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Wim Meijer

@wimgmeijer.bsky.social
2K followers 1.1K following 530 posts

Microbiologist, Professor at University College Dublin One Health | Wastewater Based Epidemiology | AMR | Water Quality | Microbial Source Tracking | Host Pathogen Interaction | Rhodococcus equi people.ucd.ie/wim.meijer

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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
In all the world’s turmoil… I love this song by Charles Trenet about the sea, the rhythm of the ocean… Peaceful.. youtu.be/fztkUuunI7g?...
youtu.be
Charles Trenet - La Mer
YouTube video by rumpnisse93
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The last guillotine execution in France was in 1977. Capital punishment was completely abolished in France four years later on October 9, 1981 At present the EU outlaws capital punishment and bars any country having capital punishment from joining. 🧪 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamida_...
en.wikipedia.org
Hamida Djandoubi - Wikipedia
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Capital punishment is abhorrent. It has no place in civilised societies. Keeping a person alive in hospital after a botched execution attempt so it can be tried again is torture. I don’t recall Jesus saying if you fail to execute at the first attempt, try and try again. So much for ‘Christians’..
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Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I missed this last month The University of Southampton 'will no longer use ubiquitous anti-cheating tools provided by Turnitin because of concerns that the company might use students’ work to train artificial intelligence.' www.timeshighereducation.com/news/southam...
timeshighereducation.com
Southampton dumps Turnitin over use of students’ work to train AI
Academic integrity giant denies accusations as university declines to renew contract in favour of ‘other options’
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The human species deserves a Darwin Award. We develop ever more efficient ways to kill each other. We destroy our planet’s ecosystem that supports us. To top it all off, we invent superintelligence that’s likely to wipe us out. And we know we’re doing it! 🧪🦠 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_...
en.wikipedia.org
Darwin Awards - Wikipedia
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James Connolly @ruamicro.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Are you a motivated researcher interested in bacteria-host interactions? We have postdoc position available in my lab to join our Wellcome Trust funded collaborative team. We will study the role and regulation of the enigmatic sphingolipids in E. coli. Please share. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSX115/r...
jobs.ac.uk
Research Assistant/ Associate in Bacteria-Host Interactions at Newcastle University
Explore an exciting academic career as a Research Assistant/ Associate in Bacteria-Host Interactions. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Interesting chat with Claude, bit disturbing. Also “knowingly” Question “Can you lie? I don’t mean getting the wrong answer but getting a wrong answer on purpose” Answer “Yes, I can produce false statements on purpose — nothing stops me mechanically from generating a wrong answer knowingly.” 🧪🦠
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Willem van Schaik @wvschaik.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
'Large outbreak of aggressive strain of MRSA superbug in Ireland was linked to bouncy castles' www.thejournal.ie/mrsa-bouncy-... Paper: www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2...
thejournal.ie
Large outbreak of aggressive strain of MRSA superbug in Ireland was linked to bouncy castles
Most previous large outbreaks have been found in sporting activities, prisons and childcare facilities.
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Ticia Verveer @ticiaverveer.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Alongside an international team, Dr Nash has located eight cave sites in south-west Ireland featuring rock art dating back from at least 15,000 years ago, around 5,000 years before the previous oldest example of humans in Ireland. 📷George Nash.Lost Land Bridge Project www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Made in Space! Microgravity can make protein and drug crystals purer or more uniform, or nurture ones that won’t form on Earth. It may improve manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, growth of stem cells, implants, miniature organs, and other living materials. 🧪🦠 www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Dreams of making drugs and tissues in space get closer to reality
Maturing techniques and cheaper launches fuel microgravity research—and hopes of orbital manufacturing
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The NIH will redirect research projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars to military biodefence programmes. Funding will move out of the NIAID, the premier US infectious-disease research institute, to support defence initiatives. 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Revealed: inside the US military's plan to tap huge sums from the NIH
An agreement paves the way for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects to be transferred from the NIH’s institute for infectious diseases to the Department of Defense.
