H M Wakeling

Gogol Bordello tonight!
Start wearing purple 😈

This (lunar) new year, as I have now told many friends, I shall learn a new skill each week. Something small, something achievable, but a new skill nonetheless.

Internet, hold me accountable.

"Big ugly windmills"? Have you ever seen an oil field?

Worst case if climate change is a hoax is that we spend time and money to better care for the earth and humanity. If it's not a hoax, we screwed.

I believe the scientific reports that climate change is getting worse.

Dear big fossil fuel companies,
Just a hopeful thought late on a Friday night: just because the Trump administration reversed the EPA endangerment findings, doesn't mean that y'all should emit more CO2. Actually please reduce your environmental impacts.

The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final... book by James E. Lovelock Buy a cheap copy of The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final... book by James E. Lovelock. The global temperature is rising, the ice caps are melting, and levels of pollution across the world have reached ...

Your 'doom quote' for today:

"We do not seem to have the slightest understanding of the seriousness of our plight."

www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-vanish...

You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.

Today we reached 1000 signatures from early-career researchers working in the UK! 📝🎉

UK universities are under threat without fundamental Science: Lower international ranking ➡️ reduced attractiveness ➡️ Less innovation ➡️ less growth 📉

The government must step in
#ukri #stfc

we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

Save our swifts: include swift bricks in every new house I just signed the campaign calling to save our swifts, by calling for the UK Government to follow Scotland's lead and make it the law for all new houses to be built with "swift bricks" - safe places f...

I just signed the campaign calling to save our swifts, by calling for the UK Government to follow Scotland's lead and make it the law for all new houses to be built with "swift bricks" - safe places for these birds to nest. Will you join me? 38d.gs/sb_ps_ot

Velociraptors had feathers

We’ve drafted an open letter from early-career researchers in response to UKRI reprioritisation and the funding crisis in Particle Physics, Astronomy and Nuclear Physics (PPAN).

This risks losing an entire generation of young researchers from UK science. We cannot let that happen.

#STFC #UKRI

The open letter from Early Career Researchers (ECRs) on their/our response to UKRI investment approach now* has 698 signatories!

ecr-openletter-stfc.github.io

*(as of 6th Feb)

Young man sitting in field with plant ID books, recording wild flowers in the sunshine

Can you find, identify & record 100 wild plants in 2026?
BSBI is confident that (with our support) yes, you can!
Beginner botanists, will you accept the challenge?
Sign up today for #100Plants2026 challenge:
bsbi.org/take-part/ac...
Check out the webinars & #WildFlowerID help we've prep'd for you!

A New STFC Funding Crisis The outlook for UK astronomy now looks even more bleak than the dark days of the funding crisis following 2008.

I don't think the letter from STFC is public, but @telescoper.bsky.social has it up here: telescoper.blog/2026/01/29/a...

U.K. physics community braces for deep funding cuts Research council to slash funding for particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy by 30%, prompting alarm across the research community

"STFC has determined its funding for particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy—which falls under “curiosity-driven” science—will need to be reduced to 70% of its 2024–25 budget." www.science.org/content/arti...

U.K. physics community braces for deep funding cuts Research council to slash funding for particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy by 30%, prompting alarm across the research community

@iop.org found in 2019 alone #physics generated 11% of UK GDP. Now #STFC, which overseas much of UK physics public research funding, aims to cut curiosity-driven research by 30%. Robbing the future to pay for the present will never be a successful economic strategy. 🧪
www.science.org/content/arti...

UK science funding is currently facing a profound crisis, particularly for Life Sciences. Medical Research Council and BBSRC have paused researcher-led grant applications until the Spring, with no… | ... UK science funding is currently facing a profound crisis, particularly for Life Sciences. Medical Research Council and BBSRC have paused researcher-led grant applications until the Spring, with no cle...

#UKsciencefundingcrisis MRC,BBSRC,EPSRC paused researcher-led grants until Spring. This means no funds in 2026 as evaluation takes 6-9 months. Projects halted, staff, knowledge loss. We need to challenge this and the lack of info and clarity. #ScienceisVital #academicSky
shorturl.at/ag03S

This is your random reminder to fix your posture.

Oops I hope I no one calls the comma police

But in all seriousness, the ability to step out, take a break, and come back to it with a fresh mind is so freeing (and took me years to learn)

One absolute godsend about my job in academia is that if, after a couple of hours, my focus disintegrates into oblivion, I can go to the gym, feel guilty about not working, and read a paper on an exercise bike.

Screenshot of an X.com post by The Associated Press (@AP) stating that dozens of immigrant families protested for better treatment behind fences at a Texas detention facility, where a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy and his father were sent after being detained in Minnesota. Below is a video thumbnail showing a crowd gathered outdoors along a fenced walkway; many people wear bright blue or red outerwear, and some hold signs.

After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.

Great new conference upcoming at CERN: Sustainability Conference for Responsible Research Computing (SC4RC)!

I'll be there - travelling by train of course!
#GreenSky #SustainableScience #SustainableResearch

Getting up so early for a meeting in another time zone that the alarm says "Good evening!" is definitely a new one for me

Utrecht to start construction on largest car-free neighborhood in the country next week Construction of a new neighborhood is set to begin in Utrecht next week. The neighborhood, called Merwede, is scheduled to be the largest car-free district in the Netherlands, with 6,000 homes. The ar...

In case you missed it, Utrecht, Netherlands has begun building the largest Dutch “car-free” neighbourhood.

12K people
6K homes
1.8K social rental homes
1.5 mid-range rental & affordable owner-occupied homes
21.5K bike parking spaces
250 shared cars
2 parcel hubs
Parking structures on the edge.

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

A year into Trump’s second presidential term, Nature presents a series of graphics that reveal the impact of his administration on science. 🧪

As a cynical but stubbornly optimistic person, this made me consider that these politicians might actually have our interests at heart. Wild.

But those aren't known for their investment in public services... right?

Help us make hope normal again.

Join the Green Party now.