Dom Pates
@dompates.bsky.social
Educational Technologist, in HE. Father/husband. Writer. Brightonian/ex-Tokyoite. DJ/podcaster. European. Transitionist. (Occasional) Musician. Not necessarily in that order?
Pinned
Dom Pates
@dompates.bsky.social
· May 20
If #NetZero is the simple but complex slogan to define the story of where we want to get to with #ClimateChange - where the carbon cycle is brought back into balance - what’s the equivalent story slogan for sustainability? #CircularEconomy? #NaturePositive? Or is it too complex to reduce like that?
These 46 images symbolise the global backdrop to the 1st quarter of the 21st century, as I moved from youth to middle age. What tumult we have seen! I move from middle to old age in the 2nd quarter, & the signs suggest more tumult to come. Still shapeable, right?
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
‘The sight of it is still shocking’: 46 photos that tell the story of the century so far
Did the 21st century begin on 1 January 2000? Or was it that blue sky day in September 2001 when the planes hit the twin towers? These images from the last 25 years chronicle modern history in the…
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:50 AM
These 46 images symbolise the global backdrop to the 1st quarter of the 21st century, as I moved from youth to middle age. What tumult we have seen! I move from middle to old age in the 2nd quarter, & the signs suggest more tumult to come. Still shapeable, right?
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Reposted by Dom Pates
absolutely excellent story about the *real* big energy of the decade/millennium unfolding before us
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Accessible, cheap clean energy could spark a new world order
Unshackled from legacy fossil fuel interests, the world’s clean energy future is being forged in the bustling cities of the global south.
www.abc.net.au
November 23, 2025 at 11:00 PM
absolutely excellent story about the *real* big energy of the decade/millennium unfolding before us
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
For any of you still up (or in a different time zone to mine), I’ll be doing a radio show on Christmas Day itself. 23:00 UK time. The theme is ‘This Day In Music’, so although there’ll be some festive music, it’s not all that. Drop by for the curios, stay for the chatroom. ttns.uk
December 25, 2025 at 9:08 PM
For any of you still up (or in a different time zone to mine), I’ll be doing a radio show on Christmas Day itself. 23:00 UK time. The theme is ‘This Day In Music’, so although there’ll be some festive music, it’s not all that. Drop by for the curios, stay for the chatroom. ttns.uk
Finally getting to sort out some of the photos worth sharing that have languished in the archive for a while. Here’s a selection from a visit to ‘The Moonwalkers’ in London’s Lightroom, back in July 2024.
#immersive
www.flickr.com/gp/globalism...
#immersive
www.flickr.com/gp/globalism...
'The Moonwalkers' at Lightroom
Images from a visit to the 'Moonwalkers' exhibit at Lightroom, near King's Cross, in July 2024. From Lightroom's website: 'Tom Hanks narrates an epic experience that offers a unique new perspective on...
www.flickr.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Finally getting to sort out some of the photos worth sharing that have languished in the archive for a while. Here’s a selection from a visit to ‘The Moonwalkers’ in London’s Lightroom, back in July 2024.
#immersive
www.flickr.com/gp/globalism...
#immersive
www.flickr.com/gp/globalism...
I first heard about the challenges Ireland is facing with hyper scale data centres and energy demand in a webinar a few weeks back. Was shocked to hear the speaker talking about the risks of blackouts in Dublin and the possibility of her getting cut off from the call at short notice. #ClimateCrisis
Ireland has one of the world's highest concentrations of data centers. The expansion has reshaped the grid & deepened fossil fuel use. As the EU pushes to triple data center capacity, Ireland offers a warning, writes Louis Boyd-Madsen. Read our investigation with AlgorithmWatch:
What Ireland’s Data Center Crisis Means for the EU’s AI Sovereignty Plans | TechPolicy.Press
Louis Boyd-Madsen traces how a model of unregulated digital growth has outpaced energy planning in Ireland, and why it matters for the EU’s AI ambitions.
buff.ly
December 21, 2025 at 1:38 PM
I first heard about the challenges Ireland is facing with hyper scale data centres and energy demand in a webinar a few weeks back. Was shocked to hear the speaker talking about the risks of blackouts in Dublin and the possibility of her getting cut off from the call at short notice. #ClimateCrisis
Reposted by Dom Pates
My essay on this whole deal.....
Feminism Versus Trump and Epstein
We already knew that Jeffrey Epstein had sexually assaulted and exploited dozens of girls and young women, that he had done so openly, that his dehumanization of the vulnerable had not prevented a who...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:50 PM
My essay on this whole deal.....
Reposted by Dom Pates
Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
December 18, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Reposted by Dom Pates
Oh FFS!
