Philippa Lang
@philippalang1.bsky.social
Fond of guinea pigs, likes to write (https://amzn.eu/d/fhv1F4L), obsessive about Tolkien and the Beatles. Spent a couple of decades as an academic classicist & those books are here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Philippa%20Lang/author/B00AZMPYTK/allbooks
Reposted by Philippa Lang
I don't need to make more nonsense than I'm already making but heavens alive this makes me want to make more nonsense than I'm already making
A book from the 19th century that depicts the Rhine Valley by creating an impression of three-dimensionality and spatial distance.
@MasayukiTsuda2 #globalmuseum #books #travel #19thcentury
@MasayukiTsuda2 #globalmuseum #books #travel #19thcentury
December 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I don't need to make more nonsense than I'm already making but heavens alive this makes me want to make more nonsense than I'm already making
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Opportunities to transform nature don’t get much bigger than this!
We have the opportunity to conserve 340 acres (138 hectares) of biodiverse countryside surrounding the Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset.
We have the opportunity to conserve 340 acres (138 hectares) of biodiverse countryside surrounding the Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset.
December 3, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Opportunities to transform nature don’t get much bigger than this!
We have the opportunity to conserve 340 acres (138 hectares) of biodiverse countryside surrounding the Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset.
We have the opportunity to conserve 340 acres (138 hectares) of biodiverse countryside surrounding the Cerne Abbas Giant, Dorset.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
November 26, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Become a co-owner of #EuropeanSleeper and get a free ticket for our first night train from Paris to Berlin!
Buy 7 or more shares (min. €980) and receive an invitation for a free return ticket on the very first festive departure.
More info 👉️ www.europeansleeper.eu/invest
Buy 7 or more shares (min. €980) and receive an invitation for a free return ticket on the very first festive departure.
More info 👉️ www.europeansleeper.eu/invest
November 18, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Become a co-owner of #EuropeanSleeper and get a free ticket for our first night train from Paris to Berlin!
Buy 7 or more shares (min. €980) and receive an invitation for a free return ticket on the very first festive departure.
More info 👉️ www.europeansleeper.eu/invest
Buy 7 or more shares (min. €980) and receive an invitation for a free return ticket on the very first festive departure.
More info 👉️ www.europeansleeper.eu/invest
Reposted by Philippa Lang
The serpent head of the Oseberg Viking ship, carved in 820, and shown for the first time to the public in the Oslo Historical Museum
November 18, 2025 at 10:35 AM
The serpent head of the Oseberg Viking ship, carved in 820, and shown for the first time to the public in the Oslo Historical Museum
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Detail of Elizabeth I’s extravagant farthingale-flared dress, with embroidery attributed to Bess of Hardwick, featuring insects, animals, snakes, fish (& a dragon), intermingled with pearls, roses, irises & Elizabeth’s favourite pansies (Hilliard studio, 1590s)
November 17, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Detail of Elizabeth I’s extravagant farthingale-flared dress, with embroidery attributed to Bess of Hardwick, featuring insects, animals, snakes, fish (& a dragon), intermingled with pearls, roses, irises & Elizabeth’s favourite pansies (Hilliard studio, 1590s)
Reposted by Philippa Lang
The first episode of The Clangers was originally broadcast on this day in 1969.
November 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The first episode of The Clangers was originally broadcast on this day in 1969.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
What if cities redirected rainwater into long pits of native plants that could use the water to improve growth, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere; increasing biodiversity, and creating habitats for wildlife, instead of flooding people’s homes down river and creating more pollution.
Finally got the chance to see this sustainable drainage channel in Bristol doing its thing during some heavy rain
November 16, 2025 at 9:17 AM
What if cities redirected rainwater into long pits of native plants that could use the water to improve growth, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere; increasing biodiversity, and creating habitats for wildlife, instead of flooding people’s homes down river and creating more pollution.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
November 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
My book 'The Tree of Life' is published in the USA and Canada today.
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
Available as book, on kindle and as audio.
I would be really grateful for reposts.
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.amazon.ca/Tree-Life-So...
y-axis starts at 30 hours
A bit long term, but my favourite version of "how poor the past was" is in this chart.
Working hours go up (peaking at a 66 hour week), real wages go right.
Working hours go up (peaking at a 66 hour week), real wages go right.
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
y-axis starts at 30 hours
Reposted by Philippa Lang
What happened when I dug into some of the key studies and ideas quoted in The Tipping Point and its sequel… kucharski.substack.com/p/the-real-r...
November 9, 2025 at 1:44 PM
What happened when I dug into some of the key studies and ideas quoted in The Tipping Point and its sequel… kucharski.substack.com/p/the-real-r...
