The always interesting @bioengineergm.bsky.social on how our use of the word technology frames it as an elemental force and elides notions of agency and moral responsibility.

Jack Stilgoe@jackstilgoe.bsky.social · last yr.

on.ft.com/45cJxz9 It’s time to retire the word ‘technology’

"Engineering has the power and potential to transform the world for the better, and tonight’s awards will honour those who make it possible" 🏆 Congratulations to all our winners, and huge thanks to everyone who attended yesterday. Find out more about our winners: raeng.org.uk/programmes-a...

Some people say the biggest gap in research funding is at mid career level. So here is our new call for our mid career fellowship programme which provides buyout for 6 to 12 months to devote to the completion of a major piece of research. Spread the word! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/mid-...

Mid-Career Fellowships

The Mid-Career Fellowships are designed both to support outstanding individual researchers with excellent research proposals, and to promote public understanding and engagement with humanities and soc...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Are you ready to lead one of the UK’s most influential organisations at a time of global change? We are seeking a visionary, values-led Chief Executive Officer to drive the delivery of our bold Strategy 2030: Engineering Better Lives. Apply by 20 July 2025: www.russellreynolds.com/en/executive...

The real AI arms race is between one another 🥰 nymag.com/intelligence...

We're happy to announce @markmiodownik.bsky.social as our new Professor for Public Engagement in Science! His mission will be to transform our understanding of how we make, use, reuse & recycle products, & explore how we can live more sustainably. Watch this space! royalsociety.org/news/2025/06...

Living sustainably to be theme for new Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science, Mark Miodownik | Royal Society

Material scientist, engineer, broadcaster and award-winning author, Professor Miodownik will use his expertise to explore how we can live more sustainably, both as individuals and as a society.

royalsociety.org

Always exciting when research from the lab is disseminated for the public! @theguardian.com have reported on @swallacelab.bsky.social paper turning plastic into paracetamol using engineered bacteria tinyurl.com/32hxnwsd (original publication rdcu.be/esYfF)

Scientists use bacteria to turn plastic waste into paracetamol

Genetically modified E coli used to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottles

theguardian.com

🔁Horizon Europe looks set to continue beyond 2027 — in name as well as scope. At a Brussels event, EU research commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said #FP10 will retain the #HorizonEurope brand. @ec.europa.eu‬ hasn’t confirmed this officially, but multiple attendees backed the comment.

Horizon Europe forever: EU research programme brand set to roll over in 2028

The next Framework Programme for research and innovation, informally known as FP10, looks set to keep the name Horizon Europe, according to comments by research commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva after…

buff.ly

Such a clever idea. You could imagine its application to all sorts of wicked problems…

Matt Clancy@mattsclancy.bsky.social · last yr.

What’s the return on government support for R&D? To try to get a credible answer, Open Philanthropy and the Sloan Foundation are committing up to $1 million to trying something new: we call it a Pop-Up Journal.

I very much welcome the announcement of the Local Innovation Partnerships fund, with ~ £30m funding for industry facing, translational research in each of 7 English city-regions, + places in Wales, Scotland & NI, allocated towards locally determined priorities. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Transformative £86 billion boost to science and tech to turbocharge economy, with regions backed to take cutting-edge research into own hands

Funding package worth more than £22.5 billion a year in 2029 will boost Britain's world-leading status in research and innovation.

gov.uk

"In a geopolitically uncertain world and after more than a decade of low productivity growth, the UK needs to rethink its economic strategy." Today, we're publishing a collection of expert policy insights ahead of the multi-year Spending Review conclusion: buff.ly/DAlcNo5

Summer 1974 and the ferry from Burtonport Co. Donegal to Bran Island has made room for a “precariously perched car”. According to photographer Frank Bodson, the whole caboodle “excited no interest” among those on-board. (Observer magazine, 1/9/74.)

I’ve been baffled by Ridley Scott’s Napoleon ever since I watched it, but have just realised that if you think of it not as a historical epic, but as a reimagining of Raging Bull then it all makes perfect sense

UK must toughen regulation of facial recognition, says @adalovelaceinst.bsky.social on.ft.com/43lnQNL

UK must toughen regulation of facial recognition, say AI experts

Campaigners call on Keir Starmer’s government to create clear laws to tackle growing use of the technology

on.ft.com

I started reading the 120 page Claude 4 System Card and found myself unable to put it down. If you're in the mood for some excellent science fiction (or you miss Person of Interest on CBS) I cannot recommend it enough. I made detailed notes on my highlights here […]

Potentially great impact on hospital safety from an @raeng.org.uk Industrial Fellowship grant

@DrJoePajak CSci CChem FRSC@drjoepajak.bsky.social · last yr.

