Mike Prior-Jones
@drmikepj.bsky.social
Glaciologist and electronic engineer at Cardiff University. Current designer of #cryoegg and #cryowurst. UKRI Future Leaders Fellow.
🏳️🌈(he,him)
🏳️🌈(he,him)
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Excellent piece with echoes of Dickens, perfect New Year reading:
Set out six months ago to investigative some dubious evictions. Ended up writing a sprawling story spread over 450 years about London property deals, the ethics of money lending, Tommy Robinson, Barbary pirates, Jacobean earls, and wealth in the capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/henry-smit...
A Tale Of One City And Two Henry Smiths
These two London landlords are separated by four centuries — but joined by a common name and business interests.
www.londoncentric.media
January 1, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Excellent piece with echoes of Dickens, perfect New Year reading:
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
#353, Dungeness, Kent, 19/04/2009
I desperately need a Dungeness revisit, it's been too long since I've experienced its fabulous bizarreness.
#photography #dungeness #kent #seaside
I desperately need a Dungeness revisit, it's been too long since I've experienced its fabulous bizarreness.
#photography #dungeness #kent #seaside
December 19, 2025 at 6:01 PM
#353, Dungeness, Kent, 19/04/2009
I desperately need a Dungeness revisit, it's been too long since I've experienced its fabulous bizarreness.
#photography #dungeness #kent #seaside
I desperately need a Dungeness revisit, it's been too long since I've experienced its fabulous bizarreness.
#photography #dungeness #kent #seaside
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
These are adorable
A pair of happy hammerhead sharks
(ca. 1735 Edo period Japan)
(ca. 1735 Edo period Japan)
December 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
These are adorable
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
It's less weird than it used to be on Teh Internets, but at least I can still find someone writing in detail about the Edwardian phenomenon of dying from banana-peel accidents.
londonist.substack.com/p/londons-fo...
londonist.substack.com/p/londons-fo...
London's Forgotten Banana Nuisance
Death by banana skin.
londonist.substack.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:46 PM
It's less weird than it used to be on Teh Internets, but at least I can still find someone writing in detail about the Edwardian phenomenon of dying from banana-peel accidents.
londonist.substack.com/p/londons-fo...
londonist.substack.com/p/londons-fo...
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Since we're doing origin story books, I got this one along with a BBC Micro for Christmas 1983 which started me off on my current career.
December 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Since we're doing origin story books, I got this one along with a BBC Micro for Christmas 1983 which started me off on my current career.
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
The flying Tiger
The flying tiger
He destroyed his rubbish cage
Yes
YES
The flying tiger is OUT!
The flying tiger
He destroyed his rubbish cage
Yes
YES
The flying tiger is OUT!
December 24, 2025 at 2:07 PM
The flying Tiger
The flying tiger
He destroyed his rubbish cage
Yes
YES
The flying tiger is OUT!
The flying tiger
He destroyed his rubbish cage
Yes
YES
The flying tiger is OUT!
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
The very rarely-seen #journalese quadfecta. This is a back bench at the top of its game.
December 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The very rarely-seen #journalese quadfecta. This is a back bench at the top of its game.
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
December 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
🍰🔬 The festivities continued with the Bake Your Science competition, and this year’s submissions were truly stellar! ⭐ Now it’s time to vote for your favorite!
1. Alaskan permafrost cake
2. Lötschental 1927-2025 cookies
1. Alaskan permafrost cake
2. Lötschental 1927-2025 cookies
December 21, 2025 at 11:19 AM
🍰🔬 The festivities continued with the Bake Your Science competition, and this year’s submissions were truly stellar! ⭐ Now it’s time to vote for your favorite!
1. Alaskan permafrost cake
2. Lötschental 1927-2025 cookies
1. Alaskan permafrost cake
2. Lötschental 1927-2025 cookies
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
"How can funders avoid crossing the Szilard point?"
The Szilard point is "the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding."
The Szilard point is "the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding."
Point of no returns: researchers are crossing a threshold in the fight for funding
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
www.nature.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:57 AM
"How can funders avoid crossing the Szilard point?"
The Szilard point is "the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding."
The Szilard point is "the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding."
Here's a video providing an overview of our Solar Regulators paper that came out this week - this is from an online meeting back in 2022.
youtu.be/SBGHljuCwKU?...
youtu.be/SBGHljuCwKU?...
December 19, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Here's a video providing an overview of our Solar Regulators paper that came out this week - this is from an online meeting back in 2022.
youtu.be/SBGHljuCwKU?...
youtu.be/SBGHljuCwKU?...
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Do you know how bad your accounts have to be for an auditor to say that last bit publicly?
Yikes!
December 18, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Do you know how bad your accounts have to be for an auditor to say that last bit publicly?
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
I know many of you who follow me don't work in climate science, but this is the biggest story in climate right now. Breaking up NCAR makes us all less safe and is another act of self-harm that will take decades to recover from.
Trump administration to dismantle key climate research center
Russell Vought, who directs the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced plans to split up the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, citing concerns about “clima...
wapo.st
December 17, 2025 at 4:17 PM
I know many of you who follow me don't work in climate science, but this is the biggest story in climate right now. Breaking up NCAR makes us all less safe and is another act of self-harm that will take decades to recover from.
Do you build solar-powered instruments for use in the polar regions? We have a new paper out - it shows that some solar regulators are very wasteful of your battery power during the night, and some even have misleading datasheets…
Free to read: doi.org/10.5194/gi-1...
