Katharine Wright
@wrightkatharine.bsky.social
Freelance ethics consultant - global health, research ethics & climate and health. Interests include ethics, human rights, politics and anything to do with saxophones. Accidental dog owner.
Fairly sober testing report from the AI Security Institute: they gave internet access and removed some guardrails from latest AI models and found without them they were capable of potentially harmful activity directed at real people and organisations www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/inciden...
Sometimes it is good to see the big picture and better understand why the world is the mess it is I find Dr Marya's framework very helpful medium.com/@radiorupa/h...
👏🏽👏🏽 www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Moderna begins first human trial of Bundibugyo Ebola vaccine
Moderna on Tuesday said it has begun its first human trial of an experimental vaccine to protect against Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a strain of Ebola that has killed more than 1,650 people so far and cu...
reuters.com
‘Again, the possibility that social care exists to support us to live well seems absent from the discussion, with social care cast as an end in itself, not a vehicle for a better life.’ Spot on.
neilmcrowther@neilmcrowther.bsky.social · yesterdayBut what is social care for? neilcrowther2.substack.com/p/but-what-i...
If anyone is still in doubt as to just how nasty the Raise The Colours campaign had been, see this. I am mighty glad that @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social has succeeded in taking legal action to stop them.
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · yesterdayLeaders of flag-raising group Raise the Colours Oxfordshire placed trackers on highway workers’ cars to find out their home addresses, the High Court has heard. RTC then attempted to intimidate the highway staff into no longer removing flags by repeating their addresses to them.
This made me want to go see The Odyssey. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The right hates The Odyssey because of its ‘wokeness’ – but it missed an even bigger threat to its worldview | Peter Swallow
The new film extols the value of a rules-based world order. That’s far more radical than any casting decision says Labour MP and classicist Peter Swallow
theguardian.com
Exactly this! Surely one of the most important ethical questions in any research is what question you are choosing to ask (and who is doing the choosing), whose perspectives are taken into account and whose interests are thought to matter?
Jo Wolff@jowolff.bsky.social · 4d agoIs science value free? Errr … it starts with a decision about what question is worthwhile to ask. And then another decision about what counts as relevant to confirmation or rebuttal.
Glad someone senior from the sector is pushing back. Labour MPs need to understand the serious real anger from graduates and the people who produce them. And the dangerous financial situation they have allowed to fester, or indeed worsened, in one of Britain’s leading sectors.
Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head says
LSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic student fees freeze, international student limits and rise in employers’ national insurance
ft.com
Reform scores hat trick of losses in Manchester despite the hype, the polling and the noise around Farage. Over to you now, Clacton. Deal the killer blow and vote Count Binface in August. The country could do with the laugh. And without that grifting loser. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
For decades, Tony Fauci was beloved on both sides of the political aisle in Washington. Those days are over. www.statnews.com/2026/07/29/f...
Fauci invokes Fifth Amendment in declining to answer questions before Senate panel
At a highly anticipated Senate hearing, Anthony Fauci evoked his Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions about the Covid-19 pandemic and its origins.
statnews.com
Funny isn’t it? You’d think that if the need for data storage and processing conflicted with the survival of human life, the survival of human life would just about edge the trade-off.
This week in Palestine: - Israelis stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound - Israelis killed more Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank - Hamas elected Khalil al-Hayya as their new political leader Read Zeteo’s weekly roundup as Israel enforces violent crackdowns and apartheid: zeteo.com/p/this-week-...
It is extraordinary how it has become a sort of “settled wisdom” these days that Net Zero is an absurd aim, a sign of mad political correctness, and “has got to go”, when our planet is literally burning to death.
Peter du Toit@peterdutoit.com · 2w agoYou see everything is connected. The marine heatwaves off the coasts of Europe make heatwaves on land more intense, which in turn dries out vegetation, which then creates perfect fire weather conditions. Brought to you by the world's refusal to drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels.
They also have a holiday guide to Cap Ferret (which has just been evacuated because of wildfires). Not the happiest day for the Times editorial team
Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 2w agoWhen 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.
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.
The deadly Bundibugyo epidemic is already the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record, and infection numbers are continuing to rise. Now, the world’s first vaccine candidate designed specifically to protect against Bundibugyo ebolavirus has entered human trials. Here's what you need to know. 🧵
Another massive jump in Ebola cases in DRC (reflecting new cases as well as "data harmonization"). Now 2,905 cases including 1,269 deaths. I find it harder every day to square the size and speed of spread of this outbreak with the lack of attention it is getting. insp.cd/sitrep-n069-...
There is a “national catastrophe” unfolding as universities close modern languages courses and important “cultural assets” across the humanities more broadly are lost “by stealth”. Coverage of Adam Tickell’s remarks at our conference yesterday www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
The only good news at the moment are the clinical trials that have started now (my story below). 🧪 But while the huge number of patients means these trials will likely be able to enroll enough people, they too will struggle with the current situation - particularly the prevention trial.
Rapid spread of Ebola spurs ‘remarkably’ quick drug and vaccine trials
Pioneering studies are underway to address massive outbreak of rare Bundibugyo virus in the Congo
science.org
The recorded death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is about to cross 1,000 cases. In reality there have likely been a lot more deaths already. Many new cases appear to have no link to known cases, suggesting much of the spread is still happening in the dark.
What’s so striking is how Bhattacharya spent the pandemic criticizing CDC & telling people not to trust doctors or public health agencies, but now, as CDC Director, he’s clueless; he has no public health or outbreak control training or experience & never led a huge agency It’s a total shit show
Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH@gavinyamey.bsky.social · 2w ago“13 American citizens with no exposure to Ebola have effectively become Ebola detainees in their own country, sparking panicked calls between responding state health officials, CDC staff & other government agency officials” “Jay Bhattacharya created a crisis trying to appease the White House” 🤯
Remember when NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said there were no banned words and NIH Program Officers were making them up? Here’s the proof he lied: apnews.com/article/cali... I know, Jay Bhattacharya lying is not news. But it’s still really validating to have the admission.
White House admits it used keywords to kill billions worth of California research grants
Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California last year admitted that they used keywords related to diversity, gender, vaccine hesitancy and COV...
apnews.com
I'll go to my grave believing in universal health coverage (UHC) through single public plans funded by national, regional, local, or municipal taxes (eg, Canada, Norway, Sweden, UK) [Yes, you can also get to UHC with regulated private plans, eg, Netherlands, or via nonprofit insurers, eg, Germany]
Roland Gerritsen van der Hoop@rgh1205.bsky.social · 2w agoHealth care insurance thrives on providing as little care as it can get away with while raking in the most amount of money. Study after study has shown government health insurance, while not ideal, is more efficient and less costly. It is also very popular, which is why so many countries have it.
At its best social care helps us to live well in the place we call home when we need some extra support to do so. How it can do so for everyone, everywhere is where the debate about a National Care Service or how to fund adult social care must begin #SocialCareFuture #LiveWell
What is this new capitalistic hellscape the #academicpublishing industry is now enforcing?! To be able to read a paper that authors have paid to be published, and needs a subscription to be read, I have to either consent to trackers or pay for my privacy?! #academicchatter #research #MedSky #IDEpi
Why 'Live Well' is a better focus for social care reform than a 'National Care Service' neilcrowther2.substack.com/p/living-wel...
