FOR ONE DAY ONLY: A History of the World in 47 Borders is 99p on Kindle and thus, also, elsewhere. Is this a good thing? Shouldn't two years of my life cost more than that? Who can say! Get it while it's cheap! www.amazon.co.uk/History-Worl...

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

Penicillin was not, in fact, the first antibiotic.

Today’s sunlight was made at the height of the last ice age. That's because sunlight takes such a tortuous zig-zag path from the core to the surface of the Sun. If it could travel in straight line it would take only 2 seconds. AVAILABLE ON KINDLE FOR 99p IN AUGUST www.amazon.co.uk/One-Thing-Yo...

And it doesn’t stop… Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £67m loans from unnamed sources observer.co.uk/news/politic...

Reform given six-figure donation by firm that received £6...

Nigel Farage’s party is facing questions about the lack of transparency over £100,000 in funds donated by a management consultancy

observer.co.uk

One thing that really struck me reading about the 1918 flu pandemic which killed at least 25 million, and up to 100 million, was how it was scarcely mentioned afterwards ianhopkinson.org.uk/2022/05/book...

🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12

As a Brit can I apologise for what has become of the BBC

From the days when we had real entertainment (and fish and chips).

Brian Groom@groomb.bsky.social · 6d ago

Bradford-born Harry Corbett, creator of Sooty, played piano in the Guiseley fish and chip restaurant owned by his uncle Harry Ramsden.

🧪any knowledge on this out there?

Matthew Cobb@matthewcobb.bsky.social · last wk.

It's my thesis that the Habsburg/Hapsburg lip/jaw was noticed as a family trait only in the mid-C19 (so sez ngram viewer), but I can't find any decent historiography of the issue, despite it being so notorious. There's loads of medical speculation, but that's not what I'm after. Any ideas? Pls RT

🤣

MꙬse Allain@mooseallain.bsky.social · last wk.

Back in March, I had a lovely walk around Brompton Cemetery with @levparikian.bsky.social, looking and listening for birds with the help of the Merlin app. I wrote it all up for @katebevan.com and the FoBC Magazine. fieldworkpodcast.substack.com/p/why-brompt... Enjoy and share!

Why Brompton cemetery is a twitcher’s delight

Suw joins author and orchestra conductor Lev Parikian to find out more about the birds who make their homes in the cemetery

fieldworkpodcast.substack.com

New: Over 1,000 people seeking sanctuary convicted of illegal arrival in the UK — by Victoria Taylor

Over 1,000 people seeking sanctuary convicted of illegal arrival in the UK - Free Movement

Since June 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has prosecuted over a thousand people seeking asylum in the UK for the offence of ‘illegal arrival’,

freemovement.org.uk

davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/truly-hurt... "It seems unlikely that a straight line can be traced between particular forms of language[..]and political murder. But even so the inflation of rhetoric[..]seems likely to take us to a worse place rather than a better one" |@davidsonofaaron.bsky.social

Truly hurty words

The murder of Ann Widdecombe and the question of incitement

davidaaronovitch.substack.com

Lots of sensible and interesting responses to this question: 🧪

Denis Mongin@denismongin.bsky.social · 2w ago

Dear #episky fellows I am working on death excess during the 2003 heat wave in France. I redid come calculations, and found this impressive difference between men and women: about 1/3 of death excess are men, 2/3 are women (consistent with published results) What could be the cause ? #canicule

Yep. This is *exactly* what I've been waiting for!

Alex Andreou's Podyssey@alexpodyssey.bsky.social · 2w ago

🆕 ODD-POD: 🐴 A Deep Dive into Chris Nolan's Odyssey 🏛️ The one you've been waiting for. Every shot. Every choice. Every moment. Every controversy. What was in. What wasn't. All the experts. A review almost as long as the film. 🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a... 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4WtT...

1) Enjoying Chris Packham's Evolution Ep 2: "Ostrich", but, irritatingly, he just conflated 2 different things: As he explained, there were, for a long time, only simple cells (prokaryotes) living on earth. There were 2 basic types: bacteria and archea. One day, 1 of the bacteria ended up inside ..

I wish I felt the future was in our hands Instead of the hands of a tiny number of evil billionaires

Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf@rahmstorf.bsky.social · 2w ago

Holiday in the climate emergency. No that’s not AI or edited, just a snapshot I just took with my phone on Lacanau beach in France. What future will this boy grow up in? It is in our hands, but time is running out.

When the story of why humanity didn't stop climate change is written, it will feature front pages like this. Even as the skies blacken with climate change-induced wildfires, right wing media continue their relentless crusade against measures to tackle it.

We can and must prepare #NomadCentury

Mark Hennessy@markhennessy.bsky.social · 2w ago

www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...

www.theguardian.com/science/2026... 🧪

Milky Way flipped in collision with dwarf galaxy 10bn years ago, astronomers say

Durham University researchers find cataclysmic direct hit with Gaia Sausage sent Milky Way into its current position

theguardian.com

I'm going to use this in my "Logical Fallacies" lesson.

The Volatile Mermaid@ohnoshetwitnt.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’m sorry what

open.spotify.com/track/11VwZw...

Pale Blue Eyes

The Velvet Underground · The Velvet Underground (45th Anniversary) · Song · 1969

open.spotify.com

Sea Song by Robert Wyatt

Becky Tyler@beckytylerart.bsky.social · 2w ago

What song did the Sirens sing in The Odyssey? Wrong answers only.

A lot of the homeless people I help are homeless because of Government policies.

It's crazy to cut the price of energy. Burnham should find a way to direct more money to ppl who can't afford energy, but should keep or even increase energy prices.

Maybe last night's game sucked all the goals out of the space-time continuum? (I'm watching a world cup final for the first time since 1966, but I don't think we're even in this one.)

July 18, 1926: The Zeiss-Planetarium, the model for all future planetariums with a geodesic dome that simulates the night sky from inside, opens in Jena, Germany. The innovative structure was designed by Walther Bauersfeld, with the projecting technology from lens maker Zeiss.