Wayne Dickson
@waynedickson.bsky.social
Physicist at King's College London.
Research interests include nanophotonics, metamaterials, plasmonics and sustainable nanofabrication. Keenly interested in environmental applications.
(Views my own, not my employers).
Research interests include nanophotonics, metamaterials, plasmonics and sustainable nanofabrication. Keenly interested in environmental applications.
(Views my own, not my employers).
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Earlier this week, Watershed reported satellite data indicating there may be 8000 - 13,000 illegal landfills across the UK. The Committee feel they have not been fully briefed on the scale of this issue, + have asked the EA to provide a more fullsome report.
3/3
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
3/3
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
At least 8,000 illegal waste sites in UK, research suggests
Exclusive: Concerns over impact on health and environment, as well as £1.63bn in avoided landfill tax
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Earlier this week, Watershed reported satellite data indicating there may be 8000 - 13,000 illegal landfills across the UK. The Committee feel they have not been fully briefed on the scale of this issue, + have asked the EA to provide a more fullsome report.
3/3
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
3/3
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Iran is in “water bankruptcy” extracting from its rivers & lakes (its checking account) & underground aquifers (its savings account) faster rate than they can replenish. Overuse, mismanagement & climate change drive the crisis, forcing plans to import water. shorturl.at/mfPWn
December 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Iran is in “water bankruptcy” extracting from its rivers & lakes (its checking account) & underground aquifers (its savings account) faster rate than they can replenish. Overuse, mismanagement & climate change drive the crisis, forcing plans to import water. shorturl.at/mfPWn
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
December 9, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Wow -- Russia reportedly plotted last year to plant bombs on US-bound flights (gift link) giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Once more for the haters...
December 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Once more for the haters...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion.
It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops
It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops
December 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion.
It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops
It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
This is absolutely crazy from start to finish: that researchers think it is OK to use such a data set and that springer nature accepted for publications >40 papers based on it (and who knows how many more submitted to other journals.)!
December 8, 2025 at 11:38 PM
This is absolutely crazy from start to finish: that researchers think it is OK to use such a data set and that springer nature accepted for publications >40 papers based on it (and who knows how many more submitted to other journals.)!
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function. www.idiv.de/majority-of-... #biodiversity
Majority of local insect biomass decline linked to species loss
A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function.
www.idiv.de
December 8, 2025 at 1:38 PM
A new study shows that over 90% of insect biomass declines are driven by shrinking species numbers, posing a risk to ecosystem function. www.idiv.de/majority-of-... #biodiversity
One of the most impressive equation slides I’ve ever seen at a conference 😂 as the speaker said: don’t try to understand it, you shouldn’t try to understand it
December 8, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Fun to see a senior Russian official accessing X through a VPN (because it’s banned in Russia) and the criticise the EU for interfering in a Twitter Poll (when the Kremlin fixes Russian elections and interferes in Moldova, Romania and Czechia just in the last few months)
December 7, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Fun to see a senior Russian official accessing X through a VPN (because it’s banned in Russia) and the criticise the EU for interfering in a Twitter Poll (when the Kremlin fixes Russian elections and interferes in Moldova, Romania and Czechia just in the last few months)
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
"Ban foreign donations" seems like very low hanging fruit.
It’s really simple…
- Cap all political donations
- Ban foreign donations
- Strict conflict‑of‑interest & anti‑corruption laws with penalties
- No titles, honours or peerages for donors
- No govt contracts for donors
- Publish every donation/lobby meeting
…that’ll do it.
- Cap all political donations
- Ban foreign donations
- Strict conflict‑of‑interest & anti‑corruption laws with penalties
- No titles, honours or peerages for donors
- No govt contracts for donors
- Publish every donation/lobby meeting
…that’ll do it.
December 5, 2025 at 10:09 PM
"Ban foreign donations" seems like very low hanging fruit.
Many people have remarked that I am to physics what the NFL is to "football".
Probably.
Fittingly therefore, I'd be happy to accept this award from the NFL, and rather like Happy Gilmore, I like my accompanying cheques on the large side, literally and figuratively.
Probably.
Fittingly therefore, I'd be happy to accept this award from the NFL, and rather like Happy Gilmore, I like my accompanying cheques on the large side, literally and figuratively.
wtf is a FIFA peace prize? that's like being an NFL laureate in physics
December 5, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Many people have remarked that I am to physics what the NFL is to "football".
