The difference--

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.

"Here we show, in a large post-publication peer review database, that research assessment is driven more by differences between evaluators than by difference in the evaluated research. " arxiv.org/abs/2607.09783

Judges matter more than papers in post-publication research assessment

Research assessment relies on expert evaluations, yet human judgement is noisy, and it is unclear whether differences in assessment arise primarily from differences in genuine research quality or from...

arxiv.org

We need to change norms around sexual harassment Yesterday Tessa West spoke up about a sexual harassment complaint she filed against John Jost. Not only is he a senior colleague in the dept of psychology, but he is one of the most prominant figures in the field of social and political psychology.

Thrilled to announce that I have been elected Fellow of @britishacademy.bsky.social - the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It’s a great honour to join this distinguished community of scholars dedicating their careers to generating knowledge that benefits humanity.

The British Academy@britishacademy.bsky.social · 3w ago

The British Academy has elected 92 new Fellows in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and social sciences. Congratulations to all those elected today. Read the full announcement: https://bit.ly/4f64C4x

I’m sorry, but what is ‘radical’ about the policies pursued by Miliband?

Have you considered simply not breaking the speed limit? www.thetimes.com/life-style/d...

The 20mph trap — I’ve got nine points!

I was a model driver. Now I’m one fine off a ban. By Jack Burke

thetimes.com

‘Polarization’ has become the master concept for diagnosing our current democratic crisis. But this is not polarization. It is the radicalization of the political right. By misdiagnosing it, we risk becoming complicit in the crisis. 🧵 Just out in Perspectives on Politics doi.org/10.1017/S153...

Wait until you hear about how much space cars take up. road.cc/news/malcolm...

Cyclists are "greedy" for taking up more space than pedestrians, claims leading architect who feels "guilty" when riding bike

A leading Edinburgh architect has claimed the city’s active travel policy is prioritising “greedy” cyclists over pedestrians, adding that he feels guilty over the space he gets cycling across the city...

road.cc

‘We urge the Government to prioritise this issue. Should this situation continue unchecked, the damage to the health of higher education, research and innovation will be profound and have long-lasting consequences.’ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

British Academy President: UK higher education crisis risks irreversible damage

As course closures, shrinking provision and widening regional inequalities threaten the future of UK higher education and research, President of the British Academy, Susan J Smith calls for an immedia...

thebritishacademy.ac.uk

The record humid heatwave in the US over the Fourth of July weekend is so extreme it would have been *impossible* without the #climatecrisis, finds @wwattribution.bsky.social www.worldweatherattribution.org/fossil-fuels...

Applications for the Postdoctoral Fellowships are open. This fellowship is a three-year award made to an annual cohort of outstanding early-career researchers in the humanities or social sciences. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4xWduAS

Starmer's government is still on X, the platform that promotes hate and racism.

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · last mo.

Asked about rising racism and hatred in the UK, Keir Starmer says "the very sad thing is I am not able to say that in the 10 years since Jo Cox's death that things have got better because sadly they have got worse. That's on all of us to fix." Well yes, and your government has done what exactly?

Insurance, how does it work?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.

Dr Oz on ACA "fraud" -- "Of the people who signed up, 40% never use the insurance. Let me ask you, John, you have health insurance -- do you use it once a year? In Obamacare right now 40% of the people ostensibly signed up never use the insurance ... we have a lot of fake people on the policies"

A sweltering night in Cardiff has broken another new UK heat record as brutally hot conditions continue across England and Wales - “Europe’s savage heatwave is the latest price to pay for fossil fuel pollution" says UN climate chief #climatecrisis Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Highest June minimum temperature record broken in Cardiff as ‘savage’ heatwave continues

Thermometer 23.5C overnight in Welsh capital as climate crisis makes such extreme temperatures more severe and more likely

theguardian.com

We regret that our event on Extreme Heat: Improving governance and strengthening action around the world has been cancelled due to the red extreme heat warning issued by the UK Met Office. Our apologies to everyone who was planning to attend the event.

Weak weak weak

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Keir Starmer's spokesman tells me there has been "no change" to the Government's policy on using X, despite Elon Musk helping to incite the hateful scenes we saw in Belfast last night. Also no new plans to take action against X for its role in the violence

This video camera study showed that less than 5% of people on bikes broke traffic laws while riding bikes, yet 66% of people did so while driving. And perhaps even more importantly, if you REALLY want even MORE bike-riders to obey laws, build more protected bike infrastructure. Via @carltonreid.com

Cyclists Break Far Fewer Road Rules Than Motorists, Finds New Video Study

Busting the myth of the "scofflaw cyclist" Danish Road Directorate studies reveal that while 66% of motorists routinely break road traffic laws only 5% of cyclists do so. Law breaking by cyclists is h...

forbes.com

We hope you are looking forward to IAPS 2026 Conference as much as we are. Have you booked your accommodation, yet? We offer on-campus accommdation on our Manor Park campus for £54/night! Booking on-campus accommodation is possible until 17 May Book here: store.surrey.ac.uk/conferences-...

IAPS Conference 2026

29 June - Friday 3 July 2026, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom. The theme of IAPS 2026 is Sustainability as Wellbeing: Towards healthy, green, and equitable communities.

stories.surrey.ac.uk

Sneaking a giant screen into the flagshagger march is one of the funniest things @ledbydonkeys.org have ever done. "STAY HYDRATED" 😂🤣😂

I fear Labour people risk falling into an ecological fallacy visible from space when reacting to these results. Here is what is very clear in results so far: Labour are losing *seats* to Reform, but... Labour are losing *votes* to the Greens Greens split the vote, Ref comes thru middle

FWIW, I don’t think the major problem in my field, or related ones, is that people need to move faster & produce more. I read a lot of papers as part of the job, and I’m increasingly convinced we’d benefit from fewer papers and better ones, not more mediocre work produced ever more “efficiently.”

German SPD, Greens, and Linke will stop posting on X. An important step and signal. X and its owner have long become a megaphone for the far right, a venue that is actively used to encourage abuse and violence. It‘s simply shameful how many in politics, media, and academia still actively post there.

🎉 Welcoming the new IAPS Board for 2026–2030! Seven new members have been appointed, representing Spain, Brasil, the UK, Slovenia, and Japan Congratulations to all, and thank you to the Elections Committee for their work! Full announcement 👉 iaps-association.org/blog/%f0%9f%...

📢 Could your institution host the 2028 IAPS Conference? The call is now open! If your research group has the vision and capacity to bring our community together, we want to hear from you. Stage 1 deadline: 20 May 2026 More details here 👉 iaps-association.org/blog/%f0%9f%...

People say that "individual actions" like changing your lightbulbs don't matter, but that right there is a lot of destroyed demand!

David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3mo ago

About 20 years ago, lighting was the single largest use of electricity in American homes. But energy-efficient lightbulbs has shrunk the category to sixth place! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

PhD Studentship alert: Cardiff University has a fully-funded PhD opportunity open for applications on "Flushed pharmaceuticals: understanding behaviours to reduce environmental impact". 📣 Deadline: 28 April 2026 Find out more and apply now: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Neal Hockley@nealhockley.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We're recruiting a fully-funded #PhD using behavioural sci approaches in community conservation in #Madagascar. Open to international students - #Malagasy speakers especially welcome! Led by @wouterpoortinga.bsky.social Based @ Cardiff School of Psychology www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Dutch campaign to ban US import pickup trucks on the roads did an analysis and found you'd have better visibility driving literally a battle tank than eg a ford f150

Another one who thinks the response to a global shortage of something which makes it more expensive is to subsidise people to buy more of it. Truly British politics is blessed with genius.