Ruby Franklin-Goddard (she/her)

Thank you for sharing this, will be using your writings as inspirations for my own emails!

As a resident of X, I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023. Although I support the act and believe that more safeguards are needed to protect children online, it is now obvious that parts of this legislation are untenable and could pose great harm to vulnerable groups. My biggest concern is the introduction of mandatory age checks. I agree with the need for these checks in principle, but platforms are relying on dubious third-party service providers to perform them. These service providers often have opaque privacy policies that could put British citizens at risk. Veratad, for example, the service used to verify your age on the popular internet chat service Discord, admits that it can retain information such as video footage of user's faces and pictures of passports for the purposes of model training or the "public interest" - whatever that may mean. These services are almost all based outside of the UK, so there is no assurance that they will follow our data privacy laws. To make matters worse, these age-verification services are woefully ineffective. Returning to Veratad, I was able to easily deceive the system (which relies on an algorithm to estimate your age via your phone camera) into believing that I was an adult user by holding my phone up to a video of Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivering a speech on a computer screen. Online media is already reporting that you can even manage it by recording footage of video game characters. It goes without saying, but a child or teenager could easily outsmart these systems in order to access inappropriate content. The blocks can also be circumvented entirely through the use of a virtual private network (VPN). There are countless free services offering VPN functionality on both PC and mobile that could easily be set up by a child without a parent's knowledge. This will equip children with the tools needed to bypass any existing safeguards that have…

If you're going to write to or email your MP over the Online Safety Act 2023 (don't forget to include your full address, or you likely won't receive a response) you're welcome to borrow points from my recent letter!

1. This is Piles Copse, the largest remaining fragment of high-ground temperate rainforest on Dartmoor. It’s a tiny speck of green in a dismal, human-made desert. Prepare yourselves for a story of breathtaking perversity, told in this thread. (There’s a one-page version at the bottom). 🧵

Yesterday: Helping facilitate a workshop for english red squirrels with @naturalengland.bsky.social , @zslofficial.bsky.social & @uksquirrelaccord.bsky.social

Today: Heading to Islay to learn more what we can do for red-billed chough reinforcement with @naturescot.bsky.social & @rspb.bsky.social

Interesting in Science Communication?
Don’t miss this on 6th of March.

I’m teaming up with @newscientist.bsky.social to explore effective #SciComm & share how you can be part of the HUGE New Scientist event in Oct which last year attracted over 26k people www.newscientist.com/science-even...

Biodiversity is in crisis. Land degradation is accelerating, but the world has a bold plan: the Global Biodiversity Framework.

How much do you know about biodiversity loss?

Take the quiz & test your knowledge: www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

While not having dipped my toes into invasion biology myself, this review has definitely prompted me into giving this a read!

I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers

Can a headline alone be eligible for a Pulitzer?

Wow, just wow.
V different approach reveals numerous problems in Scientific Reports - cf deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/10/an-o...
I do hope @springernature.bsky.social will start to publish reviewer reports and editor info as we suggested

Me sitting in front of shark jaws at a museum

The shark doctor is in! Ask me anything!

Have questions about sharks? About marine biology, or ocean conservation? About me? About…anything?

For the next couple of hours, ask me anything!

Please share, and tag friends who have questions.

🌎🧪🦑🐠🦈 #SciComm

Why do some sharks give birth to live young, while others use egg cases? What are the different pros of these different methods?

Great the link now works!

When clicked on it says the job has expired- unsure if this is intentional as this was only posted a few hours ago?

Only 4 months in but I can't recommend this course enough!

Had a lecturer question the ethics of linking students to #twitter for academics breaking down their papers, due to the content now first recommended.

What are other universities and lecturers doing to not lose these resources?
Do you think there's even an issue here?
#academicBlueSky #academia

First week of 2nd term and first week at #UCLEast ! 🌍

Having to brave Oxford Street today during the Christmas period- pray for me y'all 😅🎄

Finally able to volunteer @ London NHM between my studies and got my uniform to wear for next time!

Favourite moment was how fascinated all the kids were staring at their hands under microscopes (they all wanted to wash their hands after)
#londonnaturalhistorymuseum #learningvolunteer

The GM in the sky really wanted me to run yesterday's prologue game @ the Arcanist Tavern- Mentioned wanting to run a prologue game but haven't ran one, next day a GM needs their prologue covered, my home game is cancelled same day so I cover the slot. Turns out old uni friend is on my table
#DnD

Panorama view onto the old town of Bern and the alps behind it on a sunny day.

The Institute of #ecology and #evolution at @unibern.bsky.social is looking for two tenure-track assistant professors (APTT):

APTT Mathematical or Computational Ecology 👩‍💻

APTT #Conservation #Biology 👨🏾‍🔬

More info: tinyurl.com/IEEjobs

Application deadline: 1 March 2025

These are all great suggestions thank you 😄

I'm exploring those now! Any recommendations?

Talking to academics I've always been pointed to Twitter for networking, but after seeing what a hell-site it is I just can't support it.

Others have felt similarly lost on the next best place to go- and I'm willing to give Blue Sky a shot at being that place
#academia #academicBlueSky #womeninstem

You've convinced me to put this on my reading list 😊