Rhys Blakely
@rhysblakely.bsky.social
Science reporter for The Times. Tips always welcome. rhys.blakely@thetimes.co.uk
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
🚨 Imposter alert 🚨
Studies into everything from cancer and HIV being plagued by "fraudulent" participants
Includes people pretending to have the diseases
It's undermining the reliability of trials and potentially harming patients
Stark warning here:
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Studies into everything from cancer and HIV being plagued by "fraudulent" participants
Includes people pretending to have the diseases
It's undermining the reliability of trials and potentially harming patients
Stark warning here:
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Is this response real? Imposters are putting health studies at risk
Automated bots and people lying about their conditions risk skewing the results of medical research, Oxford academics have warned
www.thetimes.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:44 AM
🚨 Imposter alert 🚨
Studies into everything from cancer and HIV being plagued by "fraudulent" participants
Includes people pretending to have the diseases
It's undermining the reliability of trials and potentially harming patients
Stark warning here:
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Studies into everything from cancer and HIV being plagued by "fraudulent" participants
Includes people pretending to have the diseases
It's undermining the reliability of trials and potentially harming patients
Stark warning here:
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Pleased to have my investigation into the impacts of upheavals at US research agencies on UK universities picked up by @rhysblakely.bsky.social for The Times
Exclusive for @resprofnews.bsky.social: US research agency upheaval costs UK universities millions
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Exclusive for @resprofnews.bsky.social: US research agency upheaval costs UK universities millions
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Trump cuts to cost UK universities millions in research funding
Executive orders freezing billions of dollars in science grants have disrupted more than 30 health projects in Britain
www.thetimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Pleased to have my investigation into the impacts of upheavals at US research agencies on UK universities picked up by @rhysblakely.bsky.social for The Times
Exclusive for @resprofnews.bsky.social: US research agency upheaval costs UK universities millions
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Exclusive for @resprofnews.bsky.social: US research agency upheaval costs UK universities millions
www.thetimes.com/uk/education...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
"Scholars will not be able to resist speculating. Could this portrait have been a gift from Southampton to Shakespeare? … no other man of the time cultivated as androgynous an image."
@rhysblakely.bsky.social reports a portrait miniature with a hidden secret:
www.thetimes.com/article/ba9c...
@rhysblakely.bsky.social reports a portrait miniature with a hidden secret:
www.thetimes.com/article/ba9c...
Lost portrait ‘may show Shakespeare’s secret male lover’
Does a newly discovered miniature believed to be of the poet’s first patron hint at a doomed love affair?
www.thetimes.com
September 5, 2025 at 8:02 AM
"Scholars will not be able to resist speculating. Could this portrait have been a gift from Southampton to Shakespeare? … no other man of the time cultivated as androgynous an image."
@rhysblakely.bsky.social reports a portrait miniature with a hidden secret:
www.thetimes.com/article/ba9c...
@rhysblakely.bsky.social reports a portrait miniature with a hidden secret:
www.thetimes.com/article/ba9c...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Incredible.
Roland Reisley is 101 years old, the last original client of Frank Lloyd Wright. He still lives in the 3,200 square foot home that Wright built for him in 1952.
The price? $40,000. Or a little less than half a million in today's money.
Roland Reisley is 101 years old, the last original client of Frank Lloyd Wright. He still lives in the 3,200 square foot home that Wright built for him in 1952.
The price? $40,000. Or a little less than half a million in today's money.
August 10, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Incredible.
Roland Reisley is 101 years old, the last original client of Frank Lloyd Wright. He still lives in the 3,200 square foot home that Wright built for him in 1952.
The price? $40,000. Or a little less than half a million in today's money.
Roland Reisley is 101 years old, the last original client of Frank Lloyd Wright. He still lives in the 3,200 square foot home that Wright built for him in 1952.
The price? $40,000. Or a little less than half a million in today's money.
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Important reporting from Gaza:
‘There is nothing to buy’: Gaza’s descent into mass starvation
Israel’s offensive and aid curbs tip enclave of 2.1mn Palestinians into famine
www.ft.com
July 26, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Important reporting from Gaza:
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science
Too poor to science: How wealth determines who succeeds in STEM
From student to researcher, a career in science can come with a high price tag. This Perspective explores how persistent financial barriers limit who can succeed in science, revealing how wealth shape...
journals.plos.org
June 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
I've wanted to write this article for years. About my and other's struggles to even survive sometime in #academia. Thank you to the amazing editors at @plosbiology.org that gave me the forum to write this piece. #science
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
My FoIs reveal that the Trump administration has halted more than 20 projects at UK Russell Group universities including one on forced child begging in Niger.
One researcher whose project was affected tells me they “felt like their funding had been used as a pawn”.
One researcher whose project was affected tells me they “felt like their funding had been used as a pawn”.
Exclusive: Trump administration axes UK university research projects.
More than 20 projects at Russell Group institutions halted, freedom of information requests reveal.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
More than 20 projects at Russell Group institutions halted, freedom of information requests reveal.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
June 25, 2025 at 9:06 AM
My FoIs reveal that the Trump administration has halted more than 20 projects at UK Russell Group universities including one on forced child begging in Niger.
One researcher whose project was affected tells me they “felt like their funding had been used as a pawn”.
One researcher whose project was affected tells me they “felt like their funding had been used as a pawn”.
.@adambell.bsky.social -- Hi Adam, Do you have a moment to talk to The Times about Pain/Portugal? Please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks - Rhys rhys.blakely@the-times.co.uk
April 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
.@adambell.bsky.social -- Hi Adam, Do you have a moment to talk to The Times about Pain/Portugal? Please let me know as soon as you can. Thanks - Rhys rhys.blakely@the-times.co.uk
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
‘In the century to 2010-12, life expectancy increased by nearly three years every decade. Between 2011-18 it increased by only 0.4 years for males and 0.2 years for females - and it was virtually flat between 2014 & 2018.’
Big piece from @rhysblakely.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/article/9aee...
Big piece from @rhysblakely.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/article/9aee...
April 21, 2025 at 7:16 AM
‘In the century to 2010-12, life expectancy increased by nearly three years every decade. Between 2011-18 it increased by only 0.4 years for males and 0.2 years for females - and it was virtually flat between 2014 & 2018.’
Big piece from @rhysblakely.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/article/9aee...
Big piece from @rhysblakely.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/article/9aee...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
“Just looking at these neurons shows you their detail and scale in a way that makes you appreciate the brain with a sense of awe.” - Forrest Collman
@rhysblakely.bsky.social for @thetimes.com dives into the most complete map yet of the brain's wiring & activity: www.thetimes.com/article/94bc...
🧠📈
@rhysblakely.bsky.social for @thetimes.com dives into the most complete map yet of the brain's wiring & activity: www.thetimes.com/article/94bc...
🧠📈
New map of brain hailed as watershed for neuroscience
Researchers reveal 2.5 miles of neural wiring, nearly 100,000 nerve cells and 500 million synapses — in a speck of a mouse’s brain no bigger than a grain of sand
www.thetimes.com
April 15, 2025 at 9:16 PM
“Just looking at these neurons shows you their detail and scale in a way that makes you appreciate the brain with a sense of awe.” - Forrest Collman
@rhysblakely.bsky.social for @thetimes.com dives into the most complete map yet of the brain's wiring & activity: www.thetimes.com/article/94bc...
🧠📈
@rhysblakely.bsky.social for @thetimes.com dives into the most complete map yet of the brain's wiring & activity: www.thetimes.com/article/94bc...
🧠📈
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
What Earth’s biggest animals could teach us about beating cancer 📰(£)
Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely.bsky.social) @thetimes.com writes about Alex Cagan's (@atjcagan.bsky.social) work exploring cancer resistance across the animal kingdom ⤵️
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely.bsky.social) @thetimes.com writes about Alex Cagan's (@atjcagan.bsky.social) work exploring cancer resistance across the animal kingdom ⤵️
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
What Earth’s biggest animals could teach us about beating cancer
Giant whales rarely get cancer, defying medical expectations. New research is revealing their secrets, offering hope for human treatments
www.thetimes.com
March 31, 2025 at 8:13 AM
What Earth’s biggest animals could teach us about beating cancer 📰(£)
Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely.bsky.social) @thetimes.com writes about Alex Cagan's (@atjcagan.bsky.social) work exploring cancer resistance across the animal kingdom ⤵️
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Rhys Blakely (@rhysblakely.bsky.social) @thetimes.com writes about Alex Cagan's (@atjcagan.bsky.social) work exploring cancer resistance across the animal kingdom ⤵️
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Terrified of public speaking? I've written about a free virtual reality platform from Cambridge University that could help you conquer your fears -- and the article is free to read, with The Times paywall down this weekend....
www.thetimes.com/article/dc9c...
www.thetimes.com/article/dc9c...
