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Emma Waghorn

@waggery.bsky.social
657 followers 2.4K following 69 posts

Folk choir leader (pielarks.bsky.social), amateur dancer (Morris, balfolk) and English concertina player; retired book editor, woke lefty vegan heathen, born @ 317 ppm, London, UK.

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Reposted by Emma Waghorn
Dr Jo Swabe @joswabe.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
In this @thelancet.com comment, my co-authors & I argue that if @ec.europa.eu is serious about One Health, it must ban fur farming. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
If the EU is serious about One Health, it must ban fur farming
All content on this site: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier B.V., its licensors, and contributors. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
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Juraj Mikurcik @jurajmikurcik.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
This is why cities need trees. Hard surfaces and parked cars can reach extreme temperatures, while shaded grass and tree-covered areas stay dramatically cooler. This is the urban heat island effect in one image: hard surfaces absorb and radiate heat, while vegetation and shade reduce it.
Photo showing a combination of hard and soft landscape with callouts of surface temperatures
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Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
🚨 New research by us! 📣 Most British drivers don't know how dangerous SUVs are to other road users, but adding information to SUV marketing materials seems to do almost nothing to change people's plans to buy SUVs Here's a 🧵 on why harder action is going to be needed 1/10
A mockup SUV advert image with a prototype safety warning
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WePlanet @weplanetint.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
The EU must embrace the technology needed to improve food security, sustainability, and safety. Without it, we will continue to see food waste, crop failures, and higher costs and pollution from agricultural inputs. Call on MEPs to support NGTs this week. Act now: act.weplanet.org/p/eu-support...
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Estimated annual deaths include: “more than 1,000 harbour porpoises and common dolphins …, 10,000 seabirds and 500 seals. Six humpback whales and 30 minke whales were also found dead in Scottish creel ropes.” Lots of non-target fishes as well. And the target fishes have a terrible death. Not humane.
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 26/05/2026
In which Tony Blair hallucinates that he's the prime minister of Canada.
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Thames21 @thames21.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Thames21 welcomes Defra’s announcement of 13 new bathing water sites across England, including stretches of the River Thames at Ham and Kingston, and Pangbourne Meadow in Berkshire. 🧵⬇️ 📸©Olivia Mooney-Griffiths
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Caroline Russell @carolinerussell.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Well worth reading this especially in the context of the narrative of a “war on the motorist”. Importantly, Kyd recognises that harmful driving is normalised, understands we need to change the narrative in how we think about poor driving and is clear the legal framework needs work.
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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Oh dear. Oh my.
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NYTimes Communications @nytimespr.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
A correction will appear in tomorrow's print edition: "A headline with an article on Friday about President Trump’s threats to leave NATO misstated the full name of the body. It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not the North American Treaty Organization."
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Shipwreck @shipwreck75.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
That’s one hell of a cover…..
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Not In Our Name (NION) Women @nionwomen.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
More than 86,000 women have now signed the Not In Our Name letter to say that trans exclusion is not what we want and should not be done on our behalf. If you’re a woman who believes in dignity, fairness and standing alongside our trans+ siblings, add your name: notinourname.org.uk
notinourname.org.uk
Home - Not in our name
Not In our Name: Women in support of the trans+community
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Stop Funding Hate @stopfundinghate.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
“The next time someone shares with you some anti-London b******t, be sure to send them this video" Excellent explainer from @evanedinger.bsky.social, countering hate and lies about London www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDky... #racism #hateforprofit #stopfundinghate
youtube.com
Why The Internet Is Terrified of London
YouTube video by Evan Edinger
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The Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Instead of conferring titles, gongs and baubles and then demanding those titles, gongs and baubles be removed… …perhaps as a modern, mature polity we should have far fewer titles, gongs and baubles in the first place.
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Alice Auersperg @auersperga.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Our new paper (with @biotay.bsky.social) is out and on the cover story of @currentbiology.bsky.social !!!! Veronika, a Carinthian mountain cow flexibly uses a “multi-purpose tool” to scratch herself. A video and more information will follow in the comments. www.cell.com/current-biol...
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
“This actually might be the worst thing we’ve seen coming out of HHS this year, and that’s saying a lot, in an unimaginably damaging year for science and public health.” youtube.com/shorts/aSHjr...
youtube.com
Unethical research
YouTube video by Jessica Knurick, PhD, RDN
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Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
"If people are really worried about the flu season then we could start vaccinating more adults" Spot on from @chrischirp.bsky.social
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Tom Pollard @pollardtom.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
It's right to explore what's driving increased prevalence & what support people need. But as @johnharris1969.bsky.social says, in "a country in which questioning other people’s needs is almost becoming a national sport" the government risks stoking a toxic debate www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The right’s callous overdiagnosis bandwagon is rolling. Wes Streeting should not be on it | John Harris
Thankfully, we now know more about conditions such as autism and ADHD. The health secretary must not be part of this attempt to turn back the clock, says Guardian columnist John Harris
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
“People in countries like the UK don’t understand how refugees make decisions because our experiences are so different from theirs.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
The life and limbo of a UK asylum seeker: one man’s harrowing 17-year wait for leave to remain
Ussu fled imprisonment and torture, only to find himself treated like a liar and outcast in the UK. Here’s how he survived homelessness and horrific injury in almost two decades without a decision
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
“How can vulnerable nations be compensated for the “loss and damage” caused by climate breakdown if we haven’t the faintest idea how great that loss and damage might be?”
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Kruger: “The whole DEI/woke agenda that has infected so much of Whitehall will be in contravention of the civil service code that we introduce. Socially controversial political positions will not be acceptable in the civil service.” So anti-racism is socially controversial, but racism isn’t.
