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Ruaraidh Dobson

@ruaraidh.bsky.social
284 followers 746 following 42 posts

Exposure science, air pollution, environment and public health. It's like Rory but with a 'u'. He/him.

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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I’ve been arrested under the terrorism act for holding a sign in Parliament Square, but sure, this seems fine. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Black-clad protesters in balaclavas block road at port of Dover in Kent
Port authorities say access roads ‘free flowing’ again after large group forces road closures in both directions
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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I simply do not understand what's going on in Labour that renders its leaders incapable of finding a TV camera and speaking out against street violence. Even if you assume they agree about immigration, violence is wrong, unpopular AND against the interests of any even vaguely left wing govt.
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SCREAMING MADi west @fauxedo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The greatest days in a Swan Boy fan’s life: when you see a huge block of newspaper text to read.
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
It's plug-in solar day! You can now buy your own balcony/garden solar set-ups in GB (not NI) and install them without an electrician, provided the devices are 'compliant'. Let me know if anyone here is planning to do it and how you get on
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A.V. Deggar @avdeggar.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Pretty much everything you need to know about the British Right in two images.
Arday was a stupid intellectual poisoning BritainLiddle was a freedom fighter
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
There’s an underlying assumption a lot of people are making that if a black guy successfully misleads you, it means you have set your racism levels too low.
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Tom Usher @tomusher.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
How many times will the uk press clearly push someone towards their death before there is any accountability? That man was hounded like a social pariah over stuff that was no worse than the average politician does every other year
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I do not need to be jumped scared into not buying a disposable BBQ. Fucks sake.
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John C @badsocialism.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
This is, imo, absolutely the consequence of politicians, media figures and others being actively unwilling to condemn this behaviour
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Mums for Lungs @mumsforlungs.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Children have very little say in the air they breathe. But they're very welcome to have a say here! Help yours write a message to Andy Burnham asking for clean air. #AirPollution is the second leading risk factor for death in children under five in the UK. Let's get our new PM to change this.
mumsforlungs.justpost.cards
Prime Minister Burnham: we need clean air now!
Andy Burnham is our new Prime Minister, and he has the opportunity to deliver a new Clean Air Act that protects the health of everyone. Send him a postcard today and ask him to make clean air a…
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 23/07/2026
I've said it before: ignore the haters. Met data shows there were 35,000 fewer neighbourhood crimes last year than the year before. While some spread myths online, the Met is cutting crime and making our streets safer for everyone, with record funding from City Hall.
theguardian.com
If you’ve heard online that London is dystopian and dangerous – read this. It just isn’t | Sadiq Khan
Britain’s capital has faced social media, press and political attacks designed to make residents and tourists feel unsafe. Ignore that: we have the facts, says London mayor Sadiq Khan
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Local Haze app @localhaze.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Citizen Science and the Future of Air Quality Monitoring - an interview with Dr. Ruaraidh Dobson. We discuss citizen science, wearables, & why PM2.5 alone doesn't capture health impact. Full interview on the Local Haze blog: localhaze.humanlogic.com/2026/07/07/o... @ruaraidh.bsky.social @openaq.org
Citizen Science and the Future of Air Quality Monitoring
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
We just do not have to shrug and let the panopticon into every facet of our lives! Even if there were some incredible use case for this (which I don’t think there is) we could regulate how and where it’s used (and make sure no tech company is getting a full record of everything a wearer sees).
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
British politics is filled with amoral time servers, but Kier Starmer’s special talent was combining that with abject cowardice.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 22/06/2026
been furious with Starmer for long enough that this is genuinely coming as a surprise to me, but I'm feeling a bit.......sad this morning? not really about him per se but about the waste of time, I guess, and the end of yet another political failure when Britain really couldn't afford another one
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Elizabeth Taylor @elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I can't really describe how evil this. And yes, the word evil applies. This means that (for example) a post op trans woman who committed fraud will be forced to be in a men's prison, where she will be at serious risk of rape, or to counteract that potentially be placed away from human contact
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Terrible news: the Court of Appeal has just ruled that the Government’s ban on Palestine Action is lawful. PA is now likely to lodge an appeal before the Supreme Court. So the mass arrests of peaceful people sitting with cardboard signs will continue. Because that is what terrorism looks like ...
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Hannah Graham @drhannahgraham.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Did you see the sign today about hobbies?
Photo of a protest sign in Glasgow which says, 'racism is weird, have you tried hobbies?'
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
We need leaders who can spell out what's happening clearly and with force.
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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 10/06/2026
no other way to say it, this thing in the uk where every single time a non-white person is in the news being accused of a crime we have full on race riots is very very bad
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Peter Beaumont @petersbeaumont1.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
This is what a pogrom looks like: men in masks coming to drive you from your home. This is a collective failure of our political and media class because we did not have the courage to say no, and because too many were allowed to embrace this without shame
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Mums for Lungs @mumsforlungs.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
If you live or work in #Southwark and have ever wondered what #AirPollution is, where it's coming from and how it affects your and your family's #Health, then our latest free webinar is for you. Local focus, practical takeaways, bring your questions! 16th June, 8:15pm. Free to register 👇 .
eventbrite.co.uk
Introduction to air pollution in Southwark
Air Pollution 101: understand causes, impacts, and actions for healthier Southwark communities.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
If you say "I support Palestine Action", they might put you in jail. If you incite a racist riot, they put you on the news.
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Mums for Lungs @mumsforlungs.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Come and see us tomorrow at this What's The Matter event at the UEL Summer Festival! Learn to spot common sources of #AirPollution, See how air changes in real time, Get practical tips to reduce your exposure. Led by Claudia Castro Faccetti, Karina Corada Perez and @ruaraidh.bsky.social. 😍
whatsthematter.uk
What's the Matter — Air Pollution Events & Awareness, London
A grassroots arts and science festival making air pollution visible and actionable. Events across London in 2026 — workshops, exhibitions and clinician training on clean air and health.
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Crowsa Luxemburg @quendergeer.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
hope you enjoyed the equality act 2010 while it lasted folks
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
I got excited about the prospect of plug-in solar in the UK (coming soon!) so I made a calculator to estimate how much electricity it can generate at a given address. It uses the UK government's cool building LIDAR dataset to calculate real shading. Give it a try! helios.southlondonscientific.com
helios.southlondonscientific.com
Helios. Is plug-in solar worth it?
Address-specific yield estimates for plug-in solar in Great Britain. Built by South London Scientific.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Something shocking and out of the ordinary is happening in the UK. While in most comparable countries, healthy life expectancy is rising, here it is plunging steeply. Q. So what marks us out? A. 47 years of extreme neoliberalism, culminating in austerity. www.health.org.uk/reports-and-...
health.org.uk
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
I don't know why this is so hard for some people to grasp. If we extend our use of fossil gas, rather than going all-out for grid batteries, heat pumps and induction hobs, we extend our dependence on *foreign* sources of gas, regardless of whether we also use the UK's last remaining reserves. 🧵
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Yonette Joseph @sugarcane99.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
‘A Mass Disaster Nonstop’: Inside the Turmoil at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s C.D.C. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Inside the Turmoil at RFK Jr.’s CDC, as Told by Current and Former Employees (Gift Article)
Forty-three current and former C.D.C. employees on the changes they say are replacing science with ideology — and making Americans more vulnerable.
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
This is an emergency - or really several emergencies at the same time. If we treat it that way, we can fix it. But we have to start building the infrastructure (whether or not people might see a pylon from their house).
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Everything we need to do to stop climate breakdown, we also need to do for national security. Energy saving, more renewables, more electricity storage and interconnectors, electrification of transport, heating, cooking and industrial processes, plant-based diets. We win on all fronts.
