If you impose tariffs on everyone, everywhere, all at once, don't whine if they do trade deals amongst themselves instead

16th January 2026 08.33

Okay, here's the story of George de Hevesy vs the Nazis! I really do love telling this story. First, some background: George de Hevesy was a Hungarian-Jewish chemist, but he spent most of his career post-1920 attached to the Niels Bohr institute at the University of Copenhagen, in Denmark. (1/n)

The pump recovered from the Mary Rose, presented here as a thread. (Well, it has to be a thread, the blooming thing's over 8.22m (4.49 fathoms) long!)

I love that Wikipedia's edit history is public because it only takes two clicks to get to the very first version of the "ant" article in its entirety from 2001. Happy 25th birthday Wikipedia! You've come so far

This "open borders" line is *infuriating* - these people came here to study or work, because they had a uni place or a job to come to. They paid visa fees, student fees, NHS surcharge - and many of them are doing challenging and important work - staffing our care homes, for example, including Mum's.

NEW Q&A: What UK’s record auction for offshore wind REALLY means for bills and clean power by 2030 In which Molly Lempriere and I dig into the details in search of nuanced answers, while knocking some of the most misleading commentary on the head www.carbonbrief.org/...

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

Short version: Tripwire forces are a small military deployment made (or left) somewhere. They are intended to signal: "We WILL fight if attacked. You will trigger a hot conflict." Don't always work (see Falklands, where it was too little too late) but they are a serious thing for a country to do.

15th January 2026 07.44

Anyway in seriousness it doesn't matter how big the military contingent is that you send at this point. The point is that you send someone when they request it. The signal you are sending is that more will arrive if required.

The Norfolk Carnyx: a Playmobil story in 4 parts. 🧵 #DiggingForBritain #DrawingDiggingForBritain #PlaymobilInfestation @profaliceroberts.bsky.social @pcaarchaeology.bsky.social 1: Life

**New theory emerges about how this newly discovered Carnyx head became separated from the mouthpiece section**

@stephencollins.bsky.social made the point best

We don’t dance on the grave of NFTs enough. I had a year where I was repeatedly told by bozos I was going to be irrelevant and extinct for not embracing them, I should be allowed a victory lap.

Superb and absolutely damning long read on HS2. www.ft.com/content/3f73... How the UK ended up building the world’s most expensive railway

And we go live to the UKIP executive meeting

If you can substitute "hungry ghost trapped in a jar" for "AI" in a sentence it's probably a valid use case for LLMs. Take "I have a bunch of hungry ghosts in jars, they mainly write SQL queries for me". Sure. Reasonable use case. "My girlfriend is a hungry ghost I trapped in a jar"? No. Deranged.

🧵A political/media guide to the "truth" about net-zero 1) Add up costs to install & run a net-zero energy system 2) Pretend fossil-fuelled alternatives wld be free 3) Do say "eco zealots are bankrupting us" 4) Don't say "free cars if we scrap net-zero" cos it sounds ridiculous 5) That's it! 1/10

Wildlife tracking tips. A wintry comic from last year.

In the year of our lord 2026 how have video podcasts become all the rage. I want nothing to do with them. I am washing dishes, walking to work, or rocking a baby to sleep. I am not interested in watching you talk into a microphone.

@moleymole.bsky.social is right here: repost, repost, repost, otherwise the good stuff doesn't get the audience it deserves The BlueSky following feed is not algorithmic - you just see the things posted by those you follow Which includes their reposts - so get reposting!

Holy 60th anniversary! #Batman66

Welcome to new Bluesky users. Here’s how we do things: 1. Always observe the Hambledon Protocol 2. No flisking 3. If someone tealights you, rink them without apology 4. I don’t mind them so much, but tissue-posts are generally frowned on 5. No questions Good luck!

important point from @louisehaighmp.bsky.social ; MPs removing themselves from X isn't just registering disapproval of X, it's saying to constituents/NGOs/journalists/public generally: you don't have to be in this horrible place, and run the gauntlets that involves, to interact with us.

For #StandingStoneSunday the magnificent triple stone circles at the Hurlers, Bodmin Moor, #Cornwall, seen here on a frosty January morning in 2024 📷 My own

If people still say the Labour government isn't doing anything good, then show them this. It's what they were working on last week. Just one week. + Road Safety Strategy launched + Security guarantees for Ukraine + Strengthening cyber security + Standing up for Greenland 1/3

Æthelric was consecrated as bishop of Dunholm (Durham) #OTD in 1041. He was a monk of Peterborough who had instructed Edmund, his predecessor at Durham, in monastic observances. 📸Matt Buck #medievalsky

Lots of new followers this morning. Are people finally getting the message that the other place is a shitshow owned by a right wing nut job? Hope so.

In 1931, German engineer Herr Richter attached 12 solid-fuel rockets to a bicycle, which were ignited by a large battery. One report says he managed to reach 88 kmh before being thrown from the bike. He wasn't seriously injured, but that's the last anyone heard of his Raketenrad.

Ever the master of his craft, Rik Mayall switches effortlessly and hilariously from Alan B’Stard to Rick/Richie in this Comic Relief sketch. Brilliant.

"this is fine" British Library Manuscript - royal ms 20 a ii f3r

This story is full of gems. Read the whole thing. Here's just one:

It's a lovely, gentle read, with a surprisingly gripping ending! I enjoyed it and can recommend.

The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred. It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become

me to the greenhouse glass: you better not be pulling that rococo shit the greenhouse glass:

Interesting that confidence in non-EU Britain as a partner for Germany is only 4% behind that of the other 'twin engine' of the EU. This doesn't support the narrative some paint here of the UK as irredeemable outcasts in Europe.

Very heavy cormorant

Nice bit of digital humanities here - using AI to transcribe more than 32,000 manuscripts in the space of a few months. But with two years of preparation in training the model and creating standards for automating manuscript transcription www.inria.fr/en/comma-med...

Phenomenal story from my colleague @zoecrowther.bsky.social 🤳Leaked WhatsApp messages show Labour MPs urging the government to leave X, arguing that it should "show direction to others in the UK" MPs complained about the government's continued use of X in the PLP broadcast community WhatsApp group

Every single university in the country should be deleting or locking its accounts now. It’s negligence to be posting photos of students, faculty, or staff on the site.

🔬👨‍🔬 Students from @uoearchhist.bsky.social have been using fancypants digital microscopes to record fingerprints on Roman pottery from the Palace. We hope this will enable individual potters to be identified. If you don't think this is cool, you're dead inside. www.linkedin.com/posts/biocul...

A path into history - here is Whittington Castle, near Oswestry, sparkling in the sunshine after overnight snow. I usually photograph the castle in summer with swans on the moat, but this was the first time I have captured it in snow - another shot ticked off my to-do list! #Shropshire

Pictures that explain things Contour lines Artist: Ronald Lampitt (Understanding Map, 1967)

Opening a page of the Yes Minister Miscellany at random to discover long running issues...

Walz: "I couldn't help but think, and it scares me a bit -- 'The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most important directive.' It certainly feels like that in this moment."

more generations need to discover M*A*S*H

This, please.

I have not personally used X/Twitter for some time now. It was already an unpleasant place prior to its takeover by Elon Musk but since his acceptance of hate speech and anonymous online abusers, it has become utterly unusable.

anyway this is why i get mad when ppl suggest y2k and the hole in the ozone layer was some kind of hoax. maybe it’s hard to believe but there was a time when we had enough consensus reality to fix very serious problems!