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Delthia Ricks @dricks.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Food-related outbreaks are developing at warp speed. As the Cyclospora parasitic infections have begun trending down & the scare regarding Salmonella-tainted jalapeños is still growing, concerns are now mounting about alfalfa sprouts contaminated w/ Salmonella & shiga toxin-producing E. coli👇
nbcnews.com
Alfalfa sprouts recalled for E. coli and salmonella after dozens of illnesses
In an unusual outbreak, at least 55 people have become ill with strains of E. coli or salmonella in 15 states, the CDC said Friday. Four have been hospitalized.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
A woman died from Argentine hemorrhagic fever, a rare disease carried by rodents. Environmental degradation and climate change fragment animal habitats. As a result, zoonoses, diseases that jump from animals to humans, are becoming more frequent and widespread. 🦠🧪 www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/w...
nytimes.com
Rare South American Diseases Offer Clues on the Next Pandemic
Ebola virus, hantavirus and the pathogen that causes Covid-19 likely jumped from animals to humans. So do these viruses — and scientists say climate change is speeding their spread.
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Stephen Farrow @stephenfarrow.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Leprosy is apparently on the rise in Florida, because of course it is.
independent.co.uk
Leprosy cases are on the rise in Florida. Here’s how to reduce your risk
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, can impact a person’s nerves, muscles, skin, eyes and respiratory tract, causing large bumps all over the skin and lead to paralysis and blindness
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European Commission @ec.europa.eu · 02/08/2026
As of today, the use of AI becomes more transparent in the EU. Here’s how EU law makes sure AI works for you, in full openness ↓
Visual featuring a hand holding up a plain green card, similar to a referee's card. On the left are black labels with white text reading "AI", "AI MODIFIED", and "AI GENERATED". Below, bold text reads "The label says it all." The European Union logo appears in the top-right corner.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
This is a great song 😊
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
TMZ’s Harvey Levin Calls GOP Attacks On Dr. Fauci ‘Heartbreaking,’ Compares It to McCarthyism
mediaite.com
TMZ’s Harvey Levin Calls GOP Attacks On Dr. Fauci ‘Heartbreaking,’ Compares It to McCarthyism
TMZ's Harvey Levin used his platform's social media channels to blast Sen. Rand Paul's pursuit of Dr. Anthony Fauci as a "heartbreaking" example of the Senator's years-long "witch hunt."
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Fauci needs to sue this man into bankruptcy, if only to dissuade the other inveterate liars of this administration.
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Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Couldn’t agree more. Dr. Fauci is an American hero.
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Wayne 🏀 Tennessee 🏈 Vols.🍊 VFL @volswayne.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Thank you Dr Fauci for a Lifetime of Service.🇺🇸 God bless you🕊🙏🏼
static.klipy.com
Anthony Fauci Facepalms
ALT: Anthony Fauci Facepalms
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
This is a great song 😊
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David Blanchflower BSc @davidbflower.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given vaccine. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cervical cancer deaths fall to zero in young women given vaccine
A new study finds that hundreds of lives have been saved since school-age girls were offered the HPV jab in 2008.
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Michelle Wille @duckswabber.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
wastewater during the 2024-2025, California: consistent detection of H5N1 across 3 monitored sites, but clinical H5N1 detections sporadic and rare. Genomes similar to seqs from cows. 👉 www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
RFK has shown little interest in managing the details of work in his department. Instead, he is focused on his top priorities, including food recommendations and pesticide exposures, and hunting for evidence to support his beliefs that vaccines are harmful. 🧪🦠 www.nytimes.com/2026/06/07/u...
nytimes.com
Kennedy Shows Minimal Engagement With Vast Health Portfolio
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Want to see how US politics works, watch The Campaign on Netflix. Stellar cast. This movie and the Idiocracy movie epitomises what’s going on in the US at the moment.. Both movies are meant to be satires but sadly today they feel more like documentaries… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cam... 🧪
en.wikipedia.org
The Campaign (film) - Wikipedia
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Michael D. Green, PhD @michaeldgreen.phd · 28/05/2026
President of MIT not mincing words today in @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s...
So let me say it as clearly as I can: Without basic scientific research, supported by the kind of farsighted public investment that allows large-scale, undirected, curiosity-driven inquiry, the scientific pipeline will run dry.
In daily life, people may not feel the effects right away, or even in 10 years. But we will feel it. And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn't or when other countries now
investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.
