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Elmar Kal

@elmarkal.bsky.social
492 followers 643 following 16 posts

Senior lecturer in Physiotherapy @Brunel University London. Movement scientist with interest in balance, gait and motor learning.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Elmar Kal
Spokane Rising @spokanerising.com · 29/09/2026
Send Stephen Miller to The Hague.
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Pieter Medendorp @pmedendorp.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Come to work with us at the Donders Institute: www.ru.nl/en/working-a... #pleaseshare
ru.nl
Junior Postdoc Position: Sensorimotor Neuroscience | Radboud University
Do you want to work as a Postdoc 'Sensorimotor Neuroscience' at the Faculty of Social Sciences? Check our vacancy!
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Lotfi El Hamidi @lotfielhamidi.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Sprakeloos.
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Rayner is correct: these proposals are economically damaging and politically counterproductive. Pretty clear that view is now almost universal in the Cabinet/Labour Party and the informed public. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Angela Rayner condemns Labour’s migrant visa crackdown
Speaking before the party conference, the housing secretary says Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plans would affect care workers
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Nadia Bouras @nadiabouras.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dat Nederland toch meedoet aan het Songfestival is exemplarisch voor het laffe Nederlandse beleid tegenover Israel. Vervelend, die genocide op de Palestijnen, maar het moet voor óns natuurlijk wel gezellig blijven.
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Thousands of university jobs lost too, and barely a peep either.
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Jonathan Calder @lordbonkers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
One for every Labour MP to read. #ldconf
lincolnshirelive.co.uk
30 years ago, Lincoln was 'on its knees' - then the university arrived
The construction of the University of Lincoln marked a turning point in the city's fortunes
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
As horrific as the targeting of children is, let's not pretend this is the action of one person, or even isolated to US. In UK, Labour is pushing policies with the same outcome, and which would see British born children deported to countries they have never seen. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Trump ally Stephen Miller leads sweeping push to accelerate removal of migrant children
Exclusive: key White House loyalist orchestrating multi-agency effort condemned by critics as cruel and racist
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Nick Holmes @thehandlab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
ahhh, that MANDATORY stress-relief training really hits the spot
Dear colleague,

Creating a healthy, supportive working environment is a shared priority, and we are pleased to introduce a new Stress Management Policy and Stress Awareness Training for all staff.

Following the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspection and associated action plan, these developments will help us strengthen the way we identify, prevent and manage work-related stress, while ensuring colleagues have access to the support, tools and guidance they need to thrive at work.