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
New piece in Alliance Magazine: air quality philanthropy grew from $9m to $71m, but implementation was the lowest-funded category. We're great at measuring the problem - I saw it up close at @cleanairfund.bsky.social. Time to fund what comes next. www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/not-eno...
alliancemagazine.org
Not enough room to breathe: Air quality philanthropy’s funding practice problem - Alliance magazine
When it comes to funding air quality, philanthropy is very good at generating dashboards and less good at lasting policy change.   Air pollution kills 8 million people per year, more than tobacco, alc...
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
It is THE fundamental problem. To survive and prosper we must make billionaires history. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
At the root of all our problems stands one travesty: politicians’ surrender to the super-rich | George Monbiot
There are many excuses for failing to tax the ultra-wealthy. The truth is that governments don’t tackle the problem because they don’t want to, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
@miattafahnbulleh.bsky.social hi miatta, have you received my email of two weeks ago? I haven't had a reply and I couldn't reach anyone on your office phone
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OpenAQ @openaq.org · 26/02/2026
Nepal is taking big strides toward clean air thanks to the leadership of Green Decision Labs & Research and Clean Energy Nepal, whose groundbreaking work is supported by EPIC's Air Quality Fund. link.openaq.org/nepal-air-mo...
link.openaq.org
Expanding Air Pollution Monitoring in Nepal
An OpenAQ Community Impact Story by Matt Lane
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
What you idiot commies don’t understand is that if we tax rich people they will JUST LEAVE, depriving our nation of tax cheats, political bribery, and national acts of perversion
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OpenAQ @openaq.org · 19/02/2026
OpenAQ is pleased to welcome @ruaraidh.bsky.social to our Advisory Board, a group of experts that provides strategic advice and advocates for OpenAQ in their respective fields and communities. Welcome, Ruaraidh!
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Interesting… link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Do grant proposal texts matter for funding decisions? A field experiment - Scientometrics
Scientists and funding agencies invest considerable resources in writing and evaluating grant proposals. But do grant proposal texts noticeably change panel decisions in single blind review? We report...
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 21/11/2025
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself it is also free to read youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
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OpenAQ @openaq.org · 28/10/2025
Our 2025 Community Survey is now open! Got a suggestion, comment, feedback, or testimonial about our platform? This is the perfect place for it: link.openaq.org/2025communit... (leads to a Qualtrics survey). Estimated to take about 10 minutes to answer. Thank you!
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 04/10/2025
#OtD 4 Oct 1936 the Battle of Cable St took place when Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists tried to march through East London. They were met by over 100k local workers who fought the blackshirts and the police protecting them, stopping the march workingclasshistory.com/2020/02/17/e...
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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
THIS is the line? www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Scale of ‘Unite the Kingdom’ march shows free speech ‘alive and well’ in UK, says minister – UK politics live
Peter Kyle said he was not ‘disturbed’ by huge Tommy Robinson-organised far-right protest but condemns violence against the police
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Left Foot Forward @left-foot-forward.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
The TUC has called for the government to repeal the proscription of Palestine Action
leftfootforward.org
TUC calls for government to repeal proscription of Palestine Action
The motion passed unanimously
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Douglas Booker @douglasbooker.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
I’m in London for the next few days at the @physoc.bsky.social Climate & Health Summit. I’m looking forward to presenting in the air pollution strand on “Aligning the health equity and environmental co-benefits of retrofitting UK homes”.
A picture of the QE2 centre in the sun, with a green field in the foregroundProf Mike Tipton introducing the conference, standing at a podium in front of a presentation slide with the words welcome to the global climate and health summit 2025
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Ruaraidh Dobson @ruaraidh.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Here at the Clean Air Forum in Nairobi to hear how we can improve access to air quality data - come say hi! #cleanair #airquality
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
At midnight, Palestine Action will be proscribed under the Terrorism Act. Their real “crime”? Exposing the UK’s role in arming Israel’s genocide. This is a dark day for our democracy. Criminalising non-violent resistance won’t silence the truth. We are all Palestine Action 🇵🇸
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Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
We are all Palestine Action. 🇵🇸
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