Quite extraordinary how little discussion of risks universities are engaging in before they sign all their staff and students up for new AI tools, at extraordinary cost, Given universities' known deficits and repeated claims of financial exigency, this is surely problematic.

Speaking on #BBCLauraK, Tom Tugendhat denounced rent controls, as proposed by @zackpolanski.bsky.social, claiming they’ve failed wherever they’ve been tried. The evidence is more nuanced than that. See this piece by @lmacfarlane.bsky.social.

It really is impressive to create a system where neither students, universities or societies win. In The Old Days, going to university strengthened the social contract in that the state had invested in education. Nowadays, it feels like a transaction. And one that haunts you financially for years.

Today is the day! BBC Young Trad live from City Halls in Glasgow as part of Celtic Connections ✨ For world listeners, Tune in at 17:05 GMT. 🌍 📻 BBC Radio Scotland 📺 BBC ALBA Watch → bbc.in/4tagIi3

This week on Wonkhe: Following the tragic death of a student, a new report identifies failures in academic governance at the University of Glasgow. Jim Dickinson examines the implications

My latest post on Substack tells the story of Plymouth's earliest council housing - some of only 24,000 council homes built before the First World War. municipaldreams.substack.com/p/council-ho...

A quick reminder of what #BigFebruary is about… Thanks to the magic of the cosmos, we start gaining daylight much faster in Feb than in Jan. Over 20 mins a week - setting us up for Spring. This chart is by @neilrkaye.bsky.social and is one of my all time favourites.

Welcome February. Hopefully not as grey as January 2026. #dawn #Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

1st February 2026 08.17

None of the Fultons' sites has left any trace today. It's possible that one of the last physical relics of this ambitious engineering dynasty, which rose for fifty years with the rising Clyde, is a few words on a cage they built to guard someone else's bones.

Leading the industry came with risks. The Lancefield Forge were the only bidders for the contract to make the giant crankshaft for that most cursèd of cursèd Victorian engineering projects, Brunel's SS Great Eastern. The contract was worth well over £3000, and they lost money on it.

The Hutments: 551 timber houses were constructed in five local authority areas by the end of September 1921 under this Scottish Board of Health post-WW1 initiative. #housing 📚🗃️ thepastandotherplaces.wordpress.com/2024/04/02/t...

Golden hour at the coast. A wild and stormy day when I had to hold on to the tripod and a nearby wall to stop both of us ending up in the North Sea. #photography #landscapephotography #photographers

Rather fabulous photography by Rankin of actor Gayle Rankin who is to play Jean Brodie. #Edinburgh #theatre #photography

“Flood risk in Scotland is increasing as our climate changes, and many communities are already experiencing the effects. ... This consultation is about listening to communities and learning from local experience." #flooding #ClimateCrisis #SEPA 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 beta.sepa.scot/news/2026/pe...

"The climate crisis is here and now and this is its face in Britain.... But the devastating impacts are accelerating... torrential winter rains are arriving 20 years earlier than climate models projected." #flooding #ClimateCrisis #UK www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

West Cambridge #clouds. #BlueskyArtShow 📷 #photography

Excited for the launch of this year’s Big February tomorrow. It’s been a pretty miserable January. But to be fair to it, when the skies are clear, the light is wonderful

Louise Blanchard Bethune (1856–1913) is generally considered to be the first woman to practice as a professional architect in the United States. Her enthusiasm and advocacy led to 200 women joining the profession by the year of her death.

www.ft.com/content/d0b7... No thank you.

My new book is finally available to buy. www.lulu.com/shop/nina-ba... #WW1 #WW2 #MerchantNavy #Womenshistory #History #Historybook I am sorry it is comparatively expensive for its size but there seemed to be no way to force the price down for something that had to have coloured images.

#histbookchat From @ninabake2.bsky.social. Something about which I know nothing whatsoever. This wee book will go some way to correct that oversight.

Streets of Minneapolis by Bruce Springsteen? youtu.be/GDaPdpwA4Iw?...

She is featured in my global history of women chemical engineers. This is now out of print but if anyone wants the PDF version, just DM me with your email.

