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Ian Butler

@drbutty.bsky.social
138 followers 195 following 88 posts

Geochemist, petrologist and experimental geoscientist - University of Edinburgh. Cricket, rugby, walking, photography, real ale and the Lake District. Man of Kent, currently exiled in Scotland.

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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Always important to remember that UUK is an organisation that represents the vice chancellors of universities, but *not* the universities. And we all know what a bang-up job they've done of financially managing the institutions that they head-up.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
... Plus a brass plaque commemorating the erection of a new organ (no sniggering at the back!).
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
First visit to Norwich. A few fine pubs, medieval architecture and an excellent cathedral. Windows include a shifty looking St Brice of massacre fame (on his named day, at least), plus some more modern glass ...
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Fantastic result against a fine Mexican team in a cauldron of a stadium. One of the best performances I've seen from an England team in a world cup. Bring on Norway.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Never in doubt #EngvDRC #WorldCup
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
The gents' bogs in the (rather splendid) Lakes Brew Co pub in Ambleside have been papered with pages from "Cumbria" magazine circa 1950s. Try the Cumbrian recipes in these photos ... "Delicious, where did you get the recipe? I got it off a toilet wall!"
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
St Martin's in my home city, #Canterbury, this morning - it's been maybe 40 years since I visited. In continuous use for god bothering since at least 597, and possibly built 4th Century if you believe that Bede fellow. The central part is Saxon, most of the rest (inc tower) dates to the 1300s.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Typical spring day in #Edinburgh - snowing heavily.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
A visit to the #BritishMuseum confirms that the Romans must have played cricket. Here's a statue of a Roman umpire in match regalia giving a batsman out. Billy Bowden notably used the same "Roman" style to dismiss a batsman. #cricket #rome
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
A long walk in #London today. Maybe 15 years since I last did it, and today's skyline is a bit different. Hyde Park to Marble Arch, to Buckingham Palace, to the South Bank by Westminster and on to Tower Bridge and then back over the river and on to Covent Garden. The weather brought out the crowds.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Those enjoying the #Olympic #curling may (or may not!) enjoy our preprint on the rock physics of curling stones. Not quite out of the peer review process, but it should help you get to sleep after all the excitement 😃 doi.org/10.5194/egus...
doi.org
Where curling stones collide with rock physics: Cyclical damage accumulation and fatigue in granitoids
Abstract. Fatigue and damage accumulation in granitoids are classical, but poorly characterised, rock mechanics problems. We explore these phenomena by examining curling stone impacts. Curling stones ...
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Congratulations to the person who designed the seats in the departures area of Luton Airport. Quite astonishingly uncomfortable.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Today is the birthday of the absolute Rolls Royce of fast bowlers - Michael Holding. A graceful run-up and action, searing pace, and absolute aggression. More lately one of the best commentators on the game. One of my favourite players I watched in my youth. #whisperingdeath
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
As a geologist who likes to read about history and archaeology, it's always a pleasure to be able to contribute to research papers on those topics.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Forza Azzurri! #6Nations #ItavSco A good win for Italy against Scotland in some filthy conditions in Rome.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
I remember them growing-up down south in God's own county of Kent. I believe that they used to come with a free wasp.
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Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · 26/01/2026
He was bound to drop that scarf in some time zone or other.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
He's in Reform - it's a requirement to be a wrong-un.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
A light dusting of snow on #Edinburgh castle today.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
At least Bethell has shown he has the skill and temperament for test cricket... Just so long as it's the second innings of the game. #ashes
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I've just watched the "highlights" from the 5th Test in Sydney. Will Jack's, can't bat, can't bowl, can't field. Potts was bowling like a loose popgun. England a shambles. Travis Head and Steve Smith played well for their tons. This has been a poor #Ashes series - poor cricket and some poor pitches.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
York providing the scenery (and pubs) for the Xmas and New Year break.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
I can't get excited about England winning at the MCG, even though it's the first win on Australian soil since 2011. It's not that the #Ashes is a dead rubber, it's more that the quality of cricket from both sides at the MCG was dismal. #bbccricket #TMS
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Staying in an AirBnB. Very nice, and comfortable. BUT, there are 7 (seven!) pillows on the bed, including the decorative ones that are no f****** use to man nor beast, FFS. There are only 5 coat hangers in the wardrobe. WT actual F? Why would you do that?
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Not to be confused with caledonite ... although I always do.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
... And that concludes this year's synchrotron based research. Four hectic beamtime sessions covering the properties of energetic materials, damage and seismicity in real and synthetic rocks, plus some weird rocks from ocean drilling. I've earned my pint of Three Brewers Porter.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I can't recall a test match winning position (100+ runs ahead, 9 wickets in hand) being lost so comprehensively or so quickly. Just a handful of hours for England to slump to an 8 wicket #ashes2025 defeat. 🤡🤡🤡s