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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 22/09/2025
Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain. They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city. Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.
theguardian.com
Farage vows to scrap indefinite leave to remain, placing thousands at risk of deportation
Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
British media pumps out daily propaganda pieces for Farage, fails to offer *any scrutiny* and basically legitimises rampant racism, then puts on its ‘innocent face’ and clutches its pearls at the rise of the far right… What a grim betrayal of our democracy. www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...
thelondoneconomic.com
Reform, with 0.7% of all MPs, featured in 25% of BBC's recent 10pm news bulletins
Astonishingly, a party with 18 times as many MPs as Reform has received one-third less coverage on BBC News at 10.
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
"the hard data suggests that the largest of the UK’s very real problems are no more being caused by mass immigration than they are by a group of charity fundraisers rowing past Great Yarmouth" on.ft.com/3IsyVVu @timharford.ft.com with his facts and reasonableness
on.ft.com
The UK’s problems aren’t caused by immigration
It’s not hard to see how so many came to worry about the issue. But the data isn’t there
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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Exciting to see this ancient law, which baffled scholars for centuries, finally being used.
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Hughstergeist @hughster.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
"Rector, the Reverend Michael Smith, said it was "probably no coincidence" the graffiti appeared soon after an anti-racism meeting in the church hall"
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Rachel Salvidge @rachelsalvidge.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
EXCLUSIVE: England’s farms are being fertilised with a cocktail of toxic landfill juice + sewage sludge. 750,000 tonnes of landfill leachate tankered to sewage works every year → mixed into sewage → spread on farmers' fields. 1/ www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Thousands of tonnes of toxic landfill liquid added to sewage and spread on English farms
Exclusive: Leachate is tankered to treatment works where it mixes with sewage and industrial effluent
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Astonishingly, I've discovered, the Tufton Street junktanks that shaped Liz Truss's agenda are still operating at the heart of government. Remind me what we voted for again ... This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Warning! The rightwing junktanks behind the Tories’ worst disasters still have the keys to No 10 | George Monbiot
Who is running the government’s ‘growth school’ for civil servants? The answer surpassed my worst fears, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Dave Vetter @davidrvetter.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
"My school saves thousands of pounds every year from those solar panels." The TUC directly takes on Reform, a party funded by the fossil fuel Industry. Posted on IG by tradesunioncongress
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MSI Reproductive Choices @msichoices.org · 26/08/2025
“Abortion is so much more normal and common than people think," says Kendall, an abortion nurse for @msichoicesuk.bsky.social Kendall told us what it's like to be an abortion provider in England, and what's changed since anti-choice groups were blocked from harassing people outside clinics ⤵️
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
“As temperatures in this corner of northern Europe once again scrape the mid-30s, what must it be like to work in warehouses and factories with precious little ventilation, let alone air conditioning? How do builders and bike couriers cope?” Excellent piece from John Harris.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 28/07/2025
‘Every human being deserves dignity’: asylum seeker in Essex hotel calls for understanding
theguardian.com
‘Every human being deserves dignity’: asylum seeker in Essex hotel calls for understanding
Man housed at hotel targeted in protests writes letter urging people not to resort to harmful stereotypes
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
“There’s a HUGE Elon Musk shaped hole in the Government’s new plans to improve our elections: shady billionaires like Musk can still donate massive amounts of money with no cap: effectively buying our democracy. Add your name to call for a cap on donations today: you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ta...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Take Big Money Out of Our Politics
British politics is awash with money from super rich donors. In 2023, two-thirds of all private donations came from just 19 people. These so-called ‘mega donors’ enjoy privileged access to political p...
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Wild Justice @wildjustice.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Here's why we're in the High Court today.... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Sheep are destroying precious British habitats – and we taxpayers are footing the bill | Chris Packham
Large parts of Dartmoor have been denuded of wildlife, harmed by farming and a mess of government schemes that are costly in every way, says naturalist and broadcaster Chris Packham
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Ruth Mottram @ruthmottram.eurosky.social · 15/07/2025
"you need to make it cheap and easy for people to make the switch. If it’s expensive, most people won’t do it. If it’s difficult or inconvenient, then forget it." www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/the-false-...
sustainabilitybynumbers.com
The false dichotomy of systemic and individual behaviour change
Individuals aren't going to solve climate change, but they are an important part of the system that will get us there.
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
“To some, [lab-grown meat is] a healthier option with less cholesterol, no animal suffering - and a clever solution to a pressing environmental problem. To others, those benefits may have been overblown.” How has “no animal suffering” been overblown? It doesn’t say: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article....
bbc.co.uk
Should this lab-grown burger really be served in restaurants?
Lab-grown beef, chicken and even quail are served in restaurants in some countries around the world - and now some cultivated meats could soon be sold in the UK too
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Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
Noise pollution harms health of millions across Europe, report by @eea.europa.eu finds - The stress and sleep disturbance from noise results early deaths and disease, with children especially vulnerable Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Noise pollution harms health of millions across Europe, report finds
About 110 million people suffer stress and sleep disturbance that lead to tens of thousands of early deaths
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David Storey @davidstoreygeog.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
"If ever you’re in need as I was may you have an island of strangers like I had" @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
The prime minister warns that immigration could turn Britain into an ‘island of strangers’. Author and poet Michael Rosen responds
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
“The far-right is on the rise globally. What is needed in this moment is a clear articulation of why they are wrong, and an aggressive defence of core liberal democratic values.”
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Tanja Bueltmann @tanjabueltmann.net · 12/05/2025
My letter to the Prime Minister. #immigration
Slightly amended so I can fit this here: 

