Thomas Cheney
@thomascheney.bsky.social
Academic, (outer) Space Governance at Northumbria University. Legal geography and environmental humanities of space governance (space resources, planetary protection, astrobiology, settlement etc). Working on project 'Life the Ultimate Frontier'. He/him.
Pinned
Thomas Cheney
@thomascheney.bsky.social
· Jan 24
Now that I've signed the contract and its properly official, very excited to announce that I'm writing a book for Bloomsbury Academic titled: Space, the Final Resource Frontier? The Governance of Planetary and Extraplanetary Natural Resources which should be published sometime in 2028 (ish)
righty time to eat too much food, drink too much wine and try to explain a board game to my in-laws! Merry Christmas everyone.
December 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
righty time to eat too much food, drink too much wine and try to explain a board game to my in-laws! Merry Christmas everyone.
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
Tesla doesn't recongise Trade Unions.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
December 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Tesla doesn't recongise Trade Unions.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
Apple doesn't recognise unions.
Amazon is anti-union.
McDonald's is anti-union.
Starbucks is anti-union.
Google is anti-union.
Walmart is anti-union.
The big corporations are not on your side.
stopped using airbnb awhile ago for a number of reasons but as its the only way we can staying anywhere near the inlaws thought wed give it ago, but as were being kept awake by the flat above im being reminded of why a decent hotel is worth the hassle - never again airbnb...
December 25, 2025 at 12:34 AM
stopped using airbnb awhile ago for a number of reasons but as its the only way we can staying anywhere near the inlaws thought wed give it ago, but as were being kept awake by the flat above im being reminded of why a decent hotel is worth the hassle - never again airbnb...
theres always an onion article
theonion.com/cia-realizes...
theonion.com/cia-realizes...
CIA Realizes It’s Been Using Black Highlighters All These Years
LANGLEY, VA—A report released Tuesday by the CIA’s Office of the Inspector General revealed that the CIA has mistakenly obscured hundreds of thousands of pages of critical intelligence information wit...
theonion.com
December 24, 2025 at 8:42 PM
theres always an onion article
theonion.com/cia-realizes...
theonion.com/cia-realizes...
dont want to alarm anyone but as we got south of Yorkshire this ball of fire has appeared in the sky - my southern wife has assured me its called the Sun but im not so sure...
a man with a beard is standing in the snow with the words `` i belong in the north '' written above him .
ALT: a man with a beard is standing in the snow with the words `` i belong in the north '' written above him .
media.tenor.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
dont want to alarm anyone but as we got south of Yorkshire this ball of fire has appeared in the sky - my southern wife has assured me its called the Sun but im not so sure...
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
open.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:34 AM
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
As @shashj.bsky.social says on the other place, the Europeans need to start taking the fact that we're an adversary seriously. And we as Americans need to understand that we're starting to sound like the quoted post more and more.
December 23, 2025 at 10:01 PM
As @shashj.bsky.social says on the other place, the Europeans need to start taking the fact that we're an adversary seriously. And we as Americans need to understand that we're starting to sound like the quoted post more and more.
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
Once again NORAD Tracks Santa is nationalist & militaristic (nuclear weapons inter-twined) propaganda, was overtly established as such in the Cold War, and continues as such now.
Have NOAA or NASA or whomever track Santa if we’re gonna do it.
Have NOAA or NASA or whomever track Santa if we’re gonna do it.
Santa flew over Kandahar in Afghanistan in 2014, which is a War on Terror relic that should be preserved forever.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZSz...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZSz...
NORAD Santa Cam Kandahar, Afghanistan Military Base English 3024
YouTube video by TheWalkingElf
www.youtube.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Once again NORAD Tracks Santa is nationalist & militaristic (nuclear weapons inter-twined) propaganda, was overtly established as such in the Cold War, and continues as such now.
Have NOAA or NASA or whomever track Santa if we’re gonna do it.
Have NOAA or NASA or whomever track Santa if we’re gonna do it.
a machine that kills (even fictional) fascists is always superior to one that serves them
The only USS Defiant I will ever recognize or accept
December 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
a machine that kills (even fictional) fascists is always superior to one that serves them
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.
December 23, 2025 at 1:51 AM
I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.
