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Paul Nightingale

@paulnightingale.bsky.social
3.3K followers 4.3K following 1.9K posts

Professor of Strategy at SPRU - the Science Policy Research Unit Teaches SPRU 1.01 Research Policy. HSP. Views mine, not my employer. Politics unfashionable since 1654

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Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Rick @flipchartrick.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Small business isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Big companies are the engines of economic growth. The more an economy is dominated by small businesses, the more likely it is to be a weak one.
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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Calls to break up the Treasury are often tied to arguments about British greatness. But the question is not whether the Treasury should win, but whether the state has the capacity to know when it should. By @tomkelsey.bsky.social politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/history...
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This looks great!
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Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Bellingcat @bellingcat.com · 02/10/2026
Want to support our future work? Become a Bellingcat Member. www.bellingcat.com/donate/
bellingcat.com
The truth belongs to everyone. Help us find it. - Donate to bellingcat
Every membership directly supports our investigations and global community work.
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Nina Jankowicz @ninajankowicz.com · 01/10/2026
My thoughts about the UK's new National Centre for Information Defence. I think it can survive the 'censorship' backlash; UK discourse isn't as infected by conspiratorial brain rot (yet). But it's incumbent on the Burnham gov to fill the info void. www.thewayfinder.net/p/the-uk-get...
thewayfinder.net
The UK Gets Serious About Countering Disinformation
Can the new National Centre for Information Defence survive the ‘censorship’ backlash?
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Brilliant Maps @brilliantmaps.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This bit of London with 21,725 people squeezed into 1 sq km has the highest population density of anywhere in the UK. Yet it's less than half as dense as the densest European city: brilliantmaps.com/densest-n... credit: Alasdair Rae
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On point B, the NASA Exoplanet Archive typically serves ~10-20TB of data per month. In July it jumped to 70TB. In August it jumped to 600TB. So either our user base organically grew *30x* in two months (... unlikely), OR the bots have taken over already.
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is worse. For many it wasn't unknowingly. They knew full well what they were going because they were told but did it anyway. Sooner or later this is going to lead to a UK academic going to prison. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mi5-iss...
timeshighereducation.com
MI5 issues China espionage warning to UK universities
Universities have urgently been told to review their ties with Chinese research institute after spy warning
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is very clunky and unlikely to go down well. Wanting Big Science funding with preWar Small Science oversight is not going to convince anyone and I'm surprised the argument is so weak. We aren't going back to 1980s style neoliberal science-policy and that is a very good thing.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It will never not be wild to me that the Russians attacked Keir Starmer's home, successfully spread falsehoods about Starmer's love life, and this didn't changed British politics and British political elite behaviour *at all*.
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Gesine Weber @gesineweber.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is really important because these first European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCIs) open the door for more. And it basically gives the EU the possibility to fund these endeavours much more extensively than before. Good news.
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Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Arnout van de Rijt @arnoutvanderijt.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Although young women still lag behind young men, particularly mothers, our findings show steady convergence and challenge the narrative of stalled progress." Just out in our journal, @sociologicalsci.bsky.social
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Those who think AI is going to largely automate white collar jobs in the next couple of years don’t understand the nature of work - @sarahoconnorft.ft.com nails it www.ft.com/content/4aad...
It is not obvious that AI agents could eliminate the need for this type of work, since it involves persuasion, contestation and the exchange of tacit knowledge and experience that is spread across different departments, and often exists inside people's heads rather than in a neatly codified handbook on the intranet.
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Ed Conway @edconway.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This @lrb.co.uk piece from Arthur Downing is just a fantastic tour d'horizon of Britain's energy system. A must-read for anyone hoping to navigate the coming decade. Remember: energy is more or less EVERYTHING! www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Arthur Downing · Asset Sweating: Britain’s Energy Crisis
Britain has private ownership while making the state responsible for planning via subsidies. The result is a zombie...
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We’ve written about predatory publishers, fake papers, fake peer review and imposter researchers…. Now suspect ‘learned societies’ 🧪 #academicSky Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fundamentally, the median voter has had a tax cut since 2010 and the result is that nothing works.
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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Interesting on the business of quantum computers www.ft.com/content/ae9e...
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is pretty niche: The foundations of American science policy went from Edwin Mansfield to Harvey Mansfield rather faster than i expected. I don't think many people in Europe appreciate the implications of that or that the same intellectual currents are also in Europe. People in China do.