Probably.
Fittingly therefore, I'd be happy to accept this award from the NFL, and rather like Happy Gilmore, I like my accompanying cheques on the large side, literally and figuratively.
Probably.
Fittingly therefore, I'd be happy to accept this award from the NFL, and rather like Happy Gilmore, I like my accompanying cheques on the large side, literally and figuratively.
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Jenrick is a Cambridge alumnus whose pre-political career involved corporate law for a high-salary firm in London and Moscow as well as a directorship at Christie's
Robert Jenrick: ‘I’m unashamedly provincial in my attitudes’ on.ft.com/3KGRk1W
Robert Jenrick: ‘I’m unashamedly provincial in my attitudes’
The UK shadow justice secretary on embracing populism, his political ambitions — and whether there will be an alliance with Reform
on.ft.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Jenrick is a Cambridge alumnus whose pre-political career involved corporate law for a high-salary firm in London and Moscow as well as a directorship at Christie's
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
🔴 Nigel Farage’s Reform is more reliant on super-rich backers than any major party in modern British political history
75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men
Is this what democracy looks like?
New on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...
75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men
Is this what democracy looks like?
New on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...
75% of Reform UK’s donations have come from just three rich men
Calls grow for donation caps as Democracy for Sale research reveals that three-quarters of Reform’s funding comes from a trio of wealthy donors
democracyforsale.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:55 AM
🔴 Nigel Farage’s Reform is more reliant on super-rich backers than any major party in modern British political history
75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men
Is this what democracy looks like?
New on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...
75% of *all* Reform donations *ever* have come from just three rich men
Is this what democracy looks like?
New on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/75-of-refo...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
The fact that four hostile drones tried to hit Zelenskyy’s plane & it’s barely a blip in the news cycle should terrify everyone. We’ve been dragged so deep into the chaos era that an attempted strike on a world leader doesn’t even break through. When this becomes normal, the world is in real danger.
Christ on a cracker — these seemingly hostile drones only missed Zelensky’s plane because he was unexpectedly early www.thejournal.ie/drones-dubli...
Four unidentified military-style drones breached no-fly zone to target Zelenskyy's arrival in Dublin
Gardaí are investigating whether the drones took off from land in Dublin or from an undetected ship.
www.thejournal.ie
December 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
The fact that four hostile drones tried to hit Zelenskyy’s plane & it’s barely a blip in the news cycle should terrify everyone. We’ve been dragged so deep into the chaos era that an attempted strike on a world leader doesn’t even break through. When this becomes normal, the world is in real danger.
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
The accumulated waste of generations of mass consumption is decaying in landfill, + the chemicals those goods were drenched in - lead, mercury, cadmium, PFAS, PCBs - are seeping slowly back out into water, soil + air.
Our report with @investigate-europe.eu:
euobserver.com/eu-political...
Our report with @investigate-europe.eu:
euobserver.com/eu-political...
Europe’s landfill crisis exposed: new map reveals toxic cocktail of environmental risks
Thousands of landfills across Europe lie in flood-risk zones, areas which could endanger drinking water or sensitive conservation sites, Investigate Europe and Watershed Investigations can reveal in t...
euobserver.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:21 PM
The accumulated waste of generations of mass consumption is decaying in landfill, + the chemicals those goods were drenched in - lead, mercury, cadmium, PFAS, PCBs - are seeping slowly back out into water, soil + air.
Our report with @investigate-europe.eu:
euobserver.com/eu-political...
Our report with @investigate-europe.eu:
euobserver.com/eu-political...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
It's a mark of our moral disintegration that there's even a discussion about Ukraine giving up land. To even countenance it is to reward colonialism.
December 4, 2025 at 6:23 PM
It's a mark of our moral disintegration that there's even a discussion about Ukraine giving up land. To even countenance it is to reward colonialism.
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Last year Sky News was rending its garments over Starmer's free eyeglasses: WHAT INFLUENCE DID LORD ALLI BUY?
Now, RefUK get £9m from a crypto bro, they have not one word about the donor's interests; just BRAVO NIGEL, barely concealed glee, and "what a huge boost... money goes where momentum is". 🤡
Now, RefUK get £9m from a crypto bro, they have not one word about the donor's interests; just BRAVO NIGEL, barely concealed glee, and "what a huge boost... money goes where momentum is". 🤡
December 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Last year Sky News was rending its garments over Starmer's free eyeglasses: WHAT INFLUENCE DID LORD ALLI BUY?
