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Marieke Navin

@mariekenavin.bsky.social
1.5K followers 414 following 124 posts

Particle physicist turned science communicator

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Reposted by Marieke Navin
Patrick Smith @psmithjournalist.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Apropos of nothing, shout-out to the RNLI tote bags, which are a steal at £8 online
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Spoken Nerd @fotsn.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Back in 2024, a single yellow balloon on the floor, suddenly became an important detail to our online audience. On 24th October, we return to @rigb.org for An Evening of Unnecessary Detail, and it's livestreamed again! What might Sam & the audience focus on this time? fotsn.com/tickets
The distracted boyfriend meme, showing the boy "The online audience" looking at "A balloon on the floor"
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Institute of Physics @iop.org · 27/07/2026
Responding to today’s announcement, IOP President Prof Paul Howarth said the latest funding decisions will damage the UK’s scientific capability, threaten world-leading research, put jobs at risk and create uncertainty across the research sector. Read our full response: www.iop.org/about/news/r...
iop.org
IOP responds on ‘terrible blow’ to UK science as Jodrell Bank faces axe
Outcome decisions for funding of individual research projects do real damage to UK science and research, says President, Paul Howarth.
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Institute of Physics @iop.org · 09/07/2026
IOP President Professor Paul Howarth has warned that the latest UKRI funding package risks causing long-term damage to UK science, with deep cuts to key facilities and projects threatening the foundations of physics. Read our full response: www.iop.org/about/news/r...
iop.org
Institute of Physics responds to latest on funding for science and research
UKRI plan for science is damaging and creates moment of long-lasting uncertainty, says IOP.
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
4. Who is accountable and who is responsible? We're just as confused as the committee....
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
On display this morning, parliamentary scrutiny at its very best with @chionwurah.bsky.social and her committee questioning Secretary of State Liz Kendall about the STFC funding cuts. Worth watching in full, but here are some of the highlights! 1: Doctoring the minutes!
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Cockroach in a diving suit **shudders** www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
scientificamerican.com
Scientists just unveiled “cyborg” cockroaches that can breathe underwater for hours
The bionic bugs could be called up for aquatic search and rescue missions, according to the researchers
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snake-wing @snake-wing.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The other design I did for Artiss’ Pride collection 🏳️‍🌈
A digital piece of art showing instances of quietness in nature. Text reads:

Queerness in Nature:

Schizophyllum commune has over 20,000 sexes.

Around 31% of Laysan
Albatross couples on Oahu
Island consist of two females.

Clownfish can transition from male to female.

Around 10% of rams are gay.

Mourning geckos can reproduce asexually.

