Laurie Winkless
@lauriewinkless.bsky.social
Physicist & science storyteller. 📚#1: SCIENCE AND THE CITY 📚#2: STICKY. Words in other places. Irish in Aotearoa New Zealand. Massive science nerd, biz owner, enthusiastic, outspoken, equity-minded, multi-crafter. She/her. #ToitūTeTiriti #FreePalestine
My biggest flaw as a science writer: an inability to just write a couple of sentences about an interesting-but-not-central thing. This draft is 25-30% longer than I think it needs to be. So here's hoping the future version of me that'll edit this before submission is in a harsh, brutal mood 😂
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Nicola Gaston@nicgaston.bsky.social · 3d agoChildren: as problems in schools to be controlled; financial benefits to the state, but also burdens that must therefore be incentivised, for parents to have them; not in need of decent nutrition but still to be shamed for their bodies; & oh btw the Children’s Commissioner is sacked. FFS #nzpol
I finally wore my felted jumper today! Appropriately enough, it was to teach a felting class ❤️
Laurie Winkless@lauriewinkless.bsky.social · 2w agoWet felting is happening!
wanted this to be a spoof so so bad, hate that it's real, hideously depressing
Veerender Singh Jubbal@veerenderjubbal.bsky.social · 5d ago
Classis lil wind or quake moment there (twas both) #eqnz
I love capturing those moments where London Underground trains line up perfectly with station posters. With a little patience and a bit of luck, you can end up with some wonderfully amusing and unexpected shots.
This is despicable. As I saw @patrickgaley.bsky.social say on LinkedIn: "The burnings of the Library of Alexandria destroyed an estimated 400,000 written texts. Anthropic has destroyed 2 million books this year alone." novaramedia.com/2026/07/29/a...
AI Firms Are Buying up Old Books, Then Scanning and Destroying Them
The world’s biggest AI companies are buying antiquarian books en masse so they can be scanned to train their large language models (LLMs) before being destroyed.
novaramedia.com
This is Fenrir. He has not yet been successful in cuddling with the cat. But thinks if he goes slow enough she might not notice. 13/10 (IG: fenrirfanclub)
My buds @thefutureisrail.bsky.social have launched their rail strategy! It's mind-boggling that in Aotearoa New Zealand, you have two options for most travel between our major urban centres: drive or fly (or if you're lucky, a very limited bus service). It is utterly unsustainable.
It is 2005. Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allegations. It is 2012. Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allegations. It is 2018. Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allegations.. It is 2025. Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allegations. It is 2026. Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allega--
Scott Bryan@scottygb.bsky.social · last wk.New BBC investigation. Four women accuse Jared Leto of criminal sexual conduct www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rocks are like time capsules. They reveal ancient life and climates. They’ll help us fight climate change. They record the birth, life, and death of continents. They give us a framework for understanding lithosphere-biosphere dynamics at a global-scale. They’re ace, frankly [2/2]
Lots of caveats around the details of this study, but it seems like an important result. Aotearoa New Zealand has the highest prevalence of asthma in the world (14,513 per 100k), and switching out gas stoves for electric can be too costly for many #nz theconversation.com/replacing-ga...
Replacing gas stoves with electric stoves greatly reduces asthma symptoms
People with poorly controlled asthma may be able to breathe easier by making a change in the kitchen.
theconversation.com
I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands
Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.
bbc.co.uk
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 3w ago“What will the Lovell Telescope discover/enable 20 yrs from now? I can’t tell you, and that’s the point. It will either be something extraordinary that none of us can yet predict, or we will defund it and leave Cheshire with a rusting monument to unfulfilled potential and discoveries never made.” 🔭🧪
Strong reaction from UK scientists to the Jodrell Bank news:
Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · last wk.Short-sighted, stupid cuts to the UKRI budget include shutting down Jodrell Bank, the icon of British astronomy. (Many other cuts too, including 20% to our brand new @vrubinobs.bsky.social). Interesting politically to shut down a major facility in...um..Manchester 🔭 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I really don’t know why we allow new household gas connections these days
Sammy Roth@sammyroth.bsky.social · 2w agoInsane new research. Scientists gave asthma patients free electric stoves to replace their gas stoves, then checked to see if symptoms improved. Not only did symptoms improve, ditching gas was *better than medicine.* Details in today's newsletter: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/electric-s...
