Weird not to see real estate expansion projects, chatbot TAs, or ed-tech privatization on this report of what makes university experience valuable to students

“The BMJ’s findings are a warning, not just for England but for Europe. When industry funds its own research and selectively presents the results, people lose access to accurate information about risks that affect their health every day.”

Record all lectures, provide assessment questions in advance, allow widespread use of AI for most tasks & don't require attendance...who would have thought it? #academia #highered

This government committed to raising the healthiest generation of children ever - yet this isn't achievable without strong action to reduce #AirPollution. Thanks to @fionaharvey.bsky.social for covering our letter to Keir Starmer calling for a Clean Air Act.

If anyone in government has a few minutes to run the country in between plotting leadership challenges, could they please cast their eye over the devastation of Higher Education in the UK. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

How totally totally crass to find the destruction of the thousand careers of a thousand dedicated staff “exciting.” 1/3 www.timeshighereducation.com/news/notting...

Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.

A good chance to share my colleagues' work on how being in a car makes streets feel more threatening www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

People living in areas with elevated air pollution are 11% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than those living in areas with cleaner air, study finds. The sharpest differences were for liver, colorectal, kidney, lung + bladder cancers. www.euronews.com/health/2026/... 🧵1/9

Hannah Healy set out to investigate air pollution from a family wood burning stove..... www.which.co.uk/news/article...

The first paper of my dissertation is published now in @sociologyjnl.bsky.social! Press coverage of the richest Germans is rare but focused on a minority of highly visible individuals and varies along the historical origins of fortunes. doi.org/10.1177/00380385261428292

“We are collateral damage.” - Mark Graham, Wayback Machine When preservation is caught in the crossfire, it’s not just libraries that lose—it’s the public’s access to history, knowledge, and truth. The web shouldn’t disappear behind closed doors. ➡️ www.sfexaminer.com/news/technol...

Utrecht University is hiring an Assistant Professor in Statistics and Social Data Science - great opportunity for scholars working at the intersection of advanced statistical methods and computational social science research. #AcademicJobs #ComputationalSocialScience uu.nl/en/organisation/worki...

😬UK gas prices just hit highest level since 2022😬 At current prices… * New wind & solar from latest "AR7" auction would cut the bill for UK gas imports by £5.5bn/y * A single (1) home heat pump would cut bill for gas imports by more than £600/y www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why...

My book is (FINALLY!) back in stock! If you're interested in the medieval origins of how we think about criminal guilt (with lots of little medieval stories), this is for you. tinyurl.com/bdy4v3np

In the last 10 years, we have learned that air pollution is linked to cognitive decline and dementia. But bold policies can improve the air that we breathe. Ajit Niranjan reports on progress on #airpoolution on the Breathe Cities and @c40cities.bsky.social networks.

It makes zero logical sense to require speed limiters on e-scooters & e-bikes but not SUVs that weigh 100x more. Useful research here. findingspress.org/article/1587...

Analysis: Clean energy will cut UK gas imports by [much] more than North Sea drilling #energy By @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org et al www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why...

Interventions such as cycle lanes, uptake of electric cars and restrictions on polluting vehicles helped to drive the improvements in air quality

📢 A very thorough piece of investigative journalism here from the British Medical Journal. Not a good look for certain industry players. Read more: www.bmj.com/content/392/... #airpollution #airquality #woodburning #publichealth

1/ Calling all ECRS - we have 4x 3 year post docs on Multispecies Mutualisms working with us at Sheffield. Don't want to read through all the stuff to work out if its right for you? Here is a short video explainer 🎥 digitalmedia.sheffield.ac.uk/media/Multis...

New study of media collision reporting from @patrickrerat.bsky.social "Cyclists are placed at the center of the narrative, while motorists are either omitted or reduced to their vehicles... Making these biases visible is essential for challenging motonormativity" findingspress.org/article/1575...

