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Ben Esse

@ben-esse.bsky.social

Volcanologist at the University of Manchester studying volcanic gas emissions from space (and sometimes the ground). Wrangler of Python and believer in the FAIR Principles in science. Love spending my time in the outdoors in various forms. He/Him

29 Posts146 Follower162 Folgt
Carla Denyer@carladenyer.bsky.social · 6mo ago

High Court: proscription of #PalestineAction was unlawful. Greens voted against proscription, so we welcome this. Govt must now immediately end its authoritarian attacks on peaceful protest, and fully address its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule

Protest group’s co-founder wins legal challenge against decision to proscribe it under anti-terrorism laws

theguardian.com

Robin Ince@robinince.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenterIn a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters.Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
@julietbiggs.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Our preliminary analysis of the satellite observations of the #hayligubbi #eruption is now available online: comet.nerc.ac.uk/event-respon.... Details of the eruption onset, SO2 emissions and precursory deformation.

Event Response Reports - COMET

25th November 2025: COMET Event Response Report 2.4 – Erta Ale/Hayli Gubbi Purpose/Caveats: This event response report was produced to assist situational awarenessand rapid response efforts. It repres...

comet.nerc.ac.uk

David Wearing@davidwearing.bsky.social · last yr.

Absolutely dystopian juxtaposition from the Guardian front page. Difficult to understand how anyone of decency and conscience can defend this government at this point. Just sheer moral degeneracy to arm a state that does this and arrest people for objecting. Wtf are we doing as a country?

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Ben Esse@ben-esse.bsky.social · last yr.

Had a great time visiting @eumetsat.int in Darmstadt for the first time (also my first proper visit to Germany!). There was a good density of satellite models around, and also fish in an inside pond? Why don't more buildings have inside ponds?!?

Model of the MTG-S satellite Models of meteorological satellites hanging from the ceiling A model of Meteosat Second Generation satelliteA koi in a pond
Micah@rincewind.run · last yr.

Discworld QOTD, from Snuff “Cheery was aware that Commander Vimes didn't like the phrase 'The innocent have nothing to fear', believing the innocent had everything to fear, mostly from the guilty but in the longer term even more from those who say things like 'The innocent have nothing to fear'.”

Micah@rincewind.run · last yr.

Discworld QOTD, from I Shall Wear Midnight “Oh, I feel very angry a lot of the time," said Tiffany, "but I just put it away somewhere until I can do something useful with it.”

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · last yr.

Each of us is here for a short time. It’s depressing that some choose to use their time grifting and generally making life worse for everyone else, instead of trying to improve the world for those who don’t have a voice, whether people, animals, or other life forms.

Barbara Bonechi@barbarabonechi.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 New Paper Alert! 🧵 Excited to share our latest research on the 2021 Tajogaite eruption (La Palma, Spain) 🌋 We used 3D X-ray microtomography to unravel how vesicle textures and pore networks in volcanic clasts relate to eruption style and gas escape efficiency. doi.org/10.1007/s004...

Linking eruptive style with pore network geometry in tephritic/basanitic tephra from the 2021 Tajogaite eruption (Canary Islands, Spain) - Bulletin of Volcanology

Investigating the textural properties and 3D geometry of the connected pore network in volcanic products provides insight into magma ascent processes, due to their influence on magma permeability, out...

doi.org

Ben Esse@ben-esse.bsky.social · last yr.

In the these last days of May I'm rapidly beginning to regret the three talks and a poster that I apparently signed up to present next month. Not sure why everyone has decided to organise their meetings in June 🥲 at least it gets all the travel over and done with...

Ben Esse@ben-esse.bsky.social · last yr.

This is one of the main reasons I'm really hesitant to use LLMs day to day. Tweaks to the prompts can suddenly (and silently) change outputs, which can spread dangerous misinformation fast. Is it really worth the few extra seconds to use a normal search engine? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Musk’s AI bot Grok blames ‘programming error’ for its Holocaust denial

Grok doubted 6 million death toll, days after peddling conspiracy theory of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa

theguardian.com