I am writing to you as an immigrant who chose to make the UK my home. As someone who is now also a British citizen. And as a German-born historian who understands where the complete normalisation of the far right can end. I write to say: For shame!

I first came to the UK in the 1990s for a visit with my grandmother. Objectively, much was backwards here. No mixer taps in the bathroom; awful ‘bread’; and strings had to be pulled to switch on lights. But however I felt about this, my own string had been pulled: I loved this Cool Britannia. It was quite possibly then that I decided that the UK was to be my home. When I arrived to settle here permanently, I made a choice: to contribute my skills, my knowledge—all I have to offer—to this country rather than another one.

I am deeply disgusted by your comment today that immigration has done ‘incalculable damage’ to the country. 

This is the language of the far right. It is insulting, hateful & will fuel xenophobia. And it is just wrong.

Migration is a normal part of the human existence. None of us would be where we are without it. Open your fridge and you will see migration. Immigrants help make the UK tick every single day, whether we clean toilets in our hospitals or provide care for the elderly; whether we empty our bins or carry out cancer research. We are mothers, sons-in-law, aunts and uncles, friends, neighbours and colleagues.

I ask you not tell me that you do not mean me. I know that you do not—at least not primarily—mean a white woman from Europe who has a PhD. But who do you mean? And, much more importantly, who do you think those racists who were engaged in riots on our streets last summer think you mean?

Anti-immigration narratives have defined UK policymaking for the best part of two decades. And fundamentally so. They were the key driver in delivering Brexit, for example, and, as such, have directly limited the rights and opportunities of British citizens.This obsessive focus on immigration as the ‘problem’—that is the real problem. And it is consistently delivering poor outcomes for the UK. Instead of tackling this, you are choosing to consolidate it, sowing divisions along the way.

You may point me to polling and tell me that this is what voters want. Do they? I am not surprised at all that over 50% of voters might say they want to see immigration reduced if that is the question they are being asked. What we need to know is what they would answer to the question: “Would you like to see immigration reduced? What this would mean for you and your local community is XYZ.” That is not how surveys can ask questions, but governments absolutely can choose to make policy using such a more informed position. 

