Geraint Ellis

Trigger warning.

“In crashes, SUVs are more likely to strike vital organs in the core of adults’ bodies & heads of children. Hitting pedestrians above their center of gravity means they’re more likely to be knocked forward & down and then be driven over.”

Plus more likely to hit in the 1st place.

If you're having a rough day, remember that in 1991 Tim Berners-Lee's paper for the World Wide Web was rejected and he was relegated to the poster session.

PhD opportunity:
Enhancing community resilience and adaptive capacity through ocean literacy: an action research approach to community participation in marine planning
Queen's University Belfast

Application Deadline - 30th April 2025

Cover sheet of a journal article: "Why do cars get a free ride? The social-ecological roots of motonormativity" by Ian Walker and Marco te Brömmelstroet

HOT RESEARCH NEWS!

Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people making rational judgements about driving en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motonor...

Our new study shows where this bias comes from AND how it makes people think they're odd for supporting changes to the transport system 🧵

Man standing in front of a line of Cybertrucks in a cartoon resembling the scene in Tiananmen Square.

Get the message?

By Portuguese editorial cartoonist Zez Vaz.

Make this viral

ANNOUNCEMENT: EMERGENCY GENERAL MEETING - 6th February 11am

Members will have seen this morning that the University is launching a Voluntary Severance Scheme (VSS), hot on the heels of announcing a new Indian campus, while budgets for faculties, schools and directorates have all been slashed. (1/4)

This is the elephant in the room that needs to be recognised: due almost entirely to the proliferation of single houses in the countryside, Ireland has >four times< the length of overhead electricity wires than the European average. That’s why it’s taking ESB so long to restore power after Éowyn …

Calls for Dáil to be recalled in aftermath of Storm Éowyn As Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she has written to the Taoiseach calling for a reconvening of the Dail, Michael Collins of Independent Ireland is on the line urging immediate Government...

Gobshitery taken to epic new levels by rural independent TD Michael Collins today, calling for removal of ALL trees “within 30 metres of a public road”.

Yes, you heard that right. That would be MILLIONS of trees this joker proposes destroying.

www.rte.ie/radio/radio1...

SLAPP law suits are alive and kicking

Cheating on an exam by memorizing everything the professor taught in advance so I can easily answer all the questions

Donald Trump has declared the U.S. is in a “national-energy emergency.” “The actual emergency, obviously, is with the climate,” @billmckibben.bsky.social writes.
nyer.cm/pmI58Hh

This matters. Not because I think Trump is capable of mercy or empathy towards these vulnerable groups. But because it is a public act of defiance.

Contrast that with all these other powerful people in this country signaling nothing but appeasement and obedience.

Scientists make disturbing new discovery while studying human urine samples: 'We urgently need to classify [this]' A recent study found high levels of two potentially deadly chemicals in humans' urine, raising concerns about tire pollution.

“It's not easy to be exact, but studies estimate that tires create anywhere from 10-28% of the world's microplastic pollution, according to National Geographic. These particles don't just disappear — they end up in our water, our soil, and our bodies.”

Air pollution has dropped significantly in #Paris in the last 15 years. Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s leadership has traded car space for green space, safe bike space, kid space.. and traded pollution for people.

Good trade.

‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream Cheonggyecheon stream in the South Korean capital has become an attraction – and helps with flood management, fighting air pollution and cooling the city

‘Everyone thought it would cause gridlock’: the highway that Seoul turned into a stream

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Credit to Terrible Maps on Facebook

Dalradian gold mine: County Tyrone planning inquiry suspended Regulation breaches by the Department for Infrastructure mean it cannot go ahead as scheduled.

The Northern Ireland Planning System is failing us all, in a very fundamental way:

'Back to square one' as gold mine inquiry is suspended www.bbc.com/news/article...

In 2018 we left the EU's Water Regulation body and their massive fines.

Then sewage dumping increased 20x.

Before Brexit we had some of the cleanest water in Europe.

Now it is by far the dirtiest.

Before and after picture of Los Angeles.

Oh sorry it's actually Gaza.

Shoppers’ Mobility Habits: Retailers Overestimate Car Use

“91% of the revenue generated by these businesses came out of the wallets of customers who walked, cycled or used public transport to reach them. Customers that drive to the shops accounted for just 9 per cent of sales.”

Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to massive investment and it's not stopping The report delves into the nuances of Parisian cycling culture, exploring the vibrant community of riders who navigate the city's streets

Paris urban biking DOUBLED in just one year.

“Cycling in Paris has transcended mere trendiness; it’s become a fundamental aspect of the city’s identity. Despite challenges like inclement weather, cyclists continue to flock to the streets, setting new records and reshaping the urban landscape.”

The Earth's Corr: 2024 was a landmark year for the environment in NI There's a lot to be proud of as I type my final Earth's Corr column for Belfast Live

The Earth's Corr: 2024 was a landmark year for the environment in Northern Ireland www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/norther...

Biking to work reduces the odds of dying from cancer by 51%! You’d think transit planners would find the hell out of bike lanes given how much money that saves to public and the government. Even “fiscal conservatives” can’t debunk the obvious societal good and savings from that.

Fund bike lanes!

Comparison of how connected our ways of getting around used to be, compared to 1950 when we only had connected and direct pathways for cars. While every other way is indirect and disconnected.

Have you seen this one before? A short history of traffic engineering via @copenhagenizers.bsky.social. Manufactured #CarDependency takes a lot of forms, including how easy or hard we make it to get from A to B using any other ways of getting around.

A direct result of the wrong priorities.

“It's amazing how pollution has dropped in #Paris in 15 years. @annehidalgo.bsky.social has filled the city with bike-lanes & not only has she reduced pollution by 40% but she’s also been re-elected.”

Trading car space for green space, bike space, kid space…trading pollution for people. Good trade.

This is sort of fascinating because if you were to turn on pretty much any talk radio station or pick up any tabloid, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was the inverse.

Look at the map of cycle routes in Belfast 2004. Astonishing how little change we can see over 20 years. Damning evidence of the Dept. Infrastructure’s lack of commitment to health and safety, active travel and the environment. @belfastcyclecam.bsky.social

It is expected that Ireland will generate more electricity from utility-scale solar PV than from coal this year 🌞

And PV installations are growing so quickly (from such a low base) that similar solar power was generated in October this year than June 2023.

SEAI's "Energy in Ireland" is out today.