iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The @rigb.org's Huxley portrait is **considerably** heavier than it looks. Fortunately, the rest of the evening belonged to @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social, a menagerie of extinct soft toys, and a fascinating exploration of extinction & de-extinction. 🎥 youtu.be/pISdCeZCYEg #histsci #envhist

youtu.be

The problem with de-extinction | with Sadiah Qureshi

YouTube video by The Royal Institution

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

A magic mirror looks perfectly ordinary until you reflect light from it onto a surface. Its "flat" face actually hides micron-deep curvature from the casting and polishing process. Invisible to eye or touch, but light never lies! 📐💡 Filming with Michael @bristoluni.bsky.social was so much fun 🤩 🪞

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Never a better occasion to have a gander at these beautiful plates in the @rigb.org’s collection. Taken by Warren de la Rue in 1860, they sought to settle the mysteries of the “tentacles of light” that only appeared during totalities…. 👉 www.rigb.org/explore-scie... 🧪🔭🌚 #histsci #eclipse

One of De la Rue's 1860 eclipse plates. You can see, to the left of the Moon looking at the photo, the bright "tentacles of light.” At the top, we can see notations on location and exposure time. Credit: Royal Institution Archives

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British Society for the Philosophy of Science @thebsps.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

We have published an open letter to the University of Exeter Executive Board expressing our concerns about proposed redundancies. Read it here: www.thebsps.org/news/open-le...

thebsps.org

Open Letter to University of Exeter Executive Board regarding proposed redundancies

- BSPS

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

We also do have a really unhealthy obsession with newspapers - delivered day and night to their own special room* (Morning Post, Saturday 12 March 1825) *After a few iterations, now the Sunley room, featuring slightly fewer newspapers.

long newspaper clipping from Morning Post, Saturday, 12 March 1825 detailing the use of the Ri

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

When people tell me they love the Royal Institute

Man leaning back holding a pen in the air saying “Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?”

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

How to cook is definitely assumes a lot less knowledge, and for understanding when things go wrong! (& on that, at some point I need to buy my own GH and not use my mums…)

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Leith’s How to Cook is good at teaching skills as well as essential recipes. Lots of step-by-step pictures and also some tips for what to do when things go wrong! And if nothing less, makes an excellent doorstop…

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Will Thomas @williamthomas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The Seventh AIP Early-Career Conference for Historians of the Physical Sciences will take place in Toronto, Canada, June 21-25, 2027. Supplementary travel funding provided. The call for submissions is now open and closes November 15. Details here: www.aip.org/history/earl...

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Royal Institution @rigb.org · 14/07/2026

ARCHIVIST Q&A TIME 🗃️ 🧪 We've been the home of science for over 200 years. Our collection is a treasure trove of science history...and we want to share the best bits with you! Now is your chance to pick Fran's brain and ask your questions—we'll answer a selection in a video! Pop your Qs below 👇

Fran is a young woman with short blond hair. She's standing in the Ri archive, which is lit by sodium bulbs which give the room a yellow tint. She is smiling and holding a piece of paper with text saying "ask the archivist"

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

You know it’s #eshs-hss when, despite your best efforts, it is simply impossible to attend even half of everything you’d like to

static.klipy.com

Confused Woman with Math Formulas

ALT: Confused Woman with Math Formulas

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Internships are only open to PhDs who are eligible to undertake an internship as part of their studentship & receive a stipend from a DTP. The above councils definitely participate; STFC is not a deliberate omission, but you would need to check their DTP guidance for eligibility. Hope that helps!

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

📣 Are you on a DTP funded by BBSRC, NERC, MRC, AHRC, or EPSRC?? Come intern with us!

