Nooman Haque
@noomanhaque.bsky.social
Investor in life sciences & tech. Innovation policy. Fellow at Cambridge University. Married to a better economist. Cooking. Sports, but badly. ICI was the perfect company once
Few people understand that the UK university system is in crisis, but even fewer realise that many of the people losing their jobs are amongst the best in their fields
Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 4d agoSo it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)
This is what drew me to classics in the first place. This is what I have always loved. And I am so delighted that everyone else now gets to discover it too. Whatever you think of the film in other ways, on that metric it’s a triumph www.newstatesman.com/culture/2026...
Who owns the Odyssey?
The original poem is not as straightforward as Elon Musk and the Online Right might hope
newstatesman.com
Stonehenge under the Milky Way - the highlight of my England trip, captured on the very first night. ▼ IRIX 15mm | Canon EOS R astrocamp.eu/en/stoneheng... #astrophotography #astronomy #nature
4. His role as Trump's science advisor and head of OSTP aside, Kratsios has no scientific experience whatsoever. His degree is a BA in politics, and his main credentials are as a Thiel apparatchik. So when he compares himself to Vannevar Bush… Kratsios is not a Vannevar. He isn't even a George W.
With Anthropic racing to get into biopharma, I'm sharing my earlier piece on how AI companies are trying to eat pharma's lunch. (How far this will go will largely depend on what they can learn or infer about biology that isn't currently understood) open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...
In Brief #1: The lab with no lab. How AI is changing the rules of drug discovery
Machines are making wet labs matter less
open.substack.com
A strong and competent UK state would sweep in here and grab every PhD student we can find. Alas, no such state exists and we won't bother doing anything, as usual.
Ben Allen@evodynamics.bsky.social · 3w agoCongrats we just made it impossible to come here for a PhD www.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/16/m...
There's a lot we can learn from museums. For example: imagine how much better England would have been last night if there had been a dry-stone wall in front of Pickford's goal.
Very good. Very accurate. I just don’t think there’s the will or courage to do any of this. To use a recent analogy, we’re 1-0 on the economy and hope to hold on for something better
Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 3w ago"A closed country will be poorer. A country that underinvests will not grow. A state that refuses to reform tax will ration ambition. And a Labour government afraid to say these things will discover once again that caution, too, has costs." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Starmer and Reeves's planning reform agenda is working, but unfinished. My latest describes four reforms (in the works) that Andy Burnham should keep when he takes power next week. www.samdumitriu.com/p/what-burnh...
What Burnham should keep
Four pro-growth reforms that should outlive Starmer and Reeves
samdumitriu.com
I was one of the economists who signed this statement on "AI’s Transformation of the Economy” - whatever your view about AI, we should try to understand the economic impacts and figure out how to make sure it benefits society. wemustactnow.ai
We Must Act Now
wemustactnow.ai
“Verify your age” Went to see the Rolling Stones in their mid-life because I thought it would be their last gig
Yesterday the Telegraph reported on my comments about air conditioning. The comment section is quite something. I have apparently become a hero of the anti net zero crowd by saying something what I think is sensible about air con. Allow me to point out three ironies in this 🧵
It will surprise no one who knows me that I got PROPERLY chased by dogs this morning. Plus. Pogačar and Jonas. open.substack.com/pub/nedboult...
It has been criminally underreported but Kelsey Pfendler has just rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean from the US coast to Hawaii in record time. A 2,400-mile unsupported journey in 43 days, 17 hours, and 55 minutes. Notably beating the Men’s record by 9 whole days.
When Nottingham, Exeter, and Glasgow are making cuts, the entire sector is dying. Well done to successive governments for killing one of the few sectors that combines local economies and global influence.
Karen Gregory@karengregory.bsky.social · last mo.UK government visa changes are “driving universities towards a cliff edge”. www.scotsman.com/education/so...
As cycling’s biggest race prepares to return — twice — to Alpe d’Huez, Simon Usborne joins a new trip that pays sweaty homage to its 21 celebrated hairpins. Read the full story here: ft.trib.al/zv4fZnP
Just returning home from wife’s birthday cocktails and tube and trains are full of joyful young people presumably from the Harry Styles gig No aggro or danger. All good natured kids living their best life. London is so amazing. Even when it’s hotter than hell.
Hmmm
Ed Zitron@edzitron.com · last mo.SoftBank’s investor presentation is one of the greatest things ever made. I’ve been thinking about it all day. These are the real slides shown in a speech where Masayoshi Son said he wouldn’t retire for at least another decade. The goose stuff is truly demented. Bravo group.softbank/media/Projec...
#ABSWawards 🏆And the winner of the Opinion Piece or Editorial of the Year is... @natashaloder.bsky.social @economist.com "RFK’s loopy approach to vaccines endangers Americans" 🔗 zurl.co/TTZcK Judges say: "Important, data-rich and cleverly crafted."
Silver Lake's James Davidson & Dartmouth Tuck's Matt Slaughter propose a 25% payroll tax on equity compensation to raise $100 bb/year to fund tax credits for retraining & wage-loss insurance in anticipation of AI-related disruption to labor market. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
How to Survive the AI Shock
A policy playbook to avert political crisis.
foreignaffairs.com
Musk says not a single person has died due to him axing USAID. Sadly, part of my job involves tracking aid spending. So here’s a thread with just some of the people who lost their lives because of USAID cuts
On the trail of the dotcom queen: how Julie Meyer left a pattern of unpaid bills, missing funds and broken dreams in her wake
On the trail of the dotcom queen: how Julie Meyer left a pattern of unpaid bills, missing funds and broken dreams in her wake
Investigation: The entrepreneur was once the toast of London’s tech scene, a ‘global leader of tomorrow’ who starred on Dragons’ Den and promised untold riches for the startups she championed. But people she worked with in the last decade, from Malta to Switzerland, describe a very different reality
theguardian.com
'The last decade has been an enormous success story for Manchester and it has been in no small part powered by the constellation of research assets, university led capital investment, a growing labour force, and inward investment, that the universities have brought.' 1/2
There is no growth without universities
Andy Burnham PM cannot save the economy unless he tackles university reform. James Coe heads North with some advice
wonkhe.com
My nine year old asked for a Rosetta Stone cake for his birthday
Late Father's Day present? Pre-order my latest book, The Second Half - what they don't tell you about retirement but what you need to know. linktr.ee/TheSecondHal...
"Jeffrey Epstein had apparently bought into a eugenic fantasy, telling scientists and guests that he wanted to re-seed humankind with his own DNA"
A twisted breed
Jeffrey Epstein attempted to gather the best minds of science around him. His interests were rooted in a perverse, eugenic fantasy
newhumanist.org.uk
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Ned Boulting@nedboulting.bsky.social · 2mo agoMorning everyone. Here's a little hymn of praise about the moment before the Tour de France starts. I've knocked out the paywall on this one, and offer it up for free, to everyone. Please spread it far and wide if you enjoy what I have written. open.substack.com/pub/nedboult...
