iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Plenty of evidence of incoming convection on the south coast in Dorset. I wonder if the frog can sense the change in weather? It just jumped out from under the decking!

A photo of clouds looking southwest towards a distant thunderstorm. Clouds are generally upper level, likely cirrus outflow. Some altocumulus can be spotted in the distance due south, indicative of a second storm brewing in the distance.

A snapshot of visible satellite imagery provided by sat24.com with a yellow line indicating the coastline of France and Great Britain. Three large thunderstorms dominate the image, with the largest one having reached Cornwall and the second and third one still over Normandy.

A photo of a frog hiding in the vegetable beds. The frog has just snacked on a woodlouse.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I appreciate these aren’t official records and perhaps some stations are not sited in the recommended way, but some of these reading are 🥵 www.pwsweather.com/station/pws/...

A map of east Dorset showing temperature readings from local weather stations with values between 33 and 39 degrees Celsius.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Invest in solar, of course, but on days like this it’s helpful to imagine running your AC “for free” 🌞

Power flow diagram showing 1.249 kilowatts electricity generated from solar while 1.055 kilowatts are used, mostly by an air conditioning unit. Some excess energy is diverted to charging the battery.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

I’ll see your “lower valued human capital” and raise you “the exhaust gases of the university” … read for yourself Why young academics are leaving academia giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Excerpt from an article in the Financial Times about PhD graduates leaving academia. The excerpt reads: “All the [PhD holders] that don’t become academics are the exhaust gases of the university. They get blown out and go and do something else,” says Ewan Kirk, founder of investment management firm Cantab Capital Partners. He has donated millions to the University of Cambridge and hired 40 PhDs from virology to string theory. “They are the innovators, the entrepreneurs and the powerhouses of all modern industries.”

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Free advertising advice for Tom Raffield: If my products were prominently placed in the hottest TV show right now I would probably make a bigger deal out of it. (Even if many viewers' eyes would be focused elsewhere.) #HeatedRivalry

Two actors posing together in what looks like a hotel room or restaurant. One of the actors is shirtless. Behind them, fancy pendants are prominently placed.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

Today, as part of my job (?), I joined the Dull Men's Club on Facebook to introduce them to Rayleigh-Bénard convection (prompted by a post of a lovely photo of hexagonal cloud patterns). No banana for scale. Wish me luck!

Meme of a boy in a cartoon looking at a yellow butterfly in awe. Text overlaid says "is this outreach?"

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

The UK government's commitment to science and research is of course evidenced by its ... cancellation of future Tier-1 high performance computing provision and its ... reduction of the national research and innovation budget.

A snapshot of an article in the Financial Times quoting a UK home office statement saying "This government is committed to ensuring the UK remains the natural home for world-leading science and research"

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

All the cloud types have to come to join us for the meteorology conference #AMSRadar41

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

What is the number of items in a list where it is more sensible to name a few as indicative of what the list contains, rather than listing all items? #academicwriting

A snapshot from an article in the Financial Times saying "The N8 consortium of research-led universities in the north of England, which includes Durham, Lancaster, Manchester and Newcastle"

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Good morning to the FT in particular, which manages to run an editorial team among the few in mainstream media that manage to call a genocide a genocide, while also uncritically admiring the economy behind a genocidal regime.

A snapshot from the financial Times app, showing the headline "inside Gazas death traps" above the headline "the markets are signalling a clear winner in the middle East"

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

I think the FT may have turned your insta post into a feature 🤭 on.ft.com/45jUFvP

Excerpt of FT House and Home article titled Walthamstow Vs Crystal Palace. The excerpt describes the typical buyer of property in these areas of London.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Ah, 't was the year I stopped reading the Economist.

The Economist cover of the 2015 election stating Britain's choice was between risking the economy or risking Europe. The Economist endorsed the Tories that year.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Got ourselves a #naturespy wildlife camera with my mum's christmas money. Aside from the 7 neighbourhood cats that use our garden as a toilet (🤮) we do get some lovely shots of our resident foxes on a daily basis 🦊

Still image from a wildlife camera in an urban garden showing a fox

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Didn't expect the AI business community to eat itself so soon in 2025 #DeepSeek

A snapshot of a Financial Times headline reading "OpenAI says it has evidence China's DeepSeek used its model to train competitor". Summary line reads "White House AI tsar David Sacks raises possibility of alleged intellectual property theft"

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

On a related note, I know climate is changing and all, but that was a glorious autumnal stroll we saw on supposedly Christmas eve in the Woman of Stone...

A still image from the BBC ghost story "the woman of stone" showing the main male and female character on a lawn in what appears to be a bright autumn day.

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

I notice the FT gift link can only be used 3 times. Here's your quote in case you want it for posterity.

$The image shows the following quote “Hitting 1.5C is like watching the first domino fall in a devastating chain reaction,” said Patrick McGuire, a climate researcher at Reading university. “We’re playing with fire. Every fraction of a degree unleashes more intense storms, longer droughts and deadlier heatwaves.”$

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Our Crocus partnership web site will launch next week, but you can apply now. I can share our nifty logo though #crocus #phd #findaphd

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Thorwald Stein @thmstein.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

This is me, looking out the window of the UK's Atmospheric Research Aircraft, studying clouds and their turbulent motion. Stay tuned for more (physical) cloud-related threads.

View from a research aircraft looking down at cumulus clouds. A cloud probe can be seen suspended from the aircraft wing.

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