My Philosophy of Theoretical Linguistics (shorturl.at/l4i4G) @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org is finally in paperback. It covers new territory and boldly goes... well, maybe not boldly. More like cautiously shuffles forward while clutching a notebook and hoping for the best. Discount below!

‘It is young UK performers, and in particular those from a working-class background, who have been most hit by the loss of the EU for work and experience.’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘Catastrophic for creative industries’: Brexit barriers shut UK actors out of EU jobs

Casting shifts to EU talent as paperwork delays and visa limits make hiring British crews less viable

theguardian.com

wee poem that recently appeared in the 2026 Resonance Anothology. Thanks so much to the Resonance crew for selecting it! #poetry #snails #ritual

This new book of essays on Real Patterns looks really great: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...

Dennett's Real Patterns in Science and Nature

How the concept of a pattern, as understood in information science and applied in contemporary AI, can address deep questions in science and philosophy.The

direct.mit.edu

Really sad news. Ronnie taught me at Edinburgh 1985-1989, and was one of the sharpest minds, most interesting thinkers, and kindest people I came across there. I'm very sad he's no longer with us.

Dr Danny Bate@dannybate.com · 4mo ago

I hope it's appropriate to share that earlier this week, Professor Ronnie Cann, one of my PhD supervisors, died suddenly. I’d like to remember him publicly; he was brilliant and kind, and I will miss him.

We've revamped the Futures of Language website! Read about the project, team, papers, and other news at futuresoflanguage.org Also, our weekly updates are collated in the Futures Library, a growing collection of short pieces on ideas & people that drive the project: futuresoflanguage.org/library/

Mahmoud's policy itself is abhorrent, but it's also profoundly stupid in terms of the UKs long term interests

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5mo ago

39 Sudanese Chevening Scholarship finalists ejected this week from consideration for the scheme, for being Sudanese.

A little marginalia. Dragonlet, Book of Hours, Paris c.1410.

March Hares, Vicky Yeates, 2012.

A nice shift in perceived colour between central and peripheral vision. The fixated disc looks purple while the others look blue. The effect presumably comes from the absence of S-cones in the fovea. From Hinnerk Schulz-Hildebrandt: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.115...

Hannah Spencer walking into Westminster, sucking her teeth, tutting, and muttering "tell you what, you've had some cowboys in here."

"These centuries-old connections between language and the environment challenge dominant views of how best to protect habitats. Scottish Gaelic’s vitality as a living language would surely suffer if fishing were to be curtailed, and much of the knowledge bound up in it...would be lost too."

Association for Scottish Literature@asls.org.uk · 6mo ago

“An entire system of comharran – Gaelic navigational marks – surrounds the islands… A wealth of knowledge about the creatures which populate these fishing grounds is also encoded within the Gaelic language.” —by @tonguetiedfilms.bsky.social #MotherLanguageDay theconversation.com/how-scottish...

I imagine it was extremely disturbing

To accompany all those Bluesky science/academia #starterpacks, how about we also share introductions to the literature of our different fields. I present here a handy guide to main types of papers in the language sciences (inspired by the amazing @xkcd.com). #language #linguistics #science #academia

We know the Code of Practice is wrong in law. But we need your help to make sure it gets sent back. Write to your MP with our quick and easy tool, here 👇

Good Law Project@goodlawproject.org · 6mo ago

The High Court’s ruling confirms what we already knew: the EHRC’s code of practice is wrong. Write to your MP and tell them it’s time to send it back 🏳️‍⚧️✉️ goodlaw.social/5e045f

The most insane thing is that "British (and Irish) citizens who are also citizens of another country will be ineligible for an ETA, meaning they can no longer use a foreign passport to enter the UK."

Ben Ansell@benansell.bsky.social · 6mo ago

One can make the case for requiring either a UK passport or some further documentation for dual British nationals to enter the country (this is true for eg the US). But making this change rapidly and getting a certificate so expensive is yet another Home Office cockup. Why always so draconian?

"An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into accepting its changes into a mainstream python library." Pubpeer, journals are next! theshamblog.com/an-ai-agent-...

An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me

Summary: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…

theshamblog.com

When AI was added to a tool for sinus surgery: “Cerebrospinal fluid leaked from one patient’s nose. In another… a surgeon mistakenly punctured the base of a patient’s skull. In two other cases, patients suffered strokes after a major artery was accidentally injured” www.reuters.com/investigatio...

As AI enters the operating room, reports arise of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts

Medical device makers have been rushing to add AI to their products. While proponents say the new technology will revolutionize medicine, regulators are receiving a rising number of claims of patient ...

reuters.com

Reading @tashwalker.bsky.social and @adamzmith.bsky.social ‘s amazing new book The Logbooks and this call to Gay Switchboard they quote had me in hysterics #lgbthistories

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again. #Pinks #ProudBlue

What we all need to see is a red squirrel in a power pose. You're welcome.

Illustrations from the beguiling Clavis Artis, a German alchemical manuscript which claims to hail from the 13th century and have pages made from dragon skin: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/clavis-artis

One more time, syntax matters. I do hope the snake had a good time, though.

I reckon it would be a good move for cinemas in the US to be showing the original Downfall film now. Magnificent film with huge relevance for today

Thomas [DARK MODE], DO@tom.medsky.social · 6mo ago

Downfall Bovino Edition. You're welcome.

“When it draws near to witching time of night.” (Robert Blair) 🎨 Charles Livingston Bull #owlishmonday

New blog post "Achievements 2025" userblogs.fu-berlin.de/langsci-pres...

I really understand very little about the current version of reality.

Same story over and over. These larpers - Kirkegard, Pesta et al - pumping out the same effluence with their strategy - exposed by @harryshukman.bsky.social + @hopenothate.org.uk - to normalise and spread scientific racism. They KNOW it's bullshit too. Read this: www.theguardian.com/world/2024/o...

Revealed: International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss

Group promoting ‘dangerous’ scientific racism ideology teamed up with rightwing extremist, recordings reveal

theguardian.com

Alondra Nelson@alondra.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🚨🚨🚨 "At least 63 times since 2007, data from some of the 28 human genomic repositories that the N.I.H. controls was improperly released to researchers, used for unapproved purposes or made vulnerable to theft..." (Gift Link) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/u...