Listen in on scientists finding (and falling for) a new species of octopus now called Microeledone galapagensis. Read more here www.scientificamerican.com/article/tiny...

Why an immense marine heatwave off the US west coast has alarmed scientists www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

53 years ago today... Carole gave a free concert in New York for what was, at the time, the largest gathering in Central Park. “New York has given me such an awful lot — stimulus, ideas, feelings to write — that the concert is just a small way of giving something back to it,” 📷 Jim McCrary

I've been covering tech, and tech industry influence, in schools for more than a decade. And I've never seen this kind of rapidly scaling effort by parents pushing for more oversight of the laptops and learning apps that schools give kids. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/t...

12 cities registered new monthly records for May on May 23, as temperatures climbed above 30C across large parts of France. Forecasters describing it as one of the most remarkable late-May #heatwaves seen in western France in more than a century. www.connexionfrance.com/news/french-... #ActOnClimate

#DIBLives A prolific writer, an astute businesswoman and an engaging companion, novelist Maria Edgeworth (d. #OTD 1849) was adept at observing and mimicking life. With Edgeworthstown House as her anchor, her novels examined human society through focusing on local life. www.dib.ie/biography/ed...

The person who made this clearly wasn’t in academia 10 years ago 😂

NEW PUBLICATION🚨 "My party is targeted way more than yours with misinformation" 🎯 The hostile misinformation effect! Citizens believe their own political party is much more targeted with misinformation than the political opponent. #openaccess #commsky #ica26 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I am very excited to be returning to LSE and joining @lsepublicpolicy.bsky.social. Eager to help develop this already fantastic policy school, co-teach with @alicirone.bsky.social, and launch a new course on "Designing Democracy”.

#DIBLives Economist, politician & taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald (d. #OTD 2011) gave the impression of an absent-minded professor but this image of cluelessness was deceptive, reflecting his desire to concentrate on what he saw as essentials and disregard trivialities. www.dib.ie/biography/fi...

Celebrating World Bee Day 2026 Bee together for people and the planet A partnership that sustains us all Bees, pollinators, and many other insects are declining in abundance. Today is an opportunity for all of us to promote actions to protect pollinators and their habitats #WorldBeeDay #BeeDay26

As the Smiths didn't quite put it, 🎵 Ban the vox pop, Ban the vox pop. Ban the vox pop, Ban the vox pop 🎵

If in London tomorrow Wed 20 May I’m launching my new OA book with Tim Monteath “Doing Open Social Science” at 16.00 in LSE’s Alumni theatre (in Cheng Kin Ku Building on Lincoln’s’ Inn Fields). All welcome & free drinks at 5pm. press.lse.ac.uk/books/e/10.3... Hope you can come! (NB corrected times)

A pair of humpback whales swam record-breaking journeys between the eastern shores of Australia and breeding grounds in Brazil, according to researchers.

Love this addition to the street name sign on Park Drive in the West End of Glasgow. It's by A Sign Of Humour, and should be read while doing your best Phil Daniels impression! #glasgow #streetart #blur #parklife #sign

Denmark, particularly in Copenhagen, has installed floating platforms/islands planted with wildflowers and native vegetation in its harbors and canals. These create safe urban habitats and sanctuaries for birds, bees, pollinators, insects, and even some aquatic life. Original post

Across France, #beehives are being integrated into rooftops and building spaces to support urban #biodiversity. Cities are creating small habitats where bees can thrive, helping maintain pollination cycles even within dense environments. frenchly.us/home-is-wher... #ActOnClimate #ClimateActionNow

"the instinct seems to be to negotiate the penalties rather than take the necessary action" The EU tales Ireland to court... again, for failing to comply with environmental laws www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/comm...

"Scientists surveying the area found three times more seabed organisms and twice as many species compared to nearby unprotected waters" news.mongabay.com/short-articl...

👍

I'm about to transition from 20 years of fulltime parenthood to the empty nest. Me @FT on how my generation was taken by surprise by parenthood, which unfolded in ways we couldn't have imagined. What I learned along the way as.ft.com/r/f0dd00a6-f...

