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Prof. Simon Blockley

@simon-blockley.bsky.social
1.7K followers 3.3K following 27 posts

Archaeological and Quaternary Scienctist, fascinated by the amazing world we live in. All posts my own opinion.

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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out.
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I would not like an AI summary, I would not like it on a boat, I would not like the email bloat, I do not like it on a chair, I would not like it anywhere! I do not like them on a phone, I do not like them in my home, I do not want them on a search, I do not like them in a church
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Prof Richard Betts @richardabetts.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Nope, it’s the weeks of hot, dry weather made more severe by global heating due to fossil fuel burning that has increased the risk of wildfires. The landscape is so dry that any ignition can start a fire that becomes uncontrollable. Fields of crops and grasses are not “rewilded” but have burned
Front page of the Daily Mail newspaper “eclipse special” with headline “Rewilding link to record fires”, beneath a photograph of people watching the near-total eclipse of the sun with the title “Britain finally gets a break from the sun (for a few minutes!)”
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Dr Charlie Gardner @charliejgardner.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Wildfire season has started - and that's not a sentence I ever expected to be typing about the UK
theguardian.com
Major wildfire rips through moorland close to Greater Manchester
Blaze on Tintwistle Moor, Glossop, has burned more than 500 square metres, forcing road closures and smoke warning
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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
As thousands of research academics are made redundant the whole system of free/cheap peer review will collapse.
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Because they have no taste
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
MonkeyMan @monkeymanska.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
I don't mind the occasional KFC; I really like Linger by The Cranberries. But KFC using a melancholy acoustic cover of Linger on their latest advert is so very very very wrong.
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Gavin Hinks @mrgavhinks.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Got to say, using the Cranberries’ Linger in a KFC ad is a disgrace.
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Kate Bevan @katebevan.com · 20/07/2026
Nothing is sacred: I have just seen an advert for KFC that murders the Cranberries' glorious, brilliant Linger, for God's sake. Bloody vandals.
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Prof. Anders Levermann, PhD @alevermann.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I think we, climate physicists, have overlooked something with respect to climatic instabilities... their effect on weather variability... I believe this will be the main problem for our society and economy for the next three generations to come... at least... www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
‘Climate free fall’: why the biggest risk to our economies is yet to be recognized
Increasing instability of the ocean, ice and atmosphere threatens farming, finance and society. We all need to wake up to that fact.
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Sheldrick Wildlife Trust @sheldricktrust.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Do elephants remember who was kind to them? Yes – and across decades. Our ex-orphans return to the stockades long after they've gone wild, recognise specific Keepers by name, and bring their wild-born calves home to introduce them. They even come back for help.
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Toxic Pesticides Could Be Banned From UK Farms as Government Urged to Align With EU Rules Ministers are considering a new report by a cross-party body which recommends closer alignment with European rules on limiting the use of harmful chemicals in our agriculture
bylinetimes.com
Toxic Pesticides Could Be Banned From UK Farms as Government Urged to Align With EU Rules
Ministers are considering a new report by a cross-party body which recommends closer alignment with European rules on limiting the use of harmful chemicals in our agriculture
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Thomas Penny @thomaswpenny.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
If anyone in government has a few minutes to run the country in between plotting leadership challenges, could they please cast their eye over the devastation of Higher Education in the UK. www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
Thousands of University of Nottingham staff told they are at risk of redundancy
Institution says it could run out of money by 2031 and wants to cut more than 600 academic and support posts
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
So we're all just letting Farage get away with the £5 million "gift" huh.
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Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Global peatland experts share their top 50 research needs. Many of these are obvious (better mapping) and many should be obvious (centre local and indigenous communities), but some might surprise you (there is a lot that we do not know about what the microbes in peat are up to).
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Frankenwolf WRITING COMMS OPEN!!! @frankenwolf1.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
It is ENDLESSLY loathsome. The insistence with which it is shoved into my face, the way it is sneakily slid into too many of the things I enjoy. The actual garbage it produces, that invokes revolt and disgust. The way I am forced to second guess so much of what I see. I hate it. Hate, hate, HATE.
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Casey W. Coller @caseywcoller.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I hate AI so much. So. Much. Please stop trying to make me use AI. I will never use your ChatGPT, your Copilot, your Grok 🤮 I will die on this hill. It is unethical. It is error prone. It is predatory. It is destroying us. I hate it. I hate it all. I will hate it forever.
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James Harland @jmharland.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
An article last year claimed that tree-ring data shows a link between drought and late Roman conflicts such as the "Barbarian Conspiracy" of 367. We show problems with such claims and appeal for interdisciplinary palaeoclimatic research to respect historical method. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Drought, Conflict and the Use of Historical Data and Methodologies in Interdisciplinary Palaeoclimatic Research - Climatic Change
Climatic Change - A major challenge in the interdisciplinary study of past climates is ensuring that evidence and data relating to different disciplines are analysed effectively using appropriate...
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I expected so much more support for British Universities from this government www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Home Office refuses to exempt exceptional students from tough immigration rules
Exclusive: Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper concerned about student visa ban on female Chevening scholars from volatile countries such as Afghanistan
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
jane phượng, Ph.D (she/her) Ngunnawal Country @janephuong.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
“You understand your place in the universe very quickly when you look at something 1 billion light-years away … and realise that those photons, they predate dinosaurs, they predate humans, they predate the continents,” www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03...
