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

On today - Yorkshire Day - Goth City Promotions are proud to announce the creation of Yorkshire Gothic Forward, a new regional development agency for the Gothic in Yorkshire. Statement: www.yorkshiregothicforward.co.uk

Everyone's comparing Nolan's Odyssey to Homer, but I think there's much more richness The ancient Greeks adapted the Odyssey into ART While these images might appear static to us, I want to walk through how an ancient Greek saw art: AS DYNAMIC STORYTELLING like our films 1/13

I compiled the original latin text and 3 translations in Spanish, English and French of the "Res Gestae Divi Augusti", a sort of Autobiography of Augustus, first Roman emperor www.academia.edu/171058497/RE...

RES GESTAE DIVI AVGVSTI 4 languages.

Res Gestae Divi Augusti (the acts of the divine AUgustus) are the official autobiography of Augustus, the man who created the Roman Empire during his long reign from 31 BCE to 14 CE. The text tells us...

academia.edu

Ya know, “we didn’t actually shred any books. We were just putting out feelers to see if anyone would pay us to do it” is not the defense they think it is

404 Media@404media.co · 6d ago

Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."

I’m not a Burnhamite and the honeymoon won’t last - but I do think how much more competent he is has made hardcore Starmerites look pretty silly. Like holding on to a chef who keeps setting the kitchen on fire and blaming others, after getting in a competent person those who opposed look even worse.

The thing is, the people who need fighting for always have less money than the people who dont want them to be fought for. And charities rely on donations from the latter. Billionaires are a cancer on society.

The tax retention news is so big it has overshadowed some of chunky stuff in the press release that complements it and fills out the devolution strategy pursued by the new PM. Some initial reactions by me and some @centreforcities.bsky.social thinking below to get you started 👇

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 6d ago

This is a great move:

A story that doesn't yet seem to have hit the English-speaking media: Belgian power-lifter Sonita Muluh lost out on a world championship title because of a mis-step by one of her spotters. He then bragged that "I'm racist and I did it on purpose". rmcsport.bfmtv.com/societe/je-s...

"Je suis raciste et je l’ai fait exprès": incroyable histoire de sabotage au championnats du monde de powerlifting

Promise au titre dans la catégorie féminine des super-lourds (+84 kg) des Championnats du monde de powerlifting, en juin dernier, Sonita Muluh a été victime d'un sabotage de la part d'un de ses propre...

rmcsport.bfmtv.com

Jeanne Gibson, known worldwide as Rosie the Riveter, passed away on 29th July 2026 at the remarkable age of 100. Thank you Jeanne for giving women a symbol of strength when we were told we had none. 💋💪🏻💘

Every overseas student benefits the UK - They pay money to the university - They spend money in the local economy - They return home with good feelings about the UK (soft power) - They help subsidise local students - They make the learning environment better It's a real 'win-win'

Legal Bluesky, advice? A friend was the victim of a transphobic attack today (physical and verbal), including vile slurs. The police demanded they disclose whether they are trans in order to progress the case. Surely this is wrong - it's a hate crime even if they were only perceived as trans?

The point isn't to produce essays, it's to teach students how to think for fuck's sake. The minute you automate that, it's over. You might as well close the course. Which they're also doing. This is an attack on learning, and everyone is just shrugging.

Despite the whining about “ historical accuracy,” the racist backlash to the casting in Nolan’s Odyssey is about the right wanting to justify racial hierarchy by projecting it into a past where it did not actually exist. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Oceanus 🪸🌊🏺

🚩 My 2010 PhD thesis is ‘70% AI’ I ran my 2010 PhD thesis through an AI detector. It flagged 70% as AI, then tried to sell me a ‘humanise’ fix. Either I am a time traveller, or these tools do not work. Link to my thesis in the comments to try yourself. #AIDetection #HigherEd 🧪 #AI

The death of third spaces is really giving people brain rot. Children should have access to public spaces because this is how they learn to behave. Community cohesion depends on one’s willingness to help out with childcare. It is weird to me not to see children existing in public like public transit

Matthew Noe@noethematt.bsky.social · 2w ago

"This might be unpopular but I'd like to discriminate against an entire class of people" If this is you, I hope the next 500 books you try to read are a disappointment.

