MikeCrang

It’s the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives to transport passengers, which ushered in the railway age.

[Just heard about this from Paddy O'Connell on Broadcasting House]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

Inside the relentless race for AI capacity The quest for superintelligence is spurring a data centre boom — but critics question the cost, environmental impact and whether it is all needed

Inside the relentless race for AI capacity https://on.ft.com/3H9lQjf

Incredibly instructive reporting on what appears well on its way to becoming the biggest, most concentrated, most energy- and resource-intensive, and most speculative wave of capital investment ever.
ig.ft.com/ai-data-cent...

Kate Bush with the Weimaraners, named Bonnie and Clyde, during the photo shoot for 'Hounds of Love', photographed by her brother John Carder Bush. Against the purple sheets, the two dogs and Bush pose.

Kate Bush during the 'Hounds of Love' photo session with the Weimaraners, Bonnie and Clyde.

Kate Bush, born on this day in 1958.

📷© John Carder Bush

Very excited to be starting at @geogdurham.bsky.social today! Looking forwards to new colleagues, friends, & collaborations and already feeling a very warm welcome.

And a sincere thank you to friends & colleagues at Northumbria GES & @nuglobaldev.bsky.social for some wonderful years!

We are looking for a Senior Manager for our Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life @leverhulmecal.bsky.social A key person in our team & a future valued colleague. Apply here durham.taleo.net/careersectio... & feel free to DM me. Also look out for our October research fellows posts.

Morning all.
With just 9 days to go we have reached 90% of the funding goal to produce and print the new book 'The Edge of Ruin'.
Just 25 more backers will get us to our target.
If we don't reach it, the book cannot be made.
This is the reality of (self) publishing today.

shorturl.at/MgbKh

For the love of God, Radio 4, the EU will NOT pay a 15% tax. US consumers will.

William Notman and the invention of Canada | The Observer The pioneering Scot documented the wildernesses of the young nation through the embryonic medium of photography. But it was in the studio that his true g...

Fascinating article on early photography practices observer.co.uk/culture/phot... William Notman and the invention of Canada @flakphoto.news

Hundreds Of Years Of Race, Class Privilege Allow Man Extra Legroom

Hundreds Of Years Of Race, Class Privilege Allow Man Extra Legroom theonion.com/hundred...

An urban garden with planters and shingle. A garden table sits next to a poly tunnel with a plant pot on top. In the background are tenement flats and colourful bunting

Say hello to #communiMap - a new community science app that helps you notice, share & map what matters in your neighbourhood - trees, wildlife, flooding & more.
Co-designed by UofG's @communigallant.bsky.social & local communities — it's everyday noticing turned into climate action. gla.ac/4eVwYMU

Exile and Empire: Dostoevsky’s Years in Semey, Kazakhstan - The Times Of Central Asia Semey, Kazakhstan – In the windswept, seemingly infinite steppe of eastern Kazakhstan stands a city with a dual, haunting legacy. It is a place where one of

Our @stephenmbland.bsky.social highlights Semey, Kazakhstan: A city of contrasts, where Dostoevsky's exile shaped literary genius and Soviet nuclear tests left lasting scars timesca.com/exile-and-em... #Semey #Dostoevsky #History #SovietHistory #LiteraryHeritage

The Myth of a Wilderness Without Humans For over a century, conflicting views of wild nature created a rift between indigenous people and misguided conservationists.

"They all knew better, the portrayers of wilderness; [Ansel] Adams assiduously avoided photographing any of the local Miwok who were rarely out of his sight as he worked Yosemite Valley. He filled thousands of human-free negatives with land he knew the Miwok had tended for at least 4,000 years."

The Caspian Sea Hits Historic Low - The Times Of Central Asia The Caspian Sea has dropped to its lowest recorded level, now sitting at less than 29 meters below sea level. The northern basin, bordering Russia and

The Caspian Sea hits record low levels as ecosystems and economies face growing threats, calling for urgent regional action timesca.com/the-caspian-... #CaspianSea #ClimateCrisis #SaveOurSeas #ClimateAction

EXTRAORDINARY HEAT IN CENTRAL ASIA

Hundreds of records smashed in KAZAKHSTAN Highlands:40C 800m at 47/49 lat.
SOME RECORDS
43.2 Zhalanashkol
42.6 Usharal
41.5 Aksuat
41.0 Iliysky,Aktogai and Bakty
40.5 Aqzhar
40.0 Narymskoe

Tomorrow up to 49C in CHINA and 46C in Kazakhstan!

