Mark Pritchard

If you have an emergency phone you don't want someone to find out about, please be aware that this is happening soon.

Protests as newborn removed from Greenlandic mother after ‘parenting competence’ tests Danish authorities take one-hour-old infant despite law banning the tests on people with Greenlandic backgrounds A Greenlandic mother’s one-hour-old baby was removed from her by Danish authorities after she underwent “parenting competence” tests – despite a new law banning the use of the controversial psychometric assessments on people with Greenlandic backgrounds. Ivana Nikoline Brønlund, who was born in Nuuk to Greenlandic parents and has played for the Greenlandic handball team, gave birth to her daughter, Aviaja-Luuna, on 11 August in a hospital in Hvidovre, near Copenhagen, where she lives with her family. Continue reading...

Protests as newborn removed from Greenlandic mother after ‘parenting competence’ tests

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Explainable AI refers to an extremely popular group of approaches that aim to open "black box" AI models. But what can we see when we open the black AI box? We use Galit Shmueli's framework (to describe, predict or explain) to evaluate

arxiv.org/abs/2508.05753

and patient confidentiality

AI tools used by English councils downplay women’s health issues, study finds Exclusive: LSE research finds risk of gender bias in care decisions made based on AI summaries of case notes

AI replicates, magnifies and perpetuates the biases already active in our health system and society www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

‘It’s all a game’ to some politicians, says Labour MP suspended for rebellion over planning bill Chris Hinchliff says language used is indicative of ‘private schoolboy drinking club’ culture within government

Chris Hinchliffe (MP for NE Herts) was suspended from Labour for tabling an amendment to protect the ecologically unique chalk streams in his constituency - with other Labour MPs branding him the 'Hedgehog Hezbollah'.

The last days of Stalin had a healthier political culture than the Labour Party.

A painting of two gannet heads, a male and a female. The left bird is bent over the head of the right bird, which is facing to the right. Loose strokes of acrylic paint

Gannets are such beautiful birds, with their soft creamy feathers and bright blue eye patches. They form lifelong pairs, raising and protecting the young together

Acrylics on board
9.8″ x 9.8″ (25 x 25 cm)

#SciArt #animalart #birdart #animalpainting #birdpainting #wildlifeart

Bar chart of temperature change in Birmingham

Graphical representation of temperature change in Birmingham since 1850. There is a vertical line for each year. There is a mix of colours, many pale and blue for years before the 1980s. The most recent years are vivid reds

These stripes show a clear trend. This is 174 years’ of climate in Birmingham. (The website also has versions as bar charts that allow finer comparison between years.) #ShowYourStripes @uniofreading.bsky.social

showyourstripes.info/s

Thinking of a hero I knew and admired.

Birdle United Kingdom Play and guess today's Birdle in 5 guesses. Learn about a new British bird every day.

The fairly consistent lesson I’m learning from the Birdle game is that birds are bigger than I think they are.

Birdle 🇬🇧 29/05/2025

🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

birdle.co.uk

Police could search homes and phones after pregnancy loss | The Observer New national guidance suggests officers look for menstrual tracking apps or abortion drugs

Losing a pregnancy is horribly traumatic. The idea of compunding that by seizing women’s phones and searching their private messages and health apps is grotesque observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Doctor criticises ‘lightweight’ assessment of impact of assisted dying Palliative care consultant says insufficient consideration given to how disadvantaged communities may be affected

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Biologists tell government to restore trans people’s access to public spaces after Supreme Court ruling Dozens of experts have written to women and equalities minister Bridget Phillipson and Keir Starmer urging them to take action.

www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/biologi...

Keir Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ immigration warning is a xenophobic dog whistle Sir Keir Starmer is blowing a dog whistle, warning that we are at risk of becoming an ‘island of strangers’ because of immigration.

I wrote an op-ed for @lbc.co.uk about Labour's immigration white paper today & how chasing Nigel Farage will take them nowhere
www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view...