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Alexander Wuttke @kunkakom.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We are hiring at LMU Munich: two PhD positions and one postdoc on democracy, political psychology and computational social science. Start: January 2027 or as soon as possible. We review applications on a rolling basis until October 20. Details below. Reposts very welcome! 1/7
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
thecrimson.com
Harvard Kennedy School Hired EY-Parthenon to Study Demand for Tech Policy Degree | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Kennedy School hired the consulting firm EY-Parthenon to gauge demand for a possible new degree in technology and public policy, a school spokesperson confirmed, as Dean Jeremy M. Weinstein wo...
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
yup. things are getting crazy.
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Ten years ago I was involved in a very strange twitter interaction about tides. Experts are wrong about the moon causing ocean tides, Ukip MP Douglas Carswell insists | The Independent share.google/csLmwNFhhFxN...
share.google
Experts are wrong about the moon causing ocean tides, Ukip MP Douglas Carswell insists
The MP says the sun, not the moon, primarily causes ocean tides
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Horizons Magazine @horizons-en.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
👩‍🔬👉🔬🧪🔭 Helga Nowotny co-founded the European Research Council @erc.europa.eu. In our interview, she explains how it came about, what role basic research should play and what worries her.👇 @scientoskop.bsky.social www.horizons-mag.ch/2026/09/03/re…
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Jesus Castagnetto 🇵🇪 (@jmcastagnetto@mastodon.social) @jmcastagnetto.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The National Academies of #Science, Engineering, and Medicine (#NASEM, #USA) has published the latest version of "On Being a #Scientist - A Guide to the #Responsible and #Ethical Conduct of #Research" (Fourth Edition) nap.nationalacademies.org/pubs/29488/ #Science #ethics
nap.nationalacademies.org
On Being a Scientist: A Guide to the Responsible and Ethical Conduct of Research: Fourth Edition
Explore the fourth edition of On Being a Scientist, a guide to responsible and ethical conduct across the research enterprise.
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Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 21/09/2026
This is precisely the kind of data that allows Google to shape the advertising market in its favour. In turn, this creates arbitrary costs for businesses — *billions* that end up being borne by consumers — and unfairly outcompetes publishers in ads. The mechanics are in: hbr.org/2021/12/does...
hbr.org
Does Personalized Advertising Work as Well as Tech Companies Claim?
Many Big Tech companies have created platforms that offer businesses tips and tools and services to better target their customers online. These can be helpful — but anybody relying on them needs to be...
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Matthew L. Jones @nescioquid.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Amazing postdoc opportunity in history of modern mathematics at IAS surrounded by excellent mathematicians, historians of science, and STS scholars. www.math.ias.edu/~akshay/hist...
math.ias.edu
Postdoctoral Scholar, History of Modern Mathematics | Institute for Advanced Study
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Joe Bak-Coleman @jbakcoleman.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I don’t mean this to be cruel, but there’s just too much air being taken up by people with media or tech backgrounds who think their hot take on consciousness with LLMs is new, and lord it has all been done before and we’re past that. Christ, half the news cycle is yud refusing to read a book.
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
This is very good. And very funny about the nonsense being spouted about AI this week.
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Mona Smitte @monalisazelf.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Stan Marsh & Gary Harrison: Yeah, But How?
ALT: Stan Marsh & Gary Harrison: Yeah, But How?
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Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It’s very simple. AI isn’t independent or autonomous. It’s a tool being specifically programmed to commit crimes against humans and against rival businesses. But the fantasy of autonomy is an incredible facade that means total deniability and our political and media classes have already bought in.
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Greg Folkers @gregfolkers.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
NEJM: The End of the War on Biomedical Science? by David Blumenthal and James A. Morone @davidblumenthal.bsky.social @nejm.org depending on continued activism, perhaps room for optumism bit.ly/4yNxiWZ 💥
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 19/09/2026
The British tech leader on coding as the modern form of literacy, his scepticism of AI evangelists — and the origin of his interest in geekery: ft.trib.al/D9bgu0J
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Politics about the politics of science www.aip.org/fyi/research...
aip.org
Researchers Skeptical of NSF Metascience Plan
The agency issued a memo last week laying out several grantmaking changes, including a new office for metascience.
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Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Chart from The Economist showing suspiciously rounded voting numbers in Russian elections since 2000
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Just had lunch with a friend of mine who is also an editor of an academic journal. They are drowning in AI slop and they are going to quit and hand the problem onto the next generation.
