Self-driving gets pushed back yet again. We're not going to solve car dependency with robots; we need to provide more alternatives to driving - and discourage avoidable car use - especially for the enormous number of short, single-occupant trips

The world’s richest 1% have burned up their fair share of carbon for the year in just 10 days. The climate and inequality crises are one and the same. We need: 💰 Wealth taxes on the super-rich 🚫 Ban on private jets

On how to use #AI #chatbots & why you probably shouldn't. This time I assume you're going to use them anyway, explain how to avoid their failures & follow with real-world examples. And do cite this at anyone quoting bot slop at you. www.richardcarrier.info/archives/39401 #CriticalThinking

Also screw the BBC for its naked agenda. It refused to carry a hugely expensive first ever YouGov survey we commissioned showing how awful trans lives in the UK have become because it was "not strong enough" but there's no piece of anti-trans hatred too petty for it to platform.

Never forget, car dependency isn’t freedom. Some might ask “what’s more free than cars?” Choices. Choices are more free than car dependency. It’s not a hard concept. I’m not pitting cars against any other single mode of transport. I’m rejecting design that creates dependency on just one mode.

In case it wasn't already obvious why Farage and his party are spreading misinformation about the climate crisis and trying to blame the most vulnerable for the problems caused by inequality - they've just received a record donation from a jet fuel multimillionaire!

“Maybe we’re onto something.” “How can we tell? We’ve only done this 187,623 times with the same success every single time. Could be a fluke.”

Let’s talk about the size of trucks & SUVs in the city. My column on the virtue & status signalling of vehicle bloat.

I've written a short comment regarding this new MIT study that is being passed around and why it is horseshit. "11.7% of US workforce is being replaced by AI" my ass. Thought that might be of interest. Also - thanks for all your work, you are one of the best resources out there.

The Doctor is right and correct

1. A landmark study was just published in The Journal of Pediatrics. It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT. It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse. Transgender care saves lives.

Every time

This is very good. Clear, calm, factual, and devastating for proponents of bans on puberty blockers for trans youth. theconversation.com/puberty-bloc...

NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected. And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.* Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:

Instead of trying to green cars so much why don't we just invest in trains. city trains. under ground trains. above ground trains. trains between cities. trains between countries. TRAINS THE PEOPLE CRAVE TRAINS

Found the sequoias in the New Forest, along with this bizarre but beautiful fungus!

I became a member of the Green Party a few days ago because they're the ONLY party talking about how wealth inequality is what's ruining the UK, instead of scapegoating immigrants. Tax wealth, not work.

Everyone goes on about Friday the 13th. Well I'm here for Monday the 13th. The scariest number paired with the scariest day. Get spooked!

One of the earliest articles on the impacts of anthropogenic light on animal behaviour from Science in 1887. I wish I could write my articles with such whimsy.

NEW: GLOBAL RENEWABLES OVERTAKES COAL How the heck did that happen so quickly?!...🧵

Not nearly enough is made of the incredibly impressive feat Indian Railways has made to electrify almost 100% of its 135,000km of track, while also growing renewable sourcing. Huge: timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/ind...

one of the most important technological revolutions in modern history and you're likely not hearing anything about it because it's making the oligarchs who control our information environment poorer instead of richer

On one hand, reducing car use reduces urban pollution. But on the other, everyone likes it and cities become more livable

Constantly amazed at how hard it is to find a decent podcast app* *that doesn't also bombard me with unskippable ads

My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area. (15 in Manhattan btw)

The first paper from my PhD is finally out in PLOS! We examined how the circadian rhythms and activity levels of two different species of amphipods responded to varying levels of light pollution. Check it out here: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

There are many real inequities that keep kids, especially girls, out of sports, and yet strangely we never hear the Save Women's Sports crowd talking about those. They're not running youth clinics, or gathering equipment donations, or doing anything to address really obvious barriers. Weird, huh?

Today's beach finds!

Never forget, a 13-year study found that protected bike-lanes led to a drastic decline in fatalities for all road users. ALL ROAD USERS. And painted bike-lanes? No safety improvement at all. For sharrows, it’s actually safer to NOT have them. Via @usa.streetsblog.org @nyc.streetsblog.org

Ended #ITRS25 with two fish watching me eat so I'd say it was quite a success.

Presented some of the work we've been doing @plymuni.bsky.social for the @aquaplan.bsky.social project at #ITRS25!

First official day of #ITRS25. Heard some great talks on light pollution and eco-engineering, including some from my colleagues at @aquaplan.bsky.social!

Found my first dogwhelk eggs today! And perhaps the egg-layer herself?

1. The US Transgender Survey has finally been released, and the results are stunning. - <1% of people are less satisfied after HRT. - The most common reason for detransition, pausing transition, or stopping transition is transphobia. The latest from S. Baum. Subscribe to support our journalism.

My greatest mental struggle when riding British rail is wanting to arrive at my destination on time but also wanting my journey to be delayed so I can reclaim some of the exorbitant fare I paid.

NEW from me: China's CO2 emissions fell ~1.6% in the first quarter and have now been flat or down for more than a year. This is the first time on record that emissions are falling due to clean energy growth, not slow power demand.

If you've ever been curious how scientific publishing became the profit driven mess it is today, you can blame this guy!

For my birthday this year I would appreciate it so much if people would donate to The Good Law Project's fundraiser to challenge the recent decision by the UK Supreme Court not to not include trans women in the 'definition of women' in the Equality Act. - goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/...

Source: ember-energy.org/latest-updat...

This has been studied extensively: Regret rates for gender affirming care, including for children, are extremely low. A core tactic of conspiracy theorists is to ignore existing bodies of research and demand further study until they get the result they want.

Global solar power is doubling every three years! Wow! "Solar power surged by a record 474 TWh in 2024, the largest annual growth ever recorded in absolute terms and the fastest increase in six years (+29%)." See p.13 of Ember's new study. #energysky #greensky ember-energy.org/app/uploads/...

If you're in Southampton, be sure to check out the Hidden in Stone exhibit at Gods House Tower. You can meet this handsome devil and it's free! godshousetower.org.uk/eventer/exhi...

Many second-hand electric cars are cheaper up-front than their petrol equivalents [at least in the UK] I look at the data in my latest Substack: www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/used-elect...

Finding excuses to migrate my favourite posts/photos from the other site so here's a throwback to this impromptu beach-side dissection from March 2022. Students from our @unisouthampton.bsky.social field course found this female cuttlefish in the rock pools of Bolonia Beach in Spain!

We have a rich fossil heritage on the south coast, marine reptiles, dinosaurs, the first humans on these islands... And everything in between. Come and find out about it at our new exhibition, running from April 4th to June 1st. godshousetower.org.uk/eventer/exhi... @unisouthampton.bsky.social