Bothwell Castle near Glasgow (Scotland) reconstruction mock-up over @undisscot.bsky.social image. Castle damaged/slighted during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Site repaired by Archibald 'The Grim', illegitimate Son of 'The Black' Douglas. #BothwellCastle #ScottishCastles #HistoryRebuilt

slow day in the office so we're starting beef with archaeologists

TWENTY YEARS!

Happy Birthday Igor from Young Frankenstein

Alt: Happy Birthday Igor from Young Frankenstein

static.klipy.com

The excesses of the Woke 1 era mostly amount to cringe public statements, harmless vocabulary updates and loss of prestige for public figures. The backlash to Woke 1, on the other hand, is imprisoning dissidents, dismantling public education and eroding democracy. That's what needs reckoning

I wrote about a reason not to use generative AI in your writing that I haven't seen anyone talking about. Once I realized this, banning GenAI in our lab's writing became a no-brainer. Feel free to share, I think this is probably useful especially for trainees: www.carlsonlab.bio/thoughts/the...

The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab

Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...

carlsonlab.bio

“Strong worker protections will allow us to meet the external challenges we face. […] We no longer have to function in fear in our day to day, but can focus on meeting the moment and ensuring we are doing everything we can to support free knowledge.” - Wikimedia worker, name withheld http.cat/451

On the Untitled History Podcast this week @nicmorton.bsky.social and I talk Crusader States Crusader strongholds in barren deserts? Nope. Rich, cultural and intellectual melting pots with shifting alliances with both Christian and muslim neighbours. Watch/listen here, on Youtube, or your pod app!

Episode 26: The myth and reality of medieval Crusader States

The Untitled History Podcast · Episode

open.spotify.com

“I stand with WWU because *all* WMF staff - regardless of their role, level, or tenure in the Wikimedia movement - deserve a healthy and psychologically safe environment to do their best work, learn, and grow. #inthismissiontogether” – Wikimedia worker, name withheld [1] http.cat/451

#OTD 6th August 1984, bog body Lindow Man was exhumed from Lindow Moss in Cheshire; his leg had been found by peat workers 5 days before. After conservation, in 1987 he had a special exhibition in Manchester Museum. This is a small collection of the original exhibition shop memorabilia.

The Archaeological Journal is a great place to publish: it has a large audience and my experience was the feedback was very helpful in shaping the paper I submitted

Royal Archaeological Institute@royalarchinst.bsky.social · last wk.

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋: 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 Further details at www.royalarchinst.org/publications...

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋: 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 Further details at www.royalarchinst.org/publications...

I only ever emailed Jean Mesqui as a researcher once, but he was patient and helpful. I also thought that his academic work was accessibly written, which is a great skill to have.

The Castle Studies Trust@castlestudies.bsky.social · last wk.

We're saddened to hear of the death of the great castellologist Jean Mesqui. Trained as a civil engineer outside his "day jobs" he published extensively, & his 2 vol Châteaux et enceintes de la France médiévale essential for anyone studying French castles. Our condolences to his family & friends.

We're saddened to hear of the death of the great castellologist Jean Mesqui. Trained as a civil engineer outside his "day jobs" he published extensively, & his 2 vol Châteaux et enceintes de la France médiévale essential for anyone studying French castles. Our condolences to his family & friends.

Very short notice (deadline 18 August) but we're advertising a 0.5fte lectureship in public history for next year. Covers my 3rd year undergraduate course on public history of Rome (ancient to modern) plus some MA public history teaching.

A raft of misinformation has been coming from inside the house of verification. Now the 'misstatements' are clear as day. medium.com/regarding-wi... #Wikipedia

Lies, Damned Lies, and Union-Busting Statements

What the Wikimedia Foundation is saying versus the evidence

medium.com

Crops grown underneath solar panels produce more, require less water and are more resistant to extreme weather, even during a hot, dry summer. We need agrivoltaics to be rolled out asap, for both the electricity and the better growing conditions. microgridmedia.com/solar-panels...

