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Richard Elwes

@richardelwes.bsky.social
1.1K followers 2K following 436 posts

Mathematician and Writer in UK. Author of "Huge Numbers" (Basic Books, April 2026). www.richardelwes.co.uk

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Reposted by Richard Elwes
Stuart Presnell @logopetria.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Not quite as technically impressive as "Beyond the infinite two minutes", but "River" ("ribā, nagarenaide yo") is another fun time-loop story from the same writer and director (Makoto Ueda and Junta Yamaguchi) with some of the same cast en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_(...
en.wikipedia.org
River (2023 film) - Wikipedia
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Three low-budget high concept Japanese films for your enjoyment: 1. "Three feet ball and souls" ("Sanshaku Tamashii"). Four of suicidal strangers gather in a barn to blow themselves up with a gigantic firework. But every time the bomb goes off, the timeloop resets. www.imdb.com/title/tt7117...
imdb.com
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Very excited to present a stunning classification theorem of Noble Polyhedra by Connor Hill, on Numberphile. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9533...
youtube.com
Big News in Polyhedra - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Very excited to present a stunning classification theorem of Noble Polyhedra by Connor Hill, on Numberphile. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9533...
youtube.com
Big News in Polyhedra - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Numberphile's great output around the Navier-Stokes debacle continues with this excellent interview with the man in the eye of the storm, Tristan Buckmaster. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzbt...
youtube.com
The Buckmaster Interview (Navier-Stokes) - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Who will be the new heroes? Some interesting thoughts from Grant Sanderson on mathematics in the age of AI. youtu.be/9HlIuxnuTKQ?...
youtu.be
What now for Mathematics (with 3Blue1Brown) - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Thank you to Moira Gunn for having me on her brilliant show Tech Nation, to talk about Huge Numbers. www.podomatic.com/podcasts/tec...
podomatic.com
Episode 26-38 Huge Numbers
On this week’s Tech Nation, Moira speaks with Dr. Richard Elwes about his book, “Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 ½ to Fish 7”. They discuss what really makes a number “huge,” and...
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ꭓle Ormsby 𓆙 @e-infinity.space · 22/09/2026
Chaim is bringing the fire 🔥
Abstract
We provide a clearer presentation of the Chair44 monotile, a new strongly aperiodic
monotile in three-dimensional Euclidean space E3
.
With LLM tools (ChatGPT Astra), Ioannis Tsiokos recently reported the first
known strongly aperiodic monotile in three-dimensional Euclidean space E
3
, the Chair44
monotile (see Figure 3, taken from Tsiokos’ preprint [11]). Hats off to Tsiokos for this
discovery, the framework he developed, and the human inquiry that led to the Chair44
monotile.
However, the paper itself and the formalization that it claims for support are not
in a form that is readily usable to anyone who wants to understand or check it. This is
not just because of the needless length or complexity of the argument (which is indeed
overwhelming as presented), or because the formal repository is not in normal form, or
because much of the text is misleading or poorly organized, but mainly because there
is so much irrelevant puff to push through. These are hallmarks of an LLM-driven
research paper.
We must, absolutely, insist on a higher standard for scientific discourse. The aim
must be to communicate, clearly, with people in the community — certainly this is an
historical requirement for publication.1
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"OpenAI does at least seem aware, in the wake of the Navier-Stokes fiasco, that mathematicians now view it like a Dust Bowl farmer eyeing an approaching cloud of locusts."
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"Puzzles, Stories, and Very Large Numbers: Complementary approaches to mathematical engagement". My article in the latest issue of "Mathematics Competitions" applies Freeman Dyson's classification of mathematicians into "Birds" and "Frogs" to mathematical engagement... www.wfnmc.org/Journal/Jour...
wfnmc.org
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Like all mathematicians today, I am mulling over the end of one era, and the start of a new one. Looking backwards, what do you think was the final great mathematical theorem proved without the use of AI?
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is a great walk-through of the Navier-Stokes problem and its recent solution, from Tony Padilla on Numberphile. youtu.be/3geDF-DAwpg?...
youtu.be
SOLVED: Navier-Stokes cracked by AI - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It’s my annual why-haven’t-I-been-to-more-cricket-this-year September dash to Headingley to watch Yorkshire women take on Lancashire. Which means I am honoured to watch Kate Cross’s final professional game - congratulations to her on a magnificent career.
Kate Cross bowling for Lancashire against Yorkshire at Headingley.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
What these highly eminent mathematicians are objecting to is not so much "AI" as "the current behaviour of AI companies". They are like big game hunters, who just want an impressive trophy to mount on their wall, and have no further interest in the animal or its enviroment.
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
Lance Fortnow @lance.fortnow.com · 09/09/2026
Both OpenAI and Alpöge-Buckmaster heavily leaned on Lean in their Navier-Stokes announcements. Is this a new requirement for publishing?
