Probably the most important factor about the risks to an American takeover of Greenland but the one thing that barely anyone seems to be talking about - keeping that big old ice sheet right where it is for as long as possible.

Suspect that data centres will come to be seen as the ‘dark satanic mills’ (yet mostly in people’s) of our age - updating the industrial era for the digital one.

Unhook ourselves from oil and gas and we unhook ourselves from dependency on dictators, autocrats and expansionist regimes all over the planet. Renewables and other low-carbon energy sources are not just good climate sense. They are also good political sense.

I'm afraid there *is* an obvious answer: it can't.

Tomorrow, back to work after two weeks off that were both restful and productive. And I go into the new working year with probably (as far as my records can tell) my first #InboxZero in about five years! Won’t last long, but nothing like a blank state to start back up from.

We will either end fossil fuel dependency and the predatory extractivist basis of global production, or they will end us through wars and ecological collapse - all at the same time.

Watching ‘Bowie: The Final Act’ on C4. Mike Garson just stated that Bowie was the Miles Davis of the rock world - always thought that too.

So, if you’re just waking up to a late breakfast on the US West Coast…

Lest anyone for a single moment thinks this latest coup is a somehow a dramatic breach of long-term US foreign policy.

Where would the American equivalent of the Nuremberg Trials be held, were they to happen at all, once this regime falls?

Assuming that an invasion of Greenland, which has to be more than 50% possible after today, would be in violation of the NATO charter. By extension, if that doesn’t trigger an Article 5 response from other members, NATO would effectively be redundant? Wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card.

It's a big day for those fluent in the good grammar of civility looking to deploy decorum to mask agendas of cruelty

Quite the position

Yup, there is that.

Anyone getting ‘1936 Berlin Olympics’ vibes about this year’s FIFA World Cup, or is it just me?

Very interesting piece. It strikes me that Mamdani may well prove to be a political fork in the road. After all, FDR was once deemed necessary to get behind to avoid total societal collapse. Sometimes, ya just gotta know which way the wind is blowing. And ya don’t need a weatherman to know that.

This man's media team is a bunch of goddamned geniuses, someone scouted for locations and figured out they could set up this very shot. Look at it, it's incredible. Look up pics of Adams being sworn in at the ball drop, which look chaotic, cheap, and undignified in comparison.

The majorities FDR commanded (& which the Dems held into the 80s) scared the bejeezus out of the American right. The tragedy of that New Deal coalition is that it required caucusing and compromising with Southern segregationists. An FDR-ish politics that's truly inclusive would be a thing to behold.

Can’t believe I’m damned weeping here, alone with a social media feed… #MamdaniInauguration

😂😂😂

No, I’ve just got something in my eye…

Mamdani: "We will answer to all New Yorkers, not to any billionaire or oligarch who thinks they can buy our democracy ... I will govern as a Democratic Socialist"

This guy, if he is able to succeed with even half of what he talks about, is going to end up a real beacon around the world for how to treat people fairly and govern with a justice-based mindset.

To some, we’re a year in already. For others, with 2026 the second quarter of this century has just begun. Either way, Happy New Year, wherever you’re at.

just want to remind folks that pushback and public outrage stopped them from closing the CDC library. i bet pushback will stop them here, too

Beavers are just one of the animals we’ve helped bring back to London after centuries. Can’t wait to see what David Attenborough uncovers in his new series Wild London on the BBC on New Year’s Day.

I had a fairly lengthy discussion with Brian Eno about climate change at my workplace this year, which was a pretty major highlight to me. An unexpected interaction from 2025!

Great advice. Mine is this: all good abstracts do the following 1. Background (who what when where) 2. Problem — what's the hole your research addresses? 3. Argument/Hypothesis 4. Evidence — on what basis are you making the argument? 5. Answer the "so what" question — why does this matter? to whom?

In what has been a challenging year for the sector I work in and in the wider world, I thought I’d end the year with a round up of a few personal and professional highlights. Just to put a positive spin on 2025, before it goes on the dustbin of history. dompates.medium.com/2025-rewind-...

It’s that lull between Xmas and New Year, and I have stumbled across the term #biosonification. Although I was aware of folks connecting synths to fungi before, I’d not listened to much. Great examples on this page: ‘Meet the electronic musicians collaborating with nature through bio-sonification’

What a useful perspective to hold on to, as we stagger towards the end of the year that 2025 has been. In short, all things must pass.

These 46 images symbolise the global backdrop to the 1st quarter of the 21st century, as I moved from youth to middle age. What tumult we have seen! I move from middle to old age in the 2nd quarter, & the signs suggest more tumult to come. Still shapeable, right? www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

absolutely excellent story about the *real* big energy of the decade/millennium unfolding before us www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

For any of you still up (or in a different time zone to mine), I’ll be doing a radio show on Christmas Day itself. 23:00 UK time. The theme is ‘This Day In Music’, so although there’ll be some festive music, it’s not all that. Drop by for the curios, stay for the chatroom. ttns.uk

Finally getting to sort out some of the photos worth sharing that have languished in the archive for a while. Here’s a selection from a visit to ‘The Moonwalkers’ in London’s Lightroom, back in July 2024. #immersive www.flickr.com/gp/globalism...

I first heard about the challenges Ireland is facing with hyper scale data centres and energy demand in a webinar a few weeks back. Was shocked to hear the speaker talking about the risks of blackouts in Dublin and the possibility of her getting cut off from the call at short notice. #ClimateCrisis

My essay on this whole deal.....

Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year. Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx

Oh FFS!

As profoundly stark as they are, I can fully recommend watching all of these Expert Briefings from the UK’s recent National Emergency Briefing to get a full picture of the climate and nature risks we’re all facing. Without action, that is. youtube.com/playlist?lis...

This is also why we need to change course 180 degrees on INTEGRATION: If our crisis can be alleviated by welcoming newcomers, then we need strong institutions, courts that treat us with equal human rights, well-resourced schools, all the things the right hates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We’re excited to share the programme for #ALTC25 Revisited on 25 Feb. Join presentations, discussions & sessions on digital practice, accessibility, user experience, VLEs, video assessment, XR, open education & critical perspectives on AI. Explore: buff.ly/UyBofWB #altc

The designer of Times New Roman, Stanley Morrison, was a conscientious objector in 1916 and was imprisoned for his pacifist beliefs. These dipshits can't even vice signal without screwing it up.

Kinda feel like it’s not too early to suggest holding a complete moratorium on solar geoengineering. Trump’s unlikely to be around long enough for this technology to flourish, but his carbon-soaked successors might be. We need to bring the Oil Age to an end, not prolong it. #ClimateCrisis

So now the EPA website essentially states that climates changed for natural causes up until the Industrial Revolution but then something else happened (we just can’t say what it was). How bizarre…

Well, I was today years old when I discovered that ‘Pablo Picasso’ off Bowie’s ‘Reality’ album is *actually* a Modern Lovers cover. How about that?

#prehistoricplanet behind the scenes! what a great approach! youtu.be/9a5TL30Ug2s?...

Finished watching ‘#PrehistoricPlanet - Ice Age’ today, a fascinating selection of tales largely of the mammalian megafauna that roamed the planet before the rise of Homo Sapiens. So many fabulous beasts, all told in the distinctive ‘wildlife documentary’ style. tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...