighted that our new paper on addressing the false dichotomy of autonomy and preservation of life in severe anorexia nervosa has been published. We are challenging unhelpful myths, and offer constructive solutions to clinicians and lawyers www.sciencedirect.com:5037/science/arti...

Psychiatric Educator of the Year award for my brilliant wife @agnesayton.bsky.social. So pleased to trumpet this achievement to a broader constituency than would normally hear about such things. 4th photo: Agnes & two colleagues (see ALT text) who contributed to this work.

👀 Want to see conservation in action? Join us for updates on bird ringing across the West Midlands, from robins to warblers. Follow, share & spread the word, together, we can give nature a voice! 🕊️ #BirdsOfBritain #CitizenScience

A man on the streets of the UK is asked about the “problem of immigration” and dismantles talking points with ease.

The end of a few days at Woodspring Priory, Somerset. Of all the Landmark Trust properties that we’ve stayed at, few can match this former Augustinian Priory for grandeur. Significant portion of the church attached, as a ‘museum’, to the the spacious living quarters. A wind-swept, memorable weekend.

@lukelukeluke.bsky.social some nice mushrooms in Staffordshire UK

GreatAdaptations: Female bonobos team up to boss males around. One more awesome piece of data to add to the enduring mystery of why bonobos and chimps are so different. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

i love that we got 4 new hubble images today and we still continue to get more after 35 years 🥹 hubble really is the little telescope that could!!!

The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate. The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns. Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care. The list goes on and on. Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.

The key chart right now: Usually US economic pain is cushioned by falling bond yields and a strengthening dollar, which mean lower interest rates and more spending power for consumers. This time we’re seeing the opposite, meaning the pain will be amplified.

The cowslips phase of our Staffs #GardenMeadow is now in full swing. So far, more butterflies this year as well.

Given the dramatic decline (in many places, disappearance) of the House Sparrow in the UK during my adult life, it’s heartening to encounter a noisy colony of these gregarious birds, as here, by the Trent & Mersey canal, near #Shugborough (sound on).

Anorexia nervosa is an often misunderstood condition that thrives in secrecy- so let's talk about it. Friend's link for access regardless of subscription: medium.com/@jillian.rig...

Man was abandoned by mental health trust, say brothers who warned "if you don't treat him better, he will end up dead". And ten days later, he was. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’m a paleontologist. As such, it is comforting to me to know the Earth will be absolutely fine no matter what screwed up things we humans do. Sure, we may yeet ourselves out of existence but the Earth will be fine. In fact, life will, indeed, go on, with or without us.

🚨 NEW: The RCPsych has identified plans that would result in funding cuts for children and young people’s eating disorder services in more than half of areas across England. We're calling for the creation of a national strategy for eating disorders in England. www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-fea...

Listening to the assistedsuicide debate on Parliament tv: they don’t want a photo ID 🤷🏻‍♀️ parliamentlive.tv/Commons

Although GPs have not been granted everything on their wish list, major steps have been made towards making good the losses of the past few years, which may at least pause the closure of general practices. But the real prize is the promise of a comprehensive new contract. doi.org/10.1136/bmj....

Royal Society to meet after fellow Elon Musk accused of ‘promoting conspiracies’ www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-m...

This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue. This is how recessions start Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.

Here are some nice mushrooms

Is anyone interested in here about the assisted suicide bill in the UK? i wanted to stop using X, but there seems to be complete silence here.

London was the first city in the Western world to host a Ramadan Lights display. It’s a powerful symbol of who we are as Londoners. I’d like to extend my warmest wishes to Londoners and those around the world observing the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan Mubarak.

Whenever you welcome guests, treat them with kindness, grace and respect. Simple as that.

Your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be strong, be brave, be fearless. You are never alone, dear President Zelenskyy. We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace.

What does the #NHS staff survey tell us about the changing behaviours and motivation of health care staff? 👨‍⚕️ Our new analysis reveals a widening gulf in job satisfaction between the NHS’s youngest and oldest staff. 👇🧵 www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/wh...

