Adam Squires
@adsquires.bsky.social
Biophysical Chemist. Aerosol scientist. Jew. Likes lipids, nano materials, x-ray / neutron scattering, pretentious coffee. (he/him/his). Twitter @adsquires
Worth a follow
Dov Waxman@dovwaxman.bsky.social · 1h agoI've started a Substack, where I will offer my commentary and analyses, mostly concerning antisemitism, Israel/Palestine, Israeli politics, American politics, US-Israel relations, and US Middle East policy. Please subscribe (for free) and share it: dovwaxman.substack.com?r=8zon0&utm_...
I will be advertising a funded PhD studentship shortly, for a project on adding psychological theory (social identity) to modelling of epidemics ( @leverhulme.ac.uk funded, with Marijn Stok). The studentship will start in January 2027. Get in touch now for informal enquiries.
This is the literal definition of terrorism.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · yesterdayLeaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
As an alumni of both Jesus College, as someone who did modules with the Education faculty, and did my dissertation (R&I) on the experiences of people of colour at Cambridge - and saw through my research just how stark the racial disparities are at Cambridge - this entire saga has made me very sad
As someone who politely replied to his previous post: I feel like the QTs and replies to this pretty gracious mea culpa are an illustration of most of the worst of Bluesky.
Ben Goldacre@bengoldacre.bsky.social · yesterdayApologies: I’m not online much, I haven't paid any attention to Rod Liddle for a long time, I didn't really know his extremes. I do now: I wouldn’t have posted if I'd known. I’ve seen death of difficult people up close (and its impact on others): that’s the only reason it was on my mind as an issue.
put these fuckin’ guys in jail. Also, check their hard drives.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · yesterdayLeaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
Deciding whether kids are "academic" or "technical" at an early age is going to work out particularly badly for boys, who are generally later developers and where stereotyping is likely to push them towards the non-academic path.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 2d agoWhy do so many progressives want this? I just don't get it.
Can't repost with comments for the thread by @chrischirp.bsky.social I just reposted, on school closures during Covid, but I'd say this: I think Christina's comments are spot on. School closures were one of the worst aspects of lockdown, and hard to discuss in a balanced way now. /1
Surely if anyone believed Arday's claims to be ridiculously good at running, you'd think it would be Cofnas...? (Joke plagiarised from my mate Andy) www.theguardian.com/education/ng...
Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor
Jason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism
theguardian.com
Pondering the difference in perspective re schools between people like me, and people like @lewisgoodall.com, arguing for a shift of balance towards school reopening; I think much comes down to the specifics of the maths, and for me, the significance of the tipping point above Vs below R=1 1/
Adam Squires@adsquires.bsky.social · 3d agoSo then it really is helpful to discuss the maths. R>1 just means cases go up and up exponentially (albeit more slowly). It's still effectively out of control - the total impacts of staying with R=1.1 are massive vs R=0.9.
Good thread - we're in danger of misremembering how the debate actually went during COVID.
Ben Barclay@benbarclay.bsky.social · 3d agoI’m not posting this because I think Johnson did a good job, but just to show how much the trade-offs involved in school closures were a part of the mainstream public debate. And there are 100s of scientific papers and govt reports on the impacts of school closures.
Pondering the difference in perspective re schools between people like me, and people like @lewisgoodall.com, arguing for a shift of balance towards school reopening; I think much comes down to the specifics of the maths, and for me, the significance of the tipping point above Vs below R=1 1/
Adam Squires@adsquires.bsky.social · 3d agoSo then it really is helpful to discuss the maths. R>1 just means cases go up and up exponentially (albeit more slowly). It's still effectively out of control - the total impacts of staying with R=1.1 are massive vs R=0.9.
🧵Here's a thread to some of the latest RE: what we know and learned about pandemic school closures. bsky.app/profile/prac...
Prof Prachi Srivastava 🌈@prachisrivas.bsky.social · 3d agoYes, to all this. I intimately worked on COVID and education globally for the G20 and in Ontario. We just re-ran a lit review on school closures as a lever to curb infections. Cross-national studies (globally) find they were not effective when other societal mitigation measures were not used.