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Royal Institution @rigb.org · 14/05/2026

What if extinction wasn’t forever? Join historian of science Sadiah Qureshi as she explores de-extinction, rewilding, and how science is reshaping our understanding of loss, survival, and life itself.

rigb.org

Redefining extinction

Author Sadiah Qureshi explores our relationship with extinction, how our understanding of it has changed, an

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

I swear, it’s delicious! Definitely one to sip though…

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Super excited to have @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social join us at the Ri! Book your tickets* here👇 *big discounts for members, students etc. #histsci #science #scicomm 🧪 🦋

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Sadly not a global historian! Great opportunity though

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Happy birthday to David Attenborough! 🎉 One of the few to have ever come out on top against the unholy trinity of live tv, children, and animals… take a look back at his 1973 @rigb.org Xmas Lectures, & check out a never before seen transcript of the missing lecture 4! www.rigb.org/explore-scie...

rigb.org

Sir David Attenborough at the Royal Institution

To celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday, we have compiled all his greatest contributions to the Royal Institutio

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Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 29/04/2026

‘By discussing the past, we get to appreciate not only the success of our best current science but also the effort that is required to study nature and its workings’, writes @vanessaseifert.bsky.social www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/how-...

chemistryworld.com

How much history should there be in science education?

Understanding how previous shifts in scientific understanding occurred affects how we view current theories

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Science Communication Unit, UWE Bristol @scicommsuwe.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

📢 We are offering a bursary of £1500 which will part-fund a place on our MSc Science Communication. The bursary is in memory of Professor Frank Burnet who established and was the first Director of the SCU and a key founder of the MSc. Apply for the bursary www.uwe.ac.uk/courses/fund... #scicomm

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

So glad to see this out in the world! Congrats! 🥳

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Lovely little @rigb.org archive find - in the back of James Dewar’s pamphlet for his 1883 Juvenile Lectures on Alchemy & its relation to Modern Science is this wonderful pull-out timeline of physical and chemical philosophers… beginning with “Hermes??” and (of course) finishing with Faraday 🧪

Archive desk, zoomed out, showing archival papers, focusing on a flap at the back of a late 19th century booklet. It is next to an archive box and there are two “weight” snakes securing them to the table. Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1

A zoomed in image of the flap “Chronology of Physical & Chemical Philosophers” Copyright Royal Institution Archives DE11/3/1

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Royal Institution @rigb.org · 17/03/2026

"It looks magic, but it's not, it's good science" 🦋 For 36 years, Bill Coates was the master of science demonstrations behind the Christmas Lectures. (1/2)

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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Otto Warburg's grant application: "I need 10,000 marks".

Note from Otto Warburg asking for money.

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Derbyshire Record Office @derbyshiredro.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

In the early 19th Century, Eleanor Anne Porden, a published poet with a passionate interest in science, made these short notes about lectures she attended at the Royal Institution. #BritishScienceWeek

Handwritten notes in black ink. They say: Both the new metals unite so greedily with oxygen that they inflame in combination. Potassium is lighter than water and flames as it floats. Sodium is rather heavier and burns at the bottom.
The metals of the earths and alcalies can only be preserved by covering them with naptha, a spirit produced by the distillation of aether, and the lightest of all known fluids.

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King's CHoSTM @kingschostm.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

📣Interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree in the history of STM? Wishing to apply to our Hans Rausing Scholarship? Then this webinar is for you! Pursuing a research degree in the history of STM Thursday 12 March 17.00-18.00 (GMT) Register via Eventbrite ⬇️ #histsci #histtech #histmed #histstm

eventbrite.co.uk

Webinar: Pursuing a research degree in the history of STM

A webinar to orient prospective students on pursuing an MA and PhD in the history of STM, and how to apply to the Hans Rausing Scholarship.

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Floris Winckel @fwinckel.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

The Division for the History of Science and Technology is running another ECR workshop series in the second half of 2026. I really enjoyed taking part in the first series, which covered an impressively broad list of topics, from writing book reviews and grant proposals to...

dhstweb.org

DHST Announces Second Early Career Scholars Workshop Series in 2026 – Division of History of Science and Technology

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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 19/02/2026

Are you a researcher in the field of history of science, technology and medicine? There's still time to submit your paper for the #NotesAndRecords essay award. Submit your research by 28 February 2026: buff.ly/dedMm93 #HistSci #HistSTM #HistMed

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

And I *quite literally* follow in her footsteps - something to remember as I trudge between Albemarle Street and Free School Lane each week!

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Tipper was incredible - not only was she a Research Assistant in the DFRL at @rigb.org in the early 1920s, but simultaneously worked at the Royal School of Mines AND assisted GI Taylor at @cambridgephysics.bsky.social

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

Congrats to @rigb.org’s chair, SRC!

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Royal Institution @rigb.org · 28/01/2026

Fantastic news: our historic lecture Theatre is set for a major refurbishment later this year, thanks to support from The Wolfson Foundation! The works will include new seats, restoration of the iconic lecture desk, state-of-the-art audio-visual infrastructure and accessibility enhancements.

A toolbox resting on the lecture desk in the Ri Theatre

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

I wish! Physically back in the UK now, but mentally somewhere else (and sooooo jet lagged haha)

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

The last of the red leaves 🍂 📍 Kanazawa Castle Park, Ishikawa, Japan

A single red maple tree at the top of Kanazawa Castle/Kenrokuen Gardens, overlooking the city with mountains in the distance

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Nature @nature.com · 08/12/2025

From flaming raisins to robots and rockets, the institution’s Christmas Lectures have educated and entertained for two centuries go.nature.com/3Yeu8v3

go.nature.com

How the Royal Institution made science a seasonal spectacle

From flaming raisins to robots and rockets, the institution’s Christmas Lectures have educated and entertained for two centuries.

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Had the best day at the Nature and Science Museum in Tokyo today. A productive time researching Ayrton as well as getting sidetracked by everything else! 🐋 🦕 🌱 🚀

A giant sculpture of a blue whale outside the museum, surrounded by ginkgo trees in yellow and red tones.

Entrance to the exhibition “quantum century” with black and green text on a white banner.

A curved glass specimen wall containing samples of plants and ferns.

The “360” exhibition centerpiece - a dinosaur skeleton and a space ship exhibited together.

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

At Cambridge I worked with @whipplemuseum.bsky.social and @chuarchives.bsky.social to explore why Bacon’s cell ended up in space 🚀 from Grove’s letter we see that the basic principles were the same - tho the composition of the Bacon’s nickel membrane was kept under the official secrets act 🤫

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

We met over dinner last week! (Too nice to call it scran…)

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Oxford, you’ve been an absolute treat! Thanks for having me @bodleian.ox.ac.uk - I’ll be back 👀 @stannescollege.bsky.social

Picture of the bridge of sighs in Oxford, early afternoon in autumn. Everything is in hues of gold.

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

📢 JOB ALERT 📢 Come work with me! @rigb.org is hiring an Archivist, full time, 2 year, fixed-term contract, hybrid working possible. Please share widely! More details 👇 www.rigb.org/about-us/wor...

rigb.org

Work with us

Help us to create more opportunities for everyone to enjoy and benefit from science.

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Why, that would make a great book cover…

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

The lectures also feature one of my favourite items in @rigb.org’s collection - Morrison’s huge (and functional!) pencil ✏️ 👇

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

There really should be! The earliest surviving @rigb.org Christmas Lecture footage is Philip Morrisons’s series - it takes direct inspiration from Guilliver’s Travels, even reading from it at various points youtube.com/playlist?lis...

youtube.com

Philip Morrison's 1968 CHRISTMAS LECTURES - Gulliver's Laws - the physics of large and small - YouTube

In the 1968 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, physicist Philip Morrison explores the science of scale through the eyes of Jonathan (also knows as Dean) Swift's classic boo...

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I definitely recommend *chequing* out the finer details of this note if you have one! Lots of lovely little science details (even if the xmas lectures year turned out to be wrong…) And rumour has it the men in the front row of the audience are from the Bank of England 🤔

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Katy Duncan 🍉 @katysduncan.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Glad you enjoyed the exhibition! The Ri funded the publication to be reproduced from Lonsdale’s draft (at great expense!) as she didn’t trust the typesetters to get it right. All for the better I think - it’s such a magical book to look through, and not many copies of it around either.

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