OpenAI has hired former UK chancellor George Osborne to lead the start-up’s work building “democratic” artificial intelligence for the world. He will head of "OpenAI for Countries, an overseas expansion of the $500bn 'Stargate' initiative to build data centers in the US."
OpenAI hires George Osborne to spearhead global ‘Stargate’ expansion
Former UK chancellor to lead start-up’s effort to spread ‘democratic’ AI across the world
www.ft.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Oh FFS!
As profoundly stark as they are, I can fully recommend watching all of these Expert Briefings from the UK’s recent National Emergency Briefing to get a full picture of the climate and nature risks we’re all facing. Without action, that is.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Expert Briefings | The National Emergency Briefing
These are the official expert briefings from the National Emergency Briefing. In this series, the nation’s leading scientists and experts present the unfilte...
youtube.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:55 PM
As profoundly stark as they are, I can fully recommend watching all of these Expert Briefings from the UK’s recent National Emergency Briefing to get a full picture of the climate and nature risks we’re all facing. Without action, that is.
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Reposted by Dom Pates
This is also why we need to change course 180 degrees on INTEGRATION:
If our crisis can be alleviated by welcoming newcomers, then we need strong institutions, courts that treat us with equal human rights, well-resourced schools, all the things the right hates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If our crisis can be alleviated by welcoming newcomers, then we need strong institutions, courts that treat us with equal human rights, well-resourced schools, all the things the right hates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The facts are stark: Europe must open the door to migrants, or face its own extinction | George Monbiot
These are the facts: plummeting birth rates mean that without attracting immigration, many countries are sliding towards collapse, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:24 AM
This is also why we need to change course 180 degrees on INTEGRATION:
If our crisis can be alleviated by welcoming newcomers, then we need strong institutions, courts that treat us with equal human rights, well-resourced schools, all the things the right hates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If our crisis can be alleviated by welcoming newcomers, then we need strong institutions, courts that treat us with equal human rights, well-resourced schools, all the things the right hates www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Dom Pates
We’re excited to share the programme for #ALTC25 Revisited on 25 Feb. Join presentations, discussions & sessions on digital practice, accessibility, user experience, VLEs, video assessment, XR, open education & critical perspectives on AI. Explore: buff.ly/UyBofWB #altc
December 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
We’re excited to share the programme for #ALTC25 Revisited on 25 Feb. Join presentations, discussions & sessions on digital practice, accessibility, user experience, VLEs, video assessment, XR, open education & critical perspectives on AI. Explore: buff.ly/UyBofWB #altc
Reposted by Dom Pates
The designer of Times New Roman, Stanley Morrison, was a conscientious objector in 1916 and was imprisoned for his pacifist beliefs.
These dipshits can't even vice signal without screwing it up.
These dipshits can't even vice signal without screwing it up.
Times New Roman is an imported font, developed for London newspaper The Times in 1931. You know what American-designed font cooked up in 1994 would be perfect for this regime? Comic Sans.
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
December 10, 2025 at 4:44 AM
The designer of Times New Roman, Stanley Morrison, was a conscientious objector in 1916 and was imprisoned for his pacifist beliefs.
These dipshits can't even vice signal without screwing it up.
These dipshits can't even vice signal without screwing it up.
Kinda feel like it’s not too early to suggest holding a complete moratorium on solar geoengineering. Trump’s unlikely to be around long enough for this technology to flourish, but his carbon-soaked successors might be. We need to bring the Oil Age to an end, not prolong it.
#ClimateCrisis
#ClimateCrisis
The Guardian view on solar geoengineering: Africa has a point about this risky technology | Editorial
Editorial: Sun-dimming risks putting the planet’s thermostat under Donald Trump’s control. Better to adopt the precautionary principle with high-stakes science
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Kinda feel like it’s not too early to suggest holding a complete moratorium on solar geoengineering. Trump’s unlikely to be around long enough for this technology to flourish, but his carbon-soaked successors might be. We need to bring the Oil Age to an end, not prolong it.
#ClimateCrisis
#ClimateCrisis
So now the EPA website essentially states that climates changed for natural causes up until the Industrial Revolution but then something else happened (we just can’t say what it was). How bizarre…
It appears that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has, within the past week, scrubbed a large amount of climate change content from its official website, as well as *removed human-caused warming* from the discussion on its "causes of climate change" page.
December 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
So now the EPA website essentially states that climates changed for natural causes up until the Industrial Revolution but then something else happened (we just can’t say what it was). How bizarre…
Well, I was today years old when I discovered that ‘Pablo Picasso’ off Bowie’s ‘Reality’ album is *actually* a Modern Lovers cover. How about that?
December 8, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Well, I was today years old when I discovered that ‘Pablo Picasso’ off Bowie’s ‘Reality’ album is *actually* a Modern Lovers cover. How about that?