Most male walruses are bisexual.
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Scott Rose @rprose.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
also... www.reuters.com/business/env...
reuters.com
Forty drown in France as people seek relief from heatwave
Forty people have drowned while swimming in unsupervised areas in France since the weekend, the prime minister said, as people tried to escape a heatwave ​sweeping across much of Europe.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
If CERN can come up with the requisite billions, the Future Circular Collider is a go physicstoday.aip.org/news/if-cern...
physicstoday.aip.org
If CERN can come up with the requisite billions, the Future Circular Collider is a go
Europe’s particle physicists choose a 91 km electron–positron collider as the next global flagship project.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Monday #CheltSciFest Day 0 Today was all about: 💡solving some last minute challenges 😎 meeting our team of volunteers 🧠 briefing our team of Event Managers 💾 checking out the exhibitons at Data Face 👾 greeting partners as they arrive to setup in our Interactive Zones Let's go #CheltSciFest
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Sunday #CheltSciFest Day -1 2 performances of FISHBOY from @2faceddance in Cambray place in #Cheltenham to spread the word of the Cheltenham Science Festival starting in two days. I also gave out loads of brochures and got a sneak peak of the Festival site.
An arial rig in Cheltenham high street showing two dancers performing FISHBOY, a circus, dance about rivers and seas.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
We are kicking the Cheltenham Science Festival off this Sunday, with a free performance in town (Cambray Place) with 2FACED DANCE COMPANY LIMITED the incredible FISH BOY Performances at 12pm and 3.15pm - see you there? www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/fish-... #CheltSciFest
cheltenhamfestivals.org
FISH BOY ...around town (FREE EVENT) | Cheltenham Festivals
2Faced Dance Company presents…Fish Boy
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Action: slow down these once-in-a-generation changes and properly consult the research community! www.iop.org/about/news/g...
iop.org
Government must slow once-in-a-generation physics funding changes to protect UK scientific capability
IOP calls on government to slow changes, consult fully with the research community and stabilise physics.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I am hiring! A freelance science festival programmer, you will be responsible for the schools and family programme at the Cheltenham Science Festival- key deadlines are in Nov, fezzy in June, more info on scope and scale in the JD: www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/jobs/science... #scicomm #scicommjobs
cheltenhamfestivals.org
Freelance Science Programmer | Cheltenham Festivals
The Role:The postholder will work closely with the Head of Programming and the Learning and Participation Manager (STEM) in shaping and delivering fresh, n
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
www.vam.ac.uk/articles/hom...
vam.ac.uk
Home is where the art is: in discussion with printmaker Miles Glyn  · V&A
Miles Glyn is an artist, creative, and prolific printmaker based in East London and one of the original members of the Extinction Rebellion Art Group
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Helen Arney @helenarney.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
OXFORDSHIRE PEOPLE! Come to our FREE family physics singalong workshops! Or get £5 tickets for our concert of @firebrigademusical.bsky.social at an ACTUAL FIRE STATION (bring picnics!) All at GAP Festival in Goring & Streatley on Saturday 20th June... pls share share share! thegapfestival.org
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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🏆Nominate us for a Movement for Good award🏆 The Movement for Good Health & Wellbeing special draw is live for another five hole days, and the Vagina Museum has the chance to receive a quim-credible £5,000. You can nominate us here, it only takes a minute: movementforgood.com/draws/specia...
movementforgood.com
Nominate a charity - Movement for Good
Nominate a charity for a Movement for Good award now.
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Peter Coles 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Nottingham University is hoping to achieve a student-staff ratio in the range 18:1 to 22:1. across the board, which will send it plummeting down the league tables. Still it still won't be as low as Maynooth, where the ratio is 26:1 and growing... physicsworld.com/a/nottingham...
physicsworld.com
Nottingham physics redundancies 'an act of academic sabotage', warn scientists – Physics World
Univeristy plans to cut almost 30% staff in the physics department
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
'In a counterproposal to the university’s cost-saving plans...the UCU branch at Nottingham said that job losses on the scale suggested...could set the research-intensive, Russell Group institution on an “irreversible transition” towards becoming a teaching-led university.' 1/3
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Royal Albert Hall names Prof Daisy Fancourt as its first Associate Scientist www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-ha... @royalalberthall.bsky.social
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Arts and cultural engagement ‘linked to slower pace of biological ageing’ www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Arts and cultural engagement ‘linked to slower pace of biological ageing’
Research from UCL suggests visiting art galleries or museums, singing and painting can help improve health outcomes
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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"70% per cent of the public can't spot the mistake in this sentence." We read what we expect to read. Chapter 3 of You Don't Know What You're M ss ng is "Reading between the lines" Read a more detailed summary in my latest substack open.substack.com/pu... 1/2
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Spoken Nerd @fotsn.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Go on, grab yourself a little treat. fotsn.com/tickets
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Naturally, everyone's doing a hantavirus thing. I did last week for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social, belated posting here now. As several folks have said already, it's not the start of a new pandemic - but it's very nasty. www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
thenewworld.co.uk
Hantavirus: the disease with no vaccine
A fatal outbreak has occurred on a cruise ship after it docked in South America. There will be no new pandemic, but it’s a reminder of the lesson of Covid: that wild animal populations are awash with ...
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Public engagement declining amid UK financial pressures www.timeshighereducation.com/news/public-...
timeshighereducation.com
Public engagement declining amid UK financial pressures
Time spent on events and free exhibitions drops as academics face ‘work intensification and time deprivations’
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
"The distribution suggested a very strong commitment to the NHS, action on climate, compassion, tolerance and an end to billionaire power. But many of the same people have voted or intend to vote for Reform, which would deliver the opposite."
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Voted! Let's try and keep hatred/racism/transphobia etc out #voting #vote #election #elections #politics #votingrights #votingmatters #democracy
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Dave Haslam @davehaslam.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Joy Division coming together, rehearsing, recording and then arriving at such a heartbreaking end. Newly uploaded from my archive - an extended interview from 2007. davehaslam.substack.com/p/stephen-mo...