Selfie of Emma and me in a sunny garden of a local artist with one of her wire sculptures of a person in the background

Emma and I had a brilliant time exploring different artists' work at for Oxfordshire Artweeks.
It is such a fantastic festival, I really recommend going along.
Here's a very helpful map where you can browse by day of week and art type:
www.artweeks.org/festival/map
/1

Absolute bonkers. Labour have taken leave of its senses. The social care sector is on its arse already due to a lack of capacity.

No flow to social care sector = No NHS activity.

Watching a murder mystery where birdwatchers have murdered each other, possibly over who can see the Rare Bird Du Jour. What these shows get wrong is that 99.9% of birders, if you express even the slightest interest, will drag you over hill and dale to SHOW you the bird.

Exactly. An obsessed minority are gleefully going after a tiny minority group and viciously going after anyone else who tries to speak up. We all have a duty to stand up to these bigots.

The Children’s Commissioner has today published a report sharing children's views on assisted dying. Children will be affected by law change. It is important to listen to their views. t.co/9YtA0TBfmN

Research Associate in Mathematical Epidemiology :Manchester

Come and work with us! Postdoctoral research job to look at methods for working with early pandemic "First Few X" datasets in resource-limited contexts. Please consider applying if of interest and circulate around your networks.

www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

This is very good.
Some stats:
Infantry made up 15% of the Army in NW Europe in 44-45 but suffered 70% of casualties.
The 7 Brit infantry divisions in Normandy suffered 75% casualties by the end of August.
A junior infantry officer had a 1 in 10 chance of making it from June 44 to May 45 unscathed.

A puppet of Kermit the Frog sits at a desk in Duke Humfrey's library at the Bodleian. He has a large book open in front of him and is thinking "I have to finish this ENTIRE book by Friday..." in a thought bubble.

Kermit the Frog in the same position, with his head in his hands thinking 'But I don't even know how to read!'

Kermit the Frog in the same seat from a slightly different angle. You can see that he's sitting in front of the large, arched stained window at the Selden end of the Duke Humfrey's library. The large book has been pushed to the side. His laptop is opened to the Oxford Nightline website, with a thought bubble saying 'Maybe chatting to Nightline will calm me down.'

Kermit from the same angle as the first two photos, with the same weighty tome open in front of his raised arms and smiling face. In a thought bubble: 'That was exactly what I needed. Ready to dive back in!'

🐸 Studying can be tough—even Kermit struggles sometimes!

If you're feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone.

Oxford Nightline is here to listen to students from @ox.ac.uk and Oxford Brookes every night of term, 8pm–8am.

Call 01865 270270 or message: oxfordnightline.org/talk

A photo of me taken shortly before my 30th birthday. It’s black and white. I’m in the bright LA sunshine, dressed up fancy (hired) for an event that a man I was seeing took me to. My hair is slicked back. I’m looking directly at the camera with a soft smile. It may be the most handsome photo taken of me - in other photos from the same period I don’t look as good.

Me a week ago, a gym selfie. Not as handsome as the LA shot but not bad for 28 years later.

Today is the anniversary of my HIV diagnosis.
I was 30.
Many of my friends had died of AIDS.
I was told I had about 20 years to live - that was 27 years ago.
I take one pill a day which stops me from getting ill - it also means I can’t pass HIV on during sex.
HIV has changed, tell everyone.

Helping people support their loved ones in dying. First aid is crucial; so is ‘last aid’.

Goose

So they shouldn’t mind being fined 0.06% of their turnover a million times or so

The crisis for UK steel is exposing another – perhaps even bigger – crisis for the UK

Our news media seems incapable of even the most basic factchecking

YES energy for UK steelmakers is costly
NO it's not due to net-zero
YES it is due to GAS

Here's what UK media isn't telling you🧵

I really enjoyed this meeting for the Emerging & Zoonotic Infections Health Protection Research Unit. So much great science, and a fantastic training environment for PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. I feel very fortunate to have been involved, and I'm sure its 3rd iteration will be superb

My first Eurasian Spoonbills (Platalea leucorodia) of the year today. This one turned its head towards me.. not sure if it was to get a better look at me, or something in the sky. 😃 #BirdingHungary #birds #birding #waders #spoonbills