Take a moment to photograph the parts and progress on my edition of 16th Century mice armour today. #jeffdeboer #metalarts #mousearmour #armourer #miniatureart

Thread of threads.

A picture of me and the staff who operate my BlueSky account:

Although popularised by the British "Vickers Wellington" bomber, the geodesic construction technique was first used on an aircraft in the early 1920s with the Latécoère Laté-6, an all-metal bomber.

First prototype of the ‘Voltigeur’ from 1958, a three-seater anti-guerrilla warfare aircraft. The 2nd prototype, no longer equipped with a piston engine but with 2 Turboméca “Bastan” engines, broke up in flight during its seventh flight on 9 January 1959, killing its entire crew.

There are 1,000 of you following this account (1,001 to be precise). Thank you to the old followers whom I am delighted to see again on BlueSky, and thank you to the new who are curious to join us! To mark this nice round number, here is the Breguet Br.1001 Taon, a light fighter aircraft from 1957.

The Vickers Warwick, which first flew in Aug 1939, was intended to be a twin-engined ‘heavy’ bomber. However, following performance issues and protracted development the type wasn’t required by Bomber Command. Instead, Warwicks served with Transport and Coastal Commands. 📷 Destination’s Journey 🧵1/9

this man is an embarrassment to our Republic and its scientific and engineering history

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

Detroit-Lockheed YP-24. 1931

Deep cut here from theophite, but he's correct. If you're not familiar with the history of the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace (and how it was, crazily and rampagingly, anything but) prepare for a wild historical ride.

this is honestly my main argument against AGI hype

You may be wondering, "what do you mean area ruled for Mach 1.5 or 1.2?". Well, if you're familiar only with R. T. Whitcomb's "transonic area rule", in which the sectional area distribution is calculated with plane intercepts at 90° to the velocity vector, then fair point.

MiG-21 supersonic inlet design🧵 Small Nose vs. Big Nose

This is the life-saving work that the Trump Regime is doing its best to destroy.

Deep breath. My publisher @johnmurrays.bsky.social informs me that my book about 🇬🇧, "Fantastic Kingdom“ which will come out in June 2026, is now available to pre-order, and that @waterstones.bsky.social is offering a 25% preorder discount this week. www.waterstones.com/book/fantast...

To mark the 959th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings here are four Sussex scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry: 1. Bosham Church. 2. The Norman invasion fleet sail into Pevensey. 3. Castle built at Hastings 4. Norman cavalry runs into the 'Malfosse', (yet to be located natural or defensive ditch) 🏺

Holy crap. This is terrible. The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.

One of my favorite medieval dudes is a guy named Sir Hugh Eland, a knight who started his career by pillaging his neighbors and ended it as a noble advocate for prison reform (from behind the bars of Nottingham jail). Medieval story time!

Window Screen xkcd.com/3151/

The Lioré et Olivier LeO H.242 was a flying boat used for passenger transport in Europe in the 1930s, particularly on Mediterranean routes by Air France. It was the company's first flying boat in 1933.

🫡

New post. The whole acetaminophen/autism story is a disgusting little scale model of how the entire Trump administration works:

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Absolute banger from @deadcarl.bsky.social

‘The appeal to the mystical image of the “warfighter” is that it avoids having to discuss war in concrete terms. It sells the attractive myth that by doing more of the parts of war that look cool and really make you feel like a man, you can actually win wars.‘ www.deadcarl.com/p/clausewitz...

This by Calum E Douglas is very good @rafhistorical.bsky.social @smoorebofb1940.bsky.social @airminded.org @rafhistory.bsky.social @airpowerhistory.bsky.social

I think most who have followed me for some time know Im not here to get famous or bullshit you or sell something. I try to be authentic with you and respect you. So I say this hoping you recall that. We are in a very, very dangerous place and I worry we're getting close to a point of no return.

All I’ll say about the idea that modern medicine causes autism is that there is a 5-vol single-authored history of plants from 1561 that lists, in this order, the stems & leaves, flower & time of flowering, fruit, number of loculi, lines of dehiscence, rows of seeds, root, and smell for 500 plants.

Looks promising! It is a hefty tome.

Just showing off, really.

Feel like I’m going insane with the revisionist history that Charlie Kirk fostered open debate. He chilled speech and his targeting of professors for wrongthink led to threats, harassment, and being forced out of their jobs. His legacy is chilling speech right now, about him

Some of y'all are hearing "we should mourn the bad man" when what's being said is "hold on to your humanity." Do not mourn the bad man. Don't feel obligated to speak kindly or to remain silent. You do not owe them anything. I just hope you don't lose yourself in this.

Do I need to list all the urgent and major crises that Charlie Kirk’s shooting is merely a distraction from? No, I do not. The murderer did Trump a huge favour. This might create a “now or never” dynamic for a coup from above.

I am very worried about what may be on its way to us. Something has been set in motion (really, was set in motion a long time ago) and is picking up speed at a pace I fear enormously.

Not sure what is going on here, but MULTITUDE (which was good!) ended in January, and sadly the excellent MIMA museum is now permanently closed.

All caveats about many forms of AI being useful and separating the hype machine from the actual technology, I'm reminded of the Terry Pratchettism: "By and large, the only skill the alchemists of Ankh-Morpork had discovered so far was the ability to turn gold into less gold."

Beer Bomber. My aircraft ID skills are famous!

1 año en 100 viñetas: 61- Jean-Christophe Thibert

realistic Star Trek

This is, quite simply, bullshit. RFK Jr. is a conplete and utter crackpot, and one of the most dangerous this country has ever seen.

Hey friends, it would mean a lot to me if you took a minute to sign this petition to defend my friends and colleagues at my alma mater. Cuts to Oregon’s humanities are widespread and devastating, and I genuinely fear for the future of intellectual life at UO. actionnetwork.org/petitions/fi...

Six months ago I might have agreed with that point of view. Today it is clearly invalid. The sad question that remains is whether using harder language in the past could have avoided the slide towards genocidal intent. (Probably not.)

Lots of people noting the anniversary of Dreadnought's launch today, and with its ability to outpace anything that threatened it, the big gun armament, and its thick wooden walls- Wait, what?

Friends, I study the Nazis and have written extensively on how ordinary people do horrible things and, yet, what's happening the United States is still surreal me. I know intellectually that it's absolutely a descent into fascism and authoritarianism and I still find it hard to believe.