Today is a serious day! The prime minister is at risk of being toppled! The Scottish Labour leader has called for him to go! What Rayner and Lammy and Reed say now really does matter! And they're saying it pretty much exclusively on a site that is arguably incomptable with UK law

Not today's main point, but I do find it odd that ministers are signalling their support of Keir Starmer - pretty important as their silence is interpreted as a sign they might quit and force him to resign! - by... posting on X. You know, the site condemned for being an AI porn hellscape last month

STFC's science board was told of "long-term cut" to grants for physics and astronomy researchers, former member claims. STFC, which funds both major facilities and grants, plans cuts of £162m by 29-20, as @resprofnews.bsky.social has revealed. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

The STFC Funding Crisis – Guest Post by George Efstathiou The following guest post by George Efstathiou is a response to the current STFC funding crisis I blogged about here, and specifically to a letter by the Executive Chair of STFC, Professor Michele Dougherty. I include the letter here for…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Glasgow highlighted as an exemplar of excellence transferring knowledge from academia into the growing space sector!

Basically as we know : STFC is also funding a bunch of facilities (many which are not even STFC remit!) and those costs have gone up (a lot). So to balance the books, they have to cut (sorry I mean reduce costs) grants to scientists.

this is literally all I have thought about the last few days. if the vetting people are not independently checking people's finances then what are they doing?

I’m not sure ‘our national security developed vetting technique can be beaten if a candidate is prepared to lie’ is an especially helpful line to push.

BPSC2026 Registration and Abstract Submission is open! Information on rates, discounted accommodation and abstract format can be found here bpsc2026.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/registration/ Early bird rates are available til 9th May 2026, which is the same day as the abstract deadline!

I came to the UK because of it being a word leader in astronomy. These cuts are devastating. You want to know the impact of innovation and societal impact of cutting edge astronomy research. Just look for at the camera in your smart phone www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-... 🔭🧪

I've updated my post on the funding crisis heading for British astronomy: docs.google.com/document/d/1.... UKRI made clear that astro and particle physics are being subject to unique cuts due to rising costs elsewhere. This looks like a deliberate decision not to fund fundamental physics. 🔭 🧪

It's the things we do at the cutting edge of science that have brought the most unexpected leaps forward in progress in other areas of our world. Making scientific research align with government and industry priorities will miss out on the discoveries that will transform our worlds.

Many thoughts about this, but the doublespeak of the phrase "building on last year’s 15% reduction" is mind-boggling. 🔭🧪

So if existing projects might be cut by 60% does that mean a postdoc on a 3 year STFC grant will probably not actually get to do that postdoc for 3 years? Asking for a friend..

Things move from bad to worse for UK astronomy. Continued cuts will directly impact early career researchers’ ability to find postdocs in the UK, affecting an entire generation of astronomers. #astro #science #stfc ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

The Royal Astronomical Society is gravely concerned at the drastic cuts to support for UK astronomy outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council. Read our statement 👉 ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

SHOCKINGLY my abstract for LPSC 2026 was not accepted

What works in the ocean may not work in soils. Our new paper shows that total alkalinity titrations—robust in seawater—can be misleading in soils due to organic alkalinity. We argue that charge-balance & cation-based accounting may be more robust for terrestrial CDR. doi.org/10.5194/bg-2...

all this 2016 nostalgia seems to have really seeped into my subconscious bc last night i dreamt i had a side parting again

I have never felt more pro-European.

When I was a freelance BBC science presenter, I wrote in support of Professor Dorothy Bishop and was then told I should not be critical of the Royal Society. Now I’ve resigned, so I can say I think @profrachelgan.bsky.social is making an important point here.

Has there ever been any poll showing the public this united? yougov.co.uk/technology/a...

