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Dr Mike Ward

@schroedinger99.bsky.social
1.1K followers 346 following 2.9K posts

Retired data-modeller with background in genetics & philosophy of science. grandfather, sceptic, deracinated cosmopolitan, citizen of nowhere, & angry old man.

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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Counter: severe tax cliff edges, particularly in cases like this when the marginal rate spirals into infinity, are bad for everyone. They mutilate incentives and reduce overall wealth. They should be fixed and not avoided simply because they initially benefit wealthy people.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I think I shall start saying "Christopher Columbus in a basement" instead of "Jesus Christ on a bicycle".
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Yep! See also child benefit, pensioners' fuel allowance etc. Instead of insane, and anomaly creating, and expensive means-testing arrangements, we should have universal benefits and address the fiscal and moral problems of richer ppl getting benefits they don't need through a fair tax system.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🧪
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Apparently "een" is a valid word in British Scrabble, but not in the North American version. (I felt I had to check) But I'm not sure this sheds any light on the mystery of the missing letters.
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
The Marsh Family @marshfamilysongs.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This is "Stormtroops & Freikorps Again!" - our parody of "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show, taking on the topic of the emergence of #PatriotPlatform last week & putting it in an outrageous and glam 👠European context. One of us may have made a mistake towards the end 🤨 youtu.be/R0DGY3iH9ao
youtu.be
"Stormtroops & Freikorps Again" - Marsh Family parody of "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show
YouTube video by Marsh Family
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Yeah it's hard to imagine what "superintelligence" (in a notional being) might be - other than the ability to do all the stuff we can currently do with the aid of computers (albeit slowly) except quickly and inside that being's "own head".
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Museum of Science @museumofscience.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
What if you could eat your water bottle instead of recycling it?🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social shows how, using a bit of kitchen chemistry. Sodium alginate, a powder derived from seaweed, reacts with calcium lactate to form a gel wherever the two meet. #Chemistry #DIY #Science #STEM #ScienceExperiment
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Lou Baruch: www.theguardian.com/politics/200...
theguardian.com
Hilda Baruch obituary
Other lives: Political activist whose house became a haven for reguees during the Spanish civil war
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I knew somebody who was on one of the torpedoed ships to Canada who was rescued then sent to Australia. A proportion of those on the ships were actual Nazis, so the Jewish people (like my friend) had to band together to protect themselves both from their British guards and their fellow passengers.
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Day 16. Today’s #SciArtSeptember shape prompt, scallop, made me think of scalloped leaves. Feeling autumn in the air, I decided to make four prints about leaf colour chemistry using bur oak leaves. 🧪 Every autumn we marvel at the beautiful change in the colour of leaves of our deciduous trees. 🧵
My 11” x 14” print with four bur oak leaves in green, yellow, orange and red overprinted with linocut molecules as described in slate grey. This one has leaf gel prints, is signed Ele Willoughby and dated 2026.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Also, if we're talking cephalopods in general, this paoloviscardi.com/2012/01/23/f..., from @paoloviscardi.bsky.social , is quite interesting.
paoloviscardi.com
Friday mystery object #131 answer
On Friday I showed you some specimens that I had to identify in the museum last week, and I asked if you had any idea what they might be: Perhaps unsurprisingly, several of you did have a very good…
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
They are closely related to cats and their eyes are wired up properly so they have better vision than we do. (only one of these claims is true)
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Most supplements and vitamins have little or no proven benefit, and even some have potential of harm, but that hasn't held back ~80% Americans taking them, highest proportion ever www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/w...
nytimes.com
Supplements Are More Popular Than Ever (Gift Article)
A new survey found that 8 in 10 Americans were taking vitamins, protein powders or other supplements. But experts said many offer little to no benefit.
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I just got the latest Deutsche Post stamps featuring the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, issued to celebrate Star Trek’s 60th anniversary! Love it! 🖖
A sheet of ten German postage stamps featuring the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, with the text “Wo noch nie ein Mensch gewesen ist” (“Where no human has gone before”) and "60 Jahre Star Trek" ("60 years of Star Trek") a 95-cent denomination, QR codes, and colorful Star Trek-themed borders.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Yep! @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social had already coined the nickname "Professor Spode" for a certain former academic turned far-right rabble rouser. I think that recent developments rather confirm David's prescience, and provide yet another example of life imitating art-that-was-trying-to-imitate-life.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I took you to be arguing that public support was not a good indication of the quality of the bill (I agree) and inferred that you had misgivings about the bill as currently proposed? I was suggesting that a flawed bill may be better than no bill?
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Fair point, but there is very widespread and deeply felt opposition to the very idea of assisted death for any reason. If and when a law is in place, I'd expect the debate to improve.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Well yes. I was suggesting that these might be extended over time.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
OTOH, many laws are a bit rubbish when they first get passed. One thinks of the original efforts to legalize abortion, gay sex, women voting &c. But once the general taboo had been overcome, better legislation followed.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A really interesting thread:
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Young people are an enigma wrapped in a conundrum! There's no accounting for their behaviour.
