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William Barter

@wjbarter.bsky.social
948 followers 1.7K following 830 posts

Particle Physicist, Academic, Reader, Walker, Talker. Home: Edinburgh, CERN Pronouns: He/Him Web: www2.ph.ed.ac.uk/~wbarter

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Reposted by William Barter
Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
As expected, the Prime Minister's promise to sort out the mess of funding for Jodrell actually meant nothing - it seems the government would like it to be some sort of heritage theme park when you can go and see where we used to do science. 🔭
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
If IHT is taxing twice, then so is VAT, so is pretty much every non-income tax... it's a ridiculous argument from the right and wish people would point this out more...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
One thing I find endlessly funny about the rise of AI is that it has revealed that there is a large number of people who believe that the reason they wrote essays at school or university is their teachers were desperately waiting for them to provide a definite answer to “Lear: what’s up with him?”
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Conor Fitzpatrick @fitzparticle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Incredible soft-power own-goal for UK science diplomacy. Our Chinese colleagues on @lhcb.bsky.social are doing amazing work on LHCb and the importance of the experiment is recognised by its rapid growth in membership. @francesjones.bsky.social with another bombshell in @timeshighered.bsky.social:
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Yes, you have to actually start the leaving process (not just complain) to get them to change the price.
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arXiv @arxiv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
arXiv has updated our policy on rate limiting for all submitters. This update was made to fairly distribute moderator time & support the arXiv community of staff, volunteers, readers & authors. Please read our announcement to learn more: blog.arxiv.org/2026/10/01/updated-r…
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Hello :)
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Some difficult new questions for UKRI to answer here.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
One of the first things I do with my best shoes is replace the soles with something more grippy and outdoorsy. Have made cobblers grimace. Perish to think what this partner would have thought.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Where's Derry Girls?
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thanks. I agree but I'll delete the original out of fairness.
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Reposted by William Barter
Riker Googling @rikergoogling.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
is it normal to be tired all the time
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Proud PhD supervisor: Congratulations to (soon-to-be) Dr Keira Farmer, who passed her PhD viva today.
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Euan Healey @euanhealey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Edinburgh University created the first ever Chair in Celtic in Scotland in 1882 (Donald Mackinnon of Colonsay). This is a cultural retreat happening before our eyes where there was once leadership.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It's not an original thought from me, but I worry about how we (society) treats university students who are adults as though they are still children.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I'm incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work together with such a brilliant group of students (and lecturers, and tutors). What a fantastic two weeks!
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Over the last two weeks I've been lucky enough to co-lead the STFC HEP Summer School in Durham. We've brought together the UK's first year PhD students in experimental particle physics to learn the theory that underpins their studies.
A group of about 90 people standing together in a courtyard.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Oh no, however will we survive.
A message noting that the operating system is out of date...so Teams won't work...
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I really do think pretty much every subject at uni teaches critical thinking, just using different material. As a historian interrogates sources, we interrogate equations and their solutions. It's hard to teach critical thinking without the thinking step.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Plus as an educator I know the brain is a muscle and you need to train it, you can't just let something else do your thinking for you and hope to gain understanding.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I think I class far more things into type-1 than others? I wouldn't use an LLM to solve a sudoku (what's the point, the joy is the solving), I will not use a LLM to think for me where I take joy from thinking.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I realised why I am so meh on AI for so many things. I think there are two classes of problem: 1/ sudoku style problems, where there is a joy in the intellectual challenge and 2/ vocational problems (eg cancer detection) where you want to use the most advanced tech that works best.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
All I'm saying is that Brexit was bad and this would be different. ;)
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
All I'm saying is that with a different result in 1066 we might have avoided Brexit.
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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
– good lord, Parikian, what on earth is that? – well, sir, it’s rather complicated – yes, I can see – it’s an arboreal conglomeration of small Spanish dishes such as you might find in a slow-moving creek or stream – oh fuck – yes, it’s my… – please don’t – bayou tapas tree – get out
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I always liked Feynman's approach: reply noting you aren't an expert and putting the last two 'alternative' experts in touch with each other.
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Leigh Reeves @leigh-reeves.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This is funny to me every time I think about it. Prob because I love bike riding. 🚴‍♂️
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Back to Durham for the STFC Experimental HEP Summer School. I swear it was only last year (2011) I was attending this school myself as a student.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
A policy that is sure to go down well in Northern Ireland.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Reynolds just called Zia Yusuf racist on Sky.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Surely at this stage you fold it into core messaging about how 'weird' and dangerous Reform and those adjacent to them are?
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Louise, Prof/Dr @louiselocock.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Just came across this again 😄
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
You're annoyed at people forgetting about you and yet you still want us to believe you aren't Lib Dem leader material?
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I only just caught it...
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
To me it feels like a slippery slope that started with the removal of citizenship from someone just because they were eligible to be a citizen of another country - the idea that citizenship was really not permanent and negotiable.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I love the relics you can get in the old cathedrals. (Making no comment on the legitimacy of relic-based 'stuff'.)
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It's not like St Edward the Confessor was a saint...
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I'm not watching it, but I have been forced to see adverts etc
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The other thing I can't get over for the new HP series is how similar the visuals are to the movies. As though they want to make sure the same toys and merch still work. Rampant capitalism.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Great news!
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Oh God, this has happened to me with research. I had reduced to mostly reading only when on extended holiday. This year with the birth of the Dauphin I have started reading more while sitting up with him, and there's so much to catch up on.
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
LHCb: "It's not clear to scientists working on the project exactly why it's been deprioritized. Cancelling projects, in closing facilities will lead to the loss of talent and reduce UK competitiveness in high precision, science, and international collaborations. "
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Vic makes anything interesting. l still miss Mike Selvey.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
His name is literally Alistair Leslie Graham.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Kind of hilarious as well given how most of the/us university sorts react to being asked to wear a lanyard
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Tim Lyons @picketer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This is very, very true. Having a tiny, tiny number of elite schools isn't about education it's purely about the replication (and in a far smaller number of cases the acquisition) of social capital.
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
💯 - we have (and want to keep) a world-class sector, not just a couple of anomalies.
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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
ideally at tertiary level I think you want a lot of *good* schools and having Oxbridges is generally bad.
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Harry Cliff @harrycliff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
My colleague @wjbarter.bsky.social on the devastating impact of UKRI's withdrawal of funding for the LHCb Upgrade @lhcb.bsky.social. "There is still a window of opportunity for BIST to act". Let's hope the new Secretary of State, Jonathan Reynolds, is listening. telescoper.blog/2026/08/19/t...
telescoper.blog
The Cuts to LHCb – Guest Post by William Barter
The following is a guest post by William Barter, who recently finished a term as the ‘physics coordinator’ of LHCb-UK. –o– The European particle physics community recently u…
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William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
thanks Peter!
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