davehaslam.substack.com
Stephen Morris; Joy Division, Ian Curtis, and more...
Archive interview from 2007.
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Dr Lucy Rogers @drlucyrogers.com · 30/04/2026
Would you like me to read you a story? My book is available as an audio book now too :) Read by me. Can you find the sentence that took 50 takes? www.penguin.co.uk/books/461507...
penguin.co.uk
Up
Brought to you by Penguin. Join engineer Lucy Rogers in the timeless tradition of stargazers, cloud watchers, and dreamers – and let the skies inspire you. The sky is a world of endless wonder. From...
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The funding crisis in particle physics, ongoing www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Brian Cox says UK physics funding cuts are ‘destruction of the future’
Grant cuts of nearly 70% may force university departments to close and ‘annihilate’ research, scientists say
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Jon Butterworth @jonbutterworth.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Some thoughts after two parliamentary committee hearings lifeandphysics.com/2026/03/08/s... #LifeAndPhysics
lifeandphysics.com
Select committees
Well, the fight to stop the decimation of particle, astro and nuclear physics continues. The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology select committee session I mentioned in the previous…
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists 🔭👩‍🔬⚛️
Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing.  At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Frank Burnet obituary www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Frank Burnet obituary
Other lives: Science communicator determined to make complex ideas intelligible, engaging and fun
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Mark Miodownik @markmiodownik.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
If you are wondering what PFAS are, here is a primer: BBC Radio 4 - Toxic!, A Recipe for Disaster? share.google/CJ4N8j4GQ3XI...
share.google
BBC Radio 4 - Toxic!, A Recipe for Disaster?
Scouring his kitchen, Mark Miodownik uncovers the forever chemicals pervading our everyday
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Thank you Martin Lewis for fighting this fight for us
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Phil PlAIt @philplait.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
For example: bsky.app/profile/skep...
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 16/02/2026
I‘ve mentioned that thanks to the Epstein tranche I learned that one of my PhD advisors, Lee Smolin, continued to have contact with Epstein after 2007, which is not the impression I had It’s weird to say the least for my professional past to become a public story that demands feminist analysis
therecord.com
Lee Smolin pauses working relationship with Perimeter Institute after being named in Epstein files
Lee Smolin has been asked to “pause” his work by the Perimeter Institute as they review ties to Jeffrey Epstein
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 16/02/2026
These cuts to physics research will be a disaster for UK scientists – and for our standing in the world | Jon Butterworth
theguardian.com
These cuts to physics research will be a disaster for UK scientists – and for our standing in the world | Jon Butterworth
If plans by the UK’s science funding body go ahead, we won’t be able to benefit from Britain’s membership of Cern and other large international projects, says Jon Butterworth, professor of physics at University College London
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Listeners to Radio 4’s Inside Science today get an essay from me in defence of astronomy as pure research. Please listen in and let me know what you think. Show starts 4.30pm GMT here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science
A weekly programme looking at the science that's changing our world.
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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Reposting to the astronomy and science feeds 🔭🧪 GPE's conclusion on STFC's savage cuts to astro/particle/nuclear physics research:
This is what I think is going on. I believe that it is the STFC Executive Board that has decided to prioritise the facilities ahead of the PPAN programme. This is their decision and is not forced on them by the new allocation formula. I also believe that the their priorities are a reflection of conflicts of interest in the governance structure of STFC. Decisions at STFC are made by the Executive Board (EB) which is composed mostly of lab/facility directors and senior programme managers. The Council and Science Boards are advisory. The EB is therefore heavily biased in favour of the facilities component of the STFC portfolio. This bias has afflicted STFC since it was first created. I wrote to Michele Dougherty last July concerning the governance structure at STFC.  I did not get a reply.
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Science must reimagine public engagement in era of uncertainty www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
researchprofessionalnews.com
Science must reimagine public engagement in era of uncertainty - Research Professional News
Our best defence against AI and algorithm overload is truly understanding science, writes Roger Highfield
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Harry Wallop @harrywallop.co.uk · 29/01/2026
Hero of the day. Tony Slater, who rummaged through discarded McDonald’s litter on verge, found a receipt, contacted the local environmental health officer. Who contacted McD, who used CCTV to work out the car responsible. Result: £500 fine. 💥 (Via @thetimes.com)
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
theconversation.com/why-do-educa...
theconversation.com
Why do educated people fall for conspiracy theories? It could be narcissism
New research shows highly educated people are just as likely to believe conspiracies as those with less education if they have these psychological traits.
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Kristen Radtke @kristenradtke.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com
theverge.com
I grew up with Alex Pretti
The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.
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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Take the front page! This Saturday, join Skaped for an afternoon workshop of collage, art and reflection on reproductive justice for Black and Brown women. Create your own front page envisaging the future of reproductive autonomy www.outsavvy.com/event/29890/...
outsavvy.com
Skaped presents: Take the Front Page Tickets - London - OutSavvy
This event is part of the Vagina Museum and Sarah Parker Remond Centres (Re)producing Justice programme.✨✨✨Join us for Take the Front Page, an arts and collage-based workshop. Together, we will examin...
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
This is impressive - solidarity with those women who performed the citizens arrest www.citizensarrestnetwork.org/press/2025/1...
citizensarrestnetwork.org
BREAKING NEWS: Citizens arrest of Anglian Water CEO, Mark Thurston, made in London for Public Nuisance - CAN - Citizen’s Arrest Network
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Apropos of nothing much @ppfideas.bsky.social www.ppfideas.com/episodes/the...
ppfideas.com
The History of Bad Ideas: Nobel Prizes
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Featuring the International FameLab Final at CERN 👇
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Marieke Navin @mariekenavin.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
CERN's Autumn season of events has been announced, which includes the International FameLab Final on 25th Nov - join us in-person at CERN Science Gateway, or online
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