Family holiday unearths 'mind-blowing' ancient discovery

Prediction for tonight: Early goal England then attempt to park the bus for the rest of the match. Bellingham sent off for last minute VAR checked challenge on Messi in the box. Pen… 1 all. Extra time England ‘defend like lions’ and hold on. We lose on penalties.

"Fundamental research should not be allowed to decline through attrition while public statements continue to suggest it is being protected." @jim-wild.bsky.social in @resprofnews.bsky.social today. Well worth a read. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

Ancient? But they’re observed in the early universe 😉 🧪🔭 #extragalactic #cosmology

I’d be curious to see what Birmingham’s leaders would say if somewhere else suggested the cut should be one above Birmingham 🧪 #academicsky

Oof! Not a good idea 🧪 #academicsky

“Following careful consideration, I have decided to step aside from my role as Vice-Chancellor for a period of approximately 24 hours, after which I will assume the role of Vice-Chancellor.” -VC

Thank god for that www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

🧪🔭 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Just realised this will be my son’s fifth prime minister and he’s 6.

I’ve had a rough week so let me just say - if you use LLMs to “improve” your science I think you’re a coward and a hack. We don’t need more science faster, even if LLMs make that possible. We need thoughtful science done by people who like doing it.

Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.

Saw this and assumed it was the Hubble tension 🔭🧪 #cosmology

I've been searching for the official NASA comms on this, but nothing. Lots of sites reporting in the last hour the ISS crew got orders "to enter their Crew Dragon spacecraft...& don their spacesuits in case the air leak warranted an emergency evacuation". 🤞hoping they can fix this🤞🔭🧪⚛️🛰️

This is great. "If you can’t be bothered to write it, why should anyone be bothered to read it?" is spot on.

Congratulations to @lancasteruni.bsky.social PhD student Harry Stephenson @hmostevo.bsky.social who passed his viva last month and has now had the corrections officially accepted. Here he is (after changing into his celebration outfit) with a proud supervisor and his internal examiner @vrooje.net 🔭🧪

This is absolutely astonishing - it's rare in astronomy to see so much change on a human timescale, but this really shows how dynamic the gas and dust around a young star can be. Seeing the shadows from the inner regions cast out onto the outer spiral arms, amazing!

I knew this would happen. As if it wasn't bad enough being asked about 'supermoons' (when the Full Moon occurs when it happens to be close to us in its orbit, making it slightly bigger in the sky but not big enough one would notice), we now have press enquiries about the weekend's 'micromoon'.

I swear there are global trends in the AI-generated slop submitted to Research Notes of the AAS. A few months ago, everyone wanted to find possible wide black hole binaries in Gaia. Now it's ill-motivated fits to SPARC rotation curves. 🔭

Brent Crude just hit $111 a barrel. Do we all have to stand on one leg til the price changes? 🏏

I don’t think the Green Party understand how these Lib Dem-style graphs are supposed to work. You highlight everyone except your main competitor to encourage tactical voting for your party. You don’t tell your potential voters to not bother voting as you’ll win anyway 🙃🤔

Latest on UKGov #STFC cuts to physics & astro. Love Hiranya's take: "Peiris said she thinks...policy is “evolving in a matter of weeks”, suggesting it was a “very incoherent approach that leaves us vulnerable...” Yup - that about sums it up. Feels like they're making it up as they go along 😬🧪🔭

Finally! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The fact that Dyson is a billionaire who is one of the biggest agricultural landholders in the UK seems highly relevant here. As does the fact that the UK hasn’t been self sufficient in food since the Industrial Revolution.

I’m curious: Are there people who think the Apollo missions were a hoax but Artemis is real and therefore they’re proper excited by this, even more than everyone else? 🤔🔭🧪

This must be the shot of the mission so far. Beautiful. #ArtemisII

There are now 10 toilets in Space International Space Station: 4 Crew Dragon Docked at ISS: 1 Soyuz Docked at ISS: 1 Tiangong Space Station: 2 Shenzhou Docked at TSS: 1 Artemis II on way around Moon: 1 This will be the first time a toilet has left low earth orbit!

Start the fire. Walk away. Tell the world they’re on their own.

I have no words for this

This is grim stuff. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/29/o...

But calling for it anyway, however ignorantly, will make a direct difference to what climate change denying donors pay politicians. So there’s that.

The “goal” of the Iran war is now reportedly to open the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war began

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The future of UK Astronomy & Particle Physics is at risk from proposed 30% funding cuts that, if implemented, will be "genuinely catastrophic". Great to see this detailed BBC report on the issue by @pallabg.bsky.social 🔭🧪⚛️ #STFCcuts #SaveUKAstronomy 🗞️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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Excited to have come away from my trip to London for Royal Astronomical Society Council with a batch of newly-printed “Save Astronomy” stickers! 🔭 @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

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❌️ Stop the cuts! ❌️ We've been campaigning extensively for the reversal of proposed cuts to astronomy and space science. To help spread the word, we've also created some 'Save UK Astronomy' stickers! 🔭🪐 You can pick one up at any RAS event and show your support for the cause.

Let us hope that they will never get the chance. It the UK electorate is stupid enough to vote in a Reform government, we are lost.

My favourite part of the excellent letter by @chionwurah.bsky.social 🧪🔭

Breaking: Looming physics cuts a ‘failure’, says science committee chair. Chi Onwurah says science minister and UKRI leadership must “bear responsibility” and “win back trust”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Summary: "it's this question of the [PPAN] partition.... I think it's a very legitimate concern because of the tensioning between the increasing facilities cost: that's what she's trying to work through at the moment to come up with solutions" (sadly no offer of a magic money tree solution though)

Nerc to shut down flying lab amid rising costs. Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements closure will save up to £37 million, research council says. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

Oh wow only just realised you can move around on the map and look at them lasair.lsst.ac.uk to see an image like that below 🧪🔭

And we're off! My most favourite telescope, the Vera Rubin Observatory, has turned on its public alert stream and boy, were there a lot of changes in the Universe last night. More coming: ~7 million a night 😮: exploding stars, belching black holes, asteroids cruising through the solar system. 🤗🔭🧪

STFC CEO responds to @jonbutterworth.bsky.social "it is important for all of our ... programmes ... to contribute to us making savings across our entire portfolio" No mention that *all* is disproportionately falling on the particle-astro-nuclear programme 🤷‍♀️😡 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Here we go…the marvellous Vera Rubin Observatory has started scanning the sky, telling us about things that change and move. In there there are untold wonders and undoubtedly a few surprises. Let’s go!

I’ve admired this 1068 Toledo astrolabe in its case and I studied every millimeter of it on digital images, and today I got to handle it with the medieval manuscripts group. Oxford is wild.

Caltech astrophysicist fatally shot on porch in Antelope Valley; suspect charged with murder

First senior member of the royal family to be arrested since Charles I...