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Dan Snow @thehistoryguy.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
There was a very active critic of the history syllabus in the 90s. Very wise people scoffed at how much time kids were forced to spend learning about the Nazis and democratic decay in the 30s. Turns out we should have gone much harder.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
That's very interesting - and not something I'd have guessed from my own (obviously limited) experience of conversations with young anti-fascists and some older people seduced by populist nonsense.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
So, yes (to come to my point), I agree entirely that consistency and fairness (rather than draconianism) are key; but the lack of consistency we see is driven, I submit, by a number of different forces.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Similarly, you get (say) the ICO coming down like a ton of bricks on some poor git who leaves his lappy full of sensitive info on a bus, yet ignoring scammers and spammers who deliberately flout data laws. It's always easier go after law abiding people who will cooperate with your investigations.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I suppose I'm thinking partly of the sentences inflicted on some oil protestors, but also (say) the introduction of ever harsher penalties for mobile use by drivers, alongside near zero enforcement. NB, I deplore such driver behaviour, but I understand why the law seems arbitrary to those caught.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
IMHO, the various authorities need to exercise more restraint w.r.t. the severity of punishments they hand out and much less restraint when it comes to actually investigating and condemning examples of blatant misfeasance.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
You can see the justification to some extent for such moves. But the regulators then operate, and have their powers awarded, in an ideological climate dominated by a philosophy of "light touch" regulation, "small government" etc. And there's often ambiguous delineation of powers, and buck-passing.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I agree with all that. But I think there's another thing in play here too: in all sorts of areas (especially different kinds of fraud) responsibility for enforcement has been removed from the police and legal system and given to (usually highly ineffective) "regulators".
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
🤣
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I think we now should! 👍
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Rob Sheridan @rob-sheridan.com · 05/09/2026
My cousin’s shirt took me a second. He said “it’s great because anyone who would be offended by it couldn’t understand it anyway.”
A shirt with the following words in rainbow colors:
Fluorine
Uranium
Carbon
Potassium
Titanium
Rubidium
Uranium
Magnesium
Platinum
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Edzard Ernst @edzard.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
@iandunt.bsky.social @dorianlynskey.bsky.social re open.spotify.com/episode/5968... I think you are a bit unfair to the CPGB! see e.g. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_As...
en.wikipedia.org
Mark Ashton - Wikipedia
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I'm not sure I've ever heard a single "insight" from his lips that wasn't up there with "if you go out in the rain without an umbrella or raincoat you might get wet".
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Reposted by Dr Mike Ward
Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Just a reminder, Professor James Orr, Reform UK head of policy, teaches 'ethics' to undergraduates at Cambridge University youtu.be/aXut3s90rUI
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Aaron Copland must be turning in his grave.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Let's hope so. OTOH, I'm not sure that those who vote Reform are particularly bothered whether their idols break the law or tell the truth?
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Well! It turns out that Nigel Farage and all his top chaps are wrong-uns. Who knew?
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Are you all watching Channel Four News?
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
And hot on the heels of my kitchen infestation ... this (re the Drosophila Connectomics Group at the University of Cambridge) just popped up: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... (I may get on to them if your suggestion fails 😊)
bbc.co.uk
Fly brain wiring map may hold clues for autism and schizophrenia
Comparing the brains of male and female flies may transform our understanding of how genes shape behaviour, including ours.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Thanks! I shall give that a go 🙂
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Apropos drosophila, how do you get rid of them in the kitchen? We've already hidden all the fruit. (Back in my lab days I sometimes struggled to keep them alive. Now I have the opposite problem 😕)
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
4) All sides in trans debates (JKR sometimes included) crave absolute, clear cut answers; but there are areas where you struggle to find them. All we can do as a society is to try & thrash out the issues in a civilized fashion, acknowledge their complexities, & strive for compromise & consensus.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
3) I don't say any of that because I hate disabled people. I fact, I think we should go a lot further in providing for their needs. I say it because it illustrates that there are often no simple answers.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
2) The case of disabled rights is instructive I think, not because there are any particularly close analogies with trans rights, but because it's a morass of complications, equal treatment, special treatment, and conflicts with the interests of the able bodied.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
1) Bentham and Mill came up with suggestions for a calculus (see e.g. @iandunt.bsky.social's excellent How to be Liberal on this) but those suggestions don't really work. What we nearly all use in practice is a kludge of Utilitarian and Kantian ideas and our own moral intuitions.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
4) Again, many people will disagree with JKR's views, but I personally can't see anything logically incoherent about them.
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Dr Mike Ward @schroedinger99.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
3) I think nearly everyone accepts that transition has some limits - e.g. placing transwomen with a history of sex offences towards women in the women's prison estate. Different people will draw their own personal lines in different places; but, in the end, we have laws & courts to draw such lines.
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