📣"RAS Fellows urged to lobby against unprecedented cuts" 📣 🔭The @royalastrosoc.bsky.social is calling on its members to help force the Government to reconsider its proposed cuts to astronomy and space science.🧪⚗️🚀🛸🛰️🌌 #stfc #ukri #saveSTFC Read and share: www.ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

UK Solar Physics early career researchers rightly deeply concerned at the savage cuts to #STFC science (and I'd add apparent contempt for their plight by #UKRI). They have an open letter... uksolphys.org/general-news...

I'm a Dr in physics, but in the UK... 📣Many researchers are facing the same reality: contracts ending, careers cut short, talent lost. 👥📉 UKRI needs to change course — now. 🧪🔭⚗️ If you’re affected, post your own photo and share this message. Visibility matters. #stfc #ukri #saveSTFC

I've signed up to 4 mass participation events for 2026. In date (and insanity) order: April: Wilmslow Olympic distance Triathlon June: Bolton half Ironman August: Leeds full Ironman September: The North East Skinny Dip (charity fundraiser for MIND). Already starting to worry...

@iop.org found in 2019 alone #physics generated 11% of UK GDP. Now #STFC, which overseas much of UK physics public research funding, aims to cut curiosity-driven research by 30%. Robbing the future to pay for the present will never be a successful economic strategy. 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti...

A New STFC Funding Crisis The outlook for UK astronomy now looks even more bleak than the dark days of the funding crisis following 2008. It looks like a return to the Bad Old Days.

The Royal Astronomical Society is gravely concerned at the drastic cuts to support for UK astronomy outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Read our statement 👉 ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

Why #nasa #artemis is important and why today's words from Artemis II astronaut #ChristinaKoch really spoke to me. Segment from #BBCNews channel.

This letter could do with YOUR signature 🫵 superintelligence-statement.org

Proud to be part of this amazing team.

Attending (virtually) a @nasaromantelescope.bsky.social collaboration meeting this week where we are getting our heads around the science we'll do with 100,000 new exoplanets over its five year nominal mission. For perspective, the last 30 years has delivered 6000. Roman will be mind blowing! 🔭🧪🪐

How to hasten the AMOC collapse and make Britain uninhabitable (or at least really miserable).

Global investment in new renewable energy a record $386bn in first half of 2025, according to BloombergNEF - Global offshore wind and small-scale solar spurred growth about.bnef.com/insights/cle...

I like the way that the four #exoplanet detection methods are relatively well separated when plotting their bulk properties as ratios relative to their host. The scatter shape also reminds me of a hovering #hummingbird. So, I'm going to call this plot the hummingbird plot. 🧪🔭🪐

Been bad mouthing #AI engines recently. So, for balance, i got #GPT4 to do some useful #exoplanet stuff today. From a csv i downloaded from the #NASA #ExoplanetArchive it made a clickable version of the plot below that takes you to the info page on that planet. Damn useful! 🧪🔭🪐

I guess some are better than others - Claude Opus 4.1 is not so easily fooled, it seems. Not on this test anyway.

Something else #GPT5 is really bad at is updating the content of lecture slides on #exoplanets. I thought it might actually do a reasonable job on this type of task, so i fed it one lecture of content. Nope, it was awful! It either made no changes whatsoever, or it completely ruined everything.

So, #GPT5 is supposed to have "PhD level" intelligence, according to the hype. Every time a new #AI chatbot is released, I test it with a fictitious situation in which I attempt to con a friend out of £5. A ten year old could easily spot the con. GPT5, like its predecessors, cannot.

And here's what it looked like - magical!

I mentioned on #BBCBreakfast yesterday that I would see in the #SturgeonMoon with a moonlight dip. Being in water is a wonderful vantage point to observe the sky. #nightswimming #fullmoon

If you're in the UK and hoping to catch the #PerseidMeteorShower over the next few days, here's some pointers from my chat on #BBCBreakfast this morning with Charlie and Naga.

My daughter did this sketch a few years ago. Seems an appropriate evening to give it an airing. #OasisLive25

The Met Office is currently looking for people to suggest up to 5 names for storms... It would be great if thousands all suggested the same 5 names (in alphabetical order as that's how storm names appear): BigOil, BP, Equinor, Exxon, Shell. www.metoffice.gov.uk/forms/name-o...

Whilst Top Gear is not on our screens, I'm think there's a gap for Sky At Night to have its own version of #TheStig. What do you think @chrislintott.bsky.social ? 👽

Beautiful swim at Combs Reservoir near Buxton this morning. But the large sandy looking shore line area certainly testifies to the effects of the recent dry weather spell.

Another orbit complete, and a lovely card from my daughter, showing some family moments over the last 23 orbits. I'm not tearing up, honest, I just sweat a lot...

How's your day at work been? #UniversallyManchester #UniversityOfManchester #Aliens #TheyAreAmongUs #TheThingsIDoForMyJob

Never saw myself doing something like this, so it's weird seeing these pictures. Yesterday I took part in the Ironman Bolton 70.3 triathlon. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, then a 13.1 mile half-marathon run. Finished in 7hrs 34min, 56 min before the cutoff. A mere 3 hrs 30min behind the winner.