Free to read: doi.org/10.5194/gi-1...
Solar regulators for polar instrumentation: why night consumption matters
Abstract. Autonomous instruments, powered using solar panels and batteries, are a vital tool for long-term scientific observation of the polar regions. However, winter conditions, with low…
doi.org
December 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Do you build solar-powered instruments for use in the polar regions? We have a new paper out - it shows that some solar regulators are very wasteful of your battery power during the night, and some even have misleading datasheets…
Free to read: doi.org/10.5194/gi-1...
Free to read: doi.org/10.5194/gi-1...
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
I love that on the day of the #AGU25 #MacGyver session in Hydrology (today! come to the poster hall!) this work by @drmikepj.bsky.social was published that he presented in a previous MacGyver session gi.copernicus.org/articles/14/...
Why night consumption of solar regulators matter for fieldwork!
Why night consumption of solar regulators matter for fieldwork!
Solar regulators for polar instrumentation: why night consumption matters
Abstract. Autonomous instruments, powered using solar panels and batteries, are a vital tool for long-term scientific observation of the polar regions. However, winter conditions, with low temperature...
gi.copernicus.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I love that on the day of the #AGU25 #MacGyver session in Hydrology (today! come to the poster hall!) this work by @drmikepj.bsky.social was published that he presented in a previous MacGyver session gi.copernicus.org/articles/14/...
Why night consumption of solar regulators matter for fieldwork!
Why night consumption of solar regulators matter for fieldwork!
A tip / annoyance for those working in a Microsoft environment: MS have done their classic thing of favouring their own product. If you find that you are having login issues with MS websites in Chrome, Firefox or any other third-party browser, try seeing if it works in Edge.
December 15, 2025 at 9:46 AM
A tip / annoyance for those working in a Microsoft environment: MS have done their classic thing of favouring their own product. If you find that you are having login issues with MS websites in Chrome, Firefox or any other third-party browser, try seeing if it works in Edge.
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
I lived thru the end of public smoking. Early in my career I presented to city councils who were smoking, in front of audiences who were smoking.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
It’s crazy that people used to be able to just smoke cigarettes wherever they wanted
December 15, 2025 at 8:04 AM
I lived thru the end of public smoking. Early in my career I presented to city councils who were smoking, in front of audiences who were smoking.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
Something I love at this time of year: Emile Waldteufel’s “Les Patineuses” (aka The Skaters’ Waltz) youtu.be/pyvkmLuPOrI?...
Some years ago I heard this on the radio and it prodded a deep memory: where had I heard it before?
Some years ago I heard this on the radio and it prodded a deep memory: where had I heard it before?
[디토 오케스트라] 발트토이펠: 스케이터 왈츠 Emile Waldteufel: The Skater's Waltz
Emile Waldteufel The Skater's Waltz (2013 Christmas Concert)
DITTO Orchestra
youtu.be
December 14, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Something I love at this time of year: Emile Waldteufel’s “Les Patineuses” (aka The Skaters’ Waltz) youtu.be/pyvkmLuPOrI?...
Some years ago I heard this on the radio and it prodded a deep memory: where had I heard it before?
Some years ago I heard this on the radio and it prodded a deep memory: where had I heard it before?
It’s the time of the year for the English Christmas Markets sketch! youtu.be/f6m9tvs3PhU?...
Why The Germans Can't Get Enough Of English Markets
YouTube video by The Poke
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 7:14 PM
It’s the time of the year for the English Christmas Markets sketch! youtu.be/f6m9tvs3PhU?...
Ah, the three genders....
December 13, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Ah, the three genders....
I'm not a huge fan of Substack but I tolerate it. However, a recent innovation seems to be a "this post is too big for email" banner designed to increase click-through conversions and app interaction stats. Dishonest and unncessary. (and yes, I'm aware that Substack has many worse issues).
December 13, 2025 at 3:44 PM
I'm not a huge fan of Substack but I tolerate it. However, a recent innovation seems to be a "this post is too big for email" banner designed to increase click-through conversions and app interaction stats. Dishonest and unncessary. (and yes, I'm aware that Substack has many worse issues).
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Post of the year
December 10, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Post of the year
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
Grad student Tanner May has a new fun paper out in the Journal of Glaciology that is kind of magical. The magic trick that Tanner performs is that he manages to estimate thickness of glaciers using only surface elevations and nothing else.
This shouldn't work, but it does. Let me tell you why.
This shouldn't work, but it does. Let me tell you why.
Estimating glacier ice thickness and yield strength using surface elevation and the perfect-plastic approximation | Journal of Glaciology | Cambridge Core
Estimating glacier ice thickness and yield strength using surface elevation and the perfect-plastic approximation - Volume 71
www.cambridge.org
December 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Grad student Tanner May has a new fun paper out in the Journal of Glaciology that is kind of magical. The magic trick that Tanner performs is that he manages to estimate thickness of glaciers using only surface elevations and nothing else.
This shouldn't work, but it does. Let me tell you why.
This shouldn't work, but it does. Let me tell you why.
Reposted by Mike Prior-Jones
There’s been some controversy over the use of phonics to teach reading in English schools, but I guess we should be grateful that this method never took hold over here:
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
December 9, 2025 at 6:28 AM
There’s been some controversy over the use of phonics to teach reading in English schools, but I guess we should be grateful that this method never took hold over here: