It's always so heartening to see so much enthusiasm for science at the Latitude Festival - people came for the music and discovered they were super-interested in finding out how the world works. And the two aren't mutually exclusive. Hooray for a diverse & delightfully unpredictable human existence!

The Cosmic Shambles Network@cosmicshambles.com · 22h ago

Beyond the LHC: The Future of Particle Physics, our panel from Latitude, is up now to watch on Patreon featuring @helenczerski.bsky.social, @jonbutterworth.bsky.social & @particleclara.bsky.social. Podcast version out later this week for all. Subscribe at patreon.com/cosmicshambles

TIL that it's 70 years since the first commercial hard drive shipped. It stored 3.75 Mb of data, and was two metres high. 70 years! Today there's > 200 zetabytes of stored data, nearly a billion billion times more. Has anyone found the Marie Kondo of data? www.computerhistory.org/storageengin...

I find it hard to summarise my opinions on "AI" (a term I really dislike, because it refers to a huge number of technologies that are very different in capability, quality, ambition and design), but I think I'm coming round to something like this: [1/3]

A helper has just turned up backstage to assist with the final preparations for my Gresham Lecture this evening. Cute! The lecture is called: Carbon: Our Flexible Friend that Built the Natural World, and you can watch live online (free) from 6pm today. All carbon-based life forms welcome!

Science fiction writers often call humanity a “carbon-based life form” & we are… but it’s not just our anatomy that’s based on carbon. It’s the whole of our life support system. My Gresham Lecture tmrw will be all about where Earth's carbon is & what it's up to. Listen in at 6pm (free online)!

Carbon: Our Flexible Friend that Built the Natural World

Carbon used to be something that was only mentioned in school chemistry classes, but now it seems to be everywhere: on the news, in political debate, in discussions on health, and as a framework for t...

gresham.ac.uk

For anyone in need of a novelty pub quiz round, I have a suggestion: name the parent dog breeds of common cross breeds & pick out the picture. Dorgis, bernedoodles, chiweenies, jugs and pekapoos, anyone? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

List of dog crossbreeds - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I said this and I meant every word. Minute Six is out today and you should read it. Congratulations @drkevinfong.bsky.social !

I LOVE this globe, which I found in the GEOMAR lobby (a German ocean research institute) this week. Exaggerated topography of both land and sea, showing the big picture and the beautiful intricacy. I want one!

It's been a lovely weekend here at the Everything Electric Show in Twickenham, hosting panel discussions, sharing knowledge and enthusiasm for electrified homes and transport, and hearing about what's next.

As both an academic and a writer, I am repelled by the "this looks like a long document. Would you like me to summarize it for you?" that seems to appear at the top of every pdf viewer now. NO. The *entire point* of good writing (either books or journal papers) is that every sentence has a purpose.

If you're in London on September 25th, Gresham College and @chrislintott.bsky.social have organised a fabulous Festival of Astronomical Ideas. I'll be there too, talking about water and oceans on this and other planets. In-person only, so do come and join us! www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/fes...

Festival of Astronomical Ideas

Please note that this event is for in-person attendees only, we regret that there will be no live stream. Videos of each presentation will be uploaded in due course. A one-day event featuring discussi...

gresham.ac.uk

It's really hard to take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere: removing something so dilute is like removing tiny needles from a gigantic haystack, again & again, at huge energy, financial & environmental cost. Very useful thread here on why we can't just assume CO₂ removal is a magic climate pill:

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3w ago

🧵CO₂ removal (CDR) is back in the news, but just because the UNEP report says we need CDR, it doesn't mean we'll have CDR. Many challenges will take decades of research and negotiation to solve. Here are some examples: Technological: We currently don't have any durable CDR method that scales.

Our opening night panel from Latitude, '20 years of Scientific Discovery' with @robinince.bsky.social, @helenczerski.bsky.social, @seismatters.bsky.social, @turiking.bsky.social and @particleclara.bsky.social is out now on The Incomplete Shambles Podcast. Listen now! open.spotify.com/episode/1Ws0...

Australia has sunshine, space, plenty of Aussie enthusiasm & a newly-minted desire to move past Middle East oil. For this week's Everything Electric podcast, I met Eyton Lenko to find out how they're reimagining themselves as a clean energy superpower. Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Ak...

