Mike Porter

Emma Watson banned from driving for speeding

12 points to Gryffindor

Award-winning scientist, Andrea Sella, has returned his Royal Society award in protest over the Society's continued apathy over Elon Musk.

My latest substack in which I make the case that we need more scientists like Andrea, who are prepared to take a stand: open.substack.com/pu...

YouTube video by JHew Cheers | S08E14 cold open | "They've even changed the panelling"

This is the best George Wendt joke on cheers by an absolute mile, and its so well done

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FNH...

Never come across the double factorial before - thanks Josh!!

A lattice of 30 points arranged in a trigonal bipyramid

#ThisWeeksFiddler had a crystalline feel to it... but how many paths are there from the top to the bottom? Answer: Just over a billion.
My solution: tinyurl.com/fiddler160525

@xaqwg.bsky.social

New polling shows public support for international students | Russell Group A new survey shows the majority of people don't think international students are a priority for immigration restrictions

It's a shame that international student numbers will be cut, because only 2% of voters want their post-study work limited and they bring £37bn to the country. But Britain has gone mad and willingly chosen poverty, so there it is, nothing to be done. www.russellgroup.ac.uk/news/new-pol...

#chemsky 🧪

Rustic is good!

...and... the scheme says –30 °C for the reduction but the procedure says "ice bath"...

Also, their procedure seems to have omitted the reducing agent...

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

... in an email that addressed me as "Dear Professor“

I got an invitation to speak at this one, but guessed it must be a scam because they offered to pay for my registration, accommodation and travel!

What's more you can sit at the front of DLR trains and pretend you're driving them.

‘Okay which one of you accidentally added Robert Cecil to the chat?’

1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world.


I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.

#Thisweeksfiddler from @xaqwg.bsky.social asked: if you're randomly situated on a semicircular island, what is your expected distance from the coast? After a lot of geometry, calculus and algebra (plus a bit of help from WolframAlpha) I got a surprisingly simple answer. tinyurl.com/fiddler140325

I had no idea anyone actually read those!

A positive covid test strip

Hello old friend, it's been a while!

RNA xkcd.com/3056

Complete batshit lunacy on the president's Truth Social account. Yes, he really posted this.

Nice work! Certainly more elegant than my approach which ended up having to solve sec(θ) + tan(θ) = 3-√2 !
tinyurl.com/fiddler140225

A man holding a penguin, with the text "I never thought I'd be able to hold a Penguin until I moved to Wellford Gardens"

I'm bemused. Is this what people dream of doing in their retirement?

I came at it from a different (and certainly less rigorous) direction. Pleasantly surprised to find I got the same answer as you! tinyurl.com/Fiddler310125

Quiz leaderboard showing Christopher Ingold in first place

You'll never guess who won the Mentimeter quiz on my organic mechanisms course...

The Wombles play Motörhead

Surely that's up to you?

Yes. And... you do?

"The perfect gift for science lovers". What do you think, @drmikebooth.bsky.social ?