Scenes from Devon's rural past – in pictures In 1972, photographer James Ravilious moved to north Devon, where he captured a vanishing way of life and established a valuable historical archive

In 1972, photographer James Ravilious moved to rural north Devon, where he was hired by the Beaford Centre to start a visual archive documenting the landscape and the people of the area, capturing a vanishing way of life.
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Book cover

Book contents page

Good to have physical copies of our book "Sustainable Food Consumption in China: Changing Foodscapes, Values and Practices" even if it is already also open access online bit.ly/46BGv9S

Don’t believe the myth: Britain’s services have been hit hard by Brexit Export growth has been strong but not lived up to its potential

Don’t believe the myth: Britain’s services have been hit hard by Brexit - on.ft.com/44WAeEv via @chrisgiles.ft.com

I take some bleak comfort. The more we can see how bad Brexit was, the less of a mystery our growth failure is. Mysteries suck.

John Kippin — The Coaly Tyne 1980s — Café Royal Books 17.07.19 36 pages 14cm x 20cm b/w digital

from the same publisher that brought us John Kippin's wonderful, and untypically for him b/w documentary style, 'The Coaly Tyne 1980s'. Twenty quid gets you both (inc postage)
www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/p/john-...

Michele Allan — The North East 1987–1991 — Café Royal Books Michele Allan — The North East 1987–1991

A rather lovely collection from our department photographer @geogdurham.bsky.social : Michele Allan — The North East 1987–1991
www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/p/miche...

Heard the one about how UK services exports were booming after Brexit??

Another myth, sadly...

My column

www.ft.com/content/3e9d...

Lead-Tainted Food Poisons 230 Kindergarten Children in NW China Food at the private school contained more than 2,000 times the legal lead limit, triggering arrests and a sweeping probe into China’s worst kindergarten food safety case in years.

Hundreds of children at a private kindergarten in Gansu province have been poisoned by meals laced with industrial lead, prompting arrests, public outrage, and a sweeping investigation into one of the country’s most serious school food safety scandals in recent years.
www.sixthtone.com/news/1017323

'The Edge of Ruin'
Today. 10.30…ish…

www.kickstarter.com/projects/107...

Under Gandhi’s statue. For holding placards.

A priest, a professor, medics - arrested for peaceful protest.

This is not about terrorism. It’s about silencing dissent - and it’s leading us down an ever darkening path.

A map showing South West England and Wales, labelled "Graph of British Rivers". Two river courses are shown, labelled 'Wye axis' and 'Exe axis'. Does anyone read these descriptions, or am I wasting my time?

Graph of British Rivers

Many thanks to Katie Garratt, one of our fourth year BA undergraduate students (with a year abroad) for writing this blog entry for the Durham Student in which she reflects on her experience of the 2025 Chicago field course: durham-student.org/geography-fi...

Towns and cities across the North East to be transformed as 'green corridors' Teesside, Durham and Newcastle Universities, the National Trust and local organisations are all part of a £3 Million project to transform 35 miles…

Pleased to be working on this with great colleagues at @durhamuniversity.bsky.social @newcastleuni.bsky.social and @teessideuni.bsky.social
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/2527775...

The @ihrr.bsky.social is hosting the UK Alliance for Disaster Research (UKADR) Annual Conference on 4-5 September 2025 at @durham-university.bsky.social, with a theme of "Pathways to Practice and Resilience: UK Interdisciplinary Hazard and Disaster Research on the National and Global Stage". (1/3)

15 Must See Places for Jane Austen Fans to Visit in the UK Explore Jane Austen filming locations, interesting facts about the real grand houses and their fictional counterparts

For any #Geography & #JaneAusten fans:

The @ordnancesurvey.bsky.social have mapped the locations of many of the places feature in her works & life ...
🗺️📖

getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/15-mu...