'Super-Power?' As Australia hits its stride - with EV, solar & batteries - what next?

YouTube video by Everything Electric TECH

youtube.com

Stockholm! I'll be visiting next week, and while I'm there I'll be speaking about the ocean at the wonderful Sjöhistoriska on Wednesday. Do come along if you're nearby and also pass the word on to anyone you know who might be interested. www.sjohistoriska.se/besok/kalend...

For anyone who has ever struggled with putting IKEA furniture together, this is for you. These two pictures (apparently real IKEA ads at some point) are currently on display at Someset House, as part of an actual Esher art exhibition.

Today, @drkevinfong.bsky.social gave me the best argument for tech billionaires going to space: Apollo astronaut Alan Bean, who came back from the magnificent desolation of the Moon, parked himself on a bench with an icecream & sat marvelling at his newfound appreciation of how amazing humans are.

It’s odd that we make all these films about aliens coming to Earth and potentially attacking/eating us, when the evidence suggests it would be the other way round. That seems to be what we’re doing with all the octopus arriving here (the closest thing to alien life we’ll ever meet).

Octopus bloom may stay, Marine Biological Association says

The Marine Biological Association says the invasive species has successfully bred in UK waters.

bbc.co.uk

On my way to the studio to record next week’s Rare Earth. With a helper…

Just finished We Are Not Machines & this bit at the end really struck me: “It [the book] is not just about the possibility that we will come to be treated like machines, but that we will come to see ourselves as machines, or poor approximations of them” It expresses something I think about a lot…

The potential return of MySpace is basically historical reenactment for the digital age: a fascinating visit to a simpler time when communities were more human, messy "inefficient" interaction was more valued, and everyone could see how the system worked. Nostalgia for being people, not "consumers".

There will be a few exciting new book projects to share soon, but it’s lovely that Blue Machine is still getting so much love (as the ocean should!). I signed a big pile this morning to be sold in Cambridge soon.

What is Andy Burnham going to do about the many big climate/environment decisions in his inbox? On this week’s Rare Earth @tomheap.bsky.social and I take a look, with the help of a stellar panel. It’s easy to list the problems, but what’s his solution? Available now: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

A sad day on the badminton court 😢 I've got no idea what introduced the fatal flaw... it only takes something small, and then the stress of another shot deforming the strings is enough start a catastrophic failure. My matching pair of racquets is now a sorry solo.

Volcanoes! How do they influence Earth, what do we know about them, what swanky new tech lets us spy on them, and how should we live in a world where a colossal volcano could (but is unlikely to) erupt at any moment? It's all in the latest Rare Earth. Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... )

Thinking about the UK gov report "National Security Assessment on Global Ecosystems", Feb 2026. The language is incredibly stark. And it's *national security*, not exactly from tree-huggers: "Global ecosystem degradation & collapse threaten UK national security and prosperity... (high confidence)"

National security assessment on global ecosystems (accessible version)

gov.uk

I cannot see a dead fish as a "conservation success". Bluefin tuna are still rare - they only avoid being technically endangered cos they stabilised at a tiny number. That's not a healthy population, just a stable one. Let them breed and really do well before you fish for them if you have to.

First bluefin tunas caught off Yorkshire since 1960s ‘success story’ for marine conservation

Researchers laud return of giant tuna to North Sea after being fished almost to point of extinction

theguardian.com

Never mind tree-hugging... do you fancy almost kissing a tree? I did, yesterday in Hyde Park, on the hunt for the beauty of lichen (and you have to get REALLY up close and personal to see it). This is all for an episode of Rare Earth on cooperation in nature (competition's partner), coming soon.

Marine heatwaves are serious & species are moving in order to survive. But I would LOVE us to observe & enjoy the new species arriving at our shores, rather than immediately seeing them as food or as something to hunt for pleasure. So depressing to search for the species & get fishing + recipes 😢

‘Our new normal’: how marine heatwaves affect life in British seas

As warming seas push native species to cooler waters farther north, once-rare visitors have become more common

theguardian.com

If you're new to Bluesky or simply looking for some nice accounts to follow to fill your timeline with interesting ideas, diverse perspectives, a dash of inspiration, and news and stories you might not get elsewhere, can we suggest the Humanists UK Starter Pack? bsky.app/starter-pack...