Kate de Selincourt
@katedes.bsky.social
Writer - sustainable building and the environment
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
Good to see #BBCSounds is continuing the idea that women just need an occasional hour of listening- or otherwise their main purpose in life, and death, is to feature as victims of crime. I rarely use it - wonder why - so don’t think this is due to past listening algorithm?
December 30, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Good to see #BBCSounds is continuing the idea that women just need an occasional hour of listening- or otherwise their main purpose in life, and death, is to feature as victims of crime. I rarely use it - wonder why - so don’t think this is due to past listening algorithm?
Fabric is still first if you want to improve comfort, health and affordability Ed. If you are only concerned about carbon sure, go ahead and sideline fabric. But you can expect to see fuel poverty, damp and mould increase. (And don't forget that leakier buildings = more generation & more cables)
Sounds like the end of the 'fabric first' mantra being set out here.
Electrifying homes is the way of the future, with solar panels, batteries and heat pumps being the focus of government subsidy.
Electrifying homes is the way of the future, with solar panels, batteries and heat pumps being the focus of government subsidy.
THE TIMES: Solar grants for millions to cut home energy use #TomorrowsPapersToday
December 30, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Fabric is still first if you want to improve comfort, health and affordability Ed. If you are only concerned about carbon sure, go ahead and sideline fabric. But you can expect to see fuel poverty, damp and mould increase. (And don't forget that leakier buildings = more generation & more cables)
We once sat opposite Will Self on the picnic benches at Bekonscot model village (he looked bored out of his mind - but then when I think about it, it's quite hard to imagine him smiling)
I once answered the phone to Tony Benn.
(He was calling my dad, who wasn’t in. He didn’t leave a message, except to say he’d called.)
(He was calling my dad, who wasn’t in. He didn’t leave a message, except to say he’d called.)
I once made tea for Emma Thompson
December 29, 2025 at 10:51 PM
We once sat opposite Will Self on the picnic benches at Bekonscot model village (he looked bored out of his mind - but then when I think about it, it's quite hard to imagine him smiling)
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
Stop burning fossil fuels.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
December 21, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Stop burning fossil fuels.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
Visitors are coming, so you clean your messy house because your standard of cleanliness is based on the houses you visit, houses that look spotless since they cleaned up before you arrived after seeing your house was clean when they visited.
Together, we can stop this.
Don’t clean up.
Together, we can stop this.
Don’t clean up.
December 19, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Visitors are coming, so you clean your messy house because your standard of cleanliness is based on the houses you visit, houses that look spotless since they cleaned up before you arrived after seeing your house was clean when they visited.
Together, we can stop this.
Don’t clean up.
Together, we can stop this.
Don’t clean up.
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
In my kids majority white primary school they had to deal with a sexually violent messages in WhatsApp group of kids. Pretending that 11 year old white kids don't have a problem is actively dangerous.
This is just utterly disgraceful and dangerous stuff from Badenoch.
It's appalling that the leader of a major party should be engaging in this sort of rhetoric
It's appalling that the leader of a major party should be engaging in this sort of rhetoric
December 19, 2025 at 12:13 AM
In my kids majority white primary school they had to deal with a sexually violent messages in WhatsApp group of kids. Pretending that 11 year old white kids don't have a problem is actively dangerous.
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
I think I found the original source of the 67 meme
December 18, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I think I found the original source of the 67 meme
If you wondered why people so often disable their ventilation, try this handy explainer
December 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
If you wondered why people so often disable their ventilation, try this handy explainer
I know v little (well ok nothing) about international energy markets, but I certainly hear a lot about how cheap renewable energy is /kW installed (or /kWh generated - I said I knew 0). So retreating from the new cheap to the expensive ol way of making energy seems an odd way to increase profits 🤷
December 18, 2025 at 8:16 AM
I know v little (well ok nothing) about international energy markets, but I certainly hear a lot about how cheap renewable energy is /kW installed (or /kWh generated - I said I knew 0). So retreating from the new cheap to the expensive ol way of making energy seems an odd way to increase profits 🤷
Building user satisfaction studies are awfully time consuming to set up and carry out - but looks like the wonders of tech have found us a solution!!
Did you know that from tomorrow, Qualtrics is offering synthetic panels (AI-generated participants)?
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
Follow me down a rabbit hole I'm calling "doing science is tough and I'm so busy, can't we just make up participants?"
December 18, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Building user satisfaction studies are awfully time consuming to set up and carry out - but looks like the wonders of tech have found us a solution!!
I sense my timeline is a bit gripy lately. I do also have a great deal to celebrate. In particular I would like to celebrate the fabulous kindness of my relative's neighbours and carers and the ambulance crew, who were all absolutely amazing, incredible and fantastic this weekend 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖💖💖.
December 16, 2025 at 10:55 AM
I sense my timeline is a bit gripy lately. I do also have a great deal to celebrate. In particular I would like to celebrate the fabulous kindness of my relative's neighbours and carers and the ambulance crew, who were all absolutely amazing, incredible and fantastic this weekend 💖 💖 💖 💖 💖💖💖.