blog.computationalcomplexity.org
Navier-Stokes and Lean
I was working on this week's post on Lean after reading Kevin Hartnett's book  The Proof in the Code: How a Truth Machine Is Transforming Ma...
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
The Pub-Liking Universal Friend @johnb78.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In order to upset everyone from all camps and be damned to every possible kind of hell, living or otherwise, I got the bad art machine to draw Rococo's Basilisk
A lavish Rococo portrait of a basilisk presented as an 18th-century aristocrat, reclining amid gilded cartouches, shellwork, roses, ribbons, pearls, feathers and excessive decorative confidence. The reptile wears an expression of serene social superiority while surrounded by cherubs, classical statuary, a white peacock, ornamental inscriptions and a discreetly beribboned skull.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Live footage of OpenAI dealing with academic mathematicians.
static.klipy.com
Kes Football Match: No Foul!
Alt: A clip from the movie Kes in which an adult PE teacher (played by Brian Glover) shoves a child player off the ball during a football match.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Congratulations to @alexbellos.bsky.social deserving winner of the 2026 Christopher Zeeman medal for the communication of mathematics! ima.org.uk/29984/alex-b...
ima.org.uk
Alex Bellos Is Awarded the 2026 Christopher Zeeman Medal
The London Mathematical Society (LMS) and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) are delighted to announce that Alex Bellos has been
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
TechCrunch @techcrunch.com · 08/09/2026
OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician
techcrunch.com
OpenAI fought dirty on career-making math problem, says NYU mathematician
There is a $1 million bounty for the first person providing a solution to the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem.
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Jon Worth @jonworth.eu · 07/09/2026
Welcome to the #LongestTrainEU #CrossBorderRail record breaking thread! This journey starts Kemijärvi 🇫🇮 and ends Lagos 🇵🇹 18 trains, 100 hours 9 minutes, 4008km as crow flies, 6281 route-km Project background: longestjourney.crossborderrail.eu Follow live: longestjourneylive.crossborderrail.eu
Logo of the Longest Train Journey project showing the Tornio - Haparanda bridge
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
Timothy Gowers @wtgowers.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Kevin Buzzard's thoughts on Fermat's Last Theorem being autoformalized in Lean. xenaproject.wordpress.com/2026/09/04/f...
xenaproject.wordpress.com
FLT: Anthropic has beaten me to it
I guess technically it was revealed to the world by a coffee shop in Islington on Insta, but an hour later it was officially announced by Anthropic: one of their internal models, using the prove2.m…
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Durham Cathedral is a magnificent building. At one stage it was used to house thousands of Scottish prisoners of war, and is one of the UK’s best preserved examples of Norman archi…harrypotterharrypotterharrypotterharrypotter #sighteeingwithkids
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
People in the west of England! Come and see me at the Wells Festival of Literature on Sunday 18 October, where I will be talking about - you'll never guess - very big numbers. wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk/events/2026-...
wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk
Richard Elwes - Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously | Wells Festival of Literature
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Some of the best & worst things about making Numberphile videos are the comments. For example: "This feels like making a tear in the underlying fabric of the universe and catching a glimpse at the scaffolding." Wow. Thank you EmblemParade. On the other hand... 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mXa...
youtube.com
2.685 is (almost) everywhere - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Here's me on Numberphile talking about one of my favourite numbers - the omnipresent Khinchin's constant. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mXa...
youtube.com
2.685 is (almost) everywhere - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Aged 47, I have just lost my last baby tooth. Can anyone beat that? For the curious, I was missing an adult tooth in that position, so the milk tooth was never pushed out in the usual way. But after long years of service it was starting to disintegrate so was extracted this morning.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
An important article addressing an important question for the new prime minister - do we want to support disabled people to be productive members of society? Or do we prefer to… not do that? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Disabled creatives like me are behind many of your favourite shows – so why has our work support been withdrawn? | Annalisa Dinnella
Cuts to the Access to Work scheme will mean no more contributions to shows like Sex Education, Call the Midwife or The Hack. It will be devastating to lose such talent, says TV writer Annalisa Dinnell...
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Sam Hartburn @samhartburn.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Don't miss our one and only gig this year! Cracking new maths songs, old favourites, a set from the wonderful Helen Arney, and the chance to explore some of the MathsWorld exhibits! Monday 21st September at MathsWorld, London. Tickets at mathsworld.com/events/Pseud...
Poster with a photo of the band members of Pseudorandom Ensemble and a photo of Helen Arney. With the text MathsWorld Lates: London. The Pseudorandom Ensemble, featuring Colin Beveridge, Sam Holloway, Sam Hartburn and Gavan Fantom.