Prime Minister, you continue to talk a lot about making the tough choices. But let’s be clear: setting immigrants up as the ‘other’, as a scapegoat—describing us as a threat ‘pulling the country apart’, a ‘squalid chapter’, a risk that might make the UK an ‘island of strangers’—these are not tough choices at all. These are the easy choices. They are the choices that populists make who have no solutions to the real problems a country faces.

What I would like to know, Prime Minister, is what you will do when your policies lead to the implosion of the UK’s Higher Education sector. What you will tell communities when they can no longer provide any care for the elderly.

The policies you announced today will not solve anything at all. They will have exclusively negative impacts. For those immediately affected; for our communities; and for our economy. 

Being pro-immigration—it is progressive, yes, but the much more crucial point is that it is also the most pro-UK policy approach that any politician in the country can pursue. And you are choosing to do the opposite. This, Prime Minister, is the real damage—and it will be very calculable indeed. 

Tanja Bueltmann
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Flight Free UK @flightfreeuk.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
📣 Stop Airport Expansion 📣 Help us tell the government WE DON’T WANT EXPANSION at any UK airport, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton. Sign the petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/71...
Stop Airport Expansion! Help us tell the government we don't want expansion at any UK airport, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton
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Chris Packham @chrisgpackham.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
This is one of the most gruesome raptor persecution cases I have ever heard– yet incidents like this take place up and down the country every single year . It must end , please sign our petition to ban driven grouse shooting now govpetition.uk/700036
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Cailin O’Connor @cailinmeister.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
In 1851 Samuel Morton proposed the infamous "drapetomania" as a mental disorder that caused slaves to run away. Nothing new about using mental disorders to discredit resistance to some political or social order.
newsweek.com
Republicans push to make "Trump Derangement Syndrome" a mental illness
Five Republican Minnesota state senators are pushing for the term to be included in the state's definition of mental illness.
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
UK musicians hit with £914M+ loss post-Brexit. Streams, tickets, vinyl - it’s grim. Join @europeanmovement.co.uk to sign the petition: www.europeanmovement.co.uk/brexit_music...
europeanmovement.co.uk
Total Cost to Musicians Since Brexit - European Movement UK
The cost of Brexit to UK musicians is staggering. Discover the impact in Spotify streams, Wembley tickets, vinyl LPs, and more. Support the campaign and sign the petition!
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Mind @mind.org.uk · 17/03/2025
Where's the evidence that mental health is being "overdiagnosed"?
Dear UK government,

Let's be clear: our mental health is getting worse, and cutting benefits won’t help.

You claim mental health is being “overdiagnosed”, but where’s the evidence?

The reality is that our environment affects our wellbeing - pandemics, the cost of living crisis, political unrest and ongoing concerns around climate change are all taking their toll.

But when people seek help, they face months, or even years, of waiting.

Rhetoric like this is dangerous. It reinforces stigma and stops people getting support.

If you’re serious about change, listen to those affected. We can turn this crisis around - but only if the government works with us, not against us.

We look forward to hearing from you,

Mind
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Gemma Clark 🧿🕯️ @gemmaclark.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
America are going backwards. Decriminalisation of abortion is LONG overdue in the U.K. Please sign, share on other platforms. Send to friends. Ask them to forward it too. We need to protect ourselves. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Decriminalise Abortion
I am calling on the UK government to remove abortion from criminal law so that no pregnant person can be criminalised for procuring their own abortion.
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Kathleen Commons @kabcommons.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Human rights are not a ‘loophole’ – why can’t families from Gaza like mine seek safety in the UK? | Ghassan Ghaben www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Human rights are not a ‘loophole’ – why can’t families from Gaza like mine seek safety in the UK? | Ghassan Ghaben
When another Palestinian family was allowed to stay here, I saw a glimmer of hope. Now the prime minister wants to put it out, says Ghassan Ghaben of Gaza Families Reunited
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 02/02/2025
UK scientist wins prize for invention that could help avert ‘phosphogeddon’
theguardian.com
UK scientist wins prize for invention that could help avert ‘phosphogeddon’
Phosphate, key to food production, is choking waterways, but a new sponge-like material returns it to the soil for crops It is one of the least appreciated substances on the planet and its misuse is now threatening to unleash environmental mayhem.…
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Emma Waghorn @waggery.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Superb article by @profkeonwest.bsky.social. “The unconscious bias narrative … ignores both simple deception and complex psychological trickery, leaving us with a narrative in which most or all people are entirely, and innocently, unaware of their own biases. This makes it restrictive and myopic.”
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