Reposted by Dom Pates
#prehistoricplanet behind the scenes! what a great approach! youtu.be/9a5TL30Ug2s?...
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — Season 3: Puppet Behind The Scenes | Apple TV
YouTube video by Apple TV
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 6:08 PM
#prehistoricplanet behind the scenes! what a great approach! youtu.be/9a5TL30Ug2s?...
Finished watching ‘#PrehistoricPlanet - Ice Age’ today, a fascinating selection of tales largely of the mammalian megafauna that roamed the planet before the rise of Homo Sapiens.
So many fabulous beasts, all told in the distinctive ‘wildlife documentary’ style.
tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...
So many fabulous beasts, all told in the distinctive ‘wildlife documentary’ style.
tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...
Watch Prehistoric Planet - Apple TV
Experience the wonders of our world like never before in this epic series from Jon Favreau and the producers of Planet Earth. Travel back to a time wh…
tv.apple.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Finished watching ‘#PrehistoricPlanet - Ice Age’ today, a fascinating selection of tales largely of the mammalian megafauna that roamed the planet before the rise of Homo Sapiens.
So many fabulous beasts, all told in the distinctive ‘wildlife documentary’ style.
tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...
So many fabulous beasts, all told in the distinctive ‘wildlife documentary’ style.
tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...
There may just be a social place in hell reserved for the person that came up with the idea of combining airports with luxury shopping centres. Bah humbug!
December 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM
There may just be a social place in hell reserved for the person that came up with the idea of combining airports with luxury shopping centres. Bah humbug!
Reposted by Dom Pates
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
Reposted by Dom Pates
Could 2026 be the year of public interest technology? We've been doing some thinking at Kinship Works with @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social and co at Careful Industries - what it would take for 2026 to see public interest/civic tech to reach its full potential? Some ideas:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Could 2026 be the year of public interest technology?
Yes — if funders step up
medium.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Could 2026 be the year of public interest technology? We've been doing some thinking at Kinship Works with @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social and co at Careful Industries - what it would take for 2026 to see public interest/civic tech to reach its full potential? Some ideas:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Reposted by Dom Pates
A mega-thread by @torstenbell.bsky.social, author of "Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back" (& Government Minister who hopefully will rise further), on how the government's economic policies are, methodically, focusing on improving productivity & economic growth. Worth reading the whole thing.
Rightly lots of debates about growth this weekend - rightly because it was low productivity growth that saw wages entirely flatline during the 2010s.
November 30, 2025 at 6:24 PM
A mega-thread by @torstenbell.bsky.social, author of "Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back" (& Government Minister who hopefully will rise further), on how the government's economic policies are, methodically, focusing on improving productivity & economic growth. Worth reading the whole thing.
Reposted by Dom Pates
As someone who criticised the government back in January for not having a clear growth strategy it is good to see Torsten set out in plain language what the govt’s strategy is and how it hangs together. This is much better and clearer communication.
That is a lot of tweets. If you got this far you deserve a prize. Reasonable people will debate this growth strategy. But claiming there isn’t one is lazy nonsense. Higher growth matters because rising living standards are the goal, and higher investment is a key tool.
December 1, 2025 at 8:15 AM
As someone who criticised the government back in January for not having a clear growth strategy it is good to see Torsten set out in plain language what the govt’s strategy is and how it hangs together. This is much better and clearer communication.
If you ever needed a glimpse of a possible great use case for #AI beyond filling the human Internet with neoliberal fascist slop, then enabling interspecies communication (such as between whales and humans) is a very solid one. Fascinating article.
Mind-blowingly cool use of AI
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
“Altogether, these findings are leading us to an extraordinary conclusion: Whales may possess a communication system more intricate than our own, one that possibly predates human language by tens of millions of years.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | I’m a Marine Biologist. This Is How I Talk to Whales.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:29 AM
If you ever needed a glimpse of a possible great use case for #AI beyond filling the human Internet with neoliberal fascist slop, then enabling interspecies communication (such as between whales and humans) is a very solid one. Fascinating article.
So often the story on climate leaves us in despair.
But for Prof Jules Pretty, there's plenty of good news after COP30. Solar costs are plunging, EV adoption is soaring and countries choosing renewables are saving billions. The story is turning. Read the good news here ⤵️
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
But for Prof Jules Pretty, there's plenty of good news after COP30. Solar costs are plunging, EV adoption is soaring and countries choosing renewables are saving billions. The story is turning. Read the good news here ⤵️
@eastangliabylines.co.uk
After COP30, what now? It’s actually good news
It’s the shape of story across all ages and human cultures. You’re in a hole. Then you get out
eastangliabylines.co.uk
December 1, 2025 at 8:14 AM