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Charlotte Cavaille @ccavaille.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Small-N assessment: AI makes everyone more productive output-wise, but I, as a senior person with prior knowledge benefit the most, while my ("junior") students struggle with actual learning. This paper proves this with a larg(er)-N causal design: www.nber.org/papers/w35720
nber.org
Does AI Assistance Enhance or Erode Expertise? Evidence from a Three-Month Field Experiment in Patent Drafting
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
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Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
When I tell you this is one of the most riveting, concise and accurate depictions of the catastrophically defective thought processes behind Effective Altruism and the larger Broligarch Epistemic Universe... Run, don't walk, to read the whole thing (link below), which concludes thus:
Example of the problematic thinking behind Effective Altruism.
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Relax, everybody cepr.org/voxeu/column...
cepr.org
New jobs in 140 years of data: Why the AI displacement fear is overstated — and what to worry about instead
Forecasts of AI-driven job destruction rest on counting automatable tasks. But labour markets hire, pay, and fire whole occupations, not tasks – and occupations have proved far more durable than task ...
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Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Nice MIT report on AI in higer ed aiandeducation.mit.edu/report/
aiandeducation.mit.edu
Report – AI and Education
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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 18/09/2026
‘Greek finance minister encourages Germany to implement reforms’ www.ft.com/content/7a28...
static.klipy.com
Antonio Banderas' Satisfied Reaction
ALT: Antonio Banderas' Satisfied Reaction
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Kyle Clark @kylec.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Squirrels on suicide missions have knocked out power to Castle Rock, Colorado twice this week. Our investigation has revealed a century of squirrel attacks covered up by the pro-squirrel media.
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Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 18/09/2026
Damn. @tobyn.bsky.social has produced the most detailed map of Big AI’s incestuous relationships I’ve seen so far. And it’s interactive! www.ft.com/content/8475...
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I remember the absolute garbage people who fell hook, line and sinker for Assadists propaganda on this, and attacked those of us who called that out - Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Austin Tice: Assad regime planned US journalist's kidnap for weeks, BBC finds
Austin Tice’s abduction was approved by Syria’s former leader Bashar al-Assad, a source claims.
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Chris Giles @chrisgiles.ft.com · 17/09/2026
Join me, James Benford (ONS), Richard Hughes (formerly OBR) and Terra Allas (Alliance Manchester Business School) for a webinar tomorrow on this niesr.ac.uk/event/uks-pr... As the title suggests, it will be forward looking
niesr.ac.uk
Is the UK's Productivity Revival Real, or a Measurement Illusion? - NIESR
On 17 September, the ONS will publish its new component-based approach to measuring hours worked. This webinar discusses the implications of the new methodology and what it means for policymakers.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 17/09/2026
German court rules Meta liable for fake ads on Instagram, Facebook reut.rs/4AhCcNv
reut.rs
German court rules Meta liable for fake ads on Instagram, Facebook
A German court has ruled that Meta is liable for fake advertisements posted by third parties ​on its Instagram and Facebook platforms, and ordered the ‌U.S. tech giant to remove such content and pay damages, the court said on Thursday.
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Heather Stewart @guardianheather.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
V interesting ONS paper out this morning suggesting productivity hasn't been *quite* as weak as feared - which as @willellisecon.bsky.social says downthread here, raises qus about the OBR's Big Productivity Downgrade last year - which had significant knock on effects for Rachel Reeves...
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Center for European Policy Analysis @cepa.org · 16/09/2026
An indictment unsealed in New York charges five men with running a Russian network that killed Kremlin critics and attacked European infrastructure. All five remain at large in Russia. @andreisoldatov.bsky.social and Irina Borogan warn that sanctions will never reach them.
cepa.org
No Magic Bullet to End Russian Sabotage
Western countries still hope for a simple response to the Russia's rising wave of destruction. The answer is in the lessons of the Cold War.
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Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham @paulgp.com · 15/09/2026
New post reviewing Zidar and Zwick's new book, which I loved. paulgp.substack.com/p/who-is-ric...
paulgp.substack.com
Who is rich in America, and why?
A review of “The Everywhere Millionaire” by Zidar and Zwick
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Upjohn Institute @upjohninstitute.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Business incentives go a lot further when paired with workforce training. A new Upjohn Institute report finds targeted training could generate $5.24 in benefits for every $1 invested. Helping local workers land the jobs being created pays off. Read more: bit.ly/4h5hbN9
bit.ly
Pairing incentives with job training could deliver major gains
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