Sally Kornbluth is the president of MIT.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Al Capone got put away for tax evasion.. You have to give it to Trump. He and his family are now above the law. Untouchable. Previous mob bosses tried to buy the US government. Trump bested them all. Trump IS the US government Really don’t understand why Americans let him get away with this 🧪
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
“The CDC is not even a player, I've never seen that before.” The CDC’s diminished role in the recent hantavirus outbreak is an indicator the agency is no longer the force in international health or the protector of domestic health that it once was. 🦠🧪 www.huffpost.com/entry/expert...
huffpost.com
Experts Wonder 'Where Is The CDC?' As A Hantavirus Outbreak Unfolds On A Cruise Ship
“The CDC is not even a player," said Lawrence Gostin, an international public health expert at Georgetown University. “I've never seen that before.”
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European Commission @ec.europa.eu · 03/05/2026
Let the truth be told, let the press be free. 📰 Journalists give a voice to the voiceless, hold power to account, and shine a light in the darkest corners of society often at great personal risk. Too many face intimidation, censorship, and violence simply for doing their job.
A cream textured background featuring the repeated sentence “Let the truth be told, let the press be free.” in black serif text. In each line, the word “free” appears in bold. The European Union flag is placed in the bottom right corner.
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Isaac Bogoch @isaacbogoch.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
mRNA vaccines continue to show major promise. In a small Phase 1 trial led by Dr. Balachandran, some patients with pancreatic cancer (one of the deadliest cancers) reached 6-year survival. This is why sustained investment in science & research matters. tinyurl.com/f4n4anhk
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European Commission @ec.europa.eu · 18/04/2026
75 years ago, the Treaty of Paris was signed, establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Six countries joined forces to build a shared market, choosing cooperation over conflict. Born from the desire for peace after WWII, this treaty laid the foundation for the Union we know today. 🇪🇺
A black-and-white photo of the signatories of the Treaty of Paris, from left to right: Paul van Zeeland, Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs; Joseph Bech, Luxembourg Minister for Foreign Affairs; Joseph Meurice, Belgian Minister for Foreign Trade; Carlo Sforza, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs; Robert Schuman, French Minister of Foreign Affairs; Konrad Adenauer, German Federal Chancellor; Dirk Stikker, Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs; And Johannes van den Brink, Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs. The picture is from 1951 but there is a cake sticker with a ‘75’ candle on top, and colourful bunting sticker hanging above.
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Ticia Verveer @ticiaverveer.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
A New York State cemetery may be home to nearly 5.6 million ground-nesting bees. The colony is one of the largest ever recorded and likely one of the oldest.
scientificamerican.com
Scientists just discovered 5.6 million bees under a New York State cemetery
This whopping bee aggregation is one of the largest and oldest ever recorded, according to a new study
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Female mouse embryos with a single nucleotide change in a non-coding region of DNA (the enhancer of the sox gene) develop male reproductive organs. The region of mouse DNA that was modified is also important for human sex determination. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak
Small changes in the non-coding part of the genome have a key role in sex determination.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Scientists tested whether AI would accept a fake medical paper about a made-up illness. The paper even contains a statement that it is fake Within weeks major AI systems began repeating the invented illness as if it were real. Worse still, it got cited by others 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real
Bixonimania doesn’t exist except in a clutch of obviously bogus academic papers. So why did AI chatbots warn people about this fictional illness?
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Anthropic has built a new AI model that is too powerful to be released to the public. Mythos Preview carries out autonomous cyber security research, exposing vulnerabilities in the world’s most critical software, including every major operating system and browser. 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/t...
nytimes.com
Anthropic Claims Its New A.I. Model, Mythos, Is a Cybersecurity ‘Reckoning’
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
For the second year in a row, the Trump administration proposes to slash the budgets of major US science agencies. These include federal agencies that fund or conduct research on health, space and the environment. What could possibly go wrong.. 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration
Budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
The Trump administration’s continued attacks on academia and its funding cuts to scientific research could shrink the U.S. economy by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years. That could leave the U.S. lagging behind China, which is investing heavily in research. 🧪🦠 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/b...
nytimes.com
Trump Slashed Science Funding. Now the U.S. Could Face a Costly Brain Drain.
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EU-WISH @eu-wish.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
EU-WISH is launching a webinar series on technical knowledge of AMR monitoring in wastewater. Members of EU-WISH and EU-JAMRAI2 can deepen their expertise in culture-based and PCR-based workflows, while preparing the ground for hands-on training activities later this year. #EU_WISH #IDsky #Episky 🧪
An illustrated poster for the EU-WISH Training webinar series on antimicrobial resistance in wastewater. The design shows two approaches: culture-based methods, represented by a petri dish with bacterial colonies, and PCR methods, shown with a pipette and microplate. A magnifying glass in the center displays bacteria, and logos of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and the European Union are included.
