Dr Dave Clements
@davecl.bsky.social
Astrophysicist at Imperial College London. Works with space missions like Herschel and Planck, on extragalactic astronomy, observational cosmology and astrobiology. Ask about phosphine on Venus! Also writes science fiction. Not speaking for anybody
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Bursaries for writers of colour to attend the Milford Writers Workshop next year are now open. I seriously cannot recommend the experience enough. Apply here: www.milfordsf.co.uk/bursaries.htm @milfordsff.bsky.social
Milford Bursaries for Writers of Colour
www.milfordsf.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Bursaries for writers of colour to attend the Milford Writers Workshop next year are now open. I seriously cannot recommend the experience enough. Apply here: www.milfordsf.co.uk/bursaries.htm @milfordsff.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
BREAKING: Starbucks workers have launched a massive, nationwide strike.
Baristas in 40 cities have walked off the job on the busiest day of Starbucks' year.
Upwards of 12,000 @sbworkersunited.org members could ultimately go on strike as the union escalates.
Baristas in 40 cities have walked off the job on the busiest day of Starbucks' year.
Upwards of 12,000 @sbworkersunited.org members could ultimately go on strike as the union escalates.
November 13, 2025 at 1:31 PM
BREAKING: Starbucks workers have launched a massive, nationwide strike.
Baristas in 40 cities have walked off the job on the busiest day of Starbucks' year.
Upwards of 12,000 @sbworkersunited.org members could ultimately go on strike as the union escalates.
Baristas in 40 cities have walked off the job on the busiest day of Starbucks' year.
Upwards of 12,000 @sbworkersunited.org members could ultimately go on strike as the union escalates.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Two postdoc positions open now: let's work together to understand microbial regulation of the gut-brain axis in ageing:
buff.ly/UuJciHZ
buff.ly/vjp98fx
buff.ly/UuJciHZ
buff.ly/vjp98fx
November 14, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Two postdoc positions open now: let's work together to understand microbial regulation of the gut-brain axis in ageing:
buff.ly/UuJciHZ
buff.ly/vjp98fx
buff.ly/UuJciHZ
buff.ly/vjp98fx
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Analysis: The Post found that documents recounting President Ronald Reagan’s relations with the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, one of the most dangerous periods of the Cold War, have been removed.
The State Department had deleted history.
The State Department had deleted history.
Analysis | State Department deleted records about risk of inadvertent nuclear war
Key historical records about the incident during the Reagan administration, known as the Able Archer 83 War Scare, were removed without explanation.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Analysis: The Post found that documents recounting President Ronald Reagan’s relations with the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, one of the most dangerous periods of the Cold War, have been removed.
The State Department had deleted history.
The State Department had deleted history.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
"Everyone should have the right to refuse to engage with technologies that harm them, their students, and the planet."
A new post on Refusing GenAI in Writing Studies from @jsanofranchini.bsky.social, @rcmeg.bsky.social, and me: "A Year of Refusal"
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/a...
refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/a...
A Year of Refusal
Maggie Fernandes, University of ArkansasMegan McIntyre, University of ArkansasJennifer Sano-Franchini, West Virginia University Photo by Francis Glenn Marciano on Pexels.com It’s been about a year …
refusinggenai.wordpress.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:53 AM
"Everyone should have the right to refuse to engage with technologies that harm them, their students, and the planet."
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
READ THIS: A British-Russian dissident sentenced to 25 years of solitary confinement by Vladimir Putin has said his sanity was saved by the European Convention on Human Rights👇
🔗 www.yahoo.com/news/article... via @telegraphnews.bsky.social
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms
🔗 www.yahoo.com/news/article... via @telegraphnews.bsky.social
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms
ECHR stopped me from going mad in Putin’s gulag
A British-Russian dissident sentenced to 25 years of solitary confinement by Vladimir Putin has said his sanity was saved by the European Convention on Human Rights.
www.yahoo.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:04 AM
READ THIS: A British-Russian dissident sentenced to 25 years of solitary confinement by Vladimir Putin has said his sanity was saved by the European Convention on Human Rights👇
🔗 www.yahoo.com/news/article... via @telegraphnews.bsky.social
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms
🔗 www.yahoo.com/news/article... via @telegraphnews.bsky.social
#ECHR #OurRightsAndFreedoms
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
With a life expectancy more than 10 years shorter than nowadays.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and other preventable infections.
