Just hit a major milestone in my Germanification, as I was going to take glass to the recycling containers and then realised it's a Sunday...

From today's Nature Briefing. Richard O'Brien would beg to differ.

I moved house today, from Berlin to Leipzig. Now cooking our first meal in our new home. Steak, fried potatoes, and steamed vegetables because start as you mean to go on, right?

@dorianlynskey.bsky.social Just wanted to say thank you for all your contributions to Remaniacs/OGWN. Best of luck for whatever the next thing is, but I will miss you hosting the show.

Oh my word. Small boats and housing for asylum seekers is absolutely not the biggest issue facing the UK government right now. The @theguardian.com, of all papers needs to set a different tone. Don't pander to Farage. @pippacrerar.bsky.social

Last week we published a World View that discusses how the current political climate amplifies the need for science education research. ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"Pat, why do you carry that ridiculous 600mm lens on long hikes?" Buddy, I can see mountains reflected in the eyes of a trailside pika.

Personally, I'd prefer it if my beer tasted neither like strawberry or pineapple, but perhaps I'm just a Philistine. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

The Editors don't get enough love.

Seeking science journalists: @quantamagazine.bsky.social is hiring a physics editor! A rare opportunity to join this great team and lead coverage of this foundational vertical. Please reach out with any questions and share widely simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...

I had reasons to google what a "pood" is, and I am probably irrationally disappointed in the Collins dictionary for this basic physics error.

In the last week, the modal response to a request to referee a paper seems to have gone from "I'm on vacation, sorry" to "the school year is just starting, sorry". Sigh.

I guess experts may scream at us for over-simplifying and making some mistakes, but here is the @natphys.nature.com editorial for August. We make the case that the fractional quantum Hall effect is an under-valued platform for making a topological quantum computer. ⚛️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

So encouraging... www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I would also be fascinated to know what proportion of respondents think that "immigrant" and "illegal migrant" are the same thing.

CRISPR was made for this moment.

The football is getting tense. 😬

...That feeling when you realise you misspelled "graphene" on the journal homepage... 🫣

Dear podcasters, Past some (fairly short) threshold, the longer your ad read is, the less likely I am to buy that product. Sincerely, Your listener.

Did (a scaled version) of the "three bars of death" workout (AKA 'Linda') this morning. 10,9,8,...,3,2,1 of deadlift, benchpress, and squat cleans as fast as you can. Right now I would happily never look at a barbell ever again.

Our friends at @natcomms.nature.com are hiring an editor for quantum physics and technology. Can be based in China, the US, Spain, or Italy. Full details here: www.nature.com/naturecareer... #Careers #EditorialJobs #Quantum #Physics

#iteachphysics folks, I'm working on putting up over a 15 years of open-source content for physics teaching. Looking for collaborators! Please follow @openphysicsed.org for updates or email me at: [email protected]

Catching up on this weekend's NASCAR and it can't just be me that thinks the Chicago street course looks a bit like an inquisitive beagle.

Tonight's entertainment: tasting 11 whisk(e)ys and one armagnac.

Personally quite proud to be part of a "woke publisher". www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Definitely entering that time of year when, as sending papers back to referees, I'm crossing my fingers that they haven't headed out on a month-long vacation already. 😬

Managed a small PR on my deadlift this morning. Good start to the week. Now let's see if I can set a PR for how many emails I reply to in a day...

For anyone who appreciates things that always stay the same, it looks like England are about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the Test match at Headingly.

We recently published in @natphys.nature.com a Comment piece by @wbrianlane.bsky.social on what happens when a student tried to guide a LLM to the correct answers for a physics exam. It didn't go great. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

If you haven't seen this recruitment news... @natrevelectreng.nature.com @natureportfolio.nature.com @springernature.com is hiring an Associate/Senior Editor. The closing date is 1 Jul. Please DM me if you have any questions 💡 🤗

I wrote a short something about roses. ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Am back from ten exquisite days in the mountains and am feeling thoroughly unprepared for the state of my inbox tomorrow... 😬

The goat?

Bogdan the Bite is three weeks old now (don't they grow up so fast?? 🥲) and isn't getting a whole lot better or a whole lot worse. I think I might need a doctor to take a look...

Hiked from Austria to Germany today.

I just got chased around a mountain by a herd of apparently inquisitive but otherwise rather disconcerting sheep. Never experienced that before.

Alpine Choughs at the top of the Hochiss, Austria.

Last year, I offered students recuperation points on their exam if they could coax ChatGPT into solving it. The bot failed (badly), but I got insights into how my students interact with it. Here's an example I describe in a Comment to Nature Physics. #ITeachPhysics rdcu.be/eqRP1

I got bitten about a week ago by what I can only imagine was a demonic sea monster because my ankle still looks an absolute mess.

This seems hugely important. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It's sad that this needs saying, but sending in the Marines on your own citizens is not a sign of a strong and robust democracy.

Awesome cover

That bug that causes Outlook to hang any time you try to read an email with a google drive link in it is stupid and annoying and it's unbelievable that it hasn't been fixed yet.

Just want to highlight this paper in the most recent issue of Nature Physics ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41... Snakes NOT on a plane.

I'm fairly sure there was a Dan Brown novel about this. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A speaker finishes their talk by saying "This is what we see. We don't know what's going on. I hope that someone here can explain it." Isn't that a lovely way of approaching the constant state of ignorance that science is??

Am at a GRC and the Power Hour was this afternoon. At one point, a very senior and distinguished professor walks in, helps themselves to the cookies in the back, and wanders out again. 🤦

I read the editorial and I think I get the point. But for people who don't have a scientific training, are words like "convergent" actually helpful? It seems to me like it might be more confusing than enlightening. Or am I too much of a physicist where "convergent" has a reasonably concrete meaning?

This is very impressive. www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/a... (But I'm also quite relieved that, at least for now, I'm still faster than the robots. 😰)

Our April issue is live! www.nature.com/nphys/volume... This month we consider the gender breakdown of authorship in Nature Physics, visualise how cells move in feeding currents, and highlight our first physics education research paper.