What you need to do
Complete the mandatory Stress Awareness Training via My Learning.
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
What a terrible thing to defund. Sure, improve access, but don't end the youth parliament! #democracy - it would be a good idea: we need a world where everyone makes politics what they do, not have done to them @younggreens.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK Youth Parliament looks set to be axed
Some say scrapping the parliament for 11 to 18-year-olds would be a blow for democracy, while others say it is overdue.
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Chris Aalberts @chrisaalberts.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Het zou de hele dag over dit nieuws moeten gaan. www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
nrc.nl
Poolse premier Tusk: Rusland plant aanvallen met drones en raketten op bondgenoten Oekraïne
De Poolse premier Donald Tusk waarschuwt voor aanvallen door Rusland met drones en raketten op NAVO-lidstaten. In een ingelaste toespraak voor het Poolse parlement zei hij donderdag te beschikken over...
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Joris Luyendijk @jorisluyendijk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Trots als een aap ben ik, en eindelijk kan iedereen zien waarom. Van mijn bankenboek is een korte fictie film gemaakt, Free Fall. Echt goed gemaakt, won overal prijzen en haalde longlists en shortlists van Cannes tot de Oscars. Nu staat-ie dan gratis op Youtube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BTF...
youtube.com
Free Fall | A Trader Sees an Opportunity on 9/11
YouTube video by Samansa US
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Honestly, might be better if government ministers kept their half-baked views on education to themselves
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Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Dismayed by defeat of the assisted dying bill. Nothing was won today – no new palliative care funding, no new disability support. And the suffering that brought this bill to parliament remains.
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Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Dark day indeed
humanists.uk
Assisted Dying Bill narrowly fails – a dark day for democracy
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has been narrowly voted down at its Second Reading in the House of Commons. The vote was 270 in favour, 286 against. Andrew Copson, Chief Executive at Huma...
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Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I am sorry, I may have said this before, but there really are moments when British politics are astonishingly naive, and I really think this may have something to do with the fact that the British have not experienced occupation, tyranny, displacemen within living memory.
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Oliver Bullough @oliverbullough.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
The fact something as fundamental and superb as the RNLI is a charity is one of the most magical and strange things about Britain. You can support them here. rnli.org/support-us/g...
rnli.org
Donate to the RNLI and help save lives at sea
Your donations really make a difference. We depend on your generosity to educate people to stay safe and prevent tragedies on and offshore. Donate here.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
New PISA data out England is now top ten in all three areas (reading, maths, science) and the second highest performing country outside of east Asia (after Estonia). This is a huge public policy success.
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Larry the Cat @number10cat.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Since its foundation in 1824 the bravery of Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers has saved more than 146,700 lives at sea. Hundreds of those volunteers have died attempting to save others. They are the best of us.
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David Veevers @davidveevers.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Hey, I’ve got a sector far more valuable than car manufacturing to the economy which has lost TENS of thousands of jobs and looks forecast to lose TENS of thousands more, just if any minister is interested…
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Seems the difference between ‘protestors’ and ‘terrorists’ is that protestors wear balaclavas while terrorists hold placards.
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On the Media @onthemedia.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
There is a world in which AI could be used to actually improve our lives rather than make everything worse, but it will take drastically rethinking the current AI rollout — and empowering workers, @doctorow.pluralistic.net said.
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Esther Anatolitis @anatolitis.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“Instead of a group discussion or a tutor teaching you, it’s a class activity done with a robot… I feel like I’m teaching this robot how to take jobs away from my teachers.” It’s the @doctorow.pluralistic.net Reverse Centaur to yet another perilous new extreme: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
Macquarie University swaps in-person psychology classes with AI chatbot for two subjects
University’s move is part of trend that critics within academia say will lead to further staff cuts and the loss of ‘everything that makes the job worth doing’
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Bylines Network @bylinesnetwork.co.uk · 01/09/2026
Sewage Watch – Protect our rivers and beaches Since April 2023 Sewage Watch has been keeping a running log of press coverage on the state of sewage dumping into our rivers and onto our beaches westenglandbylines.co.uk/features/bro...
westenglandbylines.co.uk
Sewage Watch – Protect our rivers and beaches
Since April 2023 Sewage Watch has been keeping a running log of press coverage on the state of sewage dumping into our rivers and onto our beaches
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
It might actually be impossible for a Tory to win in London at the moment. Because to win in London you do actually have to show that you love London and the modern Tory party stands opposed to everything London represents.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 28/08/2026
London Science Museum cuts links with BP after decades of partnership
theguardian.com
London Science Museum cuts links with BP after decades of partnership
Campaigners say ‘seismic shift’ follows years of pressure to sever ties with oil and gas firm The London Science Museum has ended its decades-long partnership with the oil and gas company BP in what has been described as a “seismic shift” for the museum. The Science Museum Group academy, which was established in 2018 to provide training and resources, announced on Friday that it would be ending its partnership with BP. In a statement, the director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, Sir Ian Blatchford, said the partnership had “drawn to a close at the end of the current contract term”. Continue reading...
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Dr Julie Doughty @juliedoughty.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
worrying
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Labour's approach to Higher Education is a non-policy shaped by confusion, inertia and disinterest
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Victoria Bosch @initself.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Are brains and artificial neural networks converging onto universal representations? There is a seductive idea making the rounds in NeuroAI / machine learning: train systems well enough, and they all converge on the same representation of reality (i.e. a unique world model). We have thoughts™ 1/n
cell.com
The Umwelt Representation Hypothesis: rethinking Universality
Recent studies reveal striking representational alignment between artificial neural networks (ANNs) and biological brains, leading to proposals that all sufficiently capable systems converge on univer...
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Israel's E1 settlement project is the behaviour of a rogue state. It requires a very firm response. inews.co.uk/opinion/were...
inews.co.uk
We're about to find out who Andy Burnham really is
Ian Dunt: Our new PM is starting to look tough and decisive