The golden 1970s.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and other preventable infections.
The golden 1970s.
Ah the 1970s.
Stagflation, three day weeks, collapsing infrastructure. Civil War in Northern Ireland. In yer face racism and bigotry everywhere. Bin strikes. Strikes in general. Blackouts. Industrial decline. Wage inequality. Dog crap everywhere. And households spent 25% of their income on food.
Stagflation, three day weeks, collapsing infrastructure. Civil War in Northern Ireland. In yer face racism and bigotry everywhere. Bin strikes. Strikes in general. Blackouts. Industrial decline. Wage inequality. Dog crap everywhere. And households spent 25% of their income on food.
November 14, 2025 at 9:07 AM
With a life expectancy more than 10 years shorter than nowadays.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and other preventable infections.
The golden 1970s.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough and other preventable infections.
The golden 1970s.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ is not just a title of a famous album, it was originally a wonderful - if disconcerting - chapter in The Wind in the Willows.
And now Westminster Abbey are banning illustrations from beloved children’s books…
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
And now Westminster Abbey are banning illustrations from beloved children’s books…
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
‘Demonic’ Wind in the Willows jumper banned from Westminster Abbey
Woman told to remove or cover up garment featuring 1908 illustration of Pan lest it offend worshippers
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:41 AM
‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ is not just a title of a famous album, it was originally a wonderful - if disconcerting - chapter in The Wind in the Willows.
And now Westminster Abbey are banning illustrations from beloved children’s books…
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
And now Westminster Abbey are banning illustrations from beloved children’s books…
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 9:13 AM
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Regretfully (for the sake of the authors and journal staff), I have this morning declined an invitation to review for a @royalsociety.org journal because of the Society’s continued refusal to stand up for its values in dealing with Elon Musk FRS.
November 14, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Regretfully (for the sake of the authors and journal staff), I have this morning declined an invitation to review for a @royalsociety.org journal because of the Society’s continued refusal to stand up for its values in dealing with Elon Musk FRS.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Removing a monument honoring Black US soldiers has nothing to do with DEI. It’s erasure of history and it’s straight-up racism.
November 13, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Removing a monument honoring Black US soldiers has nothing to do with DEI. It’s erasure of history and it’s straight-up racism.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Ah yes Leicester, a tip-top History UoA in REF2021 currently eviscerating it’s History provision (among other subjects). Have they also won the THE irony of the year award?
#THEAwards Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences goes to the University of Leicester for an interdisciplinary study, led by Dr Sarah Inskip, which uncovered the long-term health impacts of tobacco use in historical populations. Leicester’s second win tonight! 🤩
November 13, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Ah yes Leicester, a tip-top History UoA in REF2021 currently eviscerating it’s History provision (among other subjects). Have they also won the THE irony of the year award?
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
'A chancellor with an overriding commitment to growth would not slap an arbitrary tax on one of the country’s most successful export sectors.'
Raising costs for overseas students won’t help cash-strapped universities | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:39 AM
'A chancellor with an overriding commitment to growth would not slap an arbitrary tax on one of the country’s most successful export sectors.'
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support.
🧵1/3
🧵1/3
November 14, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reform in Lancashire threatens closing five day centres and five care homes, with “reprovision” forcing disabled or older adults (including a 106-year-old) into alternative support.
🧵1/3
🧵1/3
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Dundee Uni won ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ in 2024… then its principal resigned amid a £30m deficit that exposed serious financial mismanagement
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
#THEAwards 2025: the full list of winners: ow.ly/5Zu050XpZqN
November 14, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Dundee Uni won ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ in 2024… then its principal resigned amid a £30m deficit that exposed serious financial mismanagement
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
British intelligence believes Xi Jinping is watching Ukraine. “There’s a real danger that if he sees us being weak on Ukraine, then he will draw conclusions on his own behaviors around the South China Sea, and potentially on Taiwan.”
