Sometimes I feel like all of Dan Brown's novels are coming true at once.

I love it when authors use suspenseful constructions like "This raises the question of whether the experimental data can be explained by our slightly-out-there theory?" I mean, the answer isn't going to be 'no' is it??! 😂

Translating Asterix! Super interesting.

The March issue of @natphys.nature.com is delayed for stupid reasons, but I'd like to highlight our editorial that is already live, and focuses on the transformative impact of free-electron lasers. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I swear that the browser versions of M365 have been engineered to be as unusable as possible.

Now that I'm safely across the US border, I figured I can share some thoughts about travelling to America for work in the current political climate. I should say at the outset that this is an issue where there isn't an objective truth. Sensible and rational people can disagree about this. (1/6)

Got to Denver for the APS and honestly I think everyone on the flight was editing their slides 😂

Superb journalism. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

It's nearly time for the March issue of @natphys.nature.com to arrive, but I'm taking a moment to appreciate how cool our February cover is. 🙃

Preparing for a week of altitude training 😉 in Denver, and the weather forecast looks absolutely nuts. 24º on Saturday, 4º with snow on Sunday, and temperatures into the 30s by the middle of the week. 😵‍💫⚛️

The 2026 Physics Education Research Conference (#PERC) will take place on July 22-23 in Pasadena, CA. Learn more and submit a parallel proposal by the March 16th deadline. ow.ly/kTvm50YoAPe #PhysicsEducation #PhysicsResearch #PERConference2026

I just learned that Tony Leggett passed away over the weekend. That's sad. 🙁

I'm running a marathon in April so I've bought myself a pair of fancy shoes that have a plate and lots of foam and so on. I've trained in them a couple of times now and honestly, these things are basically cheating and should be banned!

I am at a winter school this week and have been reminded that chalkboard talks are usually of more benefit to the speaker's reputation for being able to give a chalkboard talk than they are of benefit for the education of the audience.

Feeling quite patriotic. This is what equality under the law is meant to look like.

Every month I have to go to our production database, copy a bunch of information about which papers in our next issue are associated with which News and Views etc into a Word document, and then send that document to the production team. And every month the inefficiency drives me completely mad. 😡

That feeling when your code mostly works but there's that one pathological edge case where it does something weird and you don't know why... 😡

Off to watch the #superbowl. #AnyoneButNewEngland

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Big shots emailing to say that "you have made the right choice, in my view" is always so affirming. 🙄

At any rate, your usual reminder: when the science media, being less careful than Natalie, asks "Is physics in crisis?", they mean high-energy physics, done by a small proportion of physicists.

The main photo on this piece is just incredible. www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/j...

I have to say that I disagree with the first point in this editorial from @cp-matter.bsky.social, that you should never appeal a desk rejection. I can think of several excellent papers that I have published after initially desk rejecting them. www.cell.com/matter/fullt...

I wrote a research highlight on a paper in @physreve.bsky.social that uses statistical physics to analyse football matches. ⚛️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...

When I'm assessing a manuscript, I quite often put the title into a google search as this can be a good way of finding related literature. I did this yesterday and, for largely procrastinatory reasons, took a look at the AI summary thingy that comes at the top of the results page. It was shocking.

A Review in Nature Reviews Psychology discusses individual, interpersonal and sociocultural influences on maths anxiety in children and their impacts on long-term engagement and achievement in mathematics. go.nature.com/3Z9kSbY 🔒

I guess yesterday was "a good points day" for #NASCAR. Looking forward to drivers using that phrase ad nauseam this season 😉.

I gather we will learn what the new #NASCAR season format will be tomorrow. Exciting. If I was in charge, here's what I'd do: I get the need for some kind of playoff because America, so I would go back to a ten-race chase-style runoff, but eliminate the bottom half of the field after five races.

Building a utility-scale fusion plant starting next year seems ambitious... www.bbc.com/news/article...

About that exclusive, "closed-to-press" MAHA summit last week with RFK and JD Vance: I got in. Here's what I saw. 🧵 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

<<Insert comment about contemporary political discourse here>>

I'm not sure I would describe this Review as "pedagogical", exactly, but if you're interested in finding out about one of the most lively topics in condensed-matter physics then this is a great place to start.

Happy to share that our book on computing in physics education has just dropped, @ioppublishing.bsky.social You can get all the chapters written by some of incredible colleagues who are improving physics education through computing right now. iopscience.iop.org/book/edit/97... #iteachphysics

There are certain ways in which Scientific Reports is the best journal in the world.

Our team is discussing our November editorial, which will be on this year's Nobel Prize. I have to say that it's a monthly moment of immense relief when we get to the stage of having a workable draft. Phew. #EditorLife #Physics

My working hypothesis is that the little red dots were put there by the little green men. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I often reflect on the ambiguity of how responding to a message with the word lol also looks like you think they've just scored a touchdown (or hit a six).

My depressingly nerdy opinion of the day is that it's still an absolute travesty that file explorer does not do bulk file renaming.

Went to the zoo recently. Bought a membership for the year. Please expect more animal photos in this feed.

We don't usually sign our editorials at @natphys.nature.com, but this month we've made an exception because it's a bit personal. The journal's three chief editors take a moment to reflect on its history and look forward to the future. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Want to read a Comment by the three Nobel Laureates on quantum circuits? Here it is: ($) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Don't know what the overlap of bluesky and NASCAR is, but I just caught up with the happenings at Kansas this weekend, and honestly, Chase Elliot can fuck off. What the hell.

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...