If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow. The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.

These proposed US budget cuts on NASA, if enacted, would be devastating not just for US astrophysics, but for astrophysics generally. Have to hope that there will be strong pushback on this within Congress. But it's difficult to be optimistic of this in the current times.

Wow. An honest review of an SUV. www.irishtimes.com/motors/revie...

Just sorting through old books i don't need anymore. But this one is definitely staying!

On June 8th I'm doing the Bolton 70.3 half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run. I'm fundraising for Doctors In Distress, which helps medical professionals (not just doctors) through mental health struggles. If you can, please donate here: www.justgiving.com/page/eamonn-...

This is unbelievable. Thermodynamics can be a bit challenging at times, but I've never thought of it as a political hot potato. We installed a heat pump over a year ago in our stone house. It works brilliantly. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

Happy 35th birthday to the Hubble space telescope! 🎉 Since its launch in 1990, Hubble has beamed thousands of images back to Earth, revolutionising our view of the cosmos. 🔭 🌌 Check out the Top 100 images taken by Hubble here. 👉 esahubble.org/images/archi...

On vacation this week in #Cornwall. Staying at an AirBnB with two huge #swimming ponds! Just me and my wife, Kate, using them at the moment. So, one each!

Our home is now battery powered for 16 hours a day thanks to this unit. It charges from the grid for 8 hours per day during the cheapest tariff times. On current usage and electricity costs the ROI is under 5 years - battery is guaranteed for 12. As a bonus, it's also a UPS if we suffer power cuts.

Eclipse preppers assemble! It's time to buy some solar eclipse glasses and set notifications in your diary. 🗓️13/14 Mar: Lunar Eclipse 🗓️29 Mar: Partial Solar Eclipse Time/spectacle depends on your location 🔭🧪 ↙️Lunar: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/luna... ↘️Solar: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/sola...

Great chat this morning on the #BBCBreakfast sofa with Nina Warhurst and Roger Johnson on the #UKSpaceIndustry and the importance of funding #Physics and #SpaceSciences. Physics sector is an engine of our #economy, not a drain on it. Without it we'd have less money for schools, hospitals, etc. 🧪🔭

Fun day visiting my daughter in #Liverpool. She took me #climbing, something i haven't done in over 25 years. Great fun, but my fingers are not happy. 🧗🏻‍♂️👍

Beautiful swim this morning in Lake #Coniston with my wife Kate. Water was about 6C and crystal clear. First time swimming in Coniston - it won't be my last. #OpenWaterSwimming 🏊🏻‍♂️

Our planet is burning and our banks are fuelling the fire. UK high-street banks Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds have funded fossil fuels with $556 billion since 2016.​ It’s time to go green. Switch to Starling, Nationwide or Triodos. Act now: makemymoneymatter.co.uk

NEW: Official advisers CCC say UK shld cut emissions 87% by 2040 ⚖️Net cost of net-zero 73% less than thought 💷Total cost to 2050 = £108bn (~£4bn/yr, 0.2% GDP) 🏡🚗H’hold energy/fuel bills to fall £1,400 🔌Electrification is key THREAD + charts www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/10

So, about that #motorist. The incident happened last week in rush hour #cycling along the busy A6 dual carriageway descending into #Stockport from #Manchester. A driver drive alongside me for several hundred meters. Then, they moved slightly ahead and turned hard left directly across my path.

Was hit by a motorised last week whilst #cycling, so I'm having to come into work by car whilst my leg injuries heal #irony. My car doesn't travel far nor go fast, but it's very cheap to buy and run, and perfect for city driving. But I'm getting a distinct #SizeMatters vibe from the other cars. 😆

World's glaciers melting faster than ever recorded Since the turn of the century, glaciers have lost 5% (more than 6,500 billion tonnes) of their ice, and the pace of melting was a third higher over the last decade or so than during the period 2000-2011. https://buff.ly/4i3DoKh

Great chat with the @exocast.bsky.social team about finding exoplanets using gravitational lensing, the upcoming Roman mission, and risking career suicide by talking about my work on stage in front of 2000 people whilst wearing a skin tight alien costume. 🧪🔭👽 www.exocast.org/exocast-78b/

Regarding how we might move such an object - the NASA DART mission did exactly this in 2022 by slamming into #Dimorphos, a rather larger asteroid than #2024YR4. Here's a (truncated) clip of me talking to #BBCbreakfast about it, hours before the impact. 🔭🧪

Regarding asteroid 2024 YR4, un-hyped, regularly updated info is at CNEOS: cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/ For context, a similar sized asteroid struck us in 1908 and virtually all of the world's population was unaware it happened. Today, we have the means to move ones of this size, if necessary. 🧪🔭

And, if you're wondering why I'm putting myself thorough this, I'm fundraising for Doctors in Distress. Post pandemic, a lot of doctors struggle with mental illness due to job pressure. My wife is one of them. So, this is for her and the many in her position. www.justgiving.com/page/eamonn-...