This book made me go to St Albans by accident. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

This is well worth a read

"Precarity is the one constant of academic science. Themes of instability thread themselves through everything we do." A brief blog post from me about the @ukri.org funding pause and who the real victims will be. occamstypewriter.org/mindthegap/2... #AcademicSky

Earth's largest land animals are limited by salt. Sodium availability constrains the density and distribution of elephants, giraffes and rhinos across Africa, and offers a new explanation for the so-called 'missing megaherbivores'. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Free access: rdcu.be/eTPY2

The Climate Fiction Prize 2026 longlist is here! 🤩📚 This longlist shows the limitless scope of climate fiction, from gripping thrillers to experimental literary works, folklore and reimagined myths to science fiction and generational family saga. Full list here: climatefictionprize.co.uk

Killer tortoises! I showed this in my island biology lecture yesterday and it shocked the students 😱 Here's the paper describing the behaviour: www.cell.com/current-biol... 🧪🌏

‘Well, look, if I’m going to import the cars anyway, then I’d rather import less oil. We may as well import the one that cleans up local air quality and is cheaper to buy.’ The Great Story of the Extraordinary EV boom in Ethiopia www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

This is King Ferdinand VI of Spain Besides ruling one of the largest empires on Earth or attempting a full genocide on Spanish gipsy people, he hunted. A lot. And recorded the killings OA PAPER Building historical biodiversity databases from royal hunts Thread below link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Insect photos! www.royensoc.co.uk/photography-...

This is a fascinating and utterly heartbreaking read. #ornithology #ukbirding www.birdguides.com/articles/sle...

Feel like I'm going mad.

British Library staff accept pay offer, ending industrial dispute. We have followed this story from the very beginning, right through to what appears to be its conclusion. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...

As a spreadsheet and data geek, this is a lovely story. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

⚠️ Please report sightings of dead birds for possible testing for Avian Influenza. ⬇️ 📌 In England, Wales & Scotland: www.gov.uk/guidance/... 📌 In Northern Ireland: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/... 📌 In Republic of Ireland: aviancheck.apps.serv... #UKBirding #BirdingWales #BirdingScotland

Beautiful copies of In Search of Now, just arrived from @canongate.co.uk! Very excited to finally see it out in the world

I’m so honored to receive the "Impact on Public Opinion" award from Research!America @researchamerica.bsky.social Information feels especially muddy right now, lots of noise from on high. I try to provide a little clarity, grounded in science. ICYMI 🧵 www.researchamerica.org/advocacy-awa...

Free-to-read opinion: The European Research Area act should "focus on 2-3 areas where [it] can make a substantive difference" rather than include "a smorgasbord of relatively superficial changes", writes @palmowski.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Funny how hard these guys are for Return To Office, but when it’s time for the mass firings we have to be absolutely sure there are no possible gatherings

‘The court has closed off the possibility of states withdrawing from the Paris Agreement framework without exposing themselves to being found to be committing internationally wrongful acts.’ @tomrhickman.bsky.social on the ICJ opinion on climate justice, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...

Some thoughts on the select committee appearance by the boss of UKRI, Ian Chapman yesterday. It’s a long watch but can be seen here: parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/... Thread 🧵

Some thoughts about xAI and SpaceX 🧵n≅20 The newspaper's first take is here www.economist.com/business/202...

"The fall of Hindawi should not be understood solely as an extraordinary event, but as a signal of how ordinary pressures—scale, incentives, automation, and uneven accountability—can converge into systemic risk when left unexamined. Integrity breakdowns of this magnitude do not emerge overnight..."

Mysterious emails, incessant demands and a fake lawyer — read our editor’s note about a serious threat we’re facing www.the-londoner.co.uk/the-londoner...