Monday 21st September

Music 18:45
Museum open 18:15-21:00
£8 per person
£5 annual pass holders

A musical journey through the highs, lows and medians of being a mathematician, with detours into the worlds of pentagonal tilings, squircles, square packing and more. Expect maths! Expect music! Expect significant amounts of exposition between the songs to make sure everyone's up to speed! With special guest Helen Arney - geek songstress, musical comedian and one third of Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

For more info or to book, head to www.mathsworld.com/events
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
403 FORBIDDEN @joshgrant.online · 26/07/2026
Finished this book. Definitely have some thoughts. Short immediate review: certified banger. 10/10
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Me on Numberphile with a short update in the quest for Holey Monsters. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aTU...
youtube.com
Holier Than Thou - Numberphile
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
"I found it completely delightful to travel through the chapters reading the stories and sagas of larger and larger numbers." Great to read this review of Huge Numbers, by Emily J Olson in Notices of the American Mathematical Society. www.ams.org/journals/not...
ams.org
AMS :: Notices of the American Mathematical Society
Notice: All AMS websites will be down for maintenance on Saturday, July 11 from 8 am until 1 pm.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
A gift arrives! A Rubik’s cube inside a glass jar, from which it cannot be removed. Fun!
A Rubik’s cube in a glass jar from which it is too big to remove.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I’m in Malaysia! I just gave a talk to a high school maths club. They requested something on a big numbers. At the end one of the students showed me this portrait. I am pleased with it and think “much much much” is a fair précis of my talk.
A hand drab sketch of Richard with a microphone giving a talk saying “much much much”.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Hope the England footballers don’t get too monstered in the press. They seem like decent lads, they produced some great moments, and it’s not their fault if the manager’s strategy of playing with a goalie and ten defenders backfires.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Here's me on Numberphile talking about the ancient East Asian game of Go, and some enormous numbers it generates! www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cvK...
youtube.com
2081681993819799846994786333448627702865224538845305484256394568209274196127380153785256484516 (etc)
YouTube video by Numberphile
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Reposted by Richard Elwes
Nalini Joshi @monsoon0.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Evelyn Sander and Mason Porter are seeking nominations 🥁📣for 'Alternative Fields Medals' in 2026: esander1789.github.io/afm/ This is the time to suggest amazing mathematical achievers, leaders, discoverers, and expositors who may not have been recognized before…
esander1789.github.io
The Alternative Fields Medals
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I have just finished Children of Strife, the latest in the Children of Time series of science fiction books by @aptshadow.bsky.social. Although horrifying things happen with regularity, the overall vibe I always come away with is that of playfulness with some wild and exuberant ideas. 1/5
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Great to see "Huge Numbers" positively recieved in La Nacion! 1/3 www.lanacion.com.ar/economia/num...
lanacion.com.ar
Números gigantes y “materia oscura”: la caja negra de la medición de la IA que complica todos los cálculos
El costo de la IA es perfectamente visible en dólares, vatios, litros de agua y empleos perdidos; la producción que genera, no
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Madeleine Shepherd @studioknotunknot.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Hey folks! I'm taking part in Common Threads, a textiles exhibition next week. It's in Coburg House, Leith, Edinburgh on 27th, 28th June and 4th, 5th July. Come and see the wonderful stitch, weave, crochet and knit work that is created in Coburg House. www.coburghouse.co.uk/exhibitions/...
coburghouse.co.uk
Common Threads — Coburg House Art Studios
Common Threads brings together six contemporary textile artists from Coburg House Studios whose work challenges expectations of fibre, cloth and craft. Through exceptional skill, experimentation and ...
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