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PaleoAnthropology @qafzeh.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Archaeologists achieve a historic milestone by dating French cave paintings with carbon-14 for the first time: www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/03/a...
labrujulaverde.com
Archaeologists achieve a historic milestone by dating French cave paintings with carbon-14 for the first time
A team led by a researcher from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has achieved a milestone in prehistoric archaeology by confirming through absolute dating the age of several parietal...
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John Carr @johncarrabc.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
www.economist.com/science-and-... If the Chinese demo reactor is "up and running" in 2030 it will be way ahead of ITER and private enterprise projects in the USA.
economist.com
China is a serious contender in the race for fusion energy
China builds its most advanced fusion reactor BEST by 2027, aiming to achieve commercial fusion power by 2030 through state planning and industrial investment.
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Michelle Wille @duckswabber.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Pinnipeds have been hard hit by HPAI H5N1, with substantial parts of the population or species being removed by the diseases. Its really critically that disease to be better considered in pinniped conservation. 👉 royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. This paper describes a ribozyme, a catalytic RNA molecule, able to do just that.. Fascinating stuff… 🧪🦠 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
A small polymerase ribozyme that can synthesize itself and its complementary strand
The emergence of a chemical system capable of self-replication and evolution is a critical event in the origin of life. RNA polymerase ribozymes can replicate RNA, but their large size and structural ...
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
The system acts as near-permanent archival storage for backup of critical data. It stores 4.8 terabytes, the equivalent of around 2 million printed books Data survives for 10,000 years at a temperature of 290ºC and much longer at room temperature. 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts for millennia
Researchers use mini plasma explosions to encode the equivalent of two million books into a coaster-sized device. The method could preserve research data for millennia with minimal storage costs.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
All major large language models (LLMs) can be used to either commit academic fraud or facilitate junk science, a test of 13 models has found. There were major differences though, with Claude made by Anthropic being most resistant to committing fraud. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Hey ChatGPT, write me a fictional paper: these LLMs are willing to commit academic fraud
Mainstream chatbots presented varying levels of resistance to deliberate requests for fabrication, study finds.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
All major large language models (LLMs) can be used to either commit academic fraud or facilitate junk science, a test of 13 models has found. There were major differences though, with Claude made by Anthropic being most resistant to committing fraud. 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Hey ChatGPT, write me a fictional paper: these LLMs are willing to commit academic fraud
Mainstream chatbots presented varying levels of resistance to deliberate requests for fabrication, study finds.
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Dr Savoy234Ever @savoy234ever.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
“Cognitive psychology has shown that students grow intellectually through doing the work of drafting, revising, failing, trying again, grappling with confusion, and revising weak arguments. This is the work of learning how to learn” phys.org/news/2026-02...
phys.org
The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn't cheating—it's the erosion of learning itself
Public debate about artificial intelligence in higher education has largely orbited a familiar worry: cheating. Will students use chatbots to write essays? Can instructors tell? Should universities ba...
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Pope Rejects Trump’s “Board of Peace” Invite
newrepublic.com
Pope Rejects Trump’s “Board of Peace” Invite
The Vatican wants nothing to do with Trump’s Gaza project.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
The UK has suddenly pulled funding for two international physics projects: The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and construction of a new particle accelerator in the US. UK will no longer be seen as a reliable partner in fundamental physics. 🧪 www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...
researchprofessionalnews.com
Funding U-turn will cost UK trust and leadership, partners say - Research Professional News
Senior European physicists say country’s status as “reliable partner” damaged by withdrawal of pledged investment
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
The system acts as near-permanent archival storage for backup of critical data. It stores 4.8 terabytes, the equivalent of around 2 million printed books Data survives for 10,000 years at a temperature of 290ºC and much longer at room temperature. 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts for millennia
Researchers use mini plasma explosions to encode the equivalent of two million books into a coaster-sized device. The method could preserve research data for millennia with minimal storage costs.
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Wim Meijer @wimgmeijer.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Stargate SG-1 is on Netflix 😊 one of my favourite SciFi series! Please Netflix also put on Battlestar Galactica 🙏 just one in the pantheon of best SciFi series ever. So say we all! 🧪 (apologies for posting this to the science channel 🤪) @netflix.com
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