Reposted by Philippa Lang
For #AncientSiteSunday the #Hellenistic theatre at Pergamon, #Türkiye, built in the 3rd century BC, alterations were made in the #Roman period. It's one of the steepest known ancient theatres. The capacity was about 10,000 spectators.
📷 C. Bredfeldt
🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology
📷 C. Bredfeldt
🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology
November 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
For #AncientSiteSunday the #Hellenistic theatre at Pergamon, #Türkiye, built in the 3rd century BC, alterations were made in the #Roman period. It's one of the steepest known ancient theatres. The capacity was about 10,000 spectators.
📷 C. Bredfeldt
🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology
📷 C. Bredfeldt
🏺 AncientBluesky #archaeology
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Happy 423 years of us! 🎉 📚
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
November 8, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Happy 423 years of us! 🎉 📚
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
The Bodleian Libraries opened for the first time on 8 November 1602...
This means, we're older than the refracting telescope (1608), the publication of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1623) and Sir Isaac Newton's apple (1666)! 😅
Reposted by Philippa Lang
It seems this can't be emphasized enough. Chatbots and LLMs do not make mistakes (excepting any bugs in the code). They do not lie. They do not blackmail or cheat. They follow statistics. When the people who build these systems don't tell you this, they are either deluded or trying to mislead.
When a chatbot gets something wrong, it’s not because it made an error. It’s because on that roll of the dice, it happened to string together a group of words that, when read by a human, represents something false. But it was working entirely as designed. It was supposed to make a sentence & it did.
November 6, 2025 at 11:34 AM
It seems this can't be emphasized enough. Chatbots and LLMs do not make mistakes (excepting any bugs in the code). They do not lie. They do not blackmail or cheat. They follow statistics. When the people who build these systems don't tell you this, they are either deluded or trying to mislead.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Does @stevenc63.bsky.social have one of these, I wonder? (From Lucius Books’ catalogue)
November 3, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Does @stevenc63.bsky.social have one of these, I wonder? (From Lucius Books’ catalogue)
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Image of the Sun.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
November 1, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Image of the Sun.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Taken at night.
Not looking up at sky but down through 8000 miles of rock to the other side of the Earth.
Not with light but neutrinos.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Updated thread on The Lost King film:
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
October 31, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Updated thread on The Lost King film:
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
I’m digging over old ground but I have to challenge Steve Coogan's line. He claims it’s all true (as has Philippa Langley): Langley will be celebrated for her achievement, Richard Taylor & his personal gripes will be forgotten
So what’s the real story? 1/15
Reposted by Philippa Lang
AXA and Ipsos have published the 12th edition of the Future Risks Report, a report based on a global survey of 23,000 citizens and 3,595 risk experts.
What do both experts and citizens rank as greates risk?
*** Climate change ***
So do I, after over 35 years experience in climate science.
What do both experts and citizens rank as greates risk?
*** Climate change ***
So do I, after over 35 years experience in climate science.
October 31, 2025 at 9:41 AM
AXA and Ipsos have published the 12th edition of the Future Risks Report, a report based on a global survey of 23,000 citizens and 3,595 risk experts.
What do both experts and citizens rank as greates risk?
*** Climate change ***
So do I, after over 35 years experience in climate science.
What do both experts and citizens rank as greates risk?
*** Climate change ***
So do I, after over 35 years experience in climate science.
Reposted by Philippa Lang
The light over the Atlantic coast of Ireland is like nowhere else on Earth 🌎
October 26, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The light over the Atlantic coast of Ireland is like nowhere else on Earth 🌎
Reposted by Philippa Lang
Reposted by Philippa Lang
HiPOD: Sand Waves of Southern Mars
Dune-like sandy landforms (or bedforms) self-organize into distinct shapes and patterns as dictated by wind conditions and other factors.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_058085_1245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
Dune-like sandy landforms (or bedforms) self-organize into distinct shapes and patterns as dictated by wind conditions and other factors.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_058085_1245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
October 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
HiPOD: Sand Waves of Southern Mars
Dune-like sandy landforms (or bedforms) self-organize into distinct shapes and patterns as dictated by wind conditions and other factors.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_058085_1245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
Dune-like sandy landforms (or bedforms) self-organize into distinct shapes and patterns as dictated by wind conditions and other factors.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_058085_1245
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
(4) is so much better than the limiting “write what you know”
C.S. Lewis responding to a letter from an American schoolgirl asking him for some writing advice.
(Worth reading? ✅️)
(Worth reading? ✅️)
October 25, 2025 at 9:30 AM
(4) is so much better than the limiting “write what you know”