Meta’s own research found parental supervision doesn’t really help curb teens’ compulsive social media use techcrunch.com/2026/02/17/m...

🧪 AI-assisted NIH grant proposals are 4% more likely to be funded, unlike those at the NSF. These applications often resemble previously supported work. AI tools may favor established patterns over high-risk ideas, which has people concerned it will push submissions towards the mean. #AcademicSky

BREAKING: The web domains andyforleader.co.uk, edforleader.co.uk and yvetteforleader.co.uk have all been registered this afternoon.

As events in America are now showing, democracies are only as strong as their weakest point. And right now, the weakest point in our own democracy is the continued rise of one Nigel Farage www.adambienkov.co.uk/p/nigel-fara...

Meanwhile, Britain finds itself lost between two worlds. We were told we didn’t need Europe, we could rely on the transatlantic relationship. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Reminder that you can watch Starfleet Academy premiere FOR FREE RIGHT NOW ON YOUTUBE!! youtu.be/n0sjDkoNgfY?...

Is your home suitable for your needs? "There are currently 12.8 million more Disabled people than there are accessible homes, leaving many people without the homes they need." Says our Campaigns and Public Affairs Manager for Homes, Christos Tuton.

❓"Do you think that Brexit has actually delivered what people were promised?" ⬇️ "An economy that look's like it's 8% smaller. Trade down 18% on 5 years ago. Food and drink down 24%." ❌ "16,500 firms have stopped trading with Europe." 📝 "Paperwork costs appear to be about £8.5 billion/year."

HOLY SHIT! Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester!!! (I suspect it will be not quite as gold-plated as the original HS2 plan.) www.ft.com/content/a8be...

Wanted: a normie centre-right party. The Tories' defence of Britain's fiscal watchdog offers a rare encouraging sign. My newsletter, out now.

London’s homicide rate drops to lowest in more than a decade

Manchester is the UK hub for AAIC Neuroscience Next 2026. A full day on cognition, imaging, fluid and digital biomarkers. Apply for a ticket by 31 January. www.dementiaresearcher.nihr.ac.uk/aaic-neurosc...

From glowing neurons to newborn memories, here are the most fascinating brain discoveries of 2025

Evidence for a detrimental causal effect of social isolation on cognitive function in older adults academic.oup.com/psychsocgero...

Optimism is currently unfashionable. The newly published Community Life Survey asks, "do you agree or disagree that this local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?" I wondered if we might see a sharp decline this year; it has gone down 1%, to 80% agreement.

Absolutely amazing chart from @peterkellner.bsky.social's piece in @thenewworldmag.bsky.social today: www.thenewworld.co.uk/peter-kellne...

Multiple large natural experiments have documented Shingles vaccine is linked with ~20-25% reduced risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. A new report today adds to that and extends the to slowing the progression of dementia @cellcellpress.bsky.social www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

This is how the Mail has covered a 70% fall in net migration. The Government should stop kidding itself it will ever get credit for being anti-migration. They could cut numbers to zero and there would still be front pages blasting them for making the UK a socialist wasteland no one wants to come to

Semaglutide (Ozempic) failed to have clinical impact for slowing progression in people with mild Alzheimer’s disease in 2 large, placebo-controlled trials novonordisk.com/content/nnco...

Turnout in the NYC mayoral election is the highest since 1993.

We in the UK will work out far too late that this is a bad thing.

The fun thing about having a small team working with you is you can say "hey you're spending this week digging for stolen mobile phones in London flowerbeds, I promise you it's a thing". www.londoncentric.media/p/london-pho...

Your daily reminder that the government continues to commercially support an individual who wants to destroy it through fascist violence.

"While public concern often focuses on youth violence, today, a man aged 31 to 50 is more likely to be admitted to hospital with a violence-related injury than a boy aged 11 to 17." observer.co.uk/news/nationa... London: safer than ever. Because we all need reminding of good news!

Exposure to sugar early in life: a natural experiment among >63,000 @uk_biobank participants: rationing of sugar was associated with less cardiovascular risk in adulthood www.bmj.com/content/391/...

"They need us more than we need them"

Some really fun evolution to the Dorothy dementia app x.com/dorothy_app/... pls rt😀

This is my flag.

Brexit:

open.substack.com/pub/rorycell... Wrote about my first trip to a tech event in a while where I found some fascinating tech on the @alzheimerssoc.bsky.social stand. I found the show hard to navigate and exhausting which perhaps explains why I accidentally posted this last night not this morning!

🎉 I am thrilled to launch the Dementia Journeys website - a new digital platform sharing powerful stories from carers, & exploring what better end-of-life dementia care looks like based on research from the UCL/KCL EMBED-Care programme 👉 www.dementia-journeys.com #DementiaActionWeek 1/8

I think about this comic at least once a week

Amazing result from Canada. It looks like the world can continue to thrive with centrist liberal democracies. www.ft.com/content/5f9a... Mark Carney’s Liberals win pivotal Canadian election

Why are we not doing this? Never seen a more "no brainer" policy. Even people who are the most strongly opposed to immigration tend not to object to top scientists coming here.

Britain, a trading nation, now has a vital choice to make about its priority trading partners: - the EU, where agreements are made, kept, reciprocal, based on international norms, & enforced by a court - the USA, where agreements are made, broken, changed & broken again at a whim, with no recourse

Most people haven’t heard of this test, which is available in the US. It accurately predicts Alzheimer’s (not just if there’s a risk, but when). It is modulated by exercise and likely other lifestyle factors. Here’s (almost) everything we know about it erictopol.substack.com/p/the-breakt...

Use of digital technology and reduced risk of cognitive impairment, results of a meta-analysis of over 410,000 adults average age 69 years, from 57 studies www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@sameihuda.bsky.social @dranniehickox.bsky.social @jonathanstea.bsky.social #depression #suicide

Three minutes from me on why the Trump tariff “Brexit dividend” idea is the weirdest take of the year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=c98A...

Great talk about how EPR satisfaction is not EPR dependent rather approach and training. Poor implementation a major factor for #physicianburnout @thmswebb.bsky.social 🩺🖥️ #rcpsychdata25

Excellent talk by Ian McCafferty from Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Foundation Turst creating safe remote doctor roles- zero applicants to eleven, one consultant funded to three ! 🩺🖥️ #rcpsychdata25

Have written about JD Vance’s Munich speech. In what may prove to be the biggest week for European security since 1991, it’s time Europe listened to what Trump and his Vice President are telling us. open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...

EU medicines agency quits X & moves to Bluesky "EMA will no longer post updates and content on X. We believe the X platform no longer suits our communication needs” the agency said in a statement www.reuters.com/world/europe...

"Just 3% of people in the organisation or system typically influence 85% of the other people." Super blog (with lots of great links!) by @hayleylever.bsky.social of @gmmoving.co.uk on understanding systems & how relationships can best effect change. hayleyleverblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/f...

The perfect Monday #RecipeOfTheDay: Spaghetti with Marmite! And I’ll have you know that this is no Anglo act of appropriation but the invention of that great Italian foodwriter, Anna del Conte www.nigella.com/recipes/spag...

open.substack.com/pub/rorycell... My latest Substack post is about a young Indian health tech entrepreneur who has chosen London rather than Silicon Valley as the base for his AI startup and asks whether more will follow

Great to see @wikipedia.org on here and using their own domain (yes yes I’m going to do it for myself soon)

Have you ever wondered how @wikipedia.bsky.social really works? Or who are the people who edit and improve its articles? This video is for you. This is #AWikiMinute! A series of videos that answer frequent questions about Wikipedia and the Wikimedia universe in only a minute.

This years @gerisoc.bsky.social Dhole-Eddlestone prize went to a paper on deprescribing BP meds for people with dementia in care homes. Really interesting study with unexpected results! www.bgs.org.uk/policy-and-m....