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Mathew Nicolson

@eyjarskeggi.bsky.social
3.1K followers 9.2K following 1.1K posts

Did a PhD in Scottish island political & constitutional history, now working in public sector. Shetlander. Can be found doing things at: @EuropeElects.bsky.social @ShetlandElects.bsky.social @HistoryofElections.bsky.social @ScotHistNetwork.bsky.social

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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
No, I haven't
A lamp post sticker that says "Not bad. But have you been to Baden-Wurttemberg?"
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
After seeming to have cured my insomnia for about two years, it's now decided to make a return each night before the start of my working week. Thankfully Quebec, for some weird reason, schedules its elections on Mondays, so I appreciate the distraction www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
cbc.ca
Quebec election results | CBC News
Get the latest results from the 2026 Quebec election.
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Mr. Joshua @pantspants.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Pen, watercolor, black & white charcoal pencil.

Another featured piece from the Spooky Pants book.

A man in a sweater stands with his hands on his hips looking out of a large window with the curtains open. Things aren’t looking good outside, reader. A massive winged demon is emerging from the clouds as dozens of little ghosts and bone demons rip through the sky. On the ground below we see townsfolk running through the grass. Our man in the window is in no mood for this. He lets us know, “Oh, I am in no mood for this.” His dog looks out the window as well, wagging its tail. 

