Any Dark Sky tourists considering booking ahead for wee 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿autumn/winter 🔭 break? I can recommend Rum! Check out this gorgeous @royalastrosoc.bsky.social sponsored film about the Isle of Rum's journey to becoming a rare "Dark Sky Sanctuary". It's stunning 🤩. 🎥: www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5uX...

Alice Everett astronomer engineer, degree @girtoncollege.bsky.social worked in optics & early television. 1890 1st woman paid for astronomical work at Royal Observatory. 1903 1st woman to have paper published by Physical Society of London. b. #OTD 15 May 1865 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_E...

There are a few more tickets to see me talk about "What Are Atoms Made Of?" next Tuesday evening at Sloans Bar and Grill on 108 Argyle Street in Glasgow. It costs just £5.00 - and you can also hear two more talks. Tickets here: pintofscience.co.uk/event/seeing... Doors open at 18:30. Say hi!

AI as it's being pushed on us is a project that meets the needs of corporations rather than humans. I like this human response: "But what are you trying to be free of?"

I am a human data center, and you are one too. If anything needs more energy, and care, it is us. And not machines.

Turns out the cycle path really is closed. And it's being patrolled by laser-armed drones

Bike ride this morning. Kavus Torabi playing music as I get ready to go out. I'll leave it running from the phone in my back pocket. When I'm out of Bluetooth range the house will go quiet #cycling #psychedelicmusic #silenthouse

As the first controller of BBC2, the UK's first colour television channel, Sir David Attenborough realised that the traditional white tennis balls were very difficult to see/follow on colour television, and suggested the introduction of coloured balls.

Thinking back to one of the greatest hater editorials of all time, along with its sheepish correction (49 years later): 🧪https://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/arts/1920editorial-full.pdf

Celebrate 10 years of gravitational wave astronomy with a family lecture in The Planetarium! Discover how ripples in space reveal black holes, exploding stars and the secrets of the Universe, led by experts from @uofgravity.bsky.social 9 May | Ages 8+ | No experience needed https://bit.ly/3P61Dih

Just sharing this again on the eve of elections to Holyrood #scottishparliament

A beautiful account, a career - a life - spent on the most deeply human of pursuits, in the increasingly dehumanised setting of higher education #universities #improvisedmusic

"Style isn't about wearing suits, it's about how you hold silence". -Miles Davis

The day has finally arrived. You can now *officially* watch puffins live from the Farne Islands, 24 hours a day: bit.ly/4tRz72T Please enjoy these puffins kissing in celebration of this momentous event.

Spring among the trees in Pollok Park, Glasgow. #pollokpark #glasgow #woodland

Spring among the trees in Pollok Park, Glasgow. #pollokpark #glasgow #woodland

2 May 1583: A quiet day today. The much ballyhooed conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, variously predicted for a few days ago, actually happens today; apparently the conditions for viewing it are not favourable and Tycho Brahe can't get a good look (he was also looking on the ... 1/ #earlymodern

The Mayan people who built this temple saw in Orion the "hearthstones of creation". Modern astrophysics sees the Orion Giant Molecular Cloud with the beautiful Orion Nebula within, sites of star formation. Two very different cosmologies, same stars above. Great picture!

Classifications have become political. These images of Saturn's moon Titan underline again that another world can be fascinating, beautiful, instructive, no matter which class of body it represents

The Mayan people who built this temple saw in Orion the "hearthstones of creation". Modern astrophysics sees the Orion Giant Molecular Cloud with the beautiful Orion Nebula within, sites of star formation. Two very different cosmologies, same stars above. Great picture!

Classifications have become political. These images of Saturn's moon Titan underline again that another world can be fascinating, beautiful, instructive, no matter which class of body it represents

Already thinking about the great songs I missed out

Why we build the wall - Anaïs Mitchell The great Valerio - Richard Thompson Dedicated to you but you weren't listening - Soft Machine Frownland - Captain Beefheart Here comes the flood - Peter Gabriel Dirty boy - Cardiacs Like a hurricane - Neil Young Visions of Johanna - Bob Dylan Continued!

Show trial

Very useful for anybody in #Scotland still wondering how to vote on Thursday. At least, anybody hoping to make a rational decision

Assuming Mr Isaacman is not just a RFK-type nut, why would he do this? Whip up some fringe weirdos on social media, generate lots of noise, distract from the enormous harm they're doing to science for ideological reasons

The Sweet pointed out in 1973 that ballrooms are inherently unsafe spaces

Are you a physics teacher in the UK? We need your help! 🧑‍🔬🧑‍🏫 We've created an open letter for teachers to sign and express their grave concern at the devastating proposed cuts to astronomy, space science and particle and nuclear physics. ✍️ 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre... #STFC #UKRI

A Board of Studies would certainly strike out "sense of wonder" if you included it as an objective in your course proposal #university

Former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull discussed his assessment of the impact of Rupert Murdoch's "Angertainment" at the 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit. "Murdoch has done more damage to democracy in the English speaking countries than any other individual alive today." youtu.be/drpAV8Dztis

"RFK is unwilling to admit that he made a miscalculation or simply misunderstood percentages. Seemingly, this regime would prefer to try to rewrite the fundamental rules of mathematics rather than climb down over a simple mistake." My latest substack. open.substack.com/pu...

Holy crap, guys. His approval rating is down 300%.

Mr Trump has strong opinions on interest rates and he doesn't even understand percentages

What a humiliation for the USA, to have such deeply, shamelessly ignorant people running their country

21 Apr 1567: Mary Queen #Scots visits James (VI) at #Stirling - it is last time they see each other #otd (NPG)

David Torn. A sonic wizard. Sequences of remarkable moments, sculpted sounds, form a sustained meditation #guitar screwgunrecords.com/album/fur-torn

Man, I remember those days. Scoring some Lyapunov exponents off a dodgy geezer in a pub; gathering at midnight on a disused airfield, five thousand strong, to bifurcate and bifurcate until the feigenbaums kicked in... It sounds so sordid now, but we were young and it was beautiful.

Baffling. #neoliberalism

Do not die like this!

In the dark, dank forest

From my mother-in-law's back garden in #Strathaven last night

Not at home so a phone snapshot is the best I can do. But what a beautiful evening! Get out and enjoy #Venus and the beautiful crescent #Moon (with #earthshine). Picturesquely placed cloud too, here anyway #astronomy

it’s weird how “having a job that isn’t actively evil” now feels like a genuine luxury

When you think of your experiences of learning, you might remember sitting at a desk in a quiet classroom. But lifelong learning is different. It isn’t just about what you’re learning, but the people you’re learning with too. Visit our blog: thewea.info/3Oggo1o #WEALabs

More famous people who fell asleep in front of you at the movies, please.

i don’t want my appliances to be smart or connect to the internet. i want them to do one mechanical task for 100 years

Sound of our house this morning: Sea Nymphs alphabet-business-concern.bandcamp.com/track/up-in-...

Here's how to drink tea Gagarin-style. Make black tea (let's go with Russian Caravan) and put a slice of lemon in it. Let the lemon infuse, sip your tea, then eat the lemon! #YurisNight 🧪 🔭

There's a popular myth that Yuri Gagarin saw the Great Wall of China from space - but it's not true! In this post, I delve into the heritage significance of things seen from space. 🧪 🏺 #YurisNight

In Pollok Park, Glasgow this morning - between the showers #spring #photography