What puzzles do you know which open the door to a mathematical field? The archetypal example is the “dinner party problem” how many people do you need to invite to guarantee either three mutual friends or three mutual strangers? This puzzle is the first toe in the water of Ramsey Theory.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Some Big Number news! The highest number counted out loud is now 1,070,000 (beating the previous record on 1 million). Congratulations to Guiness World Record holder Favour Ogechi Ani! www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2026/3/...
guinnessworldrecords.com
Eat, Pray, Count: What it takes to count to the highest number
Favour Ogechi Ani spent 70 days counting out loud all the way up to 1,070,000!
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Highlights of my career as a cricket umpire so far, a thread. Fielders all ready, batters both ready. Umpire: “Ok let’s play.” Bowler: “Erm, please can I have the ball?” Umpire: “Shit.” [Sprints off field to find a ball.]
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European Mathematical Society @euromathsoc.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
🏆 Congratulations to the Museum of Mathematics CUBOID in Ukraine, winner of the 2026 Simon Norton Prize. The project was recognised for inspiring maths outreach under wartime conditions. Read more: euromathsoc.org/news/2026-si...
euromathsoc.org
2026 Simon Norton Prize awarded to Museum of Mathematics “CUBOID”
Markus Juvonen
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John C. Baez @johncarlosbaez.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
People have studied black holes in higher dimensions. When space is 4-dimensional you can even get a "black Saturn" - a ring singularity orbiting a black hole. I wrote about black Saturns here: math.ucr.edu/home/baez/di... It's been noted that "Black Saturns" should be the name of a band.
math.ucr.edu
diary - September 2016
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
“…delightful, insightful, informative…” I am thrilled with this review of Huge Numbers in the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Siobhan Roberts for the review, including the slightly blush-inducing section about my “precision patter” narrating the audiobook.... 1/2 www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘Huge Numbers’ Review: Let Me Count the Ways
The biggest number ever counted to by a human is one million. It took Jeremy Harper of Alabama 89 days.
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Erm, I am on the one hand excited that the Wall Street Journal has run a review of Huge Numbers, and on the other hand frustrated that not being a subscriber I cannot read it! Do I have any friends on here who can help?! www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
wsj.com
‘Huge Numbers’ Review: Let Me Count the Ways
The biggest number ever counted to by a human is one million. It took Jeremy Harper of Alabama 89 days.
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European Mathematical Society @euromathsoc.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
📣 Final lecture of the EMS Lecture Series on Mathematics Education 🗓️ 12 Jun 2026 • 19:00 CEST • Online 🎙️ Terence Tao: How should students control their AI diet? ▶️ Watch (live + replays): www.youtube.com/@EuropeanMat... #Mathematics #EMS #MathEducation #AI
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The Well-read Naturalist @wellreadnaturalist.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"Fish 7?" @richardelwes.bsky.social, author of "Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 1/2 to Fish 7" (@basicbooksgroup.bsky.social), explains in this knowledge-expanding @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social History of Science podcast episode. #mathematics podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
podcasts.apple.com
Richard Elwes, "Huge Numbers: A Story of Counting Ambitiously, from 4 1/2 to Fish 7" (Basic Books, 2026)
Podcast Episode · New Books in the History of Science · May 22 · 1h 5m
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European Mathematical Society @euromathsoc.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Thank you to everyone who joined us for EMS Women in Mathematics Day 2026 last Friday! ✨ ▶️ The lectures by Kaisa Matomäki and Annalisa Buffa are available on the EMS YouTube channel for anyone who missed the event or would like to watch again. Watch the playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com
EMS Women in Mathematics Days Lectures
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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Richard Elwes @richardelwes.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
We always enjoy our visits to the gem-rock museum in Creetown in Galloway. We also always leave carrying bags of assorted rocks from the gift-shop. This was my choice this time - a cube made of Tiger’s Eye quartz. 1/2
A small cube made of pretty polished brown rock called tiger-eye quartz
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