Yikes.

Shannon Ellery Hubbell@brundlefly.bsky.social · 19h ago

"I work in physics research and the AI situation makes me feel insane." www.reddit.com/r/TrueAnon/c...

The art - the illustrations - in Günther & Deckert are great and numerous, and I think that many of them are the originals from which numerous later images were derived...

Sevilla this summer — amazing how comfortable the streets are even on hot afternoons

Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · 3d ago

Almost every city in the world needs to urgently understand the need to get really good at planning and designing for shade. #UrbanHeat

I must say this is one of the best things I've read in days. Absolutely dripping with charts and insights on the scale and intricacies of the wildfire season in Europe, as things currently stand. It is a complex picture - and yh, it's *bad* in many places. hannahritchie.substack.com/p/europe-wil...

Is Europe having a bad wildfire year?

Several countries in Europe are having a very large wildfire year; this is offset by lower burn in the Balkans

hannahritchie.substack.com

While much of England remains very dry we have had a really damp night here in NI. Grey and drizzly this morning. Feels like we've been transported to October - except for the fact it's going to be 22C today...

James Peacock@peacockreports.bsky.social · yesterday

Overnight AROME run predicted just a few slight streaks of accumulated rainfall in CS & SE England during the next 48 hours. Activity in southern England is highly concentrated in a zone northern Cornwall to just beyond Bristol. Even there, totals are mostly pretty small.

End of May/start of August.

With a mean monthly temperature of 22.8C we observed in July 2026 the hottest month on record in #London +5C above older 1961-1990 baseline. What made month record breaking was daytime max 29.3C, 1C above next warmest in July 2018. For minimum, it was 3rd warmest behind 2006, 2018.

Am thinking about (short-term) solutions to low river flows this week... Besides blowing up riverbeds (!) what other ideas have people heard about?

NEW: Big new feature from me about offshore wind farms as anchors for wildlife! For example: seals swimming *into* turbine towers to, apparently, hunt fish - and scour protection at the base of turbines used by sea creatures as a dwelling place. atmos.earth/science-and-...

The Sea Life Making a Home in Offshore Wind Farms | Atmos

Offshore wind farms can pose risks to birds and marine life. But their foundations also serve as artificial reefs, offering essential habit.

atmos.earth

Have never grown anywhere near so many cucumbers!

‘Immediately stop all outdoor activities’: South Korea records its highest ever temperature - 42.5C #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

‘Stop all outdoor activities’: South Korea records its highest ever temperature

Authorities issue alert saying indoor spaces without airconditioning are ‘dangerous’ as temperatures pass 40C for fifth straight day

theguardian.com

NEW: Big new feature from me about offshore wind farms as anchors for wildlife! For example: seals swimming *into* turbine towers to, apparently, hunt fish - and scour protection at the base of turbines used by sea creatures as a dwelling place. atmos.earth/science-and-...

The Sea Life Making a Home in Offshore Wind Farms | Atmos

Offshore wind farms can pose risks to birds and marine life. But their foundations also serve as artificial reefs, offering essential habit.

atmos.earth

Wow. "the Romanian naval forces carried out a controlled explosion to divert a large volume of water to the Old Danube and the Cernavodă nuclear power plant to help with its cooling" www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

South-eastern Europe faces heatwave energy crunch as Romania detonates Danube rock to increase water flow – Europe live

Explosives used to move a large rock and let more water flow to cool nuclear power plant

theguardian.com

South Western Railway has said it is exploring methods of injecting nutrients into the soil below track to create “a calcium carbon[ate] skeleton, which provides more support when the clay soil shrinks” www.thereengineer.pro/p/mini-water...

Mini waterwheel produces enough power to, in theory, supply multiple homes

Installing the floating contraption takes just a few hours

thereengineer.pro

This is crazy

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2d ago

"Kew Gardens has had a weather station since 1871. This July was, based on third party analysis of Met Office data collected at the site, the first calendar month on record where no rainfall was measured at Kew."

"base load"

TVP World@tvpworld.bsky.social · 2d ago

Hungary's only nuclear power plant has shut down completely for the first time in 44 years because the River Danube has fallen too low to cool its reactors.

“Across the U.S., 44,004 wildfires have ignited so far this year, scorching more than 4.8 million acres…well above the 10-year-to-date averages of 34,340 fires and 3.63 million acres burned, marking the most active season at this point in the year since 2022” www.foxweather.com/weather-news...

Good swimming this morning! Very calm indeed.

"For specific race training we do sessions in the sauna, and wear a paint suit [coveralls]" www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/ext...

Boiling point: The impact of extreme heat on cycling races

From intense cooling strategies to banning spectators and rerouting stages, extreme heat took centre stage at the Tour de France

cyclist.co.uk

“It’s a traditional waterwheel that floats,” says Sam Maitland, managing director of PicoStream Technologies “In a good site, they will generate 10-12,000 kilowatt hours a year." www.thereengineer.pro/p/mini-water...

Mini waterwheel produces enough power to, in theory, supply multiple homes

Installing the floating contraption takes just a few hours

thereengineer.pro

Ok this is it, I'm never topping this. I managed 21:51 at park run today. Getting sub-22 was a goal for a while! Going to take it a little easier on runs for a bit!!

"Once the sun did shine Lord, it felt so fine The moon a phantom rose Through the mountains and the pines And then the darkness fell" - Jimmy Webb

Fun Friday night question! What's your favourite tautonym!? Hard to beat "bubo bubo"

BREAKING: Google has rolled back its tool less than a day after it launched. Updated story coming soon.

The hummingbird hawk-moth is back in the garden :) @chrisbaraniuk.com #insects #photography #nature #moths

This is a fantastic blog post, everyone should read it. cc @andcleverness.bsky.social @duncanfyfe.net @richardfisher.bsky.social

John Scalzi@scalzi.com · 5d ago

I've written a longer piece on the book that's been pulled due to "AI" use allegations, what that means particularly for newer authors, and what, if anything writers can do in the "AI" era to prove their work is their own: whatever.scalzi.com/2026/07/31/a...

Yeah that's brown

Met Office - weather and climate@metoffice.gov.uk · 5d ago

In our latest press release we take an early look at the July stats: just how dry has it been? bit.ly/45xyDEF

“It’s a traditional waterwheel that floats,” says Sam Maitland, managing director of PicoStream Technologies “In a good site, they will generate 10-12,000 kilowatt hours a year." www.thereengineer.pro/p/mini-water...

Mini waterwheel produces enough power to, in theory, supply multiple homes

Installing the floating contraption takes just a few hours

thereengineer.pro

Michael Heseltine is looking well

The Public Domain Review@publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 5d ago

The Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, and heartthrob Franz Liszt died #onthisday in 1886. Leon Botstein explores what we can still learn from the life and music of "possibly the greatest pianist that has ever lived” — publicdomainreview.org/essay/w... #OTD

Would love @solarchase.bsky.social's thoughts on this www.theguardian.com/environment/...

New solar panels in Great Britain at 15-year high as fossil fuel costs soar

Boom in solar farms and home installations in first half of 2026 began shortly after start of US-Israel war against Iran

theguardian.com