There's a reason Elon Musk rarely does interviews with real news outlets.

Elon Musk Melts Down Over Perfectly Normal Questions in Wild New Interview

"Maybe some people do loathe me. And that's probably true. I don't care," said Musk.

gizmodo.com

Another day, another prestige-paper op-ed worried about hypothetical “AI” drones (whatever that means) that fails to really mention or meaningfully engage with how 100% human drone pilots are using small cheap drones to target civilians *right now*:

Opinion | A.I. Drones Are Coming. We Are Not Ready.

World leaders are marching us toward an uncertain era of new warfare — fast.

nytimes.com

Elaine in this article "can't remember the last time she used her oven" but also spends £200 a month on petrol (so driving probably ~50 miles a day?) (she's also a professional old person; she was on Good Morning Britain last year, and then also at the Nov budget, and the year before lmao)

'I can't afford to turn the oven on': 7.4m households struggling to buy essentials

As Andy Burnham promises “breathing space” for households, millions are unable to buy items such as clothing, heating and food.

bbc.co.uk

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area

These visualisations from exclusive polling modelling show how the UK parliament could change under different voting systems

theguardian.com

The Dutch equivalent of Cass, (except it’s a proper scientific review not pseudoscientific drivel like Cass) has wholeheartedly endorsed puberty-blockers and full gender affirming care for young trans people.

Landmark Official Dutch Review Recommends Trans Youth Care, Call For Expanding Treatment

The review finds that wait times must be shortened, that few people detransition, and that trans youth care has enormous benefits.

erininthemorning.com

As Ed Miliband leaves his post as energy and net-zero secretary, a final tally: There have been an incredible 251 newspaper editorials attacking him and his approach to net-zero since the start of 2024 That amounts to two editorials a week, mainly in the Sun, Daily Mail, Times and Daily Telegraph.

If a single high-velocity post on X routinely pulls 12.8 million views, it instantly outperforms the total average active reach of an entire national 24-hour news broadcaster.

Worth adding some numbers to this. The British press decided to make trans rights into an issue. It just wasn’t an issue before. This was a top-down decision. shado-mag.com/articles/opi...

Damon Young@damonyoung.com.au · 2w ago

Every now and then, it’s worth saying what ought to be obvious: trans people have always existed, and will exist as long as humans do. They’ve not done anything wrong by wanting their existence recognised, supported, and celebrated. The transformation of their existence into “an issue” is evil.

Well, I highly recommend watching this 1968 BBC documentary about an excavation at Silbury Hill before watching the 1971 Doctor Who story, The Daemons. The correlation with the barrow excavation in the first couple of episodes of the story is really very close. www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/h...

Chronicle - Silbury Dig: The Heart of the Mound

In this programme, originally broadcast live, Magnus Magnusson meets the archaeologists who have uncovered a tunnel that leads into the heart of the mound in Silbury.

bbc.co.uk

I built a free tool that coaches you through checking a claim with only as much effort as it actually needs. matthewfacciani.substack.com/p/i-built-a-...

I Built a Tool That Coaches You Through Fact-Checking

The Lateral Reading Companion walks you through checking whether something is true, the way professional fact-checkers actually do it.

matthewfacciani.substack.com

"A total of 34 [thirty-four!] candidates are standing in the by-election, which is believed to be a record for a parliamentary election. The previous record is understood to have been 26 candidates, set at the Haltemprice and Howden by-election in July 2008."

Record number of candidates confirmed as Clacton voters prepare to choose next MP

The candidates who will contest the Clacton constituency by-election have now been confirmed.

tendringdc.gov.uk

Church in Wales says trans rights. I did not see this coming, brought me to tears & I'm not even a christian

Anupama Ranawana@msamrc.bsky.social · 3w ago

Incredible statement from the Church in Wales on the ignominious Code of Practice: "The Church in Wales will not use equality law exemptions to exclude trans people from our worship, our sacraments, our pastoral care, or our common life." www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-...