A vibrant proof copy of SR Badmin‘s Ludlow Castle travel poster

BIG pet peeve of mine is when folks are selling something 'natural' and say ' proudly 'no chemicals' - guys, *everything* is chemicals! The idea also, that anything natural isn't dangerous or will harm you is a nonsense. I don't get why it persists!

checkmate, fellow terrorists

It's old, I know... But @privateeyenews.bsky.social is usually worth repeating! 😂

I’ve just heard that one of the true greats of SF writing, Ian Watson, has passed away. A huge figure of the genre and an enormously entertaining character. A real loss.

Without energy efficiency, the EU would need — and pay — 31% more for energy today. Since 2000, efficiency has removed 265 Mtoe of demand from the market entirely. The best protection against a price shock is not finding cheaper oil and gas. It's needing less of it.

Happy birthday to the Peak District National Park, designated #otd 13 April 1951. Originally 555 square miles of moor and valley, the 'great north roof of England.' It would never have happened but for one woman... 1/4

came to this post just to shout out our Trumpington spaghetti monster and saw it already being mentioned! all hail his spaghettiness

This wins the Internet today. Thanks to @beckyannison.bsky.social for reposting it and bringing it to the awards committee's attention. Remember use your prize responsibly, and bring it back in good working order 🤣

Perhaps France and the UK could issue a call for papers?

Liking the idea of MLC being some roving political reporter for the Bluesky community.

Discworld QOTD, from Thud!

How did Hungary's biggest cities vote? Budapest - Tisza+33 Debrecen - Tisza+23 Szeged - Tisza+39 Miskolc - Tisza+29 Pécs - Tisza+31 Győr - Tisza+25 Nyíregyháza - Tisza+31 Kecskemét - Tisza+25 Székesfehérvár - Tisza+22 Szombathely - Tisza+19 Érd - Tisza+26 Szolnok - Tisza+29 Tatabánya - Tisza+24

I did appreciate the Russian doll with Orbán on the outside and Putin inside at the Tisza party 😀

JD Vance is America’s Liz Truss. She killed the Queen. He killed the Pope and now, metaphorically, Viktor Orbán.

The Dream Team failed. Total shock. We sent two of our most mediocre real estate developers and a fraud. Who could’ve guessed this outcome?

Oh, yeah, that was the Obama Iran deal.

France 🇫🇷 doubles electrification support to €10bn/year through 2030 — EVs, heat pumps, industry. The reason? The Strait of Hormuz crisis making fossil fuel dependence impossible to ignore. Geopolitical shocks don’t just raise prices. They change what’s politically possible.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

12th April 2026 06.14

The Home Office' anti-immigration agenda is strangling growth across the economy. It prevents a closer relationship with Europe, deprives us of the workers we need and undermines universities. getting-out-of-the-hole.uk/labours-red-...

It is hilarious in every way but my fingers are still firmly crossed for Hungary today.

“oh hey u guys are back early” “moon’s haunted”

I am sure the astronauts are all VERY GOOD SPORTS and are more than happy to do whatever is asked of them for the sake of science but COME ON 😭

But in the leaner times ahead, more sensible and less expensive forms of carbon removal — e.g., biochar, rock weathering — might mature and be ready for the next (inevitable) wave of investment. A CDR 2.0 could emerge from this, without the pork, hype, and greenwashing of CDR 1.0?

Thank you @foodandwater.bsky.social for citing my latest report :) "AI for climate" joins CCS, CDR, fossil hydrogen and SMRs / fusion as tactical hollow promises deployed to mute the noise of the carbon bomb going off tody and tomorrow --> www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/04/10/d...

Congratulations to the white-coated boffins at Tunnock’s Teacakes for their vital contribution to the Artemis II mission. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The French government has announced the measures of its plan to accelerate electrification: - a ban on gas boilers in new houses from the end of 2026 - increased support for replacing old heating with heat pumps - 100 regions will pilot comprehensive heat transition plans to phase out gas by 2030

It's a bit gusty out there, but on the plus side, the UK is currently running on 77% renewable electricity right now. 🎉🎉💨💨 Yay nature! (screenshot from grid.iamkate.com )

Overton xkcd.com/3230/

Splash down. Brought to you by Tunnock’s Tea Cakes.

It may seem like nerdy detail that the increasing weight of cars is worsening potholes, but it matters. The car makers push to sell wider and heavier cars is increasing road maintenance costs and that affects us all. Not to mention worse crash outcomes and less space to pass (wider) parked cars.

“Seven sorts of tree buds” Treasure magazine, 1965

"the crew is in excellent shape" in fact, one of them is... STRONGER than EVER. and another... seems to be INCREDIBLY FLEXIBLE... and another...

Although her memoir suggests you should try to avoid running an Oxford college if at all possible

When I started legal blogging I thought it would be a little bit of contract law or libel law, and the occasional judicial review with constitutional implications. Now: a constant stream of constitutional crises, fundamental human rights abuses, and war crimes and other crimes against humanity.

After almost twenty years on the platform, EFF is logging off of X. This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but it might be overdue. 🧵 (1/5) www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

was that Melania speech one of Iran’s demands

Fortunately, we can dial back our fertilizer use in much of the world -- without compromising crop yields or food production. This helps curb N2O emissions *and* lowers water pollution from nitrate runoff. Win-win! Here's more on these solutions: drawdown.org/explorer/imp...

"Climate science is not innately politically charged, whatever the administration says. ... It was our job to study the laws of physics, which remain true no matter who’s in power." - Kate Marvel, Sr. Scientist, Project Drawdown 📰 Full article in the @newyorktimes: https://nyti.ms/4tBNtEf

We can cut the backlog and improve the experience of victims in our courts without compromising due process - proud to stand with @charlotte2153.bsky.social in amending this bill and advocating for labours manifesto pledge for specialist courts for sexual abuse cases.

Happy 8th anniversary to the tweet that changed us forever. Look at this absolute unit.

In retrospect, 1983 was a very dangerous time. We didn’t find out quite how dangerous till later. I’d always had a dull resignation to the inevitability of nuclear war and the atmosphere of the time was just getting worse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...

Researchers asked ~250 coffee growers in Peru if they had noticed climate impacts. They said, basically, "yeah". Source: www.frontiersin.org/journals/cli...

Fun fact: every five months, the world builds as much solar power generation as all the nuclear power that has ever been built. And still some people dream of a ”nuclear renaissance”. That train has left the station long ago…

9th April 2026 06.20

Clean, safe, cheap, renewable energy that you don't have to fight deadly wars or destroy the environment to get. Good for wildlife, too, when done properly. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A single line in this piece just made my day: “The electricity system operator is understood to be preparing to run the grid without any gas for short periods as soon as this summer, in a first for the UK energy system.” Renewables *work*. And progress matters🎉 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We're witnessing the inevitable result of electing a President who thinks being on television & posting on Truth Social is the same as actually doing the job of governing. Without a single figure in his team who can say: "Donny...shut the fuck up". So by Saturday, we'll be back in genocidal terrain.

The amazing thing about writing is it's basically time travel and whenever I think about that it blows my mind. It's a genuine miracle. I mean, just think about it: a Chinese general from 2,500 years ago can point out the President of the USA is a fucking idiot. It's incredible.

I've decided to have a go at an Ed Valigursky spherical moon lander.