It was an honor to sign the guest book in the home of Anne Frank. I was here as a younger man and thought about her life as a dark chapter of history. Today, I can’t help but think of her story as one of caution. Our world is fragile, and it’s incumbent on us not to break it.

After making judicial oversight by the High Court a principal ornament of her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to encourage MPs to vote for it at Second Reading, Kim Leadbeater MP now proposes to abandon that provision www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

It's heartening to see so many people who support assisted suicide in principle coming out in opposition to the Leadbeater bill. Even if you support AS, this rushed bill is not the way to do it; and the abuses it will inevitably enable will discredit the entire concept.

Before the Leadbeater bill's second reading, I co-wrote, with distinguished barristers and academics, a memorandum about the legal aspects of the bill for MPs. We have decided to publish it here. drive.google.com/file/d/1DsF3...

Possibly the most outrageous part is that the assisted suicide quango will be tasked with monitoring the operating of the Act. In other words, they will be marking their own homework. Can you guess what they will conclude?

The assisted suicide quango: > has an unlimited right to sit in private > doesn't have the power to compel evidence under oath > doesn't have to notify families

Somehow Kim Leadbeater's most recent amendments to her bill manage the almost impossible feat of making it worse. Instead of the High Court, there will be an assisted suicide quango to approve applications for assisted suicide 🧵

Oops. Will MPs who cited Sir Chris Whitty's mistaken evidence to vote against stricter competence assessments reassess their votes? www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02...

The distinguished psychiatrist Professor Allan House went to testify on the Leadbeater bill committee in good faith. He was instead treated with contempt by Ms Leadbeater and her allies on the committee. Is that what legislative scrutiny looks like?

We have always said that a complex and difficult area like assisted suicide needs mature consideration by a Royal Commission or enquiry, and then Government legislation if a case can be made. We once again call on Kim Leadbeater to withdraw her Bill and let the professionals deal with the issue.

Of the other signatories, 81% are new MPs who entered Parliament only last year. There are very few experienced MPs willing to back the Bill after its catastrophic first few days in Committee. We know that the Secretaries of State for both Health and Justice passionately oppose the Bill.

Trying to plug a catastrophic loss of support for their Assisted Dying Bill, lobbyists have published a letter signed by 53 MPs backing the latest change to the Bill, removing the judicial safeguards that they'd previously said were critical. But the letter reveals more weakness than strength 🧵

If Westminster and/or Holyrood politicians go through with assisted dying/ assisted suicide, despite the clear danger to so many underprivileged groups, they must not be permitted to claim they couldn't have known what the inevitable result would be. Their eyes are wide open, as are ours.

February marks the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision to legalise euthanasia. We were promised there would be no slippery slopes. A decade on, there was no slippery slope; it was a cliff. Me for @nationalpost.bsky.social. nationalpost.com/opinion/yuan...

All over the UK, half-term science projects are being completed, often, no doubt (as here) with the assistance of grandparents. Here we have an erupting, prehistoric volcano, using ingredients that will be familiar to those who unblock sinks.

If there are autistic people in your life, make sure they’re ok. The anti-vax mob won’t give up and are now trying to buy results to ‘prove’ autism is caused by vaccines. It’s not. But the side effect of this is stigmatising autism as a preventable disease. It’s not a disease. It’s a difference.

Here are some nice mushrooms

Genevieve has often mentioned these paintings on the Paleo Post Podcast, which we co-host with Dr. George Nash. It’s exciting to finally see their dating made public, enabling more open discussions about these remarkable findings. Here’s the link: knewz.com/world/resear... #Neanderthal

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... The Food Programme on Broken food policy @henrydimbleby.bsky.social at c11m - The multiple friction costs across multiple depts slow progress

“You can’t discover what you don’t study.” @jennifergarrison.bsky.social highlights the need for more focus on women’s health at the Merkin Symposium at Caltech. Hard for anti-diversity folks to argue against addressing health issues that impact half the population…

Such an important & timely piece of research interrogating the evidence base for the safety of physician associates in the NHS. (TL:DR worryingly thin with widespread & significant gaps.) Thank you, @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social #LengReview www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/workfor...