Now, RefUK get £9m from a crypto bro, they have not one word about the donor's interests; just BRAVO NIGEL, barely concealed glee, and "what a huge boost... money goes where momentum is". 🤡
Now, RefUK get £9m from a crypto bro, they have not one word about the donor's interests; just BRAVO NIGEL, barely concealed glee, and "what a huge boost... money goes where momentum is". 🤡
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
A Thailand-based crypto investor has handed a record-breaking £9 million to Reform UK, shortly before Nigel Farage used media interviews to plug his crypto firm and promise lower taxes and deregulation on the industry
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/04/c...
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/04/c...
Crypto Investor Donates £9 Million to Reform UK After Nigel Farage Plugs His Company and Tells Industry 'I Am Your Champion'
The Reform leader recently used media interviews to back Christopher Harborne's company while promising to cut taxes and regulations on crypto firms
bylinetimes.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:19 AM
A Thailand-based crypto investor has handed a record-breaking £9 million to Reform UK, shortly before Nigel Farage used media interviews to plug his crypto firm and promise lower taxes and deregulation on the industry
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/04/c...
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/04/c...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Pleased to discover that slightly misnaming the national chess championship you won as a school child is a much more serious offence than repeatedly racially abusing your fellow pupils and telling them they should go to the gas chamber
December 3, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Pleased to discover that slightly misnaming the national chess championship you won as a school child is a much more serious offence than repeatedly racially abusing your fellow pupils and telling them they should go to the gas chamber
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Here’s Judith Butler explaining what this movement is and always was, about five years ago.
December 3, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Here’s Judith Butler explaining what this movement is and always was, about five years ago.
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Putin: ‘Russia is ready to keep fighting until the last Ukrainian dies.’
Western politicians & press: ‘Peace talks have stalled…’
Russia has zero interest in peace. Calling Kremlin demands for Ukrainian surrender ‘peace talks’ is just another way of spreading their propaganda.
Western politicians & press: ‘Peace talks have stalled…’
Russia has zero interest in peace. Calling Kremlin demands for Ukrainian surrender ‘peace talks’ is just another way of spreading their propaganda.
December 3, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Putin: ‘Russia is ready to keep fighting until the last Ukrainian dies.’
Western politicians & press: ‘Peace talks have stalled…’
Russia has zero interest in peace. Calling Kremlin demands for Ukrainian surrender ‘peace talks’ is just another way of spreading their propaganda.
Western politicians & press: ‘Peace talks have stalled…’
Russia has zero interest in peace. Calling Kremlin demands for Ukrainian surrender ‘peace talks’ is just another way of spreading their propaganda.
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
This hasn't had much coverage, amidst all the debate about jury trials, but there is also a lot of concern about Lammy's plans to remove the automatic right to appeal
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/03/d...
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/03/d...
David Lammy's Plans to Scrap Automatic Right to Appeal Risk 'Increasing Miscarriages of Justice'
Lawyers and legal campaigners say the changes risk removing "vital safeguards" and shutting out vulnerable defendants from justice
bylinetimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:18 PM
This hasn't had much coverage, amidst all the debate about jury trials, but there is also a lot of concern about Lammy's plans to remove the automatic right to appeal
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/03/d...
bylinetimes.com/2025/12/03/d...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
Our report on pollution from landfill with @investigate-europe.eu was covered by Martin Stew on ITV News last night. If you fancy watching the whole piece, it's available here:
youtu.be/WY9poL0hhj4?...
youtu.be/WY9poL0hhj4?...
December 3, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Our report on pollution from landfill with @investigate-europe.eu was covered by Martin Stew on ITV News last night. If you fancy watching the whole piece, it's available here:
youtu.be/WY9poL0hhj4?...
youtu.be/WY9poL0hhj4?...
Reposted by Wayne Dickson
More than 520 chemicals found in English soil, including long-banned medical substances
- Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds
#pollution
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds
#pollution
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
More than 520 chemicals found in English soil, including long-banned medical substances
Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:42 AM
More than 520 chemicals found in English soil, including long-banned medical substances
- Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds
#pollution
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Fertilising arable land with human waste leaves array of toxins that could re-enter food chain, study finds
#pollution
www.theguardian.com/environment/...