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James Ferrando

@jamesferrando.bsky.social
358 followers 1K following 50 posts

Particle physicist at Lancaster University @atlasexperiment.bsky.social. Personal account, all views expressed are my own

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Reposted by James Ferrando
Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Nature has published a tribute to Dolly Parton 💔 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Dolly Parton dies aged 80 – researchers celebrate her contributions to science
The country singer was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities.
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Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
New post, on why people shouldn't 'never-skill' themselves with AI: kucharski.substack.com/p/dont-never...
kucharski.substack.com
Don’t 'never-skill' yourself with AI
If you rent your abilities from AI companies, other people can rent them too
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Interesting study from the Higher-Education Policy Institute on the benefits and costs of international students for the UK economy www.hepi.ac.uk/reports/hepi...
hepi.ac.uk
The benefits and costs of international higher education students to the UK economy - HEPI
A new report reveals how international students support jobs, growth and local economies across every UK constituency.
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Delighted for Ecuador. ¡Qué emocion!
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Dr Jamie Gallagher @jamiebgall.co.uk · 29/05/2026
🚨 all science officers to the bridge 🚨 I’m looking for Scientists to come and speak at Destination, the Star Trek convention in Blackpool. 30 min + 15 min questions on any science topic linked to the show. (£125 + weekend pass for 2 people) 21-23 Aug. DM if interested.
A photo of Ethan peck, Christina Chong, Star Trek uniforms and a Lego Voyager space ship.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
'The government is understood to be currently determining the level of next year’s Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) – the money given to universities to support teaching, including for high-cost subjects.' 1/2
timeshighereducation.com
Further teaching grant cuts ‘would undermine tuition fee rise’
Ministers urged to protect budget for ‘strategic priorities’ as government funding cuts over past decade place higher burden on graduates
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Jon Butterworth @jonbutterworth.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
What do you get if you bring a Hydrogen ion together with an Oxygen ion? Well... it kind of depends how violently you bring them together 😊 atlas.cern/Updates/Brie...
atlas.cern
ATLAS turns into a cosmic-ray laboratory with proton-oxygen collisions
The ATLAS Collaboration reports its first measurement of proton-oxygen collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These results transform the ATLAS experiment into a cosmic-ray laboratory, helping...
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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Mueller’s FBI persecuted Muslims nationwide. He was responsible for one of the most egregious, systemic violations of civil rights in the history of the FBI, which is saying a whole lot. This was Mueller’s FBI:
wired.com
FBI Teaches Agents: 'Mainstream' Muslims Are 'Violent, Radical'
The FBI is teaching its agents that ordinary American Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers; that the Prophet Mohammed was a “cult leader”; and that Islamic charity is no more than a “fundin...
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Jon Butterworth @jonbutterworth.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
An open letter has been sent to Lord Vallance from 57 heads of UK physics departments and institutes, including all of the heads of physics departments of the Russell group. www.iop.org/about/news/o...
iop.org
Open letter to the Science Minister from Heads of Physics
Heads of Physics departments have expressed concern about UKRI funding changes.
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
🤖NEW POST ON AI🤖 Perhaps you're thinking like Brenda from Bristol, 'not another one!' but... I felt that lots of writing about Claude Code doesn't really show you how it works. So I thought well, why not? And along the way some bad literary allusions. 1/n benansell.substack.com/p/the-appren...
benansell.substack.com
The Apprentice's Sorcerer
Or I how I learned to start worrying and love Claude Code
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Post a banger not in English youtu.be/rmv8m1d3PVc?...
youtu.be
Hello Seahorse! - La Flotadera
YouTube video by Hello Seahorse! Oficial
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Love the usage of and collaboration with the marvel multiverse TTRPG in this month's Snap developer update www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7TV...
youtube.com
Dragons | Developer Update | January 2026
YouTube video by MarvelSnap
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Gaye Murray @tortymurray.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Missing dog in Hamburg, Germany 👇 🙏 Repost if have followers around there
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Every ad now
[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]

JANET:
Ugh...

LIZ:
What's up?

JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!

LIZ:
Have you tried...

AI peas?

JANET:
AI peas?

LIZ:
They're peas with AI!

[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].

LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas

JANET:
What

LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]

Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?

[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]

LIZ:

Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine

[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]

LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!

JANET:
What

LIZ:
Shut up

LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow

From opening the bag of peas

to boiling the peas

to eating the peas

To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.

JANET:
Is it really necessary to-

LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET

[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:

AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.

[Ends]
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
Interested in a fully funded PhD place in Experimental Particle Physics in Edinburgh? We have fully funded studentships, including a specific scholarship for students from a Black heritage (including mixed Black background). More info: inspirehep.net/jobs/3080808
inspirehep.net
INSPIRE
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Sad news. It was fantastic to be taught by Robin as a student and then to work with him as a colleague.
hertford.ox.ac.uk
Professor Robin Devenish (1942–2025) - Hertford College | University of Oxford
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Hertford Emeritus Fellow Robin Devenish, who died peacefully at home surrounded by his family on 27 October. Robin was appointed to a Un...
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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 28/10/2025
There's still time to apply for our Career Development Fellowship scheme, which aims to support the retention in STEM of researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. The deadline for this application round is Wednesday 19 November: royalsociety.org/grants/career-deve…
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Physics World @physicsworld.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Tuning the treatment laser to the collagen absorption peak could enable efficient pancreatic tumour ablation with minimal damage to healthy tissue. 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/resonant-l...
physicsworld.com
Resonant laser ablation selectively destroys pancreatic tumours – Physics World
A mid-infrared femtosecond laser tuned to the collagen absorption peak can ablate pancreatic cancer while preserving healthy pancreatic tissues
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Here’s the link to the full @royalsociety.org report on UK researcher visa costs compared to other countries royalsociety.org/news-resourc...
royalsociety.org
UK immigration costs: an international comparison of skilled worker, researcher and student visas in 2025 | Royal Society
2025 update to the Royal Society's analyses of upfront immigration costs in the UK and 17 other leading science nations.
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
If any Labour MPs are reading (go on, you know you want to), as someone trying to hire six new Oxford professors in AI / experiments / big data / all the stuff you say you want, I would really appreciate knowing if new hires can, you know, stay in the country they move to... current policy is chaos
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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
All of which is to say, this has costs, for us in HE sure, but also for business, medicine, finance, tech, arts and entertainment, pharmaceuticals. The industries that this country is a world leader in. And if you cannot fathom why this uncertainty is a problem then you are not fit to govern.
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German Embassy London @uk.diplo.de · 03/10/2025
“This morning, Germany is one nation again.” This is how BBC Breakfast News reported on German reunification, 35 years ago today.
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University of Oxford @ox.ac.uk · 03/09/2025
Daybreak over the Bridge of Sighs 🌅 📷 Instagram | Juncao_Oxford
Aerial view of Oxford at sunrise, showcasing historic buildings and a vibrant sky.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
We are calling on the UK Government to not introduce a levy on higher education provider income from international students, reduce visa costs to attract global talent, and to review higher education funding to create a sustainable model www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/58...
• Discontinue the idea of introducing a levy on higher education provider income from international students.
• Reduce visa costs to ensure they are at least as competitive in cost as other leading science nations, and preferably have a target to become the mos competitive in the G7.
• Provide immediate clarity that the current time length for Indefinite Leave to Remain is kept in place for current and future Global Talent visa holders and their dependents.
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John Williams @johnhuww.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
“High visa fees are putting off some of the world’s most talented scientists from coming to the UK,” said Foulkes, with “We need to be able to compete for the world’s best scientists.” research institutes forced to divert funds from labs to pay fees.” observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk
Cancer research ‘set back years’ as visa fees drive scien...
With vital studies being shelved and foreign experts turning down jobs, leading charity urges ministers to act
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
A couple of thoughts on genAI. Even if it was brilliant, worked perfectly, and did not hallucinate, I would not want it in an undergraduate setting in an unguarded manner.
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Iain Coleman @iaincoleman.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Your reminder that you can create your own Bayeux Tapestry at home, using: htck.github.io/bayeux/#!/
An archer with a bow confronting an unarmed man. The archer is saying "Hast thou betrayed us? Hast thou betrayed me?". The unarmed man responds "Avon, I was waiting for thee".
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ATLAS Experiment @atlasexperiment.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
The ATLAS Collaboration at @cern.bsky.social has just launched a new release of #opendata designed to empower education, outreach and #citizenscience! Explore the new release ⤵️ opendata.atlas.cern/docs/categor...
opendata.atlas.cern
13 TeV (2025 Beta Release) | ATLAS Open Data
Welcome to the tutorial page for the 2025 13 TeV beta release. Please, start by choosing your enviroment and continue as needed.
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Marcello the Valiant DM @mdvaliant573.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Pick them up! Systems easy and fun. TBH we’ve had such a good time playing that nothing was lost by stopping to learn something we missed. Just remember M.A.R.V.E.L … #ttrpg
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Professor Anna Vignoles @annavignoles.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Big day @leverhulme.ac.uk - we are celebrating our centenary by investing £100m in blue skies research and doctoral centres. Here I explain why... @wonkhe.bsky.social Research funding requires research capacity wonkhe.com/blogs/resear...
wonkhe.com
Research funding requires research capacity
The Leverhulme Trust is investing an extra £100m in supporting research next year. Anna Vignoles calls for new thinking on ways to sustain university research infrastructures
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Shamelessly replugging this from two years ago. We would never look at the proportion of, say, schools, that don't turn out literate pupils and go 'oh well, probably those kids were better off out of it'. We shouldn't view the short tail of bad courses and/or outcomes any differently:
ft.com
Everyone needs educating in the fight over university degrees
Political confusion over the purpose of these institutions means the obvious fixes are being neglected
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Mattia Walschaers @walschaers.eu · 16/06/2025
Dear friends and colleagues from the physics community, be sure not to forget that you can nominate young researchers for the early career prize of New Journal of Physics! 🏆 iopscience.iop.org/journal/1367...
iopscience.iop.org
Early Career Award - New Journal of Physics - IOPscienceSearch
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Dr Naomi Jacobs @ladylark.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
Sharing on behalf of colleagues: Lancaster University Library is looking to commission an artist to create a mural to promote its new Graphic Novels Collection. Deadline for applications this Friday (20th June), details here: tr.ee/JKSl7cv-Ei
A promotional poster with the Lancaster University Library logo styled as a comic panel: Calling all artists! The library is commissioning a mural to celebrate and promote its new Graphic Novels Collection! Paid opportunity. Submission Deadline: Friday 20th June. QR code links to url https://tr.ee/JKSl7cv-Ei
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
Occasionally updated thread of songs that I am particularly enjoying at the time: Susana Baca's song for the Desaparecidos open.spotify.com/track/5OYKJl... (A cover of an original song by Natalia Lafourcade) 1/X
open.spotify.com
Hasta La Raíz
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Patrick Koppenburg 🐧 @koppenburg.ch · 28/05/2025
💣 The Muon g-2 theory initiative dropped their update. Bottom line: the g-2 anomaly is gone. arxiv.org/abs/2505.21476 🧪⚛️
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Tristan du Pree @tristandupree.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Check it out: two open PhD positions and a postdoc position in our ATLAS group at @nikhef.bsky.social. On the search for double-Higgs production in the LHC Run-3 data! ➡️ jobs.nikhef.nl
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James Ferrando @jamesferrando.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
A little late posting this news item about the recent Breakthrough prize award to the LHC experiments (with Lancaster context) www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/-atlas-...
lancaster.ac.uk
ATLAS Collaboration awarded Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics - Lancaster University
The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN has been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for its pioneering studies of the high-energy collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
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Tristan du Pree @tristandupree.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Application deadline this week!
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Patrick Koppenburg 🐧 @koppenburg.ch · 06/04/2025
Amazing: they list all past and present members of the 4 LHC collaborations. Here's @lhcb.bsky.social breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/1/...
breakthroughprize.org
Breakthrough Prize – Fundamental Physics Breakthrough Prize Laureates – LHCb Collaboration
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Kyle Cranmer @kylecranmer.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
An unexpected surprise. The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics honors over 13,000 researchers whose labors have led to the precise description the Higgs mechanism, … breakthroughprize.org/News/91 @CERN
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Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
I'd like to tell you a story about a scientist you may not have heard of, but who shaped a lot of modern health research... 🧵
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Dr Claire Malone PhD @geeknproud42.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the election of trailblazing scientist Kathleen Lonsdale FRS to the Royal Society have begun with the release of an excellent short documentary. Watch here: www.youtube.com/royalsociety #WomenInSTEM #STEMHeritage #InspiringWomen #ScienceHistory
youtube.com
The Royal Society
The Royal Society is a Fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. We aim to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science...
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ATLAS Experiment @atlasexperiment.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Tune in today at 11 AM CET for a live LHC Seminar on new measurements of the top quark! ATLAS physicist Mark Owens will present a new study that has boosted the precision of the top quark mass measurement. Watch live: cern.ch/atlas-webinar
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Tristan du Pree @tristandupree.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
📢 We're hiring! 📢 In the context of our ENW-XL grant 'The Full Potential of the Higgs' we have 3 open PhD positions in our ATLAS group at Nikhef on the exciting search for double-Higgs production in the LHC Run-3 data! ➡️ jobs.nikhef.nl/jobs/3-phd-p... @nikhef.bsky.social
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Sylvie Lomer @selomer42.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Academics travelling to the US need to be aware of this - if hotel costs count as illegal work, any paid for speaking invitations could put us at risk.
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
🏅🏅🏅 We've been at the German Embassy in London this evening for the awarding of the 2025 Caroline Herschel Medal to Lancaster University astrophysicist Professor Isobel Hook. ⤵️
Professor Isobel Hook receives the 2025 Caroline Herschel Medal at a ceremony at the German Embassy in London.A programme for the event, featuring the logos of the Royal Astronomical Society, German Astronomical Society and German Embassy in London.Professor Hook gives a talk on supernovae and their role in the search for mysterious dark energy.
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Freya Blekman @freyablekman.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
CMSPaper 1368 is the big result of last year: The CMS experiment's super-precise measurement of the W boson mass. Showing that a 'messy' hadron collider can still be used for precision physics, we just need to calibrate, calibrate, calibrate (and work together) buff.ly/4gezpJw
summary plot comparing the CMS result to other measurements. We do really well, it's a very precise resultdistribution of W boson candidates (in the muon channel) that are used in this measurement. Check out the ratio plot to see the precision.
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ATLAS Experiment @atlasexperiment.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
This International Women’s Day, 8 March, we challenged 8 brilliant women from ATLAS to tell us about each other — with no scripts, just physics! Join us in celebrating the diversity, talent and dedication of the women who help drive our Collaboration forward every day: shorturl.at/OvlIH
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Una Bergmane @unabergmane.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
European alternatives for digital products
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Derek Thompson @dkthomp.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Unbelievable news. Pancreatic is one of the deadliest cancers. New paper shows personalized mRNA vaccines can induce durable T cells that attack pancreatic cancer, with 75% of patients cancer free at three years—far, far better than standard of care. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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