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Oliver T Lord

@olivertlord.bsky.social
570 followers 2.1K following 322 posts

Head of Petrology, School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol. Melts rocks with lasers for a living. Die hard England Cricket fan. linktr.ee/olivertlord

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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
We're hiring in the School of Earth Sciences @bristoluni.bsky.social: NERC-funded PDRA in Petrological Controls on Ore Genesis. Arizona fieldwork, synchrotron work at Diamond, and high-pressure experiments on how subduction zones concentrate copper. Closes 5 Aug: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSG652/s...
jobs.ac.uk
Senior Research Associate in Petrological Controls on Ore Genesis at University of Bristol
Discover an exciting academic career path as a Senior Research Associate in Petrological Controls on Ore Genesis at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
The Clacton by-election was a daft side-show. But if Count Binface has a chance, it could be one of the more consequential polls in British electoral history… www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/cou...
thelondoneconomic.com
Head-to-head IPSOS poll gives Count Binface a 12-point lead over Nigel Farage
Nigel Farage has created a farcical by-election campaign - but novelty candidate Count Binface may have an early advantage.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Normally, I would be pretty confident of an #England victory tomorrow with a scorecard like this. But then I suddenly remembered what Mitchell and Blundell did for #NZ in 2022…
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jbz @jbzfn.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
🚀 💥 Blue Origin's New Glenn makes a crater-sized dent in Artemis plans www.theregister.com/science/2026... #space #artemis #rocket
theregister.com
Blue Origin's New Glenn makes a crater-sized dent in Artemis plans
Explosion wrecks rocket and pad, leaving NASA's lunar ambitions looking less than launch-ready
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
After squeezing liquid gallium, we decided to squeeze mercury! What should we do next? A: Rubidium B: Some other metal — you choose! C: PLEASE STOP TORTURING METALS Thanks to: @drdrewitt.bsky.social, @fturci.bsky.social and quite a few others not on Bluesky. journals.aps.org/prb/abstract...
journals.aps.org
Structure of liquid mercury at high pressure
The atomic-scale structure and melting curve of liquid mercury was measured using in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction (SXRD) at pressure and temperature ($p\text{\ensuremath{-}}T$) conditions up to ...
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
My recent trip to #Switzerland turned out to be #tech nerd heaven: not only were there autonomous cleaning #robots at #Heathrow and #Zurich airports, but the outgoing AirBaltic flight had free WiFi courtesy of #SpaceX #Starlink, and the return flight was a <1 year old #Airbus A320neo!
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
The #Hayward, #California factory of humanoid #robot manufacturer 1X, built to produce 10,1000 of its NEO robots per year, using mostly human workers…but slso some NEO robots. youtu.be/ag_rFhvSNmE?...
youtu.be
NEO Factory | Hayward, California
YouTube video by 1X
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The question is, does the money spent on #AI tokens lead to less or more genuine productivity than would be realised by spending the same amount on human workers? If less, then this is stupid, uncompetitive and will be a fad. If more…
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Via @spectrum.ieee.org: Verkor.io, an #AI chip design company, has created an LLM harness that handled the entire design process of a RISC-V CPU in 12 hours. The result is a chip roughly equivalent to a 2011 #Intel Celeron. This seems like a significant milestone. spectrum.ieee.org/ai-chip-design
spectrum.ieee.org
How Did An AI Agent Build a RISC V CPU Core In Just 12 Hours
Startup Verkor.io’s agentic AI orchestrated the entire design process from a 219-word prompt
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SPRAVDI - Stratcom Centre @stratcomcentre.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Overnight, repeated attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure complex in the port city of Tuapse, with nearly the entire facility now in flames. Several areas of the complex were targeted, with the remnants of Russian air defenses unable to stop incoming strikes.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
#CricketSky: in case you didn’t know it, the ECB have a site where you can choose teams (e.g. #England, #Somerset, #SouthernBrave) and then sync all their fixtures to a variety of calendars! ecb.ecal.com
ecb.ecal.com
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – Official Digital Calendar of the ECB
Never miss a moment of the action! Select your favourite England schedule below to receive fixtures and other relevant messages to your calendar.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
In *April* of this year, #AI tools solved 9 open mathematical conjectures proposed by Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős without significant human help or comparable literature to work from. In one case (#1196), the solution was highly novel and could open new frontiers. github.com/teorth/erdos...
github.com
AI contributions to Erdős problems
A community database for the problems on the erdosproblems.com site - teorth/erdosproblems
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Registration is open for #MPGRiP2026! All career stages welcome! A great opportunity for #PhDs + #postdocs to present work in progress, get feedback, and network. 🗺️ @oxuniearthsci.bsky.social 🗓️ 8th-9th July ⏱️ DEADLINE: 29th May. #MineralPhysics #Geoscience @minersoc.bsky.social
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Good news for #Hungary, the #EU, and perhaps especially #Ukraine. What the European Public Prosecutors Office discovers will be fascinating. open.substack.com/pub/chadbour...