Did you know that in a lot of US cities, an office worker's car gets more space than they do? Or that the turning radius of a 200mph train is 1625 times that of a 25mph bike? I interviewed the authors of a new book about geometry in urban transport systems for @forbes.com 🧪⚛️
Why Your City Feels Built For Cars, Not People
A new book posits that physical space, rather than policy, is the primary constraint for urban transport. I speak to the authors to learn more.
forbes.com
My latest article for @forbes.com is about the geometry of transport in our cities. It's an interview with the US-based authors of a new book on the topic, and they shared some fascinating insights. ⚛️🧪👩🔬 www.forbes.com/sites/laurie...
Why Your City Feels Built For Cars, Not People
A new book posits that physical space, rather than policy, is the primary constraint for urban transport. I speak to the authors to learn more.
forbes.com
Apologies to recent followers who've seen me share nothing interesting. I am working on a big grant application which is taking all of my science brain. I promise if I get it (which is very unlikely) you'll be inundated with cool stuff. Regardless, once the app is in, I'll get back to being social 🥺
#nzpol National: Fixing nothing and lying about everything else.
Musical Chairs@musicalchairs.bsky.social · 2w agoThere are about 15,000 jobs advertised today and... - 174,000 people officially unemployed - Another 144,000 people who want more hours - A further 80,000 potential jobseekers (underestimate) This is a failure of laissez-faire economic management on an absolutely tragic scale.
I've finished the front of my needle felted jumper! I also added a lil flower on the opposite sleeve (because it looked too bare). Next weekend: wet felting, to lock the flowers in place & make the jumper washable. I'm excited to (eventually) wear this 😍
Laurie Winkless@lauriewinkless.bsky.social · last mo.Taking you on a wee tour of my current #needlefelting project - making a blue wool jumper significantly more interesting ☺️ Still a lot more work to do, but I'm very happy with the progress thus far.
Nobody disputes that having access to a car in a car-dominated society is good. It gives one access to jobs, healthcare, food, education, social opportunities and more. All we're asking is for people to go one step deeper and ask why access to such basic rights requires buying and operating a car.
Romeo Kokriatski@vagrantjourno.bsky.social · 3w agoI grew up in Jackson Heights in Queens and we still had a car, and our lives got measurably better when we did.
Next time someone tries arguing that it’s “social engineering” (cue ominous music) to give people more CHOICE to walk, bike & take public transit in their city, tell them that designing our current car DEPENDENCY has been the largest and most damaging social engineering experiment in human history.
There is going to be a rash of these kind of stories about Ireland’s attempt to pull a stroke. Whether they are or aren’t warranted depends entirely on what the Irish government does next. 🧵 (And yes, it’s burps not farts, and Greenpeace should know that)
Greenpeace EU@greenpeace.eu · 3w agoSilent but violent, cows' and other farm animals' farts (agricultural methane) heat the planet 80 times more than CO2 over a 20-year time frame But Ireland wants the EU to give cow farts a free pass, raising serious questions about its claim to be a climate leader www.desmog.com/2026/07/14/c...
Hard to describe the sorrow I feel watching the boreal forest burn, summer after summer. I was paddling on a lake yesterday when the smoke came in, and knew what was happening despite not having cell reception. Climate change is a heartbreaker.
Luke LeBrun@lukelebrun.ca · 3w agoThese images of First Nations community members evacuating Collins, Ontario on motorboats are absolutely surreal www.facebook.com/reel/1548244...