Warnings about realistic but inaccurate #AI wildlife images & videos aren't slowing their spread which also provoke fear, panic & hostility, beside clicks: news.mongabay.com/2026/01/wild... Almost worse, gen AI is also invading the value of camera trapping images, as many fakes are now surfacing:

Ban on ads for carbon intensive products, including meat! This is progressive

New book on rewilding! A curated collection of 27 articles published in British Wildlife over the last 5 yrs So, accessible & nicely produced for a broad readership And I’m one of the authors. Cheap at the price (£16.99)! www.britishwildlife.com/wilding/

Hope is not a policy, nor is “innovation” a magic trick. As our podcast of the week argues, the idea that climate salvation will come through breakthrough technologies is a myth that serves as an alibi for inaction. With @davidedgerton.bsky.social on @the-breakdown.bsky.social buff.ly/Z0I6utI

On the importance of preprints, regardless of whether you are Team Sponge or Team Jelly: 'King says that she wishes she had posted the study as a preprint so that the errors could have been caught sooner.' www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This seemed funny until I noticed the parallels with my royalties statements.

a phd

The Baltic Klipper lost 16 containers near Isle of Wight in December. Two other vessels shed cargo near the island in January. Chips, tins of milk, bananas and plastic are washing up on the south coast of England. Spilled material poses "serious threat to marine life". www.bbc.com/news/article...

First UK universities to drop new Elsevier deals emerge. Kent and Essex publicly announce cancellations with publisher, with several more institutions yet to confirm. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

As someone who spent the last 15 years working with aging brains & dementia, I can't stop thinking about this. It is gerontocracy: leaders who are substantially older than most of the adult population. When did we accept this? The new generations can't show up because the old generations never left.

Very cool paper and thread exploring earth's ancient giant fungi-not-fungi "the first giant organisms on the Earth’s surface were not closely related to anything alive today. But despite its strangeness, in its time Prototaxites would have had an important role"

Is Trump reshaping not just US science, but world science? Seven global science leaders and experts weigh up his administration's impact on international collaborations, climate science, place of science in democratic societies. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-worl...

This is the future of pricing. Many grocery stores have been doing this, @ddayen.bsky.social has good reporting on this phenomenon/crime.

Adam Tickell says it’s time to stop blaming the Russell Group for the university sector’s struggles. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

From a 1908 scientific obit (machine translated from German): "The modern practice of reviewing, which elevates itself at any cost by denigrating others, was contrary to his nature."

cc @resprofnews.bsky.social

In 2025, nearly every climate editorial in the UK's right-leaning newspapers opposed climate action. This contrasts with 2020-1 when almost all supported it, and puts us back to a situation worse than in 2011, before the political consensus on climate took hold. www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-...

These are the icy mountains of Pluto. It took 9 years to get these magnificent images… and 4.8 billion kilometers.

What is UKRI for, and do the people in charge know? Breaking up UK Research and Innovation could be the way forward, says John Womersley. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

New World Economic Forum Global Risks data provides a stark warning: While short-term crises dominate headlines, "Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse" jumps to the 2nd highest risk over the 10-year horizon. The long term is sooner than we think. Science-based policies via IPBES are crucial.🌍

The most popular paid Apple Store download in China is ‘Are You Dead’. The app requires users to “check in” by pressing a button. If they fail to do so over two consecutive days, the app sends a message to an emergency contact nominated by the user www.ft.com/content/e92d...

Odd that the makers of 'Hamnet' put so much effort into recreating period detail and then gave Agnes an American bird of prey, namely a Harris hawk.

The latest Home Office statistics on visa applications from international students are a “danger sign” for UK universities’ finances, experts have warned, as applicant numbers dropped below 30,000 last month. Article: www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Opinion: "Policies aimed at curbing a perceived PhD oversupply might have unintended consequences that deepen inequality in higher education," writes Giulia Rossello www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

V useful on clusters and UK industrial strategy by @paulswinney.bsky.social @thedatacity.bsky.social thedatacity.com/blog/where-d...

Free-to-read opinion article: "What is decided in 2026 will define European research and innovation policy for the decade to come", writes Kurt Deketelaere www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Who was Mr Mitchell-Hedges? Here he is Holding a pangolin