Reposted by William BarterChris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 09/10/2026As 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. 🔭 16230100
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026If 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... 7944
Reposted by William BarterStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026One 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?” 6857841249
Reposted by William BarterConor Fitzpatrick @fitzparticle.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Incredible 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: 178
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Yes, you have to actually start the leaving process (not just complain) to get them to change the price. 020
Reposted by William BarterarXiv @arxiv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026arXiv 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… 216874
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Some difficult new questions for UKRI to answer here. 010
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026One 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. 010
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Thanks. I agree but I'll delete the original out of fairness. 010
Reposted by William BarterRiker Googling @rikergoogling.bsky.social · 19/09/2026is it normal to be tired all the time 834785
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Proud PhD supervisor: Congratulations to (soon-to-be) Dr Keira Farmer, who passed her PhD viva today. 050
Reposted by William BarterEuan Healey @euanhealey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Edinburgh 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. 4181100
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026It'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. 020
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026I'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! 000
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Over 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. 100
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I 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. 110
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Plus 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. 110
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I 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. 120
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I 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. 110
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026All I'm saying is that Brexit was bad and this would be different. ;) 001
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026All I'm saying is that with a different result in 1066 we might have avoided Brexit. 030
Reposted by William BarterLev 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 2529260
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I always liked Feynman's approach: reply noting you aren't an expert and putting the last two 'alternative' experts in touch with each other. 000
Reposted by William BarterLeigh Reeves @leigh-reeves.bsky.social · 06/09/2026This is funny to me every time I think about it. Prob because I love bike riding. 🚴♂️ 1243048
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Back 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. 010
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026A policy that is sure to go down well in Northern Ireland. 122
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Surely at this stage you fold it into core messaging about how 'weird' and dangerous Reform and those adjacent to them are? 020
Reposted by William BarterLouise, Prof/Dr @louiselocock.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Just came across this again 😄 1132
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026You're annoyed at people forgetting about you and yet you still want us to believe you aren't Lib Dem leader material? 090
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026To 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. 2160
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I love the relics you can get in the old cathedrals. (Making no comment on the legitimacy of relic-based 'stuff'.) 060
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026It's not like St Edward the Confessor was a saint... 2280
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026I'm not watching it, but I have been forced to see adverts etc 010
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 03/09/2026The 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. 110
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Oh 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. 030
Reposted by William BarterAstronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026LHCb: "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. " 163
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Vic makes anything interesting. l still miss Mike Selvey. 000
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Kind of hilarious as well given how most of the/us university sorts react to being asked to wear a lanyard 000
Reposted by William BarterTim Lyons @picketer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026This 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. 5447
William Barter @wjbarter.bsky.social · 20/08/2026💯 - we have (and want to keep) a world-class sector, not just a couple of anomalies. 030
Reposted by William BarterBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 20/08/2026ideally at tertiary level I think you want a lot of *good* schools and having Oxbridges is generally bad. 837810
Reposted by William BarterHarry Cliff @harrycliff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026My 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.blogThe Cuts to LHCb – Guest Post by William BarterThe 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… 042