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
As it turns out, I didn't much enjoy listening to day 2 of #ashes2025 overnight. England's batters covering themselves in glory once again 🙄
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Just watched the #Ashes2025 highlights from day 1 in Perth. A ridiculous day of cricket. Some shocking batting by England, although fair play to Mitchell Starc's bowling. Grand, aggressive fast bowling by England to come roaring back. Looking forward to listening to day 2 on the radio overnight.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 04/10/2025
Salisbury Cathedral today - I was avoiding the fringes of Storm Amy. Spectacular architecture, and Magna Carta (did she die in vain?).
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Scott Macintyre @bibiothecarius.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Fake microscopy images generated by AI are indistinguishable from the real thing www.chemistryworld.com/news/fake-mi... #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #ChatGPT #AcademicSky #AcademicChatter #Research #Ethics #Microscopy #Nanoscience #ScholarlyPublishing #AcademicPublishing #Misconduct #Fraud
chemistryworld.com
Fake microscopy images generated by AI are indistinguishable from the real thing
Materials scientists warn that raw data and replication studies are needed to tackle the looming threat of near-undetectable AI fraud
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Wainwright pub, Keswick. A pint of Sneck Lifter. Thought I'd never have one again after the Marstons vandalism of Jennings Brewery. Glad to see it back, and brewed independently. A Cumbrian classic. #camra #beer
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
F*** me gently! ... Just asked for a 1/3 of an imperial stout (just a third, it's 14% ABV after all). Was warned that it's £9 for a third. HOW MUCH!? That's 27 quid a pint! Old codger alert, but I can recall when a fiver bought a night out (including a bag of chips).
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John Burn-Murdoch @jburnmurdoch.ft.com · 09/09/2025
British NIMBYism is truly a sight to behold. “We are rejecting this solar farm, because one time I saw an electric vehicle on fire, which reminded me that decades ago a coal mining disaster killed lots of children”.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
If you make loud phone calls using speakerphone while in a pub, it could be a sign that you're a c**t.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
England were thrashed by SA earlier this week, and today England pulled off a record win against SA. It's like modern sides have little or no batting resilience - once a few wickets are lost, the collapse follows soon after. #bbccricket #tms #cricket #EngvSA
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
Saw this in the latest edition of Elements. A bit harsh, I think ... Molybdenite isn't *that* boring and it's a useful high temp lubricant (where would experiment al petrology be without it?).
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
From a pub in Brierly Hill - the Fox and Grapes. This was part of a photo montage celebrating the Baggies, including WBA greats like Cyrille Regis (among others). 1931 FA cup final ( WBA 2 Birmingham 1) ... They don't write advertising strap lines like this any more.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
#EngvSwe #Lionesses Never in doubt, that one.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Another reminder today that Test Cricket is the absolute pinnacle of sport. Enthralling drama through the match building to a climax on the final day. #EngvInd #cricket
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
In a viking themed pub in York (Valhalla) ... The signs on the stairs are obviously in case Odin pops in for a draft of mead. The poor old bugger's got no depth perception, after all. Far less H&S back in the 8th C.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Ben Duckett MOTM, Joe Root the 🐐
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
England win by 5 wickets ... But what a test match. Only the third game in history in which both sides have scored more than 350 in each innings. Brilliant by both sides, but ultimately India didn't have the bowling to back up Jasprit Bumrah. #EngvInd #bbccricket #tms
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
#EngvWI Joe Root, arrives at the crease at 2-2, still there are 312-7. England are Donald-Ducked without him. Rooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!!!!!
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Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
The BSL during Finland was sensational #Eurovision
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Why did the polar bear have a saucepan? Experience: I fought off a polar bear with a saucepan www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
theguardian.com
Experience: I fought off a polar bear with a saucepan
I pulled back the tent flap and there it was, an arm’s length away. So I reached for the closest weapon to hand – my mother’s old porridge-encrusted pot
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Our new paper doi.org/10.1016/j.jc... on hydrogen/brine flow in #geological porous media is out and open access. Time resolved 2D and 3D imaging at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron reveals Haines jumps, intermittent flow and variable H2 connectivity during two phase flow.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Superb spring day in #Edinburgh, so time for a visit to the Botanics in the sunshine.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
New online our group's latest paper using X-ray microtomographic data to study shear band formation in porous sandstone doi.org/10.1016/j.js.... Congratulations to Claudia Elijas-Parra, the lead author, who started this as an internship project.
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Ian Butler @drbutty.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
England just shaded it in Cardiff by 68 points to 14. Good to see England take their chances - sorry to see Wales so weak in so many aspects of the game. #WalvEng #6N
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