'Scientists have created a novel antimicrobial coating that, when mixed with paint, can be applied to a range of surfaces to destroy bacteria and viruses – including particularly persistent strains like MRSA, flu virus and SARS-CoV-2.' @physicsworld.bsky.social physicsworld.com/a/bacteria-k...

The Department of Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London is looking to support applicants for the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Fellowship. For people <4 years post PhD at the deadline (17th September). #ChemSky See www.seresearch.qmul.ac.uk/ccr/news/496...

Expression of Interest for Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Fellowship

The Department of Chemistry at Queen Mary University of London is looking to support applicants for the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Fellowship. These fellowships are for people who are less t...

seresearch.qmul.ac.uk

If you've finished your PhD in the last 4 years and your research could be considered as engineering, you might be interested in the RAEng research fellowship scheme which provides 5 years of funding to work in the UK. raeng.org.uk/research-fel...

Intriguing report of the thinking of the Universities Minister www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05...

Universities have ‘lost sight of responsibility over public money’

Baroness Smith says institutions failing to rein in spending despite demanding financial support from government

telegraph.co.uk

Autonomous locomotion simply with tubes as limbs, and no brain? 🎈🤖 Yes, through physical synchronization! Our article is out today in Science (@science.org) Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Authors: @albertocomoretto.bsky.social, H.A.H. Schomaker, J.T.B. Overvelde More below 🧪 ⚛️ (1/6)

New blogpost: "Training as we know it might end". It was originally a panorama of the new methods of synthetic generation but the stakes are now much higher and I openly wonder if model training is not soon going to change forever. vintagedata.org/blog/posts/t...

Very clear overview of repositioned U.K. government S&T framework by @sciencecampaign.bsky.social

CaSE@sciencecampaign.bsky.social · last yr.

What has changed in the new Science and Technology Framework? DSIT released an updated version of the Science and Technology Framework on the 29th April. Our Policy Officer, Edmund Derby, takes a look at what has changed ⬇️⬇️ www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/analysis-and...

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

Since there's a lot of discussion about #treasuries, bonds, and yields, I'm going to give a quick thread on what they are. ##EconSky

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈@josephpolitano.bsky.social · last yr.

I wanna throw up

The endless back and forth over AGI is getting stale. We need better ways to talk about what people should do when they use large AI models. @alisongopnik.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social @dsquareddigest.bsky.social offer that and more. On Beyond AGI! www.ailog.blog/p/on-beyond-...

On Beyond AGI!

We need new language for talking about large AI models. Alison Gopnik, Henry Farrell, James Evans, Cosma Shalizi, and Dan Davies provide one.

ailog.blog

📢ANALYSIS: UK emissions fell 3.6% in 2024 to lowest since 1872 🏭Coal lowest since 1666, when Great Fire ravaged London 🚗EVs pushed oil down despite more traffic, saving £1.7bn 🌇Gas down on "cleanest ever" power 📈📉Since 1990, CO2 -54% / GDP +84% www.carbonbrief.org/... 1/9

This is an important paper. There is a big debate on small firms and SME policy. One side think new start ups and entrepreneurs are the best thing since sliced bread. And we have more of them. The other side think there are big differences in the quality of start ups and most start ups are....

Paul Nightingale@paulnightingale.bsky.social · last yr.

YES!!!!!!

📢 Important paper: 👇 Startup Types & Macroeconomic Performance in Europe De Haas, Sterk, Van Horen K-means clustering on data from 10 EU countries finds 5 types of firms: Basic (49% of all startups); Large (4%); Capital intensive (7%); Cash-intensive (26%); High-leverage (14%) 🧵

IMPORTANT: Finland is building the world’s largest heat pump to warm homes in Helsinki. It would help decarbonize the city’s district heating system by end of 2026. “Helsinki has set the ambitious goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. Transitioning our heating system is crucial to achieving this.”

Finland is building a giant heat pump to cut CO2 from warming homes

The heat pump will be part of a plant that will warm around 30,000 homes in Finland’s capital city.

euronews.com

This looks like a fantastic programme- putting the May 1st evening with Marina Warner in my calendar already

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · last yr.

Boom! We’ve revealed the next season theme for our events programme over April/May will be Folklore Reimagined. Features lore of the land, history of the witch, and a rare performance by Simon Armitage www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/seasons/folk...