open.substack.com
Orbán Out —Trump and Putin Hurt
The first Far Right domino falls
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
When @anthropic.com’s #Claude Mythos #LLM “…was explicitly directed and given network access…it could execute multi-stage attacks on vulnerable networks and discover and exploit vulnerabilities autonomously...” Quote from the #UK’s #AI security institute. www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-eva...
aisi.gov.uk
Our evaluation of Claude Mythos Preview’s cyber capabilities | AISI Work
We conducted cyber evaluations of Anthropic’s Claude Mythos Preview and found continued improvement in capture-the-flag (CTF) challenges and significant improvement on multi-step cyber-attack simulati...
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
More #electric vehicles were sold in the #UK in March than in any previous month according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders - 86,120. Another unintended effect of the #US war with #Iran.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I need more core strength to make this trig-plank even half decent! 😅A fabulous few days of hiking, trail running and wild swimming in the Black Mountains. Adventure season has officially begun 🔆💯🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🥰 #adventure #trailrunning @olivertlord.bsky.social
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European Space Agency @esa.int · 06/04/2026
✅ #Artemis II update: the spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence this morning at 05:37 BST/06:37 CEST, 6 April, at about 51 000 km from the Moon (the region of space where the Moon’s gravitational pull is stronger than that of Earth’s). www.nasa.gov/image-detail... @exploration.esa.int
Before going to sleep on flight day 5, the Artemis II crew snapped one more photo of the Moon, as it drew close in the window of the Orion spacecraft. Orion and the four humans aboard entered the lunar sphere of influence at 06:37 CEST on 6 April, at the tail end of the fifth day of their mission. That marked the point at which the Moon's gravity had a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth's. Artemis II's closest approach to the Moon will come on flight day 6, as they swing around the far side before beginning their journey back to Earth.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Good morning from the Black Mountain, Brecon Beacons, #Wales
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
I don’t doubt #Trump approval is decreasing, but I see absolutely no correlation in this data with the events listed here. Some have no effect, others post-date major drops in approval.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Another mass drone strike by #Ukraine on Russian #oil export infrastructure, this time, the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, reducing the chances of #Russia profiting from the high prices triggered by the #US attack on #Iran. Brent Crude ≈ $110
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
#Iran still capable of hitting its neighbours, 37 days after the #US started this latest conflict.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
This is a very important post: share it widely! It’s only April, but you can watch live cricket, for free! #Cricket
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MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 @maks23.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
🇺🇸 Trump has confirmed that the US has rescued the second crew member from a F-15 fighter jet shot down over Iran on Friday. + Footage of destroyed US C-130 aircraft used in rescue mission and destroyed to prevent capture during the evacuation.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The second member of the F-15 crew missing in #Iran has been rescued. During the mission, two C-130 transport aircraft became stranded inside Iran and were destroyed to prevent them falling into the hands of the Iranians. That’s at least nine aircraft of various types lost so far.
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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Eye-catching performance from a really talented young bowler in the county championship today. Proper prospect, in my opinion. Name of Anderson. #TheCricket
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
This has appeared after it became apparent that yesterday the US lost both an F-15E Strike Eagle over #Iran and an A-10 Warthog over the Strait of #Hormuz. There are reports of additional losses and aircraft sending mayday signals, but I haven’t seen convincing evidence of those yet.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
It's Blue Marble time on #ArtemisII!
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European Space Agency @esa.int · 02/04/2026
✅ #Artemis II update: GO for TLI! For the 'Translunar Injection' burn, the spacecraft will ignite the main engine on the European Service Module for five minutes and 49 seconds beginning at 00:49 BST/01:49 CEST.
nasa.gov
Artemis II Flight Day 2: Crew, Houston Poll 'Go' for Translunar Injection Burn - NASA
NASA’s Artemis II mission management team polled “Go” for the translunar injection burn to send the crew in the Orion spacecraft toward the Moon and send
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European Space Agency @esa.int · 02/04/2026
✅ New photos just in. See flic.kr/s/aHBqjCPE1j Coming up, in a few hours, a final burn performed by our European Service Module's main engine will send the crew on their way to the Moon! (Pics: ESA/S. Corvaja) @exploration.esa.int
SLS lift off for Artemis IISLS lift off for Artemis IISLS lift off for Artemis IISLS lift off for Artemis II
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Another tough day for #Tesla.
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CNBC @cnbc.com · 02/04/2026
Tesla reports 358,000 first-quarter vehicle deliveries, down 14% from last quarter
cnb.cx
Tesla reports 358,000 first-quarter vehicle deliveries, down 14% from last quarter
Tesla is coming off a year of declining deliveries due in part to increased competition from rivals in China offering lower-cost models.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Here is link for the #AtremisII live blog. There was a malfuncrion with the toilet, but it’s all fixed! Up next, burns to get Orion into the right orbit first trans-lunar injection. www.nasa.gov/blogs/artemis/
nasa.gov
Artemis - NASA
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
After a slight delay (approximately 50 years) we are off to the moon again with the brave souls on Artemis II, but this time you can watch it all live on the internet! www.youtube.com/live/6RwfNBt...
youtube.com
NASA's Artemis II Live Views from Orion
YouTube video by NASA
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
More likely, another long range drone strike by #Ukraine. In other news, #Rosneft, the petrochemical giant, reported a 73% decrease in profits in 2025 relative to 2024. The tax on those profits are used to pay for the attempted annexation by #Russia of Ukraine.
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Stanimir Dobrev @delfoo.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
The net profit of Russian oil giant Rosneft for 2025 decreased by 73% to 293 billion rubles. The revenue for 2025 decreased by 18,8% to 8,236 trillion rubles. That means the net profit for Q4 2025 was 16 billion rubles down almost 90% from Q4 2024's 158 billion rubles.
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Univ. Bristol Volcanology Group @bristolvolcanology.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Introducing our new Bristol Volcanology Group logo! 🌋 🛰 📡 Featuring all of our favourite areas of volcanic research (and our bridge 🌉)! We've also given our website a full update including current projects, opportunities, facilities and outreach. Take a look! www.bristol.ac.uk/earthscience...
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Univ. Bristol Volcanology Group @bristolvolcanology.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
🌋NEW JOB POSTING!🌋 We are advertising a 32-month postdoc in volcanic petrology at @bristoluni.bsky.social . This UKRI NERC-funded position will join a large team working on: ‘Ex-X’ Expecting the Unexpected. Understanding ‘dangerous’ volcanic transitions’. More: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Interested in a research fellowship in experimental petrology, mineral physics, computational geoscience? The #Bristol #Petrology Group is looking for candidates to support. Send a CV + brief research outline to start a conversation 👇 bristol.ac.uk/earthsciences/research/petrology/opportunities/
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
As sanctions on #oil from #Russia are eased due to supply constraints caused by the #Iran war, #Ukraine has successfully reduced Russian fossil fuel exports by around 45% through sustained drone and missile strikes, the most dramatic being the #Baltic export terminals at Primorsk and Ust-Luga.
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Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Final day of the Iberian Cordillera Fieldtrip, our Palaeontology & Evolution students @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social visited Museu de las Ciencias de la Terra in Alacasser and on to the K-Pg boundary section in Agost
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
It seems #Iran is still capable of hitting targets in #Israel with ballistic missiles, including industrial targets, five weeks after the war started.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
The remains of an E-3 AWACS airborne early warning aircraft of the #USAF. #US officials described it as damaged. The US had 16, but only 8-9 are usually serviceable. Other aircraft, including several KC-135 tankers were nearby. Some are also listed as damaged. This is what victory looks like.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Google's #TurboQuant is a compression mechanism for Key-Value Cache — the 'memory' of an #LLM. It is derived from #PolarQuant which converts KV vectors from Cartesian to polar co-ordinates. Early tests (admittedly by Google) show 6x reduction in memory usage. This seems quite important for #AI.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
It is a shame that batteries were not included, but in addition to this announcement, the Government are also planning to allow sales of solar panels designed to be plugged in at home direct to consumers, as is already the case in e.g. #Germany.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Some good news: “…from 2028, no new homes will be on the gas network - and will instead be on a heat network or get a heat pump - and they must have solar panels on their roofs covering an area equivalent to 40% of the ground floor space.” Well done, Ed. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Heat pumps for all new homes and plug-in solar in green tech drive
Solar panels that can be plugged in at home could be available to buy in supermarkets in the coming months.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
@thestudyofwar.bsky.social is a useful source for fact-based updates on the conflict in the Middle East. Latest: Trump has backed down on his threat to destroy power plants in #Iran, the #SoH remains closed, and we are back to where we were on Friday, except that the #US has even less credibility.
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Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Day 2 of the Iberian Cordillera Fieldtrip for our Palaeontology & Evolution students @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social we looked at exceptional preservation in Miocene lakes and Cretaceous deltas
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Neither.
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
It’s easy being an armchair general, but I think most people would assume that decommissioning your mine sweepers one month before choosing to go to war with a country next to a narrow strait of water through which flows 20% of the worlds oil was a BAD IDEA.
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