Brigitte Nerlich

as I said before, look at the OED: "A hamburger (see Hamburger n. 2). Also used as a terminal element, e.g. in beefburger, porkburger, etc., usually denoting a roll, sandwich, etc., containing the foodstuff specified in the first element." - ... foodtuff specified in the first element, i.e. veggie

both @kakape.bsky.social and @laurajsnyder.bsky.social will enjoy that, although Laura is no longer posting here, unfortunately

Science still produced many wonders in 2025 despite being under siege Though there were setbacks on climate change and funding for science this year, there was still plenty of amazing discoveries to marvel at

My end-of-year leader for 2025 is about the need to defend science against the encroaching darkness, not just because it is the best way to make sense of the world, but also because it is an endless source of wonder and whimsy www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

@jamesmcelvenny.bsky.social has just given me a copy of his book on the origins and development of modern linguistics. It's a little gem, referencing all my favourite linguists and more! It's in German doi.org/10.1515/9783... - also available as an ebook!

Ha, we were there a bit too early then, shame.

Interesting stuff on de-extinction and also on computational biology - if you are a comp biologist and want to know how social scientists study you - have a look

The obsession with “star scientists” and “attracting top talent” fundamentally misunderstands research and higher education.

Create a healthy environment that is attractive to all manner of scientists. Because that run of the mill, non-transformative, maybe slightly boring research matters, too.

Where would life be without migration and integration.....

I am glad!

followup: bsky.app/profile/rood...

Telling people to use antibiotics responsibly isn’t enough. What will work instead To make real progress, antimicrobial communication needs to be grounded in people’s lived experiences.

Why does @britishacademy.bsky.social fund work on antimicrobial resistance? Because we need to understand people to have effective ways to change their behaviours
theconversation.com/telling-peop...

really interesting - always good to find the bollocks polluting the intellectual bloodline, so to speak

Compliment!!

I am really looking forward to that!

Theory, Metaphor, Narrative: How Science Creates the Stories it Tells PHILIP BALL | Science is often not a competition between theories but a process of narrative creation in which the paradigm tends to be set by the most persuasive narrative

"...science is often not a competition between theories but a process of narrative creation in which the paradigm tends to be set by the most persuasive narrative—which is often the one that has the most intuitive and compelling metaphors."

@philipcball.bsky.social in Marginalia Review of Books

I had to look that up, but YES

I thought of it when my son was very small and came home from nursery crying because he had been told off for painting a pink snowman - and snowmen were not supposed to be pink

Base editing, biological complexity and the limits of metaphorical explanation Gene editing has been in the news since around 2013. Here I want to focus on one of the most recent advances which made me question my own understanding of gene editing. In 2015 a team of scientist…

As base editing is in the news...https://bloodcancer.org.uk/news/new-study-strengthens-evidence-for-new-car-t-cell-treatment-for-aggressive-blood-cancer/ I wonder whether the old #metaphors for base editing will still be used or not. I wrote this in 2017 makingsciencepublic.com/2017/10/02/b...

one of my favourite passages

Robert Reich Big Tech's AI Power-Grab

Trump just confirmed he'll sign an executive order banning states from regulating AI.

It's a huge victory for Big Tech, which has spent millions lobbying to stop guardrails against AI. https://youtu.be/imtkNL4v2ks?si=lA7bwZgq-9DYkij5

Met so many kind people today including a nurse with a tattoo on her arm. Of course I asked and it turned out to be The Little Prince and she was delighted I knew it. We talked about kindness. Apparently, in Lithuania they read it at school first at age 6 and then again at A level...😘

Good point!

It’s plausible that these systems will have a homogenizing effect or be used to manipulate opinion.

Also possible that they’ll expand vocabularies and teach some users to think more cautiously or dialectically. (Not sure the median human post is as willing to say “we don’t know” as Claude.)

📢 Call for Papers!
Theme: “Dark Side” of social conversations around science
Join us for the #ICA2026 preconference hosted on 2 June 2026 in Stellenbosch.
✅ No registration fee (limited to 60 participants)
🗓 Submission deadline: 2 Feb 2026
Details & submit: www.imidibaniso.co.za/ica-pre-conf...

Royal Institution Christmas Lectures: Some family memories It will soon be time for our family to sit down and watch the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. This is a ritual that is almost as important as Christmas itself. When I came to Oxford in 1985 f…

Really lovely article and it brings back memories!! Oh dear, I wrote that 13 years ago - so I'll be watching my 34th lecture this year, what!??? makingsciencepublic.com/2012/12/24/r...

Metaphors at work: The symbolic infrastructures of sociological theory - Francesco Cerchiaro, 2025 Metaphors operate as symbolic infrastructures that shape how the social world is conceptualized and rendered intelligible. This article develops a cultural soci...

I like the concept of metaphors as symbolic infrastructure journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

All reputable organization- journalist and otherwise - need to make the same move.
(Looking at you governments…)

Exactly!!!!

Science and health are screwed. Or are they? Latest post: kucharski.substack.com/p/science-is...

The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.