This is such a tragic story from @retractionwatch.com www.science.org/content/arti... So many things seem to have gone wrong with this process; it highlights why we need rigorous ethics oversight and research integrity practices in medical research. So sad for this family and their little girl.

Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public

Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals

science.org

Good to see science and universities bundled into the same analysis rather than treated as separate entities (as they are by their dismemberment in separate government departments). But it would be QUITE NICE if 'science' could be construed in the European sense of science. It's not STEM alone.

Time for Andy Burnham to smile on UK science

Waning support for basic research threatens Britain’s technology ambitions

ft.com

Artists, writers and scientists urge UK government to save Jodrell Bank Observatory www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Artists, writers and scientists urge UK government to save Jodrell Bank Observatory

New Order and Simon Armitage among more than 100 signatories to criticise ‘foolish and shortsighted’ cuts

theguardian.com

Good to sre people expressing their frustration & disbelief at the #UKRI plans to close #JodrellBank Don’t let Jodrell Bank Observatory become another industrial museum | Letters www.theguardian.com/science/2026... Cuts are affecting many other research platforms, too, threatening UK science

Don’t let Jodrell Bank Observatory become another industrial museum | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to reports that the world-famous big dish is facing closure due to spending cuts by UK Research and Innovation

theguardian.com

This article describes research showing that documents brought into Microsoft CoPilot can contain malicious instructions which affect outputs in ways the user didn't intend and may not even realise www.theregister.com/security/202... Seems a major flaw given it simply follows how #GenAI works

Word worm crawls into Copilot, spreads chaos

Researcher says months of coordination with Microsoft have yet to produce a robust mitigation

theregister.com

What is Jodrell Bank Observatory and what does it do? 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What is Jodrell Bank and what does it do?

When Jodrell Bank Observatory was built, the site was seen as gamechanger for radio astronomy.

bbc.co.uk

this summer's cultural cross over we've all been waiting for jimothy x bayeux

Peter's Law of Chatbot Accuracy*: "everything you read that's produced by an LLM is absolutely true, except for the rare output about which you happen have expert knowledge". *Remixed from Knoll's Law of Media Accuracy, where the exact same rules apply!

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · last wk.

AI is a normal tech. That means there are times when it is useful and times when it is pointless or actively harmful. One rule of thumb for chatbots is that they can only provide useful information to experts who have the discernment to ignore the defective output that LLMs *always* emit. 60/

Earlier this year UKRI launched a funding call to invest £40M in ONE AI lab. www.ukri.org/opportunity/... For some unknown reason they decided to fund TWO AI labs at the cost of £60M. An extra £20M. Just found. That's the equivalent of 7 more years of Jodrell Bank. www.ukri.org/news/ukri-la...

UKRI launches two AI research labs to stay ahead in global race

Two new labs will back British researchers to develop next generation artificial intelligence (AI) systems, helping secure the UK’s position as a global leader.

ukri.org

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · last wk.

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...

Absolutely devastated to hear that the SFTC cuts mean that funding for astronomical research at Jodrell Bank has been stopped. The changes to UKRI funding and especially SFTC are really harming UK science

Jodrell Bank Observatory facing closure after major funder cuts support

Scientists say decision is blow to UK astronomy as deep space observatory is home to world-leading facilities

theguardian.com

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...

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

The iconic Jodrell Bank installation and telescope may be at risk due to possible funding changes | Gary Gilligan

Is Jodrell Bank under threat?

The iconic Jodrell Bank installation and telescope may be at risk due to possible funding changes

northwestbylines.co.uk

"It's not just because of the fantastic science that we do, but Jodrell Bank and its telescope network [have been] a national capability for nearly 70 years and a beacon for science in the north-west [of England], attracting young people into science and engineering careers" - Prof Simon Garrington

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · last wk.

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...

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.” 🔭🧪

‘Student Geng’ ignites research-integrity scandal in China after calling out senior academics www.nature.com/articles/d41... #ResearchIntegrity #Sleuthing #Misconduct #DataFabrication

‘Student Geng’ ignites research-integrity scandal in China after calling out senior academics

Video blogger’s viral accusations of data manipulation in Nature journals have sparked intense debate and speedy institutional investigations.

nature.com

Admirable clarity @science.org

David Roberts@volts.wtf · 2w ago

Whew, the editors of @science.org are getting real.

Today’s @xkcd.com currently making the rounds on the Dragonfly team 😂 xkcd.com/3275

Today I'm posting a blog about another ridiculous antibody blunder. Dozens of papers in the senescence and ageing field have mistakenly used an antibody for E. coli β-galactosidase when trying to stain for the human protein with the same name. forbetterscience.com/2026/07/21/d...

People need to grapple with the fact we're in an epistemic crisis that's starting to corrode countless elements of human knowledge.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2w ago

Al-altered images on birdwatching forums putting research at risk

"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras

Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.

New paper! Values such as openness, transparency, collaboration, clarity about conflict of interests have been promoted by women for *decades*, and now we have reframed this around the branding of 'open science' that we start to take them seriously. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Women as the First Open Scientists: Five Stories of the Neglected Contributions of Women in (Social) Science Reform History - Madeleine Pownall, 2026

Recent years have seen growing emphasis on “Open Science,” a movement to enhance research transparency, robustness, and accountability. Prompted by concerns ove...

journals.sagepub.com

As a robotics researcher, learning scientist, and author who has followed Realbotix for years, I'm compelled to do a Bluesky thread on this whole pivot that Realbotix is now trying, turning from humanoid sex robots to classroom "education" robots. Buckle up. nysfocus.com/2026/07/14/n... 🧵

Rural NY School To Launch Humanoid Robot Teacher

Plans to deploy a "lifelike" robot and avatar teaching assistant at Salamanca High School have sparked debate over the role of technology in schools.

nysfocus.com

Best “remove glasses to look at something unbelievable” in cinema history.

Jurassic Park: Dr. Grant's Surprise

Alt: Jurassic Park: Dr. Grant's Surprise

static.klipy.com

FTFY

Richard Sever@richardsever.bsky.social · 4w ago

Better with Kane surely…

A bin, two foxes and a mystic: the candidates fighting Clacton www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Andrew Sinclair (East of England political editor) and Ben Schofield (BBC East political correspondent) currently living their best lives with this list of Clacton-on-Sea byelection candidates

A bin, two foxes and a mystic: the candidates fighting Clacton

The full list of candidates who have declared they intend to fight the Clacton by-election.

bbc.co.uk

A heatwave cartoon for @newscientist.com

Lessons in the importance of transparency & trust in this piece on the Folarin Balogun decision in the #WorldCup People "celebrate triumphs because they broadly trust the competition. They accept disappointment because they trust the rules" - #ResearchIntegrity & #Researchfunding parallels, anyone?

World Cup’s credibility in question after Fifa volte face following call from Donald Trump

The decision to change the rules because of pressure from the White House will destroy all trust in football’s governing body.

theconversation.com