Tackling residential wood combustion "could lead to outsized improvements in air quality.” An opportunity to reduce the toll of 8,600 premature deaths each year in the US and 2,600 in the UK. My latest piece for @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

With new UK consultations open on air quality and domestic #woodburning, I am resharing an article I wrote for The Conversation on wood-smoke, PM2.5 and the limits of current regulation. theconversation.com/wood-burning... #publichealth #airquality #cleanairnight

Ok, let’s do this🙄 We’ll start with an explainer covering: 🕒What is a 15-minute city 🏫What on Earth is going on with Oxford 👽Where the conspiracy theories have come from And then we’ll look at the Telegraph article 🧵 1/25

A reminder that we have an #AirPollution UK starter pack. Please use and share!

With new UK consultations open on air quality and domestic #woodburning, I am resharing an article I wrote for The Conversation on wood-smoke, PM2.5 and the limits of current regulation. theconversation.com/wood-burning... #publichealth #airquality #cleanairnight

I remember @rcrohit7.bsky.social and I recommending this back in our 2020 indoor emissions study (doi.org/10.3390/atmo...). Feels like a lifetime ago, but great to see some action on the issue #cleanairnight #woodburning #airquality #airpollution

ICYM - Wood-burning stoves face new restrictions – but a loophole from Britain’s smog years is fuelling the problem, writes @jheydon.bsky.social #airpollution theconversation.com/wood-burning...

"Recognising that wood-burning stoves are not harmless appliances is the first step in reducing exposure" - @jheydon.bsky.social Wood burning and cooking are big sources of indoor #airpollution. My latest for @theguardian.com, in case you missed it. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Being indoors can give us some protection from outdoor air pollution, but it also traps pollution produced inside our homes. "Consider not lighting fires when children, or people with health conditions, are in the same room" @jheydon.bsky.social Piece by me. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW RESEARCH: UK heat pumps can perform far better than many think. Our analysis of HeatPumpMonitor.org data shows well-designed systems achieve ~40% higher efficiency than past trials (SCoP 3.86 vs 2.81), cutting bills (~£224/yr) and emissions. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

As #woodburning starts up again and the nights draw in, it's worth sharing this again. A lot can be done between no regulation on the one hand and total bans on the other 🔥 🔥 🔥 #airquality #airpollution #particulatematter #emissions #autumn #winter #publichealth airqualitynews.com/health/whats...

If you think mis- and disinformation is no big deal , read this: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity. 1/n

Burning ban on deep peat comes into force at the end of the month. Piece by Helena Horton. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Yep. "…clear that fossil-fuel companies, and their adjacent organizations, are the primary lobbyists for CCUS subsidies and that these subsidies benefit fossil-fuel companies at the expense of both taxpayers and the future health of our planet" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How did the ‘Island of Strangers’ speech impact Labour support? Negatively, especially among 2024 Labour voters.

"UK government trial of M365 Copilot finds no clear productivity boost" www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

Important information for anyone attending the European Society of Criminology in Athens and for members of ESC. Petition outlines serious concerns. Consider what you can do to support 👇👇 👇#eurocrim

The population directly exposed to wildland fires increased by 40% globally from 2002 to 2021, according to a new study in Science. https://scim.ag/4oUL1Y1

Top story: #Beddington Incinerator broke #AirPollution limits 916 times www.bbc.com/news/article...

Perceptions have real effects www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-insti...

Many measurements of AI's carbon footprint just focus on data centers. But this narrow approach obscures other emissions that AI facilitates. If Shell is using AI to support fossil fuel extraction and burning, then why not include that in AI's carbon footprint? www.shell.com/what-we-do/d...

New piece on Carbon Colonialism, net-zero nonsense, and how the UK Government's climate advisors (and many experts) shy away from speaking truth to power. We need a fundamental reboot of climate policy; - physics doesn't care about political sensibilities. theconversation.com/the-uks-year...

Let's be clear: all the AI in edtech stuff (Canvas, Blackboard, Grammarly, Duolingo, OpenAI, the rest) is all about the "lock-in" - locking in students as subscribers or institutions via long-term license agreements for value generation. Is there good pedagogic evidence for it? No.

“More pollutants are being released ... from rockets and satellites than ever before. We’re in uncharted territory, as humans have never added this much pollution to the upper layers of the atmosphere." - Prof Eloise Marais @ucl.ac.uk Piece by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...