Unimpressed by Lothian buses changes to the 31 and X31. Liberton Hospital may have closed, but functions have been moved to neighbouring Ellen's Glen Community Hospital. #Edinburgh #buses @edinburghbug.bsky.social @lothianbuses.bsky.social www.lothianbuses.com/news/2026/01...

On BBC2 now! East Lomond dig. #Fife #archaeology #Picts

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @stephenjenkinson.bsky.social @chasbooth.bsky.social

If mass transit is the glue which holds our Edinburgh city and region together, then we need bus lanes and bus priority pronto. Can be achieved far quicker than building trams. #transport #Edinburgh #buses www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Saw my first snowdrops of the year yesterday alongside my first daffodils #TinyJoys

31st January 2026 09.32

Street of the Week: Meadowside This street has existed since at least the mid 18th century. It was known as Meadowside after the area between the Howff and Bell Street was known as the "Meadow".

Today we accompanied @douglasmcallister.bsky.social on a walk in Clydebank to highlight the hazards and obstacles that can make it difficult or dangerous for blind and partially sighted people to get about.

Online genealogy conference Saturday January 31st. Free and time zone friendly. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🗃️🗂️ #FamilyHistory

Margaret Graham, Edinburgh City Councillor: “I’m appalled that our historic Old Calton burial ground has been vandalised. As soon as the incident was reported, officers removed it immediately, and there have been no further incidents since.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

North Sea Friday Folk #3 — lives shaped by the shallow sea on our doorstep Today it’s the turn of American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910), whose 18-month stay in the fishing village of Cullercoats in NE England took his painting to new heights 🖼️ Inside the Bar, 1883, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plans to introduce floating bus stops in the streets of Edinburgh are putting people with sight loss in “severe danger,” Sight Scotland warns. Public sector equality duty to anticipate needs? #EqualityAct #Edinburgh #disability #discrimination news.stv.tv/east-central...

Today's the final day of the existence of the Institute for Academic Development @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social In time this website and its collection of resources in this format will vanish. Please help yourself while you can. #IAD #Edinburgh #DigitalFriday institute-academic-development.ed.ac.uk

📣 LOTHIAN REGION METRO KLAXON! 🚨

Discovered during excavation of a midden in the High Street of Perth, Scotland - a completely intact one thousand-year-old egg! Dating to 1000-1100 CE, it was laid by either a duck or a chicken. Now on display @perthmuseum.bsky.social. #FindsFriday

We’re now on YouTube. Recorded seminars and events from the Centre for the Sciences of Place and Memory, plus selected talks by our researchers and recommended recordings. www.youtube.com/channel/UCxZ...

Very sad news that Jim Wallace, Scotland's inaugural Deputy First Minister, has died suddenly. Not only did he lead his party into government for the first time in decades, but he held down the fort after the death and resignation of the first two First Ministers. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Lately, I've been researching the life of Barbara Fea who was born in Stronsay some time* in the late 17th century. Her story is one of power, legal process and, sadly, awful violence. Throughout this, she endures. I want to tell her tale. * We'll return to her age in a bit because it's important.

The Man was out today and sent me a picture of my books in a shop but oh ho a mistake because then I spotted one that looked interesting and hadn't seen before so he had to go back and get it for me 😅

Velvet shank mushrooms in Inch Park 🍄 #Edinburgh #FungiFriends

Quilt by Jen Kingwell, techer, quilt designer and author #WomensArt

"More steam, MacPhail!!!" Historic Clyde puffer given restoration grant www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #Ecosse #Scotland

Please don't. Just take all the money you were going to waste on this nonsense and invest in books, literacy resources, libraries, librarians, specialist reading support assistants, and phonics training for all secondary teachers. I guarantee you a better progress return on that investment than AI.

Leeds, 1954, photo by Marc Riboud. Young French photographer on his first assignment for Picture Post.

An early 1900s red sandstone tenement on Purdon Street in the Partick area of Glasgow. The Smiddy Bar has been there since it was built, and replaced an older pub of the same name on the same site. Cont./ #glasgow #architecture #tenement #partick #architecturephotography

❗LAST CHANCE TO APPLY❗ Tomorrow is the last chance to apply to join our team on Handa for the season. If you'd like to spend your summer supporting vital conservation work on this remote island then head over to our website. 👇 bit.ly/4bFytiH #vacancy #volunteering