My new piece is up: Silicon Valley billionaires use science fiction to justify dystopia, AI overlords, space colonies, escape plans. I call this “science fiction materialized”. But radical science fiction offers blueprints for resistance + rebuilding and new worlds. untoldmag.org/silicon-vall...

“Does this still look like dystopian fiction to you? Perhaps a better way of framing the question is to go back two decades, pretend that the ethnic cleansing of the United Kingdom was your ultimate goal, and ask how satisfied you would be with how things had turned out.”

Just watched the final ever ITV highlights episode of the #TourdeFrance. End of an era. Twenty years of watching the best coverage of this amazing event. Julys won’t be the same again.

“Send them to Mars”

Some sound advice here but no discussion of how the car park companies should surely have some responsibility to remove these fake QR codes and to adapt their business processes to limit opportunities for fraud.

This is a helpful read. Thank you.

If true, this is a terrible mistake, especially with the prospect that solar panels would be optional. The failure to have a clear vision and get the basics right is demoralising and irresponsible. No wonder the young people I teach feel angry at politicians on climate change action.

I admire this guy’s style and courage in the face of police brutality.

The Guardian view on China’s EV breakthrough: helped by the kind of strategic state Elon Musk despises www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

“It is one small department in one university. But it will reverberate across the entire country.” www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/u...

The secret history of Australian women in the Space Age A Bluesky version of my International Women's Day talk for the Shire of Berrigan, NSW. (Many thanks to them for the invitation and support). 🧪#WomenInSTEM #IWD25

“Friday, February 28, 2025, will go into the history books as one of the grimmest days in American diplomacy, the beginning of a long-term disaster that every American, every U.S. ally, and anyone who cares about the future of democracy will have to endure.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

In 1973, a group of feminist activists protested NASA's exclusion of women from space, except in menial or decorative roles. #WomenInSTEM 🧪

What does Elon Musk believe? www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Something interesting behind the world record story: “Supporting the project is Grant Romundt, from Canada. Both he and Koch have grander visions linked to the libertarian -- and at-times controversial -- "seasteading" movement that envisions ocean-based communities outside government control.”

Sat watching BBC Parliament channel’s coverage of the Senedd Cymru. Its modern look and arrangements a stark contrast to the archaic, dysfunctional Westminster.

As someone who experiences low to moderate level anxiety when flying, on my last trip I found that noise cancelling earphones helped so much. It seems obvious in hindsight but I appreciate now that reducing the sensory load of anxiety inducing situations is a very effective way of managing them.

Signs of a luna-earth-economic system taking shape? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Embarking on my journey tonight to attend the first EASST Council of 2025 in Aarhus. Chance to meet newly elected members. Looking forward to productive discussions over the next two days.

Can't wait to read sociologist and activist Eman Abdelhadi's speculative fiction novel, Everything for Everyone, which imagines smaller, decentralized communities rising from the rubble, packed with themes of resilience, creativity, and collective liberation. www.vox.com/the-highligh...

‘“nei” and “juan” literally mean rolling inwards. After decades of rapid growth, many Chinese millennials and Gen Z people feel that the opportunities that were available to their parents no longer exist, and that working hard no longer offers guaranteed rewards.’ www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

Here’s to my adorable working-from-home companion of 2024, looking resplendent in her winter coat.

Nothing ages faster than visions of the future. You simply cannot organize an institution entirely around The Latest Thing. But we have, it seems, an entire generation of institutional leaders with no second thought in their heads. And we have roomfuls of rotting, half-finished projects to prove it.

Excited to receive the proofs for a chapter coming out next year, which represents my first foray in writing speculative fiction in an academic context. Hugely inspired by the likes of @ruha9.bsky.social and Kodwo Eshun.

This is exciting. We’re hiring a new lecturer in STS. Let me know if you want to discuss, and please repost and share.

The latest issue of EASST Review is now out, covering the 2024 EASST- @4sweb.bsky.social conference last summer, and including some amazing creative writing, and reports from across the STS community. easst.net/easst-review/

Oh well, time for a cup of tea instead.

We warmly welcome you to join our next online FutureSpace Talk on Wednesday December 11th, with guest speakers Eleanor S. Armstrong (University of Leicester) and Réka P. Gál (Technical University of Munich). Register here: futurespace-project.eu/futurespace-...

Have we reached peak depense with this dystopian news? Crypto entrepreneur eats banana art he bought for $6.2m. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

Seen this @deathandculture.bsky.social @emmahcasey.bsky.social @raphahead.bsky.social?

Thank you @sciasculture.bsky.social for making this article free to access. Maybe the time is right to start work on a follow-up.

As Musk takes a greater role in the White House, Science as Culture is making the article "Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Techno-Optimism: Examining Outer Space Utopias of Silicon Valley" by Richard Tutton, originally published in 2020, free access. [2/3] www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Claudio Angelo (Observatorio do Clima, Brazil) said: “Rich countries spent 150 years appropriating the world’s atmospheric space, 33 years loitering on climate action, and three years negotiating [a financial settlement] without putting numbers on the table.” www.theguardian.com/environment/...

In one of my favourite branches of Waterstone’s in Manchester and planning a purchase of Ishida’s We’ll prescribe a cat.

I’ve been teaching the topic of alternatives to the car system this week on our Creating Sociological Alternatives module and feared this wasn’t resonating with the students, but in today’s seminar all that changed. Definitely felt like a few mindsets shifted.

Looks fantastic - look forward to reading it. Also of interest to #socialstudiesofouterspace folk too!

The Cure’s new album release is headlining on Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning.

Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,669,744!

Yikes, it’s September 2nd and it’s only 20 days until I start teaching two new modules: time to get my teaching prep game on.

This week I have managed to maintain my 100% failure rate with securing research grant funding.

“An ambitious and effective treaty is still possible, but negotiations are on a knife-edge: time is short and strong opposition remains from the petrochemicals industry and states connected with it, even as their products pile up on street corners and in watercourses around the world.”

No more net zero. Apparently it’s gone the way of woke.

Listening to @zitron.bsky.social latest podcast and realising I will now need to spend some of Sunday afternoon revising my Monday morning lecture on automation, work and society!

@zitron.bsky.social You are so right 🤣

Fascinating and not that surprising… a look behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz.