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lou99.bsky.social

@lou99.bsky.social
171 followers 85 following 3 posts

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Reposted by @lou99.bsky.social
Clive Lewis MP @labourlewis.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Former Labour Deputy Leader Lord Thomas Watson, now Senior VP at Palantir UK, wrote to me defending their public contracts. Instead of trading letters, I’ve challenged him to an open, public debate. He can defend Palantir’s ethos; I’ll argue for public accountability. Will you accept, Tom?
Formal letter from Clive Lewis MP, Member of Parliament for Norwich South, to Lord Thomas Watson of Wyre Forest, Senior Vice President of Palantir Technologies UK Limited, dated 7 October 2026. In the letter, Lewis challenges Watson to a public debate regarding Palantir's role in government contracts and public institutions. Lewis rejects Watson's claim that criticisms malign software engineers, stressing that elected officials must scrutinize corporate power, democratic control, and public accountability. He proposes a debate with an impartial chair, equal time, and audience questions.
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Jim Thomas @homomoleculus.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
#r4today. FFS When is the cut off to be English? Never mind the 20th C. Was it before the Huguenots? the Normans? The Saxons? The Vikings? The Romans? The Celts? The Beaker culture….?
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Miaganga @miaganga.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
With Halloween coming up, it's time for the reminder to avoid buying/using fake spiderwebs. They can entangle and entrap birds. There's some good alternative ideas on this web page ... birdlife.org.au/news/bird-sa...
birdlife.org.au
Bird-safe Halloween decorations - BirdLife Australia
How to celebrate Halloween with bird-friendly decorations.
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jenna newman phd @jennanewman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“‘Learning happens as a consequence of cognitive processing. Cognitive processing is typically effortful, & that’s what AI effectively removes,’ says cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham at UVA. ‘People are really worried about that’.”🧪
“And science - in which people need to critically evaluate theories and data - is one important area that's under threat from the Al revolution in large language models (LLMs). "There is a risk that students outsource precisely the activities through which scientific thinking develops: formulating hypotheses, interpreting evidence, considering alternatives and struggling with uncertainty," says Thomas Nygren, who studies education and critical thinking at Uppsala University in Sweden.”
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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I strongly believe schools should bring children together rather than try to impose one religious identity on them. If you agree - please add your name and call on the Education Secretary to introduce inclusive assemblies for all, and to keep dangerous Christian Nationalism OUT of our schools.
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I'm down to the last nine copies of this ISS Cat print, so if you want one, please order soon. It's in my shop along with other prints, badges and a zine: www.tomgauld.com/
A view of the International Space Station floating in the stars above the earth. A cat in a space suit floats outside. An astronaut within the station looks out of a window and says "In? But I just let you out."
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
'Cox set out the philosophical case, made by American physicist Richard Feynman, for research being understood as “about exploring the unknown”. “You have to have a system where you just try to find things out. It sounds unpalatable, but it’s just the way,” he said.'
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is so very funny youtu.be/SHUvSffmLIQ?...
youtu.be
Most TV is Just This Now
YouTube video by Michael Spicer
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If people don't want to pay tax to make this country function and help out the rest of society and particularly those who need help most... then maybe they should move to Dubai and stop bleating about it. Really sick to death of it.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Magnificent trolling in Brum
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
My latest @newscientist.com cartoon. many more here: www.newscientist.com/author/tom-gauld/
Image: A graph with lots of red dots clustered together in a curve. The are all looking upwards at a single red dot wearing sunglasses. 

Caption: Mike was an outlier and would probably be excluded from the study, but all the other data points secretly thought he was really cool.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
'University students have raised concerns over the software used to submit assignments and check them for plagiarism, amid fears their work could be used to train tools which use artificial intelligence.'
bbc.co.uk
York Uni students' fears over Turnitin essay-checker AI plan
Students are "scared" about proposals which could see their work used to train AI, their union says.
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Andrea Devon @andreadevon.sheshed.rocks · 23/09/2026
At 24, she discovered pulsars. The Nobel Prize went to her male supervisor. Jocelyn Bell Burnell spotted the signals that changed astronomy. Decades later, she received a $3 million physics prize. She gave it all away to help underrepresented students become scientists. #SheShed #VivaHerAlliance
Black-and-white photo of Jocelyn Bell Burnell smiling outdoors beside a large radio telescope array, holding papers in her hands.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🔥 This video is approaching 1 million views collectively across social media. Pretty please use this tool to write to your MP - whoever they are - it all counts. And then share this link everywhere to family, friends, groups —> www.europeanmovement.co.uk/contact-mp-a...
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Sellout.
theguardian.com
Former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson joins Palantir
Peer takes full-time position at the controversial company as it fends off pressure from both Andy Burnham’s government and Sadiq Khan
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I would love to ask a prominent BBC journalist to give me an example of an illegitimate concern. Is seems to me that it has become a question not of fact, logic, or ethics but of volume. If a big enough proportion of a village was anxious about Bigfoot or Chemtrails, BBC would cover it in a way...
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
President of the EU Parliament, Roberta Metsola, says Australia and New Zealand could follow Canada in becoming “associate members” of the EU, Euronews reports.
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Chemistry World @chemistryworld.com · 17/09/2026
A new record has been achieved in protein imaging, capturing the protein rubredoxin at an unprecedented resolution of 0.43 angstroms, revealing structural features at a level rarely achieved for biological macromolecules. #ChemSky www.chemistryworld.com/news/record-...
chemistryworld.com
Record protein imaging resolution could be bridge to quantum crystallography
Exceptional resolution a move towards mapping distribution of electrons in proteins
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
‘What private company or government agency would have funded Einstein's seemingly bonkers ideas about general relativity’? Good letter in @economist.com from a UK scientist about why discovery research is critical and easy to undervalue economist.com/letters/2026...
Grading a science paper
Michael Kratsios, the director of the White House office of science, laid out his case for refocusing American science on harnessing AI and competing with China (By Invitation, August 15th). He showed a lack of
understanding of scientific research and the application of scientific breakthroughs. Mr Kratsios's advice was singularly focused on endeavours with predictable applications.
However, bureaucrats tasked with placing bets on the direction of scientific research would never have predicted or funded past revolutionary discoveries. Industry has not funded these fundamental scientific breakthroughs, and never will do.
Basic science involves research without an initially obvious application or with a time horizon that a private company would never stomach. Examples of such discoveries are endless. Genetic engineering would not exist without curious scientists investigating how bacteria thrive in hydrothermal vents. CRISPR-mediated genome editing stems from blue-skies research on how bacteria gain immunity to viruses. X-ray crystallography, which is essential for our understanding of protein folding and structure-guided drug design,The 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry for an understanding of protein-folding was not, as Mr Kratsios insists, "largely achieved through industry resources and talent". The training data behind these AI algorithms required many decades of x-ray crystal structures funded almost entirely by basic science-related government grants. These examples extend beyond biology.
What private company or government agency would have funded Einstein's seemingly bonkers ideas about general relativity with the hope of creating a global positioning system?
We need to ask ourselves what breakthroughs and their ultimate applications we will miss out on if we carry out this "overhaul" of science.
PROFESSOR BRIAN STRAMER
Professor of cell and developmental biology
King's College London
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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Woke up and realised that even before the final sacking next week that my university now employs more people with English Literature PhDs in administration than in the English department. Tells you something about the state of HE.
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Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · 03/09/2026
This is racism, straight out of the Trump playbook. Reform are trying to turn our great country into a franchise of Trump's America. There are countless British patriots who came here from overseas, many of them refugees we proudly welcomed. That's the kind of country we are.
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
More evidence here that the far right takes academia very seriously, and puts considerable effort into buying its influence: "Vaughan’s [chief of staff at Thiel Capital] broad aim was to build a network of conservative influence at Cambridge and other elite universities"
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billkittle.bsky.social @billkittle.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
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Professor Euan Ritchie FAMS @euanritchie.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Soooooo good! www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...
abc.net.au
Street artists turn rusting opal machinery into outback spectacle
A renowned Australian artist offers city street artists a blank canvas to turn discarded opal-mining equipment into an outback open-air gallery.
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Peri Coleman @pericoleman.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Great news! The Shifting Salts project offers restoration options that may restore, the damaged coastlines of Barker Inlet. We ask SA government to consider the Shifting Salts options & collaborate with stakeholders to develop and implement a plan for the saltfields. Please sign! c.org/pf6ytjPKfh
c.org
Sign the Petition
SUPPORT DRY CREEK SALTFIELDS RESTORATION
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Pieter T. L. Beck @ptrbck.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We have written a statement in support of Ghent Uni's decision to suspend Nathan Cofnas. We resist attempts to frame this as a punishment for "whistleblowing" or censorship of "controversial research". We invite all academics who share our views to sign our letter. forms.gle/qwN8xzEM5C7Q...
forms.gle
Open letter on the suspension of Nathan Cofnas at Ghent University
We, colleagues of Nathan Cofnas - supported by many colleagues internationally - want to respond to the negative and incorrect framing of Ghent University’s decision to suspend Nathan Cofnas. With th...
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bill doyle @billjondoyle.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
*rea*l photos of *real* places from a *real* photographer trezona sunrise, ikara - flinders ranges national park, south australia
an ancient white cypress pine (*Callitris glaucophylla*) silhouetted against the dawn sky above the trezona campground
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I haven't announced this until now, but I have a website. It's still under development, so I've been reluctant to share. However, I think it will be perpetually under development - so you may as well know about it ... sandyhornephoto.com
sandyhornephoto.com
Sandy Horne Photography
Australian Bird & Nature Photographer
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Jim Thomas @homomoleculus.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Theory: The real reason for Europe burning is not anthropogenic Global Warming, but Socialist "Eco-dogma"....according to the #DailyFail. 😂
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TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 25/07/2026
At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.
techcrunch.com
Librarians are hosting viral 'Avoiding AI' workshops for people who are fed up with Big Tech | TechCrunch
At libraries around the country, "Avoiding AI" workshops have elicited unprecedented demand.
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Singing honeyeaters on an aloe plant on the farm. Near Quorn, South Australia. #birdsseenin2026
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Happy Wrensday Wednesday! A tiny purple-backed fairywren on an aloe plant at the farm near Quorn. #wrensday
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Reuters @reuters.com · 30/07/2026
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference reut.rs/4x9eTCW
reut.rs
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at ‌a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screenshots and posted them online.
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Fiona Glass @fionaglass.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
There's a new petition to save Jodrell Bank on change . org if anyone would consider signing? (I just have.) c.org/7LT7RWBgMf
c.org
Sign the Petition
SAVE JODRELL BANK – Protect a national treasure of science, heritage and inspiration
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
A celebration of sixty years of Woke. #SDCC
youtu.be
Celebrating 60 Years of Star Trek at SDCC 2026
YouTube video by Star Trek
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Fiona Katauskas @fionakatauskas.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Didn't end up doing this one for the Guardian today but here's my cartoon on Pauline's DV comments
Scene is a woman and child looking up at a street sign pointing in two directions, underneath which Pauline Hanson is standing with arms crossed.

The sign says (pointing left) Risk Your Life By Staying and to the right Risk Your Life by Leaving.

The woman is saying to the child "Well, she DID say it was a two-way street"
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Reuters @reuters.com · 14/07/2026
Elon Musk's xAI has installed more than double the number of gas turbines than it has publicly acknowledged to power its Colossus 2 data center project, without federal permits, and the pollution is hitting predominantly Black neighborhoods the hardest reut.rs/4bIghEm
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Robert Fleming @8bitcricket.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
100% this. ECB, you have been failing English cricket for years. Put it on FREE TV!!! give free tickets to school kids to EVERY TEST MATCH! - but also to local county games. Fund more quality community and school grounds so kids can actually play: softball, then hardball, then competitive. Pls♥️🏏
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 09/07/2026
This is a real image. Taken by Voyager 1 in 1979, the icy moon Europa floats above Jupiter's swirling Red Spot maelstrom. The shadow is from Io, another of Jupiter's large inner moons, which is out of frame. Oh to see this view with my own eyes (safely shielded from the lethal radiation fields)
The swirling face of Jupiter, with the Great Red Spot at lower right. At lower left, difficult to discern from the cloudy backdrop, is Europa, lit from the right. At upper right is a dark circle—the shadow of Io.
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Very pleased to learn that this photo of mine has been shortlisted in the 2026 Australian Photography Awards. Magnetite in waiting. Piles of magnetite (against a backdrop of a rusty red roof) waiting to be loaded onto a ship at the Whyalla steelworks.
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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
“Farage Whinges About a 'Media Pile-On'. The Truth Is, the Media Made Farage” At every stage of his political career, the Reform UK leader has been helped on his way by the media machine he now affects to despise. And he is still manipulating them with ease.
zeteo.uk
Farage Whinges About a 'Media Pile-On'. The Truth Is, the Media Made Farage
At every stage of his political career, the Reform UK leader has been helped on his way by the media machine he now affects to despise. And he is still manipulating them with ease.
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
The UK has now said it will actively harm or damage: *Chemistry *Nursing *High-end physics *Languages *Astronomy *Creative arts *Theatre and performance *Cultural industries *Europe-level science The UK has lost its mind. 🇬🇧
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Robert Fleming @flemingrob.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 04/07/2026
This is my first Fourth of July as a US citizen. It's hard to feel pride in this country right now. The spirit of hope and optimism that permeates US culture is dimmed. But it's not extinguished. This dark moment will pass. There are better days ahead, if we work for them.
The Statue of Liberty
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Sandy Horne @sandyhorne.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Offered for your amusement/horror: A comment seen on Facebook under a story about bird flu 🙄 And ... it's not the only such crazy cooker comment.
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Far Right Jamboree agenda. Remarkable to see all the worst people in one place. Obi-Wan Kenobi gif 1/2
CPAC GB
HIGHLIGHTS
INTERCONTINENTAL, LONDON, THE 02
16-18 JULY
20
26
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS TO LOOK FORWARD TO DURING THE COURSE OF CPAC GB
• Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage MP
• Former Prime Minister Liz Truss
• Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith MP
• Reform UK's Education spokesman Suella Braverman MP and London
Mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham
• Australian Senator and One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson
• Andrzej Duda, Former President of Poland
• George Simion, Romanian Opposition Leader
THURSDAY MORNING
• Free Speech Under Siege - featuring Toby Young, Lucy Connolly and others
• Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg on Draining the Swamp of the Permanent
Bureaucracy
• Migration and the Changing Face of Europe - featuring Matt Goodwin,
Carlo Fidanza MEP (Italy) and others
• Understanding the Progressive Revolution - with Dr David Starkey and
Mark Littlewood
• A European Perspective - from Antonio Giordano MP (Italy) and
Georgiana Teodorescu MEP (Romania)
Section
SOPAC
GREAT BRITAIN
SAVE BRITAIN. SAVE THE•PAC GB
HIGHLIGHTS
INTERCONTINENTAL, LONDON, THE 02
16-18 JULY
20
26
THURSDAY AFTERNOON
• Sir lain Duncan Smith on Post-Brexit Regulatory Reform
• A live recording of the Daily Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast with co-pilots Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson
• The New Media Landscape - featuring Jack Posobiec, Mike Graham and Senator Sarah Henderson (Australia)
• Who is Really Funding the Left? - with Alex Phillips and Charlotte Gill
• Speeches from Alan Miller of #Together and Maeve Halligan of Cambridge University Society of Women
Section 2
FRIDAY MORNING
• Lessons from Argentina - with Santiago Caputo, Advisor to President Milei
• Bitcoin, The Alternative Money Revolution and The Problem with Central Banks - featuring Dominic Frisby, Jeremy Casey, Jordan Walker and others
• Drill Baby Drill, Mine Baby Mine - featuring Kathryn Porter, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Daniel Turner and Lois Perry
• Peter McCormack in conversation with a special guest
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Chris Havergal @chrishavergal.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Staff at University of Lincoln fear they could lose their jobs as early as next month after the institution announced dozens of redundancies across academic departments www.timeshighereducation.com/news/nothing... via @twilliamsthe.bsky.social
timeshighereducation.com
‘Nothing left to cut’ at Lincoln as more job losses announced
Whole of politics and international relations team put at risk in fourth year of redundancies at East Midlands university
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Jim Thomas @homomoleculus.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
The University of Sheffield statement to Robert's comment really is a collection of management speak. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...
timeshighereducation.com
University of Sheffield’s Nobelist brands chemistry cuts ‘insane’
Genetics pioneer Richard J. Roberts criticises plans to cut posts at ‘brilliant’ department that launched his scientific career
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Professor Euan Ritchie FAMS @euanritchie.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Wake the fuck up, people.
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