abc.net.au
We are losing stars one streetlight, one neon sign, one suburb at a time
For most of human history, the night sky has been a shared inheritance, a source of wonder. Now, more than a billion children see barely any stars in the night sky above their homes. So what does that...
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
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Saddletramp🇪🇺 @saddletramp.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
The question for me that seems to have been forgotten or passed over is why did the Queen pay £12m to Virginia Giuffre if she believed Andrew was innocent?
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
I’m fine with *exploring* the solar system, with robotic probes and some crewed vehicles. But that’s not the same as trying to live there…
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on universities: Labour needs a clearer plan | Editorial
Editorial: Ministers promised a ‘change of approach’, but their new tax could tip weaker institutions over the edge
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Sheila the Thief @sheila-the-thief.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
Weird how this, the ultimate 'rape gang', isn't making the front page of the Daily Mail - especially since almost all of the redacted documents can be read.
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
No one says to legit business owners, "hey I see there's an underground market selling toxic knock-offs of your product: how will you incorporate the toxic product AND protect your customers against its harms?" But apparently it's fine to make this suggestion to educators with respect to AI.
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Prof MNP @nushpowell.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
I know disciplinary standards differ, but I've been at this for decades and I've never cited a paper I didn't read. Didn't like, sure; didn't understand, often; kind of drifted off in the middle there, it happens. But didn't read at all? Nah. Come on.
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Leon Simons @leonsimons.com · 20/12/2025
"how can someone not at least find it interesting watching a whole planet shift geological ages in the blink of an eye?" Hear, hear!
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Lots of kids speak 2 languages at home - including presumably his own when they were young.
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Also... stirring up hatred of kids. What a delightful party.
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Sheldrick Wildlife Trust @sheldricktrust.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
When Apollo outgrew our Kaluku Nursery and moved up to Rhino Base, it marked a pivotal step on his path back to the wild. This secure sanctuary gives him the space to build independence while still benefiting from expert care and close monitoring. www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.o...
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Dr Matt Lodder @mattlodder.com · 29/11/2025
It costs TWO HUNDRED POUNDS to get a morning train from Manchester to London???!!!
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 25/11/2025
BBC censors a lecture removing author’s remarks on Trump that refer to him a the most openly corrupt American president.
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CNN @cnn.com · 24/11/2025
Child poverty has reached a record high in the United Kingdom as the country’s cost of living soars and its social security safety net falters following years of government austerity.
cnn.it
Britain is one of the world's richest countries. So why do a third of its children live in poverty? | CNN
Child poverty has reached a record high in the United Kingdom as the country's cost of living soars and its social security safety net falters following years of government austerity.
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Elli Leadbeater @ellileadbeater.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
PhD project on the evolution of animal memory now available in my research group, through the TREES DLA: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo.... Come and join us if you're interested in the evolution of animal minds and you want to do some cool experimental evolution!
trees-dla.ac.uk
Evolutionary ecology of animal memory | TREES DLA
This project seeks to explore how memory evolves in response to the ecological tasks that animals face in their natural environment. Associative memory exists in some form in almost all animal species...
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Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
The English Association @englishassociation.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
This ⬇️
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I Am Incorrigible @imincorrigible.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
bsky.app/profile/sund...
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure. It's capital. The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
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Chris Grey @chrisgrey.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
This is just getting ridiculous. Nothing that has happened (or is reported below the headline to have happened) this weekend remotely justifies talk of an explosion or mass protests. The media are confecting a crisis, and, in some sections of it, hoping to provoke one. 1/3
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Palm Oil Detectives | #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Intelligent and gentle, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus ❤️🐒🐵 is critically endangered in #Ghana 🇬🇭🇨🇮 #Ivory Coast in #Africa mainly due to #palmoil 🌴🪔 #cocoa 🍫 #deforestation. Don't let them vanish! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/m...
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Liz Renner @lrrenner.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
This is maybe the worst part about being an educator in the AI era. AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.
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Prof. Rhiannon Stevens @nannonstevens.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Now with correct link: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
Major excursions in sulfur isotopes linked to permafrost change in Eurasia during the last 50,000 years - Nature Geoscience
Sulfur isotope excursions in skeletal collagen samples from Eurasia suggest rapidly changing biogeochemical processes across the region from about 30,000 to 15,000 years ago, potentially related to ch...
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Kenan Malik @kenanmalik.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
“It is less that AI is the cause of degradation in reading and thinking, and more that the creation of a culture that views knowledge primarily in an instrumental manner has made it easier to misuse AI.” My ‪@theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
observer.co.uk
AI thrives where education has been devalued | The Observer
A culture that views knowledge as a means to an end invites the misuse of new technology
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Shoaib M Khan @shoaibmkhan.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
The depressing, awful reality of where we are as a society. People are made to feel guilty for literally saving human lives.
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 30/06/2025
New paper. I wish this wasn't the case, but most progress on reducing US greenhouse gas emissions is likely spurious. Why? EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas. Relevant today as Repubs vote to gut IRA's methane monitoring/mitigation program. 🧵 authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...
Two graphs from the paper. 