Solar Panels Are Helping Crops Grow Better, Global Studies Show - Microgrid Media

For farmers worried about losing land to solar energy, new research brings surprising news: many crops actually produce more food when grown beneath solar

microgridmedia.com

England received only 7% of the long-term average rainfall for July. Southern England, just 1%. Factoid: There has been a weather station in Kew Gardens for 155 years. This July was the first month ever to record 0mm of rain. Tomorrow, London will again hit 30C+ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

July set to be driest on record for England and Wales after relentless heatwaves

Climate scientist urges better planning as southern England had just 1% of long-term average rainfall last month

theguardian.com

"Wikimedia must service as a model for others and do better." - Camacleod [1] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...

Check out those Reform voters! (Source: www.ft.com/content/4932...)

Analysis of satellite imagery has been one of the main ways to remotely assess the impact of conflict. This new feature in Google Earth is potentially very damaging to trust in satellite imagery. youtube.com/shorts/XtzpY...

Google Earth’s New AI Lets Anyone Fabricate Completely Bullshit Satellite Images

YouTube video by 404 Media

youtube.com

In fifteen years, the UK has deleted coal power from their power system, halved fossil gas use, replaced most of that with wind and solar, and the country has not suffered the hellish blackout apocalypse conservatives and media outlets promised would happen. ember-energy.org/data/electri...

The Odyssey merch is getting out of hand

Unofficial BBCNews (UK) Bot@bbcnews-uk-rss.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sainsbury's to sell Argos for £120m

The best part is the map showed the Ivory Coast was landlocked and they didn't bat an eye.

Sam Heller | سام هيلر@abujamajem.com · 2w ago

Stupid empire x.com/reutersafric...

Credibility and trust going

Marc Hudson@marchudson.bsky.social · 3w ago

From the LinkedIn of an academic I have a lot of respect for.

Knowledge is open! Our recent PhD graduate and incoming Humanities Research Centre Postdoctoral Fellow in Archaeology @lucymoore.bsky.social has been awarded a Silver Jubilee Award for outstanding contributions to open knowledge by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales. www.york.ac.uk/archaeology/...

York graduate receives prestigious award for outstanding contributions to open knowledge

A recent graduate from the Department of Archaeology has been recognised as one of the UK’s most influential champions of open knowledge.

york.ac.uk

Open Research at York@uoyopenres.bsky.social · 4w ago

Huge congratulations to @lucymoore.bsky.social @uoyarchaeology.bsky.social who recently won a @wikimediauk.bsky.social Silver Jubilee Award 🏆🎉 Read our case study on Lucy's work towards improving the representation of the lives and achievements of women on Wikipedia: uoy.atlassian.net/wiki/x/jgAJCQ

“Ancient Egyptian princesses actually knew how to use the weapons they were buried with, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology” That this study was needed takes the “fake geek girl” meme to levels I never thought possible😭

Bronwyn Isaacs@find-bronwyn.bsky.social · 3w ago

"buried with a powerful arsenal of weapons . . . which archaeologists have continued to dismiss as "purely symbolic" But. . . "evidence the princesses knew how to use them, based on the state of the muscle attachments on their bones, and the signs of injuries" www.sciencealert.com/ancient-egyp...

something I love about humans is that when you are sitting in a coffee shop with its doors open and a tiny bird hippity-hops inside to peck around under your tables, every busy-looking adult with headphones and a laptop stops what they are doing just to watch the little guy until he leaves again

Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley

You might be wondering how this decline in the number of people entering academic disciplines in the humanities affects something like a project devoted to researching, writing, and publishing histories of place (or local histories)? These early career researchers are essential to our work. 🗃️ 1/5

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 4w ago

In perhaps our most devastating briefing we find early career staff in the humanities as a whole have declined by 20% since 2016/17. Between 23/24 and 24/25 early career staff across all SHAPE subject areas fell by 6%, (from 52,795 to 49,410 FPE). That is the pipeline for our disciplines