Trump did say he thought the 1890s were the best
a british flag is flying in front of a group of ships
Alt: a british flag is flying in front of a group of ships
media.tenor.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Trump did say he thought the 1890s were the best
honestly this was a thought i had as a result of listening to @mattseybold.bsky.social, journalists arent 'thought leaders' theyre reporters and thats actually a really important function
i say this with nothing but love for all of you to whom this applies, but the moral rot in elite journalism is because journalism is a trade and it should be done by tradespeople and instead it's been professionalized in a way that makes it cozy to capital instead
December 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
honestly this was a thought i had as a result of listening to @mattseybold.bsky.social, journalists arent 'thought leaders' theyre reporters and thats actually a really important function
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
Remember: Land based aviation is cringe and dumb, Carrier Aviation is cool and sexy
December 22, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Remember: Land based aviation is cringe and dumb, Carrier Aviation is cool and sexy
the main christmas prep, decanting the port
December 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
the main christmas prep, decanting the port
yeah maybe we all just need to start flooding OfS with these sortts of complaints... might be a better protest method than anything else - think 10 people came to my last 'public' seminar didnt realise my speech was being supressed!
Also, who do I need to write to complain about the substandard advertising used to promote my events at universities? Pfft. Have university administrators never heard of Canva?
December 22, 2025 at 1:18 PM
yeah maybe we all just need to start flooding OfS with these sortts of complaints... might be a better protest method than anything else - think 10 people came to my last 'public' seminar didnt realise my speech was being supressed!
knew the US was hurting when the US made Canada buying American booze a central plank of its initial USMCA restart proposal... but this really shows the impact...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Jim Beam shutting down bourbon production at Kentucky distillery amid Trump’s tariffs
Trade war with Canada has contributed to a significant decline in U.S. liquor sales
www.independent.co.uk
December 22, 2025 at 9:24 AM
knew the US was hurting when the US made Canada buying American booze a central plank of its initial USMCA restart proposal... but this really shows the impact...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
We made a mistake by calling the output of AI ‘slop’. In academia it is now looking much more like toxic pollution, on the verge of laying waste to previously fertile plains. Suing for royalties is only a small part of the battle.
December 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
We made a mistake by calling the output of AI ‘slop’. In academia it is now looking much more like toxic pollution, on the verge of laying waste to previously fertile plains. Suing for royalties is only a small part of the battle.
Utopian Socialism Jeopardy
YouTube video by David Pavelich
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
A lot has already been said about AI and citations but there is a central point I feel we're missing: as academics, we work hard for far less than our time is worth to write papers that will be read by maybe a few dozen specialists if we're lucky.
If you don't love doing it, what's the damn point
If you don't love doing it, what's the damn point
December 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
A lot has already been said about AI and citations but there is a central point I feel we're missing: as academics, we work hard for far less than our time is worth to write papers that will be read by maybe a few dozen specialists if we're lucky.
If you don't love doing it, what's the damn point
If you don't love doing it, what's the damn point
God these losers have such a victim complex - when exactly were you made to "apologize" for being white? I have never ever felt that way and I occupy some pretty woke lefty spaces
December 21, 2025 at 9:06 PM
God these losers have such a victim complex - when exactly were you made to "apologize" for being white? I have never ever felt that way and I occupy some pretty woke lefty spaces
So like i dont claim to know much about her but doesnt Nicki Minaj have a bit of a dodgy immigration history?
December 21, 2025 at 7:58 PM
So like i dont claim to know much about her but doesnt Nicki Minaj have a bit of a dodgy immigration history?
yes, this, aside from all the other very good objections its just a shit tool for anything im being told touse it for
suspect a big reason why many academics and others who work in areas where getting facts RIGHT is key are disinterested in using LLMs for research:
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
they’ve tried it, they keep noticing major errors in output, and they conclude that having to verify all that doesn’t actually save them time.
December 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM
yes, this, aside from all the other very good objections its just a shit tool for anything im being told touse it for
and there are plenty of people whod love the job so if youre not one of them bugger off and do something else with your life
The whole point of being an academic is that you need to be willing to spend three days creating a 700-word footnote that you will later delete. And you need to LIKE IT.
December 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
and there are plenty of people whod love the job so if youre not one of them bugger off and do something else with your life
Reposted by Thomas Cheney
I am not sorry. This is simply true. Academics should be able to write fluently and express themselves clearly and academics should do their own work. It’s literally our job. It’s what we trained until 22nd grade to do. This is a simple observation that should require no explanation or defense.
I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.
December 20, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I am not sorry. This is simply true. Academics should be able to write fluently and express themselves clearly and academics should do their own work. It’s literally our job. It’s what we trained until 22nd grade to do. This is a simple observation that should require no explanation or defense.