Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
@theapplefarmer.bsky.social
Fruit Grower. University Lecturer. Horticultural Scientist. Drinks Manufacturer (juices, cider, spirits). Sustainable Food Production Systems. Statistics hobbyist.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
The discourse pendulum has moved to Met Éireann not issuing enough warnings. Made by the same people who complained about warnings and "sure didn't it rain a lot back in 1974 and nobody died (other than the ones who did) ?".
Thankfully the fearless amateurs are taking up the slack.
#Speirgorm
Thankfully the fearless amateurs are taking up the slack.
#Speirgorm
November 13, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The discourse pendulum has moved to Met Éireann not issuing enough warnings. Made by the same people who complained about warnings and "sure didn't it rain a lot back in 1974 and nobody died (other than the ones who did) ?".
Thankfully the fearless amateurs are taking up the slack.
#Speirgorm
Thankfully the fearless amateurs are taking up the slack.
#Speirgorm
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Life moves pretty fast
November 13, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Life moves pretty fast
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
This is a brilliant project from @dccbeta.bsky.social
May be of interest to @connectingcabra.bsky.social @leafybatter.bsky.social @emmet.quiddity.ie @lorrainedarcy.bsky.social and others!
May be of interest to @connectingcabra.bsky.social @leafybatter.bsky.social @emmet.quiddity.ie @lorrainedarcy.bsky.social and others!
New BETA Project: #StreetMixBETA
Could we design a better process for residents to decide the kerbside uses on 'their' street and balance with public needs?
More information dccbeta.ie/project/arti...
Looking for volunteer streets, so please spread the word! 🙏
Could we design a better process for residents to decide the kerbside uses on 'their' street and balance with public needs?
More information dccbeta.ie/project/arti...
Looking for volunteer streets, so please spread the word! 🙏
October 2, 2025 at 9:19 PM
This is a brilliant project from @dccbeta.bsky.social
May be of interest to @connectingcabra.bsky.social @leafybatter.bsky.social @emmet.quiddity.ie @lorrainedarcy.bsky.social and others!
May be of interest to @connectingcabra.bsky.social @leafybatter.bsky.social @emmet.quiddity.ie @lorrainedarcy.bsky.social and others!
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
science but could be misleading or incorrect 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️
such a shame that academic publication, supposedly the guardian of knowledge production, is giving up what's at it's core - trustworthy, accurate, independent, verifiable knowledge - just so academics & publishers alike can get on the genai bandwagon
such a shame that academic publication, supposedly the guardian of knowledge production, is giving up what's at it's core - trustworthy, accurate, independent, verifiable knowledge - just so academics & publishers alike can get on the genai bandwagon
November 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
science but could be misleading or incorrect 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️
such a shame that academic publication, supposedly the guardian of knowledge production, is giving up what's at it's core - trustworthy, accurate, independent, verifiable knowledge - just so academics & publishers alike can get on the genai bandwagon
such a shame that academic publication, supposedly the guardian of knowledge production, is giving up what's at it's core - trustworthy, accurate, independent, verifiable knowledge - just so academics & publishers alike can get on the genai bandwagon
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
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
November 11, 2025 at 6:18 PM
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...
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Robbie Gibb, the BBC Board Member with the impartiality remit
November 11, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, Sir Robbie Gibb, the BBC Board Member with the impartiality remit
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Companies and institutions have given up on the idea of service generally. Now, it’s all about training the customer to do the work for them – and most of us don’t want to work for the companies we’re paying for service.
"Essential services are now digital by default, leaving many older people feeling locked out of their own lives."
As more of our lives move online by default, digital ageism has quietly become one of the last unchallenged prejudices, writes Fiona Daly.
jrnl.ie/6864189
As more of our lives move online by default, digital ageism has quietly become one of the last unchallenged prejudices, writes Fiona Daly.
jrnl.ie/6864189
Opinion: We’ve grown far too comfortable excluding older people from the digital world
As more of our lives move online by default, digital ageism has quietly become one of the last unchallenged prejudices, writes Fiona Daly.
jrnl.ie
November 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Companies and institutions have given up on the idea of service generally. Now, it’s all about training the customer to do the work for them – and most of us don’t want to work for the companies we’re paying for service.
The grift goes right to the top.
www.rte.ie/news/busines...
www.rte.ie/news/busines...
Scientists call on Von der Leyen to withdraw AI comment
More than 70 AI scientists from around the world have written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking her to retract a statement she made in May that artificial intelligence is ex...
www.rte.ie
November 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
The grift goes right to the top.
www.rte.ie/news/busines...
www.rte.ie/news/busines...
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
"Evidence we do have suggests that values of care make women much more open to the alarming nature of the scientific evidence and the visceral impact that weather events have on people." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Forty per cent of Australian women without kids hesitant to have children because of climate change, survey finds
More than a third of Coalition voters believe temperatures will not rise at all, poll shows
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"Evidence we do have suggests that values of care make women much more open to the alarming nature of the scientific evidence and the visceral impact that weather events have on people." www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
I like how the caption on this photo reads as if he's making a claim that could not be independently verified.
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I like how the caption on this photo reads as if he's making a claim that could not be independently verified.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Years of right wing bias in BBC news and current affairs and nothing happens, but upset Trump and the Tory director general resigns…
We are in such a bad place in the UK
We are in such a bad place in the UK
November 9, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Years of right wing bias in BBC news and current affairs and nothing happens, but upset Trump and the Tory director general resigns…
We are in such a bad place in the UK
We are in such a bad place in the UK
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Fiction!