Life in the Cotswolds must be bloody awful if you don't drive a car (From the map of connectivity by public transport, with brown as basically zero, purple still pretty much bugger all. Central Gloucester glows orange and as you would expect, London is a fiery red.)
December 11, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Life in the Cotswolds must be bloody awful if you don't drive a car (From the map of connectivity by public transport, with brown as basically zero, purple still pretty much bugger all. Central Gloucester glows orange and as you would expect, London is a fiery red.)
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
Google TV advert: ask your phone which flowers to get and how long they will last. When the florist is STANDING RIGHT THERE.
December 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Google TV advert: ask your phone which flowers to get and how long they will last. When the florist is STANDING RIGHT THERE.
One of the lovely things about being dead must be never having to try - and fail after repeated attempts - to log in to Anything Ever Again.
December 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
One of the lovely things about being dead must be never having to try - and fail after repeated attempts - to log in to Anything Ever Again.
Nice.
Home Office Ministers state publicly, on the record, that they are deliberately making life worse for older people and people with disabilities who depend on care services, but it's worth it because it reduces net migration.
December 10, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Nice.
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
The relative contribution of close-proximity contacts, shared classroom exposure and indoor air quality to respiratory virus transmission in schools - Nature Communications
The relative importance of close-proximity interactions, shared space and air quality to the transmission of respiratory viruses is not well understood. Here, the authors investigate this question by ...
www.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
We're half a decade into studies finding that improving airflow in classrooms will reduce disease transmission enormously, and that bleaching surfaces etc. does very little. And yet nothing changes. Waves of flu and colds wash over schools, and the schools pretend it's an act of God.
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
In case it wasn't already obvious why Farage and his party are spreading misinformation about the climate crisis and trying to blame the most vulnerable for the problems caused by inequality - they've just received a record donation from a jet fuel multimillionaire!
December 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
In case it wasn't already obvious why Farage and his party are spreading misinformation about the climate crisis and trying to blame the most vulnerable for the problems caused by inequality - they've just received a record donation from a jet fuel multimillionaire!
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
December 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
One of my most favourite glass vessels: A marvellous Roman vessel in the form of a pig, made of blue glass. It was used to hold ointment or perfume.
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Found in a burial in Cologne. Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
📷 Römisch-Germanisches Museum Köln
🏺 #archaeology
Overreacting much? 😂
Sorry LinkedIn, but did none of you notice that an email subject line "You have an invitation" either sounds like a furniture company trying to pretend a discount on their over-ornate easy chairs is in some way exclusive, or else something a bit - creepy?
December 5, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Overreacting much? 😂
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
"Why do we put hurdles in the way of the people that are actually going to drive our economy? It makes zero sense."
Prof Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning scientist, says the UK's scientific future is being put at risk
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Prof Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning scientist, says the UK's scientific future is being put at risk
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Top UK scientist says research visa restrictions endanger economy
Prof Sir Paul Nurse says the UK is
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 7:34 AM
"Why do we put hurdles in the way of the people that are actually going to drive our economy? It makes zero sense."
Prof Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning scientist, says the UK's scientific future is being put at risk
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Prof Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel prize winning scientist, says the UK's scientific future is being put at risk
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sorry LinkedIn, but did none of you notice that an email subject line "You have an invitation" either sounds like a furniture company trying to pretend a discount on their over-ornate easy chairs is in some way exclusive, or else something a bit - creepy?
December 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Sorry LinkedIn, but did none of you notice that an email subject line "You have an invitation" either sounds like a furniture company trying to pretend a discount on their over-ornate easy chairs is in some way exclusive, or else something a bit - creepy?
Reposted by Kate de Selincourt
it's wild how the positive use cases are like "save 5 minutes reading a long doc" and "write a generic email faster" and the negative use cases are "get encouraged to dive deeper in psychosis, misogyny, or suicidal thoughts" and we're still on the fence about overall value
New from 404 Media: ChatGPT told a violent stalker to continue running his misogynistic and threat-filled podcast despite the “haters,” and to visit more gyms to find women. The man stalked women in multiple states, including touching and following from work
www.404media.co/chatgpt-spot...
www.404media.co/chatgpt-spot...
ChatGPT Told a Violent Stalker to Embrace the 'Haters,' Indictment Says
A newly filed indictment claims a wannabe influencer used ChatGPT as his "therapist" and "best friend" in his pursuit of the "wife type," while harassing women so aggressively they had to miss work a...
www.404media.co
December 3, 2025 at 6:17 PM
it's wild how the positive use cases are like "save 5 minutes reading a long doc" and "write a generic email faster" and the negative use cases are "get encouraged to dive deeper in psychosis, misogyny, or suicidal thoughts" and we're still on the fence about overall value
Disgraceful.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Sarah Everard report part two: a catalogue of repeated and preventable failures | Joan Smith
So many reviews, so much hand-wringing, yet misogyny in England and Wales’s police forces and impunity for offenders remains the norm, says Joan Smith, former co-chair of the Mayor of London’s VAWG Bo...
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Disgraceful.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...