Stephen’s going to be spending his evenings in alternate turrets while his mums are fighting #TheTraitors

NASA spent years and billions of dollars collecting Martian samples to bring home. But Congress's current proposed budget for the agency would leave them stranded. What's at stake? Take a deep dive with this recent feature:

Instead of an LPSC abstract, a few of us posted our concerns about the censorship of the conference at blog.planetary-research.org/2026/01/06/a..., with some suggestions for other conferences you can attend to discuss planetary science. (Definitely shorter than 2 pages 10 pt font, too!)

New paper alert! tl;dr: the seafloor of Europa is probably tectonically inert, meaning little to no active fracturing that could expose fresh rock to seawater. Without such water–rock reactions the prospect for there being life within Europa just took a big hit. A thread:

Nature research paper: Satellite megaconstellations will threaten space-based astronomy go.nature.com/3Kxp5m8

if this cyber expert shares a confidential report with the OBR about this, they have the opportunity to do literally the funniest thing

The "mansion tax" is one of the least damaging ways to tax those with high wealth. But it fails to seriously address the current absurd council tax system based on 1991 property values.

Folks protesting energy infrastructure protest using AI that requires a lot of energy infrastructure

Gender-affirming care saves lives

An article from Science about the changes LPSC has made to its abstract submission process. As my colleague @theplanetaryguy.bsky.social states, "This is censorship". www.science.org/content/arti...

The organisers of the world's biggest planetary science conference are outlawing any DEI-related submissions because their lawyers are afraid they'll lose federal support. They're losing the support of the planetary science community fucking fast. www.science.org/content/arti...

Absolutely fantastic how a significant chunk of our political discourse is now “all we need to do to fix the state is tax the rich” coupled with “but for example, people who own houses worth £1.5m aren’t rich, don’t tax them”.

Perfect new reply for all the mails I get about comet 3I/ATLAS being aliens 🔭

just had a lovely chat with the Beeb about 3I Atlas☄️ #ItsNeverAliens

With #Uranus and #Neptune being among the best Solar System targets for JWST, I'm hoping to offer a #PhD studentship for Sep'2026 analysing NIRSpec and MIRI observations of both Ice Giant atmospheres. Contact me for details, deadline Jan 18th! #planetsci

Enquiry from an 8yo asking what the Fulton Orrery planets were? Apparently the #Kelvingrove museum staff didn't know, so he e-mailed the Astronomer Royal to find out! I also didn’t know, but the AstroSociety of #Glasgow did (after watching an old VHS recording on the topic!) 🔭 #histsci 1/2🧵

wake up babe new chicken run trailer just dropped

What is the most profitable industry in the world, this side of the law? Not oil, not IT, not pharma. It's *scientific publishing*. We call this the Drain of Scientific Publishing. Paper: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820 Background: doi.org/10.1162/qss_... Thread @markhanson.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy 👇

People landing in Rio for #COP30 are greeted by TotalEnergies ads. Quite ironic: some of their ads have just been ruled illegal greenwashing in a Court case we supported. The company called itself a big "player in the energy transition” but last year, about 97% of their production was fossil fuels.

Marine CO₂ removal lacks standardized indicators to quantify carbon removed and environmental impacts. This absence of reliable metrics prevents verification, inhibits investment, and blocks entry into carbon trading systems. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...

So yeah, uh, if anyone wants to hire a scientist next year, hit me up. My specialties include Raman spectroscopy, FTIR, astrobiology, plastic pollution, environmental degradation, meteorites, and Mars

i am devvo'd

Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Helen Morgan: "Nigel Farage wants to impose Trump's dangerous anti-science agenda here in the UK. Peddling this kind of nonsense is irresponsible and wrong. "It seems Farage would rather see pregnant women suffer in pain than stand up to his idol Donald Trump."

Inner child extremely excited about a crewed mission to the moon as soon as February! Outer adult painfully aware of the NASA funding cuts and their impact on wide-ranging and incredibly important scientific research. Anyone else simultaneously thrilled and downcast about this news?🔭🛰️

Everyone in this country is descended from immigrants. Every single last one of us. And many, like Mr Farage, will have very recent migrant ancestors indeed and not even know about it.