Caroline Wood

One of the things I really love about Oxford University is the juxtaposition between the modern and cutting-edge, with the traditional and historic. Today, we welcomed the new Chancellor, Lord William Hague, in a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre that stretches back centuries. A feast of Latin!

Still on an absolute high after a fantastic visit to @CERN last week, hosted by @STFC Big highlight for me was standing at the base of ATLAS. I also learnt how much champagne physicists can drink when they keep making remarkable advances 😆

Since I started working in Research Communications, the amount of kit that a film crew bring to shoots has shrunk dramatically... from a trolley and several heavy bags, to something you could take as hand luggage. So many people now film the whole interview on a mobile phone!

Researchers confirm the existence of an exoplanet in the habitable An international team has confirmed the discovery of a super-Earth orbiting in the habitable zone of a nearby Sun-like star. The planet was originally detected two years ago by Oxford University

I think this is the first time that one of my research stories made it as the cartoon in today's The Times! :D Read the full story here: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-01...

Does anyone else share my view that 'groundbreaking' is one of the most over-used terms in press releases? I am forever being sent releases where no ground was dented, let alone broken, during the research... here's a truly 'groundbreaking science study', according to ChatGPT

This makes me so frustrated.... thank you for raising the alarm

Is there anything that concerned people in the UK can do? (given the hypocrisy of a country that has destroyed most of its forests trying to tell a developing country not to do so...)

Surely there must be some great puns for names you could call a perfume made from a fat berg...

It is so so sad that years of hard thankless work can be undone by a single political decision :(

It has been long known that BMI is far from perfect... having a high bone density or being very muscular can, using a BMI score, make you 'obese'

Amazed that this hasn't been looked at in depth before.... I loved this phrase: 'popped out of the egg with an innate song to sing', what a lovely thought!

This is so sad! Is Peterborough an exception, or do you forsee this trend spreading to other Cathedrals?

Why my resolution for 2025 is literally bananas During 2024, I had an epiphany of sorts. If I was ever going to get around to actually doing the things I kept saying I would do ‘one day’, I really ought to make a start.

A little thought piece on a new commitment for 2025. It's a cliché I know, but it's easy to forget the impacts our consumer habits have until you see the production process yourself. Happy New Year!

www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-my...

This could have huge implications for farming. @adamvaughan.bsky.social curious to know your personal view on the future of the sector?

I remember Tomorrow's World!!! Didn't Carol Vorderman present it once?

Thank you, just what I need! Improving my focus is one of my goals for 2025...if I don't get distracted by something else

As you say, the lack of mention about the very real safety concerns about AI technologies is a huge contrast to the debate at the Bletchley Park Summit...which is very worrying

Really enjoyed being in the audience for BBC Radio 4's 'Any Questions?', broadcast live from Trinity College, Oxford. The panel - Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Lord Finkelstein, Dame Meg Hillier and Greg Swenson - debated the week's topical issues including Elon Musk, climate change, and the UK economy.

I was in the live audience- you were wonderful, a tour de force.

This is really really worrying!

Was this very early in the morning? I somehow missed this entirely despite working 5 minutes walk away!

Beautifully written and so true.

Wonderful column. I must look up Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure! And your point about the shower is fascinating... I wonder if it is because our brain remembers how long we habitually spend there?

This is AMAZING.... I love the point about the bats using different tones...like a stern telling off compared with friendly banter?

Timpson sell wonderful umbrellas too

I am constantly flummoxed by how many press releases I see using the word 'groundbreaking' where no ground is actually broken, i.e. 'this groundbreaking new study.' Can we please start a thread to put forward potential alternatives?

How about:

* Bottle-smashing?
* Boot-cleaning?
* Chin-wagging?

Thanks for including my story on Neptune being the wrong colour!

Thank you for sharing these stories that give hope. Even when it looks as though politicians will never do anything, we can all still roll up our sleeves and do something practical ourselves

Hooray - moss never gets the attention it deserves :)

Behind the scenes at Oxfordshire's dinosaur highway Come behind the scenes at the longest dinosaur trackway in the UK, where a new set of footprints has been discovered!

An unexpected perk of being a Research Communications Manager was getting to be a palaeontologist for the day! Helping uncover prints from the fearsome predator Megalosaurus and an enormous sauropod was an incredible experience. What a story to start 2025! oxford.shorthandstories.com/behind-the-s...