Gaia Vince

trying a new bit for size, about the difficulty of understanding the inscrutable occidental mind. the leadership will say one thing in the morning and its opposite in the evening; to rational europeans, the two stances seem irreconcilable, but domestic media nods and interprets

Tesla’s climate work quickly undone by noisy, dirty xAI methane gas turbines According to xAI’s own permit application, its data centers, powered by methane gas turbines, could emit more than 6 million tons of greenhouse gases per year.

Last year we went to Memphis to provide the evidence that the gas turbines being used by xAI were not some of the cleanest in the world as were being claimed. Good to see this headline getting it right referring to "dirty xAI methane gas turbines."

And yes, they are very very loud.

Jungle pissheads

The playful, prolific use of hyperlinks in online journalism (eg Slate, Pitchfork) didn’t anticipate link-rot. Now so many articles are pock-marked with cryptic allusions that some long-dead link once explained. Weird how quickly a new style comes to feel more archaic than the traditional format

congrats Phil (again, sigh...)

Rural households using oil heaters are excellent candidates for heat pumps and government should be prioritising support for that not subsidising oil

And so we write to brilliant postgraduate students from Sudan, withdrawing the offers and scholarships they won in open competition with the best in the world. A sad day for the University of Oxford.

Withdrawal of student visas from Sudanese at the same time as a report on deliberate starvation in Sudan

Headlines in the guardian highlighting the latest home office cruelty

This 18-year-old Afghan girl nearly escaped the Taliban – then we took her visa away She resisted a forced marriage and studied in secret, winning scholarships to leave Kabul and attend a British university. But now the home secretary’s ban on study visas has removed her one chance of...

This 18-year-old Afghan girl had offers from York and Reading – thanks to Shabana Mahmood, she will now never escape the Taliban | The Independent www.independent.co.uk/news/people/...

good spot!

Another Nature Medicine article with highly restrictive data availability statement.

The Broligarchy's First World War? AI-guided weapons, two out-of-control authoritarians, no legal authority and a toxic mess of masculinity: welcome to the manosphere's first major conflict

By the amazing @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

AI-guided weapons, two out-of-control authoritarians, no legal authority and a toxic mess of masculinity: welcome to the manosphere's first major conflict

US using AI “Maven Smart System” by Peter Thiel’s Palantir
Israel is using AI programme, Lavender

Well this is utterly depressing

we are weeks away from 'Trump attempts to make horse a Senator' and the only thing stopping him is that he is too much of a sociopath to form an attachment to animals

Cute!

US opposes IAEA board resolution condemning attacks on Ukraine's power grid The United States joined Russia, China, and ‌Niger on Thursday in opposing a resolution adopted by the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board denouncing attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure as a threat t...

Bad actor.
US joined Russia, China, Niger, and several other adversary countries in opposing resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency denouncing Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including off-site power supply plants for #nuclear
www.reuters.com/world/europe...

Britain’s Story: The Next Chapter - the BBC Royal Charter Review, Green Paper and public consultation The government is consulting the public to aid decision-making on the terms for the BBC Charter’s renewal and any changes needed to help the BBC to continue to serve the public.

The BBC needs proper funding (probs universal) and robust independence if it is to thrive, which is essential for our democracy. That’s my opinion, what’s yours? 👇

Testing the waters: can pumping chemicals into the ocean help stop global heating? To some it was a reckless experiment but scientists hope the dispersal of 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine could ease the climate crisis

Our geoengineering has heated and acidified the oceans. Can we reverse it? Study reported by @oliveheffernan.bsky.social

If you'd told me maybe three years ago that a UK news channel would be platforming someone to set out openly racist, far right, violent conspiracy theories, I'm not sure I'd have believed you. And yet here we are.

Andrew O’Hagan · Stay Classy: Mummy’s Favourite The late queen can be held responsible for much, but nobody could accuse her of seeming to enjoy her role. For the...

jesus CHRIST.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Over to you, @ofcom.bsky.social

A Teachers’ Guide to How to Find a Rainbow “This charming story can be read on two levels – that of two sisters in search of a physical rainbow and that of emerging from a gloomy emotional episode and beginning to find joy again.  It o…

Primary Teachers! I’m giving a science week talk this morning about the behaviour of light, based on my book “How to Find a Rainbow” and using some quite magical science demonstrations! You could do something similar (you don’t need me) using the resources here:

New Channel 4 sitcom just dropped

Britain’s Story: The Next Chapter - the BBC Royal Charter Review, Green Paper and public consultation The government is consulting the public to aid decision-making on the terms for the BBC Charter’s renewal and any changes needed to help the BBC to continue to serve the public.

Do respond to this survey if you’re in the UK. The BBC is in a sorry state and strengthening it is imperative for a healthy democracy, particularly given the terrible media ecosystem of dangerously skewed national newspapers

50 seems a lot!

Lego man with hedgehog head

Hedgehog Man will save us

A week left to reply for this fantastic role. Closes 15 March

Yup

This godforsaken idiot piece of shit.

Martha’s rule may have saved 400 lives so far in England, figures show Exclusive: System brought in after death of 13-year-old is helping ‘transform culture’ of NHS, says patient safety director

An incredible achievement, really wonderful that this simple intervention can make such a difference