Parents & anyone else up early on Christmas morning: there’s a bright pass of the International Space Station over the UK, just after 6.15. Well, I say it’s the ISS. Could be Santa heading home… Exact timings for where you are at www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary....

I finally got some time to flesh out my rant about these headlines... TL;DR: age differences ≠ aging jenndowd.substack.com/p/does-adole... #demography #episky #medsky #neurosky

If you can afford to donate to charity this Christmas and are wondering which to support, consider your local hospice. They rely on donations for most of their funding. Here’s an article (which I have posted before) about why it’s so vital to support hospices archive.is/2024.12.12-0...

If Europe is annoying the fascists, Europe is doing something right.

Finally! Another key paper by Sylvain Lesné re purported key Alzheimer’s-related protein amyloid-beta *56 is retracted. Validates findings by @thatsregrettab1.bsky.social @elisabethbik.bsky.social Matthew Schrag et al www.science.org/doi/full/10.... my original story: www.science.org/content/arti...

Alone at Christmas? #joinin is always good.

Tomorrow evening it’ll be my annual duty to vaguely shepherd the activity on the #duvetknowitschristmas hashtag and urge people to give small sums to charity. 7.30pm? Something like that?

becuzimawsum I am proud to reveal the new Trump Battleship

In Sept. 2025, the US FDA via a press conference w/ Trump & top officials, announced intent to approve Wellcovorin as a treatment for some pts w/ autism or autistic features. The FDA plan to expand indications for Wellcovorin wasn't issued w/a typical application submission or addit'l data by GSK.🛟

ok what's the most rectangular animal you can think of

this is a delight. Bulgaria!

Stuck is what they are

Today the Swiss announced they don't have an agreement with Springer Nature -- swissuniversity tried to secure a deal and failed in the face of the extreme rise in publishing fees. When the game is rigged, it's better to stop playing. 🧵 to understand the drain of scientific publishing👇

Closeup photograph of hoar frost on tree branch. #MacroMonday #MinimalMonday #ClassicMono #Monochrome #BW #BlackandWhite #EastCoastKin #macro #closeup #photography #photograph #photographs #photo #photos #nature

Painting of the Day. The Flutist V > > www.artcameroon.com/painting/the... This dazzling bright art print made from a painting from Africa depicts a flutist and singer. The artist, Angu Walters, also belongs to a band and often paints musicians. Here is a painting so sparkling it sings. $125

This is wonderful - Port Meadow with Oxford's skyline (Radcliffe Camera, Tom Tower, St Barnabas among others) as it was until partly obscured by modern building. A hard winter still brings out the skaters.

Oxford University Hospitals Trust has refurbished 17 abandoned bicycles for its staff to use. Bikes left on hospital grounds are repaired by prisoners in Aylesbury and Peterborough as part of a corporate social responsibility scheme called Recirculate. www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

I’m reminded of watching two old ladies ask a teenage goth for directions and she politely told them and when she was out of earshot one lady said “You know where you are with a goth”

Tolkien’s Merton College desk fetched £330,200 at auction, almost seven times the estimate. Christies say it is likely that “he managed the proofs of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King” from the desk: “the roll-top formed part of his daily editorial practice”.

The Department of War literally decided to fight against windmills.

Mary and Joseph praying over Jesus in the manger, or TWO T. REXES FIGHTING OVER A TABLE SAW? Once seen, cannot be unseen.

MAGA: Sweden is in the midst of civil war, on the cusp of civilisational erasure Swedes: on your paid holiday, please borrow some free skates so you can enjoy our public rink in the middle of the idyllic square in the heart of our walkable city.

I feel as though these "trials" are UBI-esque. We get stuck in constant experimentation territory, even though the trials look positive. Then it's just Groundhog Day on loop. Would be good if someone at least set some pre-registered targets for the trial.

took a peek at the groupings of posts on bluesky over the past 48 hours

There's a serious risk for paper mill publications to be legitimized this way. Once you start going down this route, it's difficult to go back. Who is funding this?

This important meta-science article should not be hidden behind a paywall.

For Jesus’ birthday this year, he’s asking for affordable housing, universal healthcare, and for people to stop using his name to explain why they’re being cruel to strangers.

Today is winter solstice ❄️ A perfect day to align with Earth’s rhythms and find peace in winter’s beauty. 📸: Ian Brierley

WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE!? Where is Congress? Where are they? I want to film this for my kids & my grandkids. I want them to see the day democracy died in Washington, D.C. Even George is upset 🦮 & we should all be shocked! No one is here to say this is wrong! I was born here. I'm Andrew Howard. 1/5🧵

i hope they know about paper mills, for whom this is a popular topic

Tl;dr scientists who think science should be "apolitical" are either fools or complicit

“Ola fum, Batista ribe, a wumpa soapa say” - 3 year olds singing Jingle Bells

I feel like I'm going to get a lot of use out of this Pluribus screencap

Yesterday, this hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) and I startled each other in the Rio Grande Bosque (in Albuquerque, New Mexico). Photo taken on December 18, 2025. #nature #naturephotography #birds

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

I asked Vladimir Putin: “What future are you planning, are you building for your country?” Here’s his full reply.

· MedSky · Sen. Rand Paul has demanded Science release confidential information and external private communications about coronaviruses, citing allegations that dangerous research produced the COVID-19 virus.

The Epstein file is the only thing Trump has ever taken his name off of

Some of these redactions are almost like modern art

Per Trump’s preferred naming format in the Epstein Files, I understand the Center is now called: [REDACTED] And The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts

lol there's a line to see the files

Corporate seasonal greetings emails. What do they think they are doing? Please, please stop.

New editorial with John Carlisle: Detecting inconsistencies and fraud in research data: Time for authors to share the data underlying their summary statistics as a matter of course tl;dr Let's stop doing party tricks journals.lww.com/anesthesia-a... Final draft: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Update. The German state of Schleswig-Holstein is migrating from #microsoftoffice to #LibreOffice. It expects to save €15 million in 2026 alone. https://itsfoss.com/news/german-state-ditch-microsoft/ #Germany #Microsoft #opensource

While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪 Explainer🧵👇1/n

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s multimillion-dollar settlement has been applauded by science integrity sleuths. https://scim.ag/4j3S65W

I've used Lavaan almost every (work)day for 15 years, but this open source labour of love has never received proper institutional support. I'm delighted to be a small part of an 1.5M OpenScienceNL award, led by Jorgensen, to completely revamp and futureproof Lavaan www.openscience.nl/en/news/45-p...