Fantasia (1940) inspired drawing. I think I could’ve gone a little heavier with the chaos outside but we’ll try again with fresh drawings this October. I like how the clouds turned out. Trying to balance my sloppy lines with more detail can be tricky but I think we achieved a good result.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
First time in my life picking apples off trees! My life ambition is now definitely to own an orchard - ideally in Shetland.
Red apples hanging from a tree.Red (and a couple of green) apples in a bag.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Perhaps the only cure to this will end up being having grown up in Shetland.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I am not particularly anti-AI by Bluesky standards but I will die before I listen to AI music
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I know from experience (trying to control sycamore growth near my family home) that these things are basically indestructible. It will come back more powerful than the fellers could possibly have imagined www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Hadrian's Wall Sycamore Gap tree stump shows 'encouraging' signs
A thick layer of growth surrounds the stump three years after the landmark was illegally felled.
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Charles McPhedran @charliekreuz.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
‼️ The historic National Academy of Sciences building in central Kyiv is burning, according to @christopherjm.ft.com
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This Many Years Ago @thismanyyearsago.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
64 years ago, on the 27th of September 1962, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring was published. It handled the environmental harm caused by the pesticide DDT and the disinformation spread by the chemical industry. Carson managed to sway public opinion and even policy. #otd #history 🗃️
Rachel Carson photo credit: Science History Images / Alamy
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The X algorithm is bad, but I increasingly think the blue tick system is worse. It ensures the first things people see are clickbait, often AI-generated posts that are optimised to gain attention. What generates attention? Ragebait and fearmongering. It's designed to reward agitators and grifters.
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Mae Nick Phra Khanong @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"Can AI feel pain and what should we do about—" you know we literally ground up billions of male baby chicks every year for being unproductive, right?
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Somehow managed to avoid getting a cold for a good 6-9 months and whew, these things are not fun, are they
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Entirely unrelated, but just realised that the Island of Sodor from Thomas the Tank Engine is basically Singapore
Fictional map of Island of Sodor placed next to a map of Singapore, with a remarkably similar shape
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Listening to the former Chief Minister of the Isle of Man discussing on the radio how the vote of the Bishop of Sodor and Man, who until this year had voting rights in the upper house, was a factor he had to navigate in his political career.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Pearl Harbour was a much less impressive military operation when you consider this
Map of Civilization VII's so-called "real world" map, showing the Pacific Ocean as more of a strait
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Is Claude conscious? Is ChatGPT sentient? These are boring questions. Was R2-D2 capable of free will? Did C-3P0 experience the spark of thought?
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Lil AI reached the rite of passage 🥲
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Deadline @deadline.com · 18/09/2026
The BBC has launched a tender process for 'Doctor Who,' calling on producers to pitch a "brave" new vision for the iconic sci-fi series.
bit.ly
'Doctor Who': BBC Calls On Producers To Pitch "Brave" Vision For Show
The BBC has launched a tender process for 'Doctor Who,' calling on producers to pitch a "brave" new vision for the iconic sci-fi series.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This sounds terrible, but it has successfully caught my interest and made me want to see it, so...
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The Barburrito this is replacing fuelled half my PhD - not sure I'd have got through it without that supply of quesadillas. www.edinburghlive.co.uk/best-in-edin...
edinburghlive.co.uk
Plans for Edinburgh to welcome 'world famous' donut chain opening first UK store
"We are confident that out unique brand and delicious doughnuts will be a hit with UK customers"
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Here we, here we go
A hand (mine) holding Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness on a train
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I felt pressure to like The Land of The Green Plums more than I did, probably because of the Nobel Prize. I understand what it was doing and some parts worked for me, but mostly it was a trudge to get through.
Herta Müller's The Land of Green plums book over, showing half of a young woman's face staring out with a bleak expression, partially cast in shadow.
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Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Deaths in New York and New Jersey this century. Two events stand out. Source: buff.ly/DNyuDvI
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value plus discounted @akhilrao.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
remakes can't keep getting away with it
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Things I was frightened of as a child: -death -gas masks (thanks, Doctor Who) -Halloween costumes -being told off -alcohol -God
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Endless Screaming @infinitescream.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Think it's not great that the internet is rapidly dividing into spaces that are either, "All hail our technofeudal and ethnonationalist AI grifter overlords" or "full Butlerian jihad now, every technological innovation since 1990 was a mistake."
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Birthday botanics
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Agree with this. It also feels like an attempt to reinterpret history to align with what we now know, rather than confront the complexity of writers/creators who did terrible things also having produced art that brought meaning and joy to many people.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This fun fact is the best birthday present I could have wished for
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Terrace @terrace.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Cutest and friendliest bee is even cuter and friendlier than you realized
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David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Manx space group urges election candidates to back treaty. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Manx space group urges election election candidates to back treaty
The Isle of Man Mars Society is urging politicians to sign an international space exploration agreement.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Are there any political parties - presumably on the left, but not necessarily - that have campaigned for workplace democracy? For the right of all workplaces to elect their management, perhaps even CEOs, and/or to engage in collective decision making?
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Just never feels like there's enough time
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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Something weird showed up in the data from the LZ dark-matter detector in South Dakota. It's a single event. It could be an error. But it's an intriguing, anomalous signal with no obvious physical observation...and "weird" can be the gateway to big discoveries. 🧪🔭 news.ucsb.edu/2026/022780/...
The LUX-ZEPLIN main detector in a surface lab before installation underground at the SURF facility in Lead, South Dakota.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Into this wild Abyss the wary Fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while... Unless the Almighty Maker them ordain His dark materials to create more worlds
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
At this rate, I'll start advocating for Pluto to be the test subject when we eventually build a death star www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Forbidden planet: was Pluto’s 2006 demotion a big mistake?
Since it was stripped of planetary status, Pluto’s defenders have been fighting the decision – and they’re only getting more passionate
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The electrically-powered aerial railway across the Kelvin which was displayed for the 1911 Scottish Exhibition should have been made a permanent feature!
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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Roman Space Telescope launches! I cannot WAIT to see these images, even if my monitor is like <1% the size needed to seem in toto. Also, a very pretty spiral galaxy via Hubble. Remember Hubble? We used to talk about it a lot. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/roman-spac... 🔭 🧪
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
Roman Space Telescope launches!
NASA’s newest telescope is in space. Also, an older ‘scope’s view of the gorgeous galaxy NGC 3137
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Baltic Takes (formerly badbaltictakes) @baltictakes.com · 31/08/2026
32 years ago today, the last Soviet/Russian occupation forces in the Baltics were made to gather up their jackets and move it to the exits, never to return.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Uhhh
"Titanic Escape Simulator", with a sinking steamship in the background
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Today I learned African elephants are evolving to be less likely to have tusks, which helps them survive against poaching. Equally fascinating and horrifying www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1...
npr.org
Elephants have evolved to be tuskless because of ivory poaching, a study finds
Researchers have pinpointed how years of civil war and poaching in Mozambique have led to a greater proportion of elephants that will never develop tusks.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
With the exception of three or so episodes, I thought the Ncuti Gatwa era of Doctor Who was pretty good.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My trend of getting into my Dad's music years after his death continues. Not sure there's anything else that sounds remotely like this. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KnY...
youtube.com
Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas (Official Video)
YouTube video by Cocteau Twins
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Interesting concept - "Book Festival: Getting to Grips With Trauma" lanternhousearts.org/book-festiva...
lanternhousearts.org
Book Festival: Getting to Grips with Trauma - Lanternhouse
The word ’trauma’ seems to be everywhere these days.  What happens when you explore it through a cultural lens? Find out as we bring together 24 Scottish authors whose work addresses that very questio...
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Whose idea was it for the new ScotRail app to require an internet connection to launch, thereby requiring a connection at all times to access a ticket? I just want to talk.
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Oh, Odysseus
"The final girl or survivor girl[1] is a trope in horror films (particularly slasher films).[2][3] It refers to the last surviving female character to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story"
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
My Mum keeps complaining that her Facebook feed is full of algorithmic content about Harry and Meghan (alongside other royals - Camilla another favourite, apparently). So the algorithm certainly thinks they generate clicks
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Mathew Nicolson @eyjarskeggi.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
"The desire to know and understand oneself is not novel, but this collective urge to.. describe the autistic experience en masse feels relatively new. When the power shifts to a community owning the language, there is profound discomfort in medical spaces and beyond." www.nsun.org.uk/uta-frith-co...
nsun.org.uk
Uta Frith confirms my longstanding grudge against psychology: there’s a problem with power and permission
When the power shifts to a community owning the language, there is profound discomfort in medical spaces and beyond.
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