Scientists discovered an underwater city of 60-million fish nests beneath Antarctica's ice shelf. Each nest is carefully guarded by a special anti-freeze icefish, fighting to survive & protect their nest against hungry seals.

The 2025 State of the UK Climate report highlights how rapidly the UK's climate is changing The report, with input from UKCEH, puts the year and decade into historical context. 2025 was the UK’s warmest year on record and there has been warming of ~0.25°C per decade since the 1980s. 1/

This is an interesting and good take on multiverse analyses…

This is what I took from the New Statesman profile last year - Starmer is motivated to right wrongs that have befallen individuals, but not to analyse or remedy societal wrongs. www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

I can answer this: It comes out of people's bums.

Kalshi Will Offer Sports-Style Betting on Drug Trial Results www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Very nice review on the cultural integration of non-native species In 2014 I interpreted this integration as a form of shifting baselines syndrome, since degraded (ie invaded) ecosystem states are perceived as normal or desirable See paper below www.nature.com/articles/s44...

I opened my recent piece for the Arts Council with a gentle dig at Suno. Maybe I should have been sharper www.artscouncil.org.uk/sites/defaul...

This is one of the more enticing list of summer reading recommendations that I have seen. (Disclaimer: Doesn't necessarily mean I'll read any of them.) britishprogress.substack.com/p/hot-progre...

As this review notes, From the Earth to the Moon also devotes a surprising amount of its story to the dynamics of research-funding, scientific collaboration, and similarly wonkish matters.

Amazon is stockpiling economists

At the risk of revealing how the magic happens, Monya Baker has written about how journalists approach editing experts for @theopennotebook.bsky.social. www.theopennotebook.com/2026/07/07/b...

Our new commentary rdcu.be/ftx6h in @natecoevo.nature.com written with folks from @inaturalist.bsky.social and @cornellbirds.bsky.social shows that use of AI to manipulate existing or create new wildlife images undermines the huge value of vast citizen science databases. 🌍🪰🪶 #Ornithology 🧵 1/10

Dear humanity, please stop with the balloons. @nautiluslive.org ROVLittle Hercules is nearly 6000m deep on abyssal plain seafloor far from land. The 3rd item they zoomed on was this balloon 😩😢 nautiluslive.org #NoBalloons

About the time I saw Ann Widdecombe in panto (Bridlington 2016) www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2016/de...

I have nothing against the French-born Arthur Fery representing the UK, but I suggest we offer to swap him for Michael Olise.

"The idea of a unified academic community defending academic freedom against external threats is ... misleading. In reality, academia is marked by ideological, professional and generational divisions that shape how freedom is exercised and constrained." A very worthwhile read #highered […]

For 6 months the line from DSIT & UKRI on STFC cuts has been that no final decisions have been taken That is no longer the case, after DSIT approved UKRI's proposal for how to save £162m British research at Cern will be hit, along with UK science facilities Scoop by me & @francesjones.bsky.social

Your reminder that @resprofnews.bsky.social is set to go the way of (allegedly) Jodrell Bank at the end of the year. Who will get these stories then?

So as a proportion, the money paid out in relation to e-bikes, e-motorcycles, dockless ebikes and e-scooters? < drum roll > 0.3% Zero. Point three. Per cent.

In 1998 and 1999, four of Britain's regions and nations voted for devolution. Since then, all have overperformed the rest of the country economically. Even Wales. . Also a bit of a rant about how there's more than one big city in Britain. tomforth.co.uk/agglomeratio...

Iranian security forces have rearrested conservationists Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani. The Asiatic cheetah experts previously served 6 years on widely condemned espionage charges linked to using wildlife camera traps. @wcs.org expressed “profound concern and alarm” over the detentions.

Hey, do you own a dog or a snake? Or both? It would make SUCH a difference if you could fill in this quick survey for my 11yo. He's doing a GSCE-like in herpetology in his spare time, because he's the best, and this is for a research project: forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/Respon...

In China, a high-speed rail link between two cities increases scientific collaboration, measured by co-publications, by 35% econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg260...

Have been at a number of events with various think tankers and senior civil servants and everyone knows this is happening but seems caught like a deer in headlights. Meanwhile Bridget Phillipson and Jacqui Smith blithely whistle on. Can’t hold.

It is ... very interesting that this keeps happening. Juries are by definition made up of a random sample from the electoral roll, and they continue to express support for climate protestors when put in a contemplative environment juststopoil.org/2026/07/03/a...

Get AI to listen to a track and bet that it will become number one! The interaction of prediction markets and bots is creating opportunities for new kinds of fraud www.ft.com/content/2e10...

Nice write up by Adam. I admit to being the former UKRI employee quoted BUT the really interesting thing that happened yesterday was the amount of chat this created with my friends who are current employees (who can't say stuff publicly due to public sector rules), they too think this is AWFUL news.

...and thanks @cash4questions.bsky.social socialscienceresearchfunding.co.uk?p=1517

Some thoughts on the planned closure of @resprofnews.bsky.social . And what the lack of media coverage on the planned closure of Research Professional News tells us about what life might look like without a functioning trade media.

Universities minister Jacqui Smith finds time to offer her views on staying up to watch Mexico vs England www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Thanks, @smclondon.bsky.social and @eaterofsun.bsky.social

Another place where reporting that mattered was going on is closing down. www.sciencemediacentre.org/in-praise-of...

UKRI has put its money where its mouth is on improving the lot of postgrad research students, hiking up the stipend multiple times in recent years But inevitably this has put pressure on how many new PhDs it can fund each year - there has been a 22% drop over a decade, even as funding has risen 🧵

Good analysis from @richardaljones.bsky.social on @andyburnham.bsky.social’s economic and innovation policy agenda including this lovely reference to @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social softmachines.org?p=3324

They missed out the bit where "their brains are beaten out with clubs". And the whisky. "the men spend two weeks there in August, taking the birds from open cliffs using a pole and noose, before the creatures are gutted, salted and preserved in brine." www.thenational.scot/news/2624651...

A new report shows climate change is already impacting UK bird populations. Upland birds & seabirds face steep declines in their numbers underlining the need for action, while some southern species are expanding their ranges. Find out more: www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... @btobirds.bsky.social 🪶

Time and again I think that THIS is the stat universities should shout, shout & shout again about. New education export data again show HE responsible for nearly three-quarters of a £37bn UK revenue source. Fund our universities! Source: explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statist...

Sad news that Research Professional News is set to close at the end of 2026. It’s been a useful outlet for research policy, funding news and higher education coverage - the kind of specialist journalism that’s easy to take for granted until it’s gone

Very sad to be sharing this news: Research Professional News to discontinue publication at end of 2026. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

Political ideology is the strongest predictor of Messi-Ronaldo preference. Authoritarians who like short-form video are more likely to think Ronaldo is the GOAT.

...also on the economic returns to R&D, and coauthored 'Capitalism without capital: The rise of the Intangible Economy', with @stianwestlake.bsky.social

Report: Ants Having Some Kind Of Party Inside Crack In Pavement https://theonion.com/report-ants-having-some-kind-of-party-inside-crack-in-1826939903/

I am working on a book for which the Biodiversity Heritage Library has been invaluable - not sure I could have developed or written the thing without it. I have just donated.

Brexit 10 years on: as bad as universities feared? A decade after the #Brexit vote, universities are still grappling with consequences in research and recruitment. We take a deep dive into how the research sector has fared. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

'[Ben] Johnson said the advent of a new prime minister may also mean “a decision about whether Dsit makes sense as a department”, or whether the R&D budget comes under the control of a different or new department in a Whitehall revamp.' Interesting, though problematic if swift delivery is agenda.

"reduction in yield due to insufficient or inefficient pollination, has nearly halved since the 1980s", thanks to "more efficient use of managed pollinators....Altogether, the data show that pollinator declines are not yet translating into global yield losses." www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

📢 New RoRI Report: The Future of Peer Review Peer review is at a breaking point. Strained by hyper-competition & AI, we need system-wide reform. Read here: rori.figshare.com/articles/report/The_Future_of_Peer_Review_A_system-wide_perspective/32685351?file=65684898

This from 2007 BBC documentary 'Climate Change: Britain Under Threat', the late Jay Wynne predicting >30C daily for half of August 2050. With 24 years still to go, we'll already have two heatwaves far exceeding 30C in the past month - not in August high summer, but spring/early summer. Terrifying.

UKRI looks to shutter research facilities as repair costs rise. Leaders confirm funding agency is “actively pursuing decommissioning” of research infrastructure it runs. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...