Tom
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tom.leftdiodes.co.uk
Tom
@tom.leftdiodes.co.uk
Researcher/Engineer, working on marine energy projects and generally tinkering with software and electronics.

https://leftdiodes.co.uk/links

🏳️‍🌈
Reposted by Tom
Unfortunately the HE 2025 ballot failed at 39% turnout. I have written about why and about what desperately needs to change in UCU's national structures off the back of this result. Some HEC members need to chi up and understand their role in all this, and how disconnected they are from members.
The HE Ballot failed, now what?
If you’re reading this it is because today the UCU’s 2025 national ballot over pay and conditions in universities has failed. The last time…
hitchcockian.medium.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Tom
Remember:

Juries are important not so much for the powers they have, but for the powers they prevent others from having.
December 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
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Heading into the Channel Tunnel today on train 9044 and celebrating a historic moment: on 1 December 1990, 35 years ago, French and British teams broke through and met under the sea for the first time. Thanks to their achievement, our Eurostar trains now cross the Channel in 20 minutes.
December 1, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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Why is it getting harder to buy Advent calendars?

Their days are numbered!
December 1, 2025 at 9:02 AM
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In chemistry, we usually think in mols (~6E23), so 15,000 atoms sounds like nothing. But this is a breakthrough for antihydrogen generation; it's a huge jump in production scale and opens a lot of future research on antimatter.

🧪 #SciFiScience
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Reposted by Tom
Physicists working on the ALPHA experiment at CERN have trapped and accumulated 15,000 antihydrogen atoms in less than 7 h. This accumulation rate is more than 20 times the previous record. 🧪⚛️ ow.ly/iKgP50XvMEC
Sympathetic cooling gives antihydrogen experiment a boost – Physics World
Having more antimatter could help solve profound mysteries of physics
ow.ly
November 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
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Optimistic defibrillator locations, an occasional series...
November 16, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Tom
1/ For the benefit of Lisa Nandy - I have transcribed this interview with Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce from West Midland's police, and SkyNews. Contrary to Lisa Nandy' spin, he is clear, the threat TO THE MACCABI TV FANS was not the primary driver for the ban
November 10, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Made the effort to get out early on my last day in Edinburgh
pixelfed.social/p/tswsl/8894...
Tom (@tswsl@pixelfed.social)
Good morning Edinburgh. Last day here with work, and I've never made the effort to get up to Arthur's seat before. Made an early start and got to see the sun come up. #edinburgh #scotland #sunrise
pixelfed.social
October 30, 2025 at 8:44 AM
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Seeking a three year postdoc in the field of ocean biogeochemistry and productivity using mechanistic models and synthesis of observations. Note the short fuse for applications. Please help distribute. All nationalities welcome to apply! 🌊

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPG117/p...
Postdoctoral Research Associate at University of Liverpool
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Postdoctoral Research Associate on jobs.ac.uk!
www.jobs.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Bore da Abertawe
Good morning Swansea

pixelfed.social/p/tswsl/8872...
Tom (@tswsl@pixelfed.social)
Bore da Abertawe Good morning Swansea #wales #cymru #swansea #abertawe
pixelfed.social
October 24, 2025 at 7:46 AM
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Edinburgh castle failing to render, likely thanks to the AWS outage
October 20, 2025 at 8:35 AM
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Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus): These 12cm (4.7in) little European & Asian birds usually nest in holes in trees. Adults develop a blue crown, white cheeks and yellow breast. Excellent head-on portrait of a Blue Tit by Tim Flach. #blue #tit #bluetit #bird #birds #wildlife #nature
October 17, 2025 at 6:57 AM
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Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): This Endangered species of large cat has a population of between 4000-8000 & is native to Alpine & sub-Alpine terrain in regions of Afghanistan, Mongolia & WestChina. Poaching is the main threat & habitat loss thru development. Photo by Sascha Fonseca in Ladakh, India.
September 28, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Tom
Interesting article on public misconceptions about HE, including the value to the economy.

And yet our govt seem happy to sit back and let it all go to shit. 🤷🏻‍♂️ www.theguardian.com/education/20...
September 21, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Presentation day for me at #EWTEC, showing some of the measurements taken at Warrior Way with different instruments over the last couple of years.

Almost certainly not as interesting as the title implies, but lets see what the audience thinks of it!
September 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM
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every damn day
September 2, 2025 at 12:10 AM
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General reminder that being angry online isn't the same as journalism.
August 15, 2025 at 6:55 AM
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Beattie found if you've got an Ology there is no point feeling down... BT 1988
August 14, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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This is a superb prank.

Plagiarise, let no one's work evade your eyes...
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
July 27, 2025 at 10:41 PM
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Our #PoblStJohnPeople attend events all over the country to provide vital first aid cover #JustInCase people need help.

Here’s a video from the recent #WalesAirShow in Swansea - get in touch if you’d like to join us and be part of some of Wales’ most exciting events!
July 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Odd happenings this afternoon - someone attempted to take ownership of two of my records on #zenodo.
Not sure what they hoped to achieve - I guess they could upload a new version purporting to be an update?

#academia
July 18, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Tom
Juries are less important for the powers they have, but for the powers they prevent others from having.
July 9, 2025 at 7:07 AM
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This is not normal
Graph of British Rivers
July 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Reposted by Tom
This is an excellent and detailed explanation of the properties of enriched uranium. Unless you’re really into this subject, it’s probably a *lot* different than you might think.
OK Mrs/Mr/Ms/Mx Harris. It's good of you to give me an opportunity to explain the physics of the radiation emitted by "highly enriched Uranium". In order to do this properly, I have to explain some of the concepts and units of measurement that are relevant.
June 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM