Pete Scarborough

Excited to share that our research group is advertising 2 DPhil projects for 2026 entry. We’d love to hear from prospective applicants!

shorturl.at/I6SrW *FUNDED*

shorturl.at/lh4tB *Successful apps eligible for uni funding*

@hannahforde.bsky.social @ashakaur.bsky.social @petescarbs.bsky.social

A laptop resting on a piano in a train station. The piano is a brown wood, the laptop is grey and boring and has a picture of Totoro on the save screen. The floor is checkered, grey and white

Cancelled train into London. The next one is half an hour away and will be totally rammed, so I'm getting some work done resting on a fucking piano

GoldenEye from Trevelyan's viewpoint. His rise to hero Liensk Cossack avenger, then fall to petty criminal. Final scene: hanging upside down we see Bond with the Cuban sun directly behind his head, projecting a halo. "For England James?" "No for me" booms the response as our hero falls from God

The Living Daylights but shot from Kara Milovy's viewpoint. Directed by Hitchcock with Doris Day as Kara, Cary Grant as Bond and James Mason as Koskov

Get out, ya labourer!

They laughed because they know they're untouchable not because what I said was wrong - Sinead O'Connor

Solidarity with all trans and intersex people having their existence debated every time a tv host hasn't done their prep and can't think of any more questions

Gaze at this 30-gon with diagonals in awe. I want to fall into it

I'd like to put 98% of my stuff into a black hole. Can AI do that for me?

I seem to spend my life turning them off and on again...

a large white house with columns and a tree in front of it ALT: a large white house with columns and a tree in front of it

Today I've been thrown out of the network drives more often than Jazzy Jeff was thrown out of the Banks residence

I got us to the beach. I just struggled to find my way back!

First paper published from our COPPER project! We went to Glasgow and Bridlington (my home town!) to find out what the public supports with regard to taxes and subsidies in the food system. Great work led by the excellent @hannahforde.bsky.social

Of course, when I say "the idea" I really mean "the justification". We all know what the real idea is.

This is a truly insane law. The idea is to protect consumers from mistaking the true nature of products. Of course, we have plenty of evidence of how much of problem this is because A&E is full of people who accidentally made trifle out of face cream.

(Sorry. I am annoyed by The Guardian's war on ultraprocessed foods, not because an ultraprocessed diet is in your best interests (it isn't. Eat vegetables!), but because the Guardian is making spurious arguments as to why.

The main dietary driver of environmental impact is animal products!)

Some UPFs (like plant-based meat and dairy alternatives) clearly have a lower environmental impact than the food that they are designed to replace. Some UPFs (like shop-bought cakes) are produced at an industrial level which could be far more efficient than producing equivalent in home kitchens.

Some UPFs (like M&Ms or Coca-Cola) don't need to be replaced with anything - in that case, seems reasonable to account for all their environmental impact and say it is all just a waste. But be careful - if we do that, then what about coffee, wine, tea, etc.

"As UPFs ... now comprise 70% of food sold in grocery stores, and more than half of calories consumed experts say that understanding their environmental toll is critical."

If that's true then we also need to know the environmental toll of the food they are replacing to make a balanced assessment.

The hidden cost of ultra-processed foods on the environment: ‘The whole industry should pay’ Industrially made foods involve several ingredients and processes to put together, making it difficult to examine their true cost

The relationship between UPFs and the environment is miles more complicated than this. UPFs are a hugely diverse category, but this article pretends they are all like M&Ms. What about plant-based meat and dairy alternatives?

It seems I can't even spell Michaelmas.

The truth about protein and why you're probably eating enough already The authors of a new book about how food both nourishes and harms us break down how much protein we really need in our diets — and debunk the myths we’ve been sold by social media

Today, the Standard published an excerpt of my book “Food Intelligence” with @juliabelluz.bsky.social from our chapter on protein. www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/ho...

Great line up for this term's seminar series! Really interesting subjects from food experience in asylum hotels to the UK Government's new food strategy. Speakers, details and sign up sheets below. Please join us.

(As an aside, I've been in Oxford 20+ years now and still not used to 'Michalemas')

A park. There is green grass and a tree in the foreground, and more in the background. There is also a lamp post in the foreground and in the bottom left corner There is a short wall surrounding the park. In the centre of the picture is a large statue of a bottle containing purple liquid with a red label. It is surrounded by fruit

Who knew that Manchester has a park called Vimto Park with a statue of a huge bottle of Vimto?

This is grim & dangerous over reach.

This is a government that have lost the moral argument & are still selling arms to Israel. Now further cracking down on dissent.

Absolutely the opposite of what they should be doing - so of course this is what the Labour Government choose.

'The calculus of calories: food environments and body weight regulation' with Dr Kevin Hall YouTube video by Oxford Martin School

Here's @kevinh-phd.bsky.social on leaving NIH due to pressure for scientific conformity to "preconceived narratives" of the current administration (i.e. RFK Jr). About 4 mins. Shocking account of state of academic freedom in the US.

@oxmartinschool.bsky.social @oxfutureoffood.bsky.social

Hmm... I'm not sure about this. When I do a talk about 90% of the time I'm asked if I'm a vegan. It's a trap - if I am then "you would say that, it's all vegan propaganda" and if I'm not then I'm a hypocrite. I don't think the public necessarily trusts climate science more if the scientist is "pure"

Federal officer blasts chemical spray into vocal but nonviolent Portland protester, video shows

The interaction illustrates how federal law enforcement officers do use aggressive tactics against protesters who yell and needle officers but don’t appear to present clear physical threats.

Kick off between Oxford City and Curzon Ashton. A green football pitch. On the left is Oxford city in blue socks, blue shorts and white and blue shirts. On the right is Curzon Ashton in white socks, white shorts and blue and white shirts

#NonLeagueFootball where Oxford City's white and blue kit is easily distinguishable from Curzon Ashton's blue and white kit

I see we've gone back to media commentators openly calling all protests against the Gaza war inherently anti-semetic. Like a flashback to the Suella Braverman days