It is a painful truth that the amount of fiction read by Middle Aged Men is orders of magnitude less than by their female contemporaries. Overall, Men make up about only 20% of the market for fiction.
It is a painful truth that the amount of fiction read by Middle Aged Men is orders of magnitude less than by their female contemporaries. Overall, Men make up about only 20% of the market for fiction.
November 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Fiction!
It is a painful truth that the amount of fiction read by Middle Aged Men is orders of magnitude less than by their female contemporaries. Overall, Men make up about only 20% of the market for fiction.
It is a painful truth that the amount of fiction read by Middle Aged Men is orders of magnitude less than by their female contemporaries. Overall, Men make up about only 20% of the market for fiction.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Most of those will also be in the jewellery and watch shop in your local shopping centre and it would be good to buy them from them. To make sure we still have shops, and again also, because you can look at the sizes and feel too, which is really helpful for a thing meant to be worn on your body.
November 9, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Most of those will also be in the jewellery and watch shop in your local shopping centre and it would be good to buy them from them. To make sure we still have shops, and again also, because you can look at the sizes and feel too, which is really helpful for a thing meant to be worn on your body.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Michael Prescott was ‘“shocked” that after an hour-long Panorama documentary dealing with Trump and the January 6 insurgency, there was no “similar, balancing” programme about Kamala Harris.’
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
The departure of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness means the BBC is leaderless when it needs leadership more than ever. Where are the people at the head of the BBC standing up for it?
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack. With these resignations, it has given in | Jane Martinson
The corporation should have stood up to the Telegraph, Trump and the Tories. Now, its enemies know how little it takes for it to fold, says Jane Martinson, professor of financial journalism
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Michael Prescott was ‘“shocked” that after an hour-long Panorama documentary dealing with Trump and the January 6 insurgency, there was no “similar, balancing” programme about Kamala Harris.’
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
More read about the machinations between the BBC resignations, the more worrying it becomes
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
We've transformed our city in many ways in the last five years. This street used to be full of cars. Now there's music, laughter, food, people sitting down. Life slows down a little bit on Parliament Street.
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 PM
We've transformed our city in many ways in the last five years. This street used to be full of cars. Now there's music, laughter, food, people sitting down. Life slows down a little bit on Parliament Street.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
In case you're not aware, Tehran is a city of ~10 MILLION people. "Rivers and reservoirs are running dry, while groundwater sources have been overexploited to sustain agriculture and urban growth."
www.newsweek.com/evacuation-w...
www.newsweek.com/evacuation-w...
Evacuation warning for Iran's capital city
President Masoud Pezeshkian warns Tehran faces a historic water crisis with shortages and possible evacuations.
www.newsweek.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:16 PM
In case you're not aware, Tehran is a city of ~10 MILLION people. "Rivers and reservoirs are running dry, while groundwater sources have been overexploited to sustain agriculture and urban growth."
www.newsweek.com/evacuation-w...
www.newsweek.com/evacuation-w...
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
“How do you build a local food community when the money is not going towards the people who are trying to do that?”
Cass & Nick on the challenges of being small-scale farmers in Ireland - www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... @rteradio1.bsky.social
Cass & Nick on the challenges of being small-scale farmers in Ireland - www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... @rteradio1.bsky.social
Nick and Cass McCarthy's Lúnasa Farm
In 2021, Nick and Cass McCarthy set up Lúnasa Farm on 30 acres of land in Co. Clare. Neither of them comes from a farming background. Nick’s an engineer by trade, and he met Cass while working in her ...
www.rte.ie
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 PM
“How do you build a local food community when the money is not going towards the people who are trying to do that?”
Cass & Nick on the challenges of being small-scale farmers in Ireland - www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... @rteradio1.bsky.social
Cass & Nick on the challenges of being small-scale farmers in Ireland - www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... @rteradio1.bsky.social
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
HEADS UP! We just had an X1.7 flare from AR 4274 which is directly facing Earth! There is a complex, hull halo CME on the way with a clear northward propagation bias. Models will be important to see how much of this is actually coming at us. I’ll post later with more updates.
November 9, 2025 at 12:50 PM
HEADS UP! We just had an X1.7 flare from AR 4274 which is directly facing Earth! There is a complex, hull halo CME on the way with a clear northward propagation bias. Models will be important to see how much of this is actually coming at us. I’ll post later with more updates.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
AI is terrible as everyone steals the design off a successful campaign to use for memes
November 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
AI is terrible as everyone steals the design off a successful campaign to use for memes
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Israeli drone strike destroys vehicle short distance from Irish soldiers on patrol in Lebanon jrnl.ie/6869005
Israeli drone strike destroys vehicle short distance from Irish soldiers on patrol in Lebanon
No injuries were reported for Irish peacekeepers in the incident.
jrnl.ie
November 8, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Israeli drone strike destroys vehicle short distance from Irish soldiers on patrol in Lebanon jrnl.ie/6869005
This has to be the truest analysis I've ever read. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation does not help. The conditions that allowed for its creation should never have existed.
We should vote only for those who promise to make billionaires history.
We need a great levelling, through tax and redistribution.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
We need a great levelling, through tax and redistribution.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot
Money talks – and his essay denouncing ‘near-term emissions goals’ at Cop30 mostly argues the case for letting the ultra-rich off the hook
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:11 PM
This has to be the truest analysis I've ever read. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation does not help. The conditions that allowed for its creation should never have existed.
Reposted by Cornelius (aka Con) Traas
Edited title: “DNA scientist who built on the groundbreaking discovery made by Rosalind Franklin dies”
November 8, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Edited title: “DNA scientist who built on the groundbreaking discovery made by Rosalind Franklin dies”