😂 No. You can’t solve the health fall out from uncontrolled circulation of a novel virus and a poorly managed pandemic by flogging people harder to get back to work. #BBC www.bbc.com/news/article...

Large Increase In Numbers Of People Diagnosed With Something That Totally Wasn’t Caused By That Thing

OK, we're approaching the end of today's lovely #buyastrangerabook day. I've had a couple of donations this week so I've got about £30 of free books to offer out. If you'd like something in particular, get in touch UK only.

Wonder why this scene looks so familiar... #WildlifeWednesday 🐦🐕

Last call for a conversation I’m really looking forward to with Robin Ince. Live Free 8.30pm On Substack With his newly released poetry collection Ice Cream For a Broken Tooth Robin has been an endlessly creative and I think important voice across performance, broadcasting, writing…

If you like geeky humour, science, creativity, independent book stores, radio 4, nice beards & more-- tomorrow the lovely @gavcross.bsky.social will be chatting with the amazing @robinince.bsky.social ! 8:30pm UK time (that's 3:30pm Eastern & 12:30pm Pacific, USA) tr.ee/GavCrossSubs...

When Harlow Shapley received a letter from Hubble containing the evidence that the spiral nebulae were separate "galaxies", he said: “This is the letter that destroyed my universe." Shapley had believed the Universe contained just one "Big Galaxy" - our Milky Way. Now we know there are ~2 trillion!

And, on the piano….

Yungblud Forced to Cancel Show Due to Illness, Offers Free Beer to Apologize to Fans. “I’ve been trying to get better for two days since New York but I literally can’t get off the floor and doctors have advised me that I have a virus that requires me to rest and take it seriously.”

Why isn’t school attendance policy reflecting the research in the Lancet on long covid? @ashleydaltonmp.bsky.social Children’s long term health should be the priority here! Failure to rest, especially in girls, increases long Covid risks! Over 120k children in UK with long Covid now #CleantheAir

I feel the priority in schools should be #CleanAir and allowing children to rest after sickness. Not 100% attendance. We should abandon school uniforms for warm clothing and move to a footing similar to that at the height of TB crisis. Safety of children’s long term health should be the priority!

Do masks work? YES This is physics This is based on the laws of physics N95 or ffp2 works It reduces viral transmission WE CAN END measles or reduce it (we did) WE COULD end polio (we could) The problem is scientific illiteracy.

I like the analogy of digital asbestos. Treated like a miracle product now, but it's going to be a huge pain to remove all the embedded AI slop in the future.

Studies show how common long COVID is globally and in teens The two most commonly identified long-COVID symptoms were memory problems and muscle weakness, www.cidrap.umn.edu/c...

🤣

“Viral and allergic conjunctivitis are more common than bacterial conjunctivitis in healthy immunocompetent adults. Neisseria meningitidis is an uncommon cause of bacterial conjunctivitis.” www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes....

people act like it's not traumatic for the body to be infected with a virus but like. viruses infect your cell and proceed to replicate inside the host cell until the cell literally explodes, spreading more virus to other cells to do the very same thing. of course that process would be oncogenic!!

🚨 Important message about this weekend’s alert system test if you have an emergency phone! Info below on how to silence and refuge.org also have useful information.

I wish I had a tenth the influence on my students’ minds that Farage froths at the mouth about…

Its really a drag that these tech cultists and con-men are just spraying buckshot and splattering spamming AI everywhere because if smart people had just focused surgically on its most discrete functions… Instead of a capitalist feeding frenzy and surveillance state making the world shittier.

Clean the air in schools FFS

'Steampunk fairy' by US artist Sue Beatrice who creates sculptures and jewellery out of recycled watch parts #WomensArt

I have another #buyastrangerabook day offer to tell you about. @lancslass.bsky.social has sent me £15 so that I can buy someone a book. So, if there's a particular book you'd like up to £15, get in touch! UK only

Since we're thinking about Nimbus (NB.1.8.1), I thought I'd re-share a couple of Substack pieces. "How to be (and make others) sick less often" open.substack.com/pub/tryangre... 1/2

My favourite ways of saying “I’m in a spot of bother” from ten different languages…

FAFO👇

Here we go again. The *total* risk goes up with every infection, because math. Also, 1/20 risk with each subsequent infection is not great odds of you ask me. www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/dat...

😍🍞🔪☠️🤣🎉🥰👍❤️

Read this thread and weep. Then act as if airborne viruses matter 😷

A nurse at work asked me why me and another nurse never get sick and I said it’s because I wear an N95 every day on shift. Shits pretty easy actually

Infectious disease minimizers in public health, media who continue promoting "immunity debt", and antivaxxers all own this.

As a retired academic, this doesn't surprise me a bit, except it applies to universities in general, not just Ivy League ones.

Stranger: Why you wearing a mask Me: I put my mask on, check my seal Baby, how you feeling, you look sick as hell Mask on, check my seal Baby how you feeling, you look sick as hell! Stranger: What Me: If you think Covid has a cure I’ll laugh my masked ass out the door…

Dearest back-to-normlings, next time you start to say “now that the pandemic is over,” stop yourself & say “now that I’m over the pandemic” instead. If it would feel inappropriate to say the latter, maybe just hold your tongue since it’s the only true statement between the two.

Hey you. Malignant narcissist. Name rhymes with Bump. See our @independentsage.bsky.social report on Diversity in Science. Evidence is all in there, should you wish to look. You’re welcome. independentsage.org/report/how-d...

chef’s kiss

unprecedented protests this morning on heard and macdonald islands, as the population rises up against trump imposition of 10% across the board tariffs.

Hey, you did GREAT work on everyone's immune systems!

What a great time to be an infectious disease!

My autism has given me a love for nature, where I feel free and calm. Whether it's the beach or the woods, it's where I connect with the world in my own way. 10-year old Amaya Edwards shares her story. #WAAD #AutismAwareness

How Does This End? In the first episode of a new series on our Monkeys on Typewriters on a YouTube channel, Arijit Chakravarty discusses the how hosts and pathogens interact on an evolutionary time scale. Check it out! youtu.be/BdtqiQ-V0dk?...

A #buyastrangerabook offer. @halfwaycontent.bsky.social is offering to buy someone a book of their choice, up to £20 Yes! your choice, No catches. If there's something you'd like, get in touch. UK only. ‪

Plague Poems capturing my mood today as I go in search of a Novavax booster before this last batch expires on March 31st. Wish me luck. #CovidIsNotOver #MaskUp

'COVID is still infecting and killing people - studying how the pandemic unfurled is crucial to preventing the next one. To cancel the entire grant because a small portion involved SARS-CoV-2 is going to be dangerous.' @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

What the actual fuck:

When you pursue and anti-science agenda, don't be suspired when your scientists seek to leave. "The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers." www.nature.com/artic...

It’s Not Long Covid, You’re Just Getting Old.