On the question of whether the first (March 2020) lockdown /school closures were a mistake
Adam Squires@adsquires.bsky.social · 3d agoThe portrayal that we think lockdowns were fine - and that this is because we live in big houses and lack the empathy to imagine what it's like for poor people - is maddening in the context where kids in poorer households would have lost grandparents / caregivers in their millions if no action taken
A timely reminder that all power plants have strengths and weaknesses, and that big plants simplify some things and make others more complicated.
Palma Polyak@palmapolyak.bsky.social · 4d agoHungary's new government is tested very early. Paks nuclear plant is about to go offline for the first time in 44 years because the Danube is drying up. That's nearly half the country's electricity. Collapsed supply & gas prices spiking throughout the region. Just brutal. apnews.com/article/hung...
There has been some talk on here about us still being traumatised, as societies, by what happened during the height of the pandemic. That’s probably true, but we should also remember that in the west we were very lucky (again, as societies), even if there were very many personal tragedies. 🧵
Hadn't realised he'd become a loon, but is he arguing that there *hasn't* been an increase from <300 ppm pre industrial revolution to >400 ppm now? Or that there has but it isn't anthropogenic (in which case...?)
Low level and doesn't make headlines but as ever: grim and terrifying for Muslims in Britain today. Love and solidarity. (As ever, knowing what it feels like having synagogues targeted...) 1/ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
One UK mosque attacked ‘every five days’, says British Muslim Trust
More than 70 attacks have been recorded over past year, including acts of violence, property damage and vandalism
theguardian.com
In March 2020 we had no idea the effects on kids especially long term. Could have been like measles or polio for all we knew.
Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d agoMarch 2020: no testing, no treatment, no vaccine, admissions doubling every 3 to 4 days. Countries ahead of us closed schools alongside everything else, so nobody had evidence separating the two. We didn't know much about Covid in children and nothing about long term impact 3/12
Good point - as Stevie (and Christina) point out - in March 2020 we had no idea the effects on kids especially long term. Could have been like measles or polio for all we knew.
Stevie D@stevieinselby.bsky.social · 5d agoCompletely agree with everything you say. Also important to distinguish between *With the knowledge we had at the time, should we have closed schools" and "With hindsight, should we have closed schools" (although I do think the answers come out the same).
School closures are like swerving off a road to avoid smashing into the car in front - a decision of last resort. To decide if it was the wrong decision requires knowing what would have happened if you hadn't. 1/
Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d agoKeeping schools open is a goal not a policy. A blanket "never close schools" is a bad lesson. I suggest these: 1. Do not prejudge next pandemic which will be a different virus and could have very different age profile of who it attacks 9/12
On the last point: much has correctly been written about the psychological and equality impacts of school closures. But less about the same considerations for the counterfactual: higher levels of COVID among kids 1/
Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d agoSeveral studies have since shown definitely that children and schools contribute signficantly to transmission. In Sweden (with no formal lockdown), parents and teachers of pupils at school had higher infection rates. Children live with and are taught by adults. Many are vulnerable adults. 4/12
Great thread. On drawing the wrong lessons from the pandemic, and what better lessons would be.
Prof Christina Pagel@chrischirp.bsky.social · 5d ago🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12
🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12
I’ve known this was coming and so has everyone else. It doesn’t exist, keep burning, it doesn’t exist, keep burning, oh, it *does* exist but it’s too late to do anything, so keep burning. The sheer cynicism should carry a jail sentence.
Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 7d agoNighty night.
Dr. Fauci is a hero. He really is. He helped guide America thru a mass death event. Millions more could have died but they did not, thanks to him. Everyone over 70 owes him a debt. It is disgusting that we live in a country that not only dishonors him but actively smears his good name.
👇🏻there will be no return to normal *or* settling to a *new* normal. It keeps spiralling worse and worse until we get to net zero, and for a while after that. And the slower we do it, the worse it gets. (The first sentence:also known as positive feedback loops. Which are not usually the good sort)
Peter Allen@peterallen.bsky.social · 7d agoTo quote Mark Blyth, the climate crisis is ‘a giant non-linear outcome generator with wicked convexities. In plain English, there is no mean, there is no average, there is no return to normal. It’s one way traffic into the unknown’. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
After "heat deaths are a lack of investment in air con" and "wildfires are bad forest maintenance / arson" I'm wondering what these people have for drought, crop failure (and plenty more impacts to come) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Somerset heat leaves farmers battle 'worst drought in 50 years'
Crops are struggling after multiple heatwaves and tiny amounts of rainfall in July.
bbc.co.uk