Intel Shows Putin Not Ready for Ukraine Deal, Ex-MI6 Chief Says
Recent intelligence assessments show Vladimir Putin has no intention of reaching a peace deal with Ukraine, Britain’s former spy chief said, confirming a view underpinning a harder line from the US an...
www.bloomberg.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:54 PM
British intelligence believes Xi Jinping is watching Ukraine. “There’s a real danger that if he sees us being weak on Ukraine, then he will draw conclusions on his own behaviors around the South China Sea, and potentially on Taiwan.”
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
German court finds Open AI infringed copyright by using song lyrics for LLM training. (This news via @publisherslunch.bsky.social , which notes that this is the first court case to end in an infringement ruling against Open AI) www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
ChatGPT violated copyright law by ‘learning’ from song lyrics, German court rules
OpenAI ordered to pay undisclosed damages for training its language models on artists’ work without permission
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:43 PM
German court finds Open AI infringed copyright by using song lyrics for LLM training. (This news via @publisherslunch.bsky.social , which notes that this is the first court case to end in an infringement ruling against Open AI) www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
He’s on a mission from God.
What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck?
It's the Pope in 1982.
It's the Pope in 1982.
November 13, 2025 at 8:45 AM
He’s on a mission from God.
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Looking for a PhD in climate science?
Great opportunity to help modernise one of the iconic climate time series - Central England Temperature.
Led by @timosbornclim.bsky.social, with myself and Met Office collaborators: www.uea.ac.uk/course/phd-d...
Great opportunity to help modernise one of the iconic climate time series - Central England Temperature.
Led by @timosbornclim.bsky.social, with myself and Met Office collaborators: www.uea.ac.uk/course/phd-d...
PhD Redeveloping Central England Temperature: Modernising a Historic Climate Series, CASE project with Met Office (OSBORNT_U26SCI) 2026/27 | UEA
PhD Redeveloping Central England Temperature: Modernising a Historic Climate Series, CASE project with Met Office (OSBORNT_U26SCI) 2026/27 | UEA
www.uea.ac.uk
November 12, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Looking for a PhD in climate science?
Great opportunity to help modernise one of the iconic climate time series - Central England Temperature.
Led by @timosbornclim.bsky.social, with myself and Met Office collaborators: www.uea.ac.uk/course/phd-d...
Great opportunity to help modernise one of the iconic climate time series - Central England Temperature.
Led by @timosbornclim.bsky.social, with myself and Met Office collaborators: www.uea.ac.uk/course/phd-d...
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
The remarkable story we discussed this morning. (No paywall but do consider subscribing.) www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Prescott himself doctored Trump quote in his anti-BBC report
A report alleging Panorama broadcast misleading Trump quotes contains misleading quotes itself
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 12:48 PM
The remarkable story we discussed this morning. (No paywall but do consider subscribing.) www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-e...
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump
Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump
Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender’s extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump’s policy decisions.
dlvr.it
November 12, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Jeffrey Epstein claims he gave Russians insight into Trump
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
'Reform UK has been accused of embracing racism after it picked a former academic who argued that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British as the head of its new student organisation.' 1/3
Reform UK accused of embracing racism over its pick for head of student organisation
Matthew Goodwin argued people from minority ethnic backgrounds born and raised in UK were not always British
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:52 AM
'Reform UK has been accused of embracing racism after it picked a former academic who argued that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British as the head of its new student organisation.' 1/3
So @planetgreaves.bsky.social our colleague is on the move!
More US-based academics exit the United States, including world famous astronomer Sara Seager 🔭🧪
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
New constellation of academic stars headed to U of T
In a “big win for Canada,” the University of Toronto is further strengthening its academic ranks with three top researchers from U.S. universities whose work ranges from the search for new planets to ...
www.utoronto.ca
November 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
So @planetgreaves.bsky.social our colleague is on the move!
Reposted by Dr Dave Clements
More US-based academics exit the United States, including world famous astronomer Sara Seager 🔭🧪
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
New constellation of academic stars headed to U of T
In a “big win for Canada,” the University of Toronto is further strengthening its academic ranks with three top researchers from U.S. universities whose work ranges from the search for new planets to ...
www.utoronto.ca
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
More US-based academics exit the United States, including world famous astronomer Sara Seager 🔭🧪
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...
www.utoronto.ca/news/new-con...