The left graph shows US net greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 to 2022. The official EPA estimates decline fairly steadily from 6.6 gigatonnes per year in 2005 to 5.5 in 2022 (17% below 2005 levels), largely reflecting natural gas displacing coal for electricity generation. The adjusted estimates, which reflect independent measurements of methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, end at 6.3 gigatonnes per year in 2022 (only 5% below 2005 levels).

The right graph shows 2022 emissions increasing linearly with the assumed global warming potential of methane. Climate scientists are divided on whether to use the 100-year GWP, 20-year GWP, or something in between. With methane warming impacts assessed via the 20-year GWP, the central 2022 emissions estimate is 7.9 gigatonnes per year - 20% *above* the EPA's official 2005 estimate.

Caption: Figure 1: Left: United States net greenhouse gas emissions over time. Right: Scaling of 2022 net emissions with methane’s GWP. After adjustment to reflect recent measurements of methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure, United States net emissions remain nearly as high as their 2005 level.
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Really Labour get a grip you are alienating your own members and supporters
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Israeli strikes over past 24 hours killed at least 38 people in Gaza, Palestinian officials say
Civil defence agency says some people are still under rubble after attacks on Deir al-Balah and Jabaliya
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on billionaire Britain: tax wealth fairly or face democratic unravelling | Editorial
Editorial: Without bold reform which makes the rich pull their weight, rising inequality risks eroding public trust and fracturing social stability
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Prof. Simon Blockley @simon-blockley.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Chris Packham calls sea bass labelling in UK supermarkets a ‘dereliction of duty’
The TV naturalist’s comments come after a Guardian investigation into the complex supply chain behind the fish on sale on Britain’s high streets
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