Can a virtual reality headset cure your fear of public speaking?
A device that simulates even the most intimidating of audiences can make presentations less of an ordeal, a Cambridge scientist explains
www.thetimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Terrified of public speaking? I've written about a free virtual reality platform from Cambridge University that could help you conquer your fears -- and the article is free to read, with The Times paywall down this weekend....
www.thetimes.com/article/dc9c...
www.thetimes.com/article/dc9c...
The Times is free to read this weekend, with the paywall taken down. Here's something I've helped to write on the likely impact of US and UK foreign aid cuts....
www.thetimes.com/article/fd77...
www.thetimes.com/article/fd77...
Foreign aid: how US-UK cuts could change the world by accident
Trump and Musk have upended lifesaving work overnight and Britain is due to follow suit by shrinking its budget. Who profits?
www.thetimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The Times is free to read this weekend, with the paywall taken down. Here's something I've helped to write on the likely impact of US and UK foreign aid cuts....
www.thetimes.com/article/fd77...
www.thetimes.com/article/fd77...
Interesting twist on Doctorow's law of enshittification....
We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now - on.ft.com/3ZlwHf5 via @FT
We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now - on.ft.com/3ZlwHf5 via @FT
We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now
Borne along on the tide of technology, it is far too easy to forget that some things really were better quality in the past
on.ft.com
December 3, 2024 at 8:45 PM
Interesting twist on Doctorow's law of enshittification....
We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now - on.ft.com/3ZlwHf5 via @FT
We’re all suffering from qualitynesia now - on.ft.com/3ZlwHf5 via @FT
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Interested in reading about science and health? ⚛️⚕️
Do follow my colleagues at @thetimes.com:
Science Editor: @whippletom.bsky.social
Science Correspondent: @rhysblakely.bsky.social
Health Editor: @eleanorhayward.bsky.social
Health Correspondent: @poppykoronka.bsky.social
Do follow my colleagues at @thetimes.com:
Science Editor: @whippletom.bsky.social
Science Correspondent: @rhysblakely.bsky.social
Health Editor: @eleanorhayward.bsky.social
Health Correspondent: @poppykoronka.bsky.social
November 27, 2024 at 12:20 PM
Interested in reading about science and health? ⚛️⚕️
Do follow my colleagues at @thetimes.com:
Science Editor: @whippletom.bsky.social
Science Correspondent: @rhysblakely.bsky.social
Health Editor: @eleanorhayward.bsky.social
Health Correspondent: @poppykoronka.bsky.social
Do follow my colleagues at @thetimes.com:
Science Editor: @whippletom.bsky.social
Science Correspondent: @rhysblakely.bsky.social
Health Editor: @eleanorhayward.bsky.social
Health Correspondent: @poppykoronka.bsky.social
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
A person on a bicycle is by far the most energy-efficient among animals and machines per distance traveled relative to body weight. The bicycle is magic.
www.jstor.org/stable/24923...
www.jstor.org/stable/24923...
November 24, 2024 at 11:12 PM
A person on a bicycle is by far the most energy-efficient among animals and machines per distance traveled relative to body weight. The bicycle is magic.
www.jstor.org/stable/24923...
www.jstor.org/stable/24923...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Royal Society fellow Dorothy Bishop (@deevybee.bsky.social) resigns over Elon Musk membership.
Bishop claims Musk has violated RS code of conduct, and is not prepared to treat him "collegially and with courtesy" as that code requires. Free to read.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Bishop claims Musk has violated RS code of conduct, and is not prepared to treat him "collegially and with courtesy" as that code requires. Free to read.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
November 25, 2024 at 1:08 PM
Royal Society fellow Dorothy Bishop (@deevybee.bsky.social) resigns over Elon Musk membership.
Bishop claims Musk has violated RS code of conduct, and is not prepared to treat him "collegially and with courtesy" as that code requires. Free to read.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Bishop claims Musk has violated RS code of conduct, and is not prepared to treat him "collegially and with courtesy" as that code requires. Free to read.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
The world’s largest known coral has been discovered in the Solomon Islands after a National Geographic/Pristine Seas expedition. The Pavona clavus measures 34 meters across and 32 meters in length. news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
November 15, 2024 at 1:08 AM
The world’s largest known coral has been discovered in the Solomon Islands after a National Geographic/Pristine Seas expedition. The Pavona clavus measures 34 meters across and 32 meters in length. news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit.
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
November 22, 2024 at 4:32 AM
When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit.
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.
Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend.
He had told the media he was jailed for "pushing" his former partner in 2006.
Court records obtained by The Times say the sentence was given because of "the serious nature of the offence”.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
He had told the media he was jailed for "pushing" his former partner in 2006.
Court records obtained by The Times say the sentence was given because of "the serious nature of the offence”.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking girlfriend
The MP had told the media he had been jailed for ‘pushing’ former partner in 2006, when the court records say he repeatedly kicked her on a night out
www.thetimes.com
November 21, 2024 at 6:35 PM
Reform MP James McMurdock was jailed for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend.
He had told the media he was jailed for "pushing" his former partner in 2006.
Court records obtained by The Times say the sentence was given because of "the serious nature of the offence”.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
He had told the media he was jailed for "pushing" his former partner in 2006.
Court records obtained by The Times say the sentence was given because of "the serious nature of the offence”.
www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
NEW: Three priests have had their permission to officiate suspended by the Diocese of London after they were named in the report that led the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign
Is "pending further investigation" into their knowledge of John Smyth's abuses
www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/...
Is "pending further investigation" into their knowledge of John Smyth's abuses
www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/...
Three priests suspended over report that felled Justin Welby
Pressure is mounting on the church to act against those who allegedly knew more than the archbishop about John Smyth abuse allegations decades earlier
www.thetimes.com
November 21, 2024 at 9:54 PM
NEW: Three priests have had their permission to officiate suspended by the Diocese of London after they were named in the report that led the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign
Is "pending further investigation" into their knowledge of John Smyth's abuses
www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/...
Is "pending further investigation" into their knowledge of John Smyth's abuses
www.thetimes.com/uk/religion/...
Tesla drivers appear to be crazy dangerous, compared to other drivers...
November 22, 2024 at 11:18 AM
Tesla drivers appear to be crazy dangerous, compared to other drivers...
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Truly rage-inducing this; our legislators should really think about the societal damage becoming the libel capital of the world has done
'Mohamed Al-Fayed’s sexual abuse could have been stopped were it not for legal threats against journalists'
Coverage of today's parliamentary debate into SLAPPs - prompted by @tbij.bsky.social's Silenced Stories project
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024...
Coverage of today's parliamentary debate into SLAPPs - prompted by @tbij.bsky.social's Silenced Stories project
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024...
SLAPPs thwarted attempts to stop Al-Fayed, says MP
Reporting on alleged assaults – including against a 15-year-old – were suppressed by legal threats, Parliament heard
www.thebureauinvestigates.com
November 21, 2024 at 6:03 PM
Truly rage-inducing this; our legislators should really think about the societal damage becoming the libel capital of the world has done
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
Absolutely fascinating this. Classlessness is so 1990s.
In 1997 the late Sir John Prescott said "we're all middle class now". What's happened to class since? I'll be on Times Radio later with Henry Bonsu to discuss
At the time, most people would've said they didn't belong to any social class. But in the mid-2010s, working class identity surged
1/4
At the time, most people would've said they didn't belong to any social class. But in the mid-2010s, working class identity surged
1/4
November 21, 2024 at 8:29 PM
Absolutely fascinating this. Classlessness is so 1990s.
Reposted by Rhys Blakely
I reviewed Jordan Peterson's new book. Never read anything like it. Really quite deranged.
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
We Who Wrestle With God by Jordan Peterson review — rambling, hectoring and mad
The conservative polemicist’s new book is a bizarre study of the Bible featuring Jiminy Cricket, Harry Potter and Tinkerbell the porn fairy
www.thetimes.com
November 20, 2024 at 8:13 AM
I reviewed Jordan Peterson's new book. Never read anything like it. Really quite deranged.
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
www.thetimes.com/culture/book...