Really nice article and interview. As Molz says, there were some things in this study that were surprising and some that weren't at all (if you'd been paying attention). www.reviewertoo.com/theres-no-ge...

We often think of our genes as the script of our fate. But genes are not the whole story. www.quantamagazine.org/how-metaboli...

For the eighth year in a row, the world’s oceans absorbed a record-breaking amount of heat in 2025. It was equivalent to the energy it would take to boil 2 billion Olympic swimming pools. www.wired.com/story/the-oc...

Thoughtful piece by my @science.nature.org colleague Rob et al. discussing the implications of global autocratization for science. We face a clear choice, they say: keep our heads down and hope to weather rough political waters...or choose to actively support academic freedom + sustainability.

‘UK biodiversity continues to decline, 2025 bioindicators show’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'The Granary at Charleston,' was painted by Vanessa Bell in 1940, one of the coldest and most severe winters in nearly 50 years.

I haven't seen the #Wollaton Park lake so icy in a long time

An incredible and beautiful short documentary by Nicolas Gouralt who interviewed online workers from Venezuela, Kenya and the Philippines who annotate images to train A.I. systems. Here is as gift link. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/o...

NEW: A mass propaganda event is about to engulf the US news cycle and what, if anything, survives it will be a lesson for our times. But it’s what the rest of the world does now that’s key. When someone tells you who they are, believe them. broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-threat...

It's one of the most quotable British films of all time. But there are some deeper, heartbreaking undercurrents in Withnail & I. filmstories.co.uk/features/wit...

David Lynch's longtime friend and producer talks about a fight over Lost Highway, making a Disney movie, putting people inside little boxes, Denis Villeneuve, and much more Just as the BFI begins a retrospective of the late American filmmaker: dmovies.org/2026/01/02/o...

Metropolis (1927) is set in 2026.

The last time I saw The Trial by Orson Welles it was on VHS; the teenage me probably taped a late-night TV broadcast of a cropped, substandard print. I saw it again last night. Wow. Every frame is a work of art, not least due to cinematographer Edmond Richard. Here's a short 🧵of frames. #cinema

“I’ve often said this and I don’t think I’m exaggerating too much: America may be the only country that hates art. Money is the only thing that’s considered a healthy habit. Art is considered neurotic, or it just shows that you have problems, whereas having money is somehow seen as totally healthy.”

From the first sighting of a colossal squid in the wild to a seriously goofy octopus, 2025 delivered some astounding photos from the ocean’s depths

Paola Pivi

Norwegian Christmas Tree Dressed for the Boxing Day Party, drawing by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1934.

Dr. Nancy Roman is known as the 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 for her foundational role in planning the Hubble Space Telescope. Now the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to launch by May 2027. It’s expected to unveil >100,000 distant worlds, 100s of millions of stars & billions of galaxies. 😮 #wow

Anyway. They spent the last decade telling us STEM degrees were the future and the Humanities were worthless then they spent hundreds of billions of dollars to build a glitchy Humanities robot.

Did Santa Claus & His Reindeers Begin with a Mushroom Trip?: Discover the Psychedelic, Shamanistic Side of Christmas

NEW: last night, the US govt launched an assault on the ‘global censorship industrial complex’, aka European tech researchers/campaigners. It’s a deeply chilling move & speaks as to why we need international solidarity more than ever. open.substack.com/pub/broligar...

Worst case scenario

'Apple Trees in Snow.' (1940) Stanley Spencer stayed in Leonard Stanley Gloucestershire at an important stage in his life. His affair with Daphne Charlton did much to restore his spirits after years of emotional upheaval and provides the context for this quintessential landscape

A C-list anti-vaxxer wanted to know if I was really stupid enough to believe that vaccines work by preventing disease, not infection. Yes, if “stupid” means 200 years of evidence History class is in session. Do you know why vaccines are called vaccines? rasmussenretorts.substack.com/p/how-vaccin...

NASA’s newest space telescope has unveiled a stunning map of the cosmos in infrared

As the shine started to come off generative AI, 2025 has been a year of reckoning. @willdouglasheaven.bsky.social offers four ways to think about the state of AI as this year comes to a close, framing it as “the start of a much-needed hype correction.” www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...

RIP Rob & Michele Reiner His movies gave me so much happiness. He directed the funniest movie I’ve ever watched and provided wonderful straight man support to Christopher Guest in its funniest scene: youtu.be/uMSV4OteqBE?...

Nature would do well to publish more content like this thoughtful piece from @kevinbaker.bsky.social and fewer Buzzfeed listicles gussied up as career advice "Five productivity hacks for using AI in your scientific workflow"

Download 1300 Still Images from the Animated Films of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli

As I say here, this is not about saving the planet. The planet will be orbiting the sun long after we’re gone. The question is, will there be a healthy, thriving human society on that planet? The answer to that question is very much up for grabs at this point.

can't stop watching this clip of a tesla Optimus teleoperator taking his headset off before properly logging out the robot

Watch A Brief History of Time, Errol Morris’ Film About the Life & Work of Stephen Hawking

Astronomers have discovered one of the largest spinning structures in the known universe. This "cosmic filament" is 50 million light years long & contains 100s of galaxies that seem to be rotating in alignment. It's part of an even greater web linking the cosmos. 🧪🔭 www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-12...

Who is Anna Atkins? Discover the artist and scientist behind the first-ever illustrated photography book. 🧵 www.getty.edu/news/anna-at...

This is my last post in the 'metaphors for AI' trilogy. I never thought there was so much to say about it all. But this is it for now! Comments welcome. #AI #metaphor makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/28/o...

Barry Flanagan, ‘Elephant’ (1981) in the ‘Beyond the Visual’ exhibition.

”Runctitional” is up there with ”oyster carnival” as a solution to the nation’s tragic idiom shortage: theonion.com/idiom-shorta...

"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se

You just died. The 6th picture in your phone gallery is what killed you.

Pals (ca 1907) George Benjamin Luks New Britain Museum of American Art, Connecticut

"Herzog is, as always, playing his own game. He is governed not by norms of inquiry, nor by any grandiose pragmatic theory about what truth is." Sam Shpall reviews Werner Herzog’s book “The Future of Truth.” https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/herzog-in-the-jungle-of-truth/

I know I'm spamming you all with the world's largest flower this week but look at THIS! A rare glimpse inside Rafflesia arnoldi!