We're increasingly seeing "that worrying trend that electorates tend to vote against people rather than for people... You vote against the person you don't like because there is no one you really do like." 📺 @anandmenon.bsky.social for @bloomberg.com on the erosion of trust in politics

The tl;dr: School visits by politicians improved German students’ views of politicians and boosted their confidence in understanding and engaging with politics. Surveys before and after the programme showed small to medium positive effects across diverse student groups.

My first paper is out! Co-authored with @falkscheidig.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/pa/g...

A Traveller Family review: Quietly thoughtful insight into a proud community struggling with identity

Very exciting to get the first paper copies of my new book with Tim Monteath called “Doing Open Social Science - A Guide for Researchers” published free in OA digital form by LSE Press on 14 May here press.lse.ac.uk/books/e/10.3... Paperbacks will be £30 or $42 but it is 400 pages…

↗️ #PoliticalTrust can shape the trajectory of democracy, writes @mkolczynska.bsky.social. 📊 Its effects, however, are conditional and uneven – and increases in trust may sometimes even be conducive to democratic decline, rather than renewal. 👉️ bit.ly/4tweCbd

More journalists and media workers were killed in 2025 than in any other year since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began collecting data more than three decades ago.* Two-thirds of the journalists killed were by Israeli forces.*

#DIBLives #OTD 1941 novelist Kate O’Brien’s book ‘The Land of Spices’ was banned by the Board of Censors. She appealed the decision in 1946 and won. Eavan Boland termed her the Irish writer who meant most to her; John McGahern called her a poet working in prose. www.dib.ie/biography/ob...

#DIBLives After the 1916 Rising, 171 were court-martialled, 90 were sentenced to death and #OTD 1916 Seán MacDiarmada and a wounded James Connolly were the last of the fifteen executed by firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol. Connolly was shot seated on a wooden box. www.dib.ie/biography/co...

The World Weather Attribution group of climate scientists has warned that extraordinary extreme weather is likely this year and said 2026 could turn out to be the second warmest, if not the warmest year, on record

What drives legislators' emotional engagement with climate issues? I explore the role of their age and party affiliation and over-time developments in a new research note in European Journal of Political Research. (a thread)

This could cut megatons of carbon emissions every year- India flights per capita very very low compared to Europe or US but expected to grow exponentially as wealth rises

Some Saturday morning manatees for your timeline! #manatee #manateesofcoralcity #herd #seacows #coralcitycamera

Hungary’s parliament sings “Ode to Joy” — the anthem of Europe — after Péter Magyar is sworn in as prime minister. Hungary is once again a proud member of the European Union.

In my book Twilight of Democracy, I wrote about how authoritarian populism had divided friends, including in Hungary. After Prime Minister Magyar was sworn in today, he said he hoped "Family, friends and communities will be able to speak to each other again." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Happy 100th Birthday to Sir David Attenborough Thank you for being a friend to all animals and for helping the world to cherish us x

This is our 🌎 Why are we destroying it? #WarOnNature #Metacrisis

Duverger after seeing English local election results. #nerdhumor

Ireland to co-host with Tuvalu which wants to have the physical conference on its tiny island territory www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

Renewables growth cut Spain’s electricity bills by 24.2% over the past two years www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/30/r...

Ireland has joined 11 other countries and the European Union in condemning the destruction of a school partially funded by Irish Aid in the occupied West Bank by illegal Israeli settlers last month jrnl.ie/7034801

There is a way out of our political spiral, and it is thrilling and inspiring. We could have a very different country. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

When can I actually vote? What should I bring? How many votes do I get? The Youth Voice Network's election FAQs provide helpful tips to make it all a bit less daunting! Read their blog now 👉 childreninscotland.org.uk/news-article... #GetOutAndVote #ScottishElections

A stampede of dolphins spread over a mile near San Clemente, Southern California.😍

Yanis Varoufakis on how giants like Amazon have changed the marketplace.

Kathy Sheridan: An article about the big issue Irish people have stopped caring about

Don't miss our upcoming special expert webinar on data centres happening on 11 May at 11am Ireland's energy transition is facing significant challenge from the growth of large energy users, especially data centres. What are our policy options? To register: www.eventbrite.ie/e/1988332641...

Sharing, without comment, British newspapers’ depictions of the only Jewish person currently leading a UK political party . Times. Mail. Telegraph. Sun.

Climate Change is here. How will you help protect our earth ?