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Powerful and important letter about artificial so-called intelligence from Sheila Hayman from Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge, in the FT today
Margaret McGirr’s letter (“AI can lend a hand, but it will struggle to replace one”, July 21) and Chine McDonald’s guest column (“This retro revival is more than a longing for the past”, Opinion, August 7) both touch (sic) on something that should be obvious, but is carefully ignored by almost everyone in the tech world. Namely that our intelligence is embodied, evolved and biological, and inseparable from our bodies.
The brain’s job is to control the body in the world; it is the last organ to develop.
Every square centimetre of our hands (and of the rest of our skin) contains about a 170 touch sensors or nerve endings, sensitive to different kinds of touch: a slap, a burn, a caress, a hug — each of which travels to different parts of the midbrain, prompting the appropriate response. Quickly to the autonomic nervous system for something dangerous; more slowly via a different channel for something carrying meaning.
In addition to the hand’s limitless versatility, it is self-repairing, regulates its own temperature, knows without being programmed how much pressure to exert on an egg, a tennis ball or a day-old chick, and can fuse neurologically to whatever it holds.
So when we put a glass down on the table or slide a knife through an apple, we feel the table, or the apple, not the glass or handle in our hand (try it!).
Finally, and most urgently, the entire human body — including the hands — does everything on 25 or so watts of completely renewable energy: a tiny fraction of what a humanoid robot, even one of the current primitive iteration of robots, needs.
The “retro revival” is thus not cultural nostalgia.
It’s millions of years of evolution crying out to be heard, before we suppress it totally in the service of an automated — and dead — planet.
Sheila Hayman
Member of the Advisory Board, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, University of Cambridge, London NW1, UK
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
The Netherlands has pulled out of Eurovision 2027, saying the contest "can no longer be considered neutral" due to divisions over the Gaza war and Israel's participation.
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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 24/08/2026
As Canada is learning (the hard way), the "art" of all of Trump's deals can be summed up in a single word: "renege": pluralistic.net/2026/07/22/t... 1/
A Canadian flag, its elements replaced with circuit boards. In the foreground, a bent-double, exhausted Uncle Sam trudges over rocky terrain, shlepping a giant sack on his back. Centered in the maple leaf is the word SORRY.
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Gavin Sheridan @gavinsblog.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The best cities to experience are the ones where cars are not given total access, but people are.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Grenfell cladding firm Arconic paid shareholders $31m more than to fire victims/survivors. 72 Britons died in fire due to faulty cladding. US shareholders sued for inadequate disclosures about cladding, received $74m compensation. Victims of fire, their families received $43m. No one prosecuted.
theguardian.com
Grenfell cladding firm Arconic paid shareholders £23m more in compensation than to fire victims
Report’s author said findings highlighted ‘near-total failure’ to hold corporations accountable over the disaster that killed 72 people
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Cat Hobbs @cathobbs.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Well done Feargal Sharkey for calling out the privatised water companies on #r4today 🔥 "They leak over a TRILLION litres of water per year" I think people are happy to be part of the solution - once they're not being ripped off by privatisation PUBLIC OWNERSHIP NOW
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/08/2026
14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
The treatment of Jason Arday was massively out of proportion to his faults. People who have committed terrible crimes have received less scrutiny, yet I don't believe anything he did or said even crossed the threshold of criminality. How many of us would have survived what he was put through? 🧵
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Tanita Tikaram @tanitatikaram.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
White professor ‘ MattGPT ‘ whose most recent book contained fabricated quotations, non-existent source references, & left ChatGPT URLs accidentally embedded in footnotes is sad about Jason Arday’s death but still wants Arday & all black academia held to higher standards than his own writing .
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Rebecca Nagle @rebeccanagle.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Trump just shrunk Bears Ears by 91% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 90%. Bears Ears was the first national monument co-managed by tribes. Five tribes spent years building that partnership. It's been walked back. 100,000+ archeological sites now exposed to mining and drilling.
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Myrthe Hilkens @myrthehilkens.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Al de hele dag over dit beeld aan het nadenken. Terwijl de wereld in de fik staat en (S)hell monsterwinsten boekt, paradeert de premier in Shell-tenue voor een fotomoment; champagne voor Shell. Wat een historische plaat… for all the wrong reasons. Een nieuw dieptepunt. Afschuwelijk.
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Dr Michele V @micheleveldsman.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This is an excellent analogy. We risk destroying academia this way. We already have perverse incentives that can create reverse centaur conditions
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Anjali Dayal @anjalikdayal.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
“One baby at a time, the world is marching toward a grim milestone: Because of global cuts to foreign aid, the Gates Foundation has predicted that 2025 will be the first year this century where child deaths will increase.” apnews.com/article/usai...
apnews.com
USAID fallout: In Nepal, when the aid workers stopped coming, the women and babies started dying
The Associated Press has found that the decision by the United States to slash its foreign aid funding last year has increased pregnancy complications and deaths in Nepal.
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Isa Yusibov @isayusibov.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Ik moest dit ook even kwijt.
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Arthur Snell @snellarthur.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I imagine there were Victorians who said “we can’t afford sewers”, knowing that deaths from poor sanitation happened mostly to people they didn’t know. This is much more serious, of course.
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Alom Shaha @alomshaha.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Clearly, our leaders have all stopped worrying and learned to love climate change.
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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 09/08/2026
The UK’s willingness to blow up its two genuine world-leading industries (finance and higher education) is quite something.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I know he has a lot on, but in the midst of a ferocious drought, fires, heat events and severe threats to food production, it would be quite edifying to hear Andy Burnham mention climate breakdown.
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Dr Nick @nmwilkinson.eurosky.social · 04/08/2026
Could a simple "Ok, fuck off then" for racist users help to cut waiting times in the NHS? Discuss
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Doccy B 🌿🌿🐝🌿🦔🌿 @merylbatchelder.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Many people are ignoring that this year's heat and drought is going to cause serious food shortages. If you grow your own, like we do on our smallholding, the reduced harvest is sadly evident. We estimate ~40-50% reduction in many crops. It's high time to include school gardening in the curriculum!
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