Marc
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cultishhydrangea.bsky.social
Marc
@cultishhydrangea.bsky.social
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Reposted by Marc
implausibleblog.bsky.social
Zack Polanski, "Palantir.. £240 million contract last month"

"That was lobbied by Global Counsel which is Peter Mandelson's lobbying group"

"The idea that a defence company from the US has its fingerprints all over our healthcare system, alongside Peter Mandelson"
February 4, 2026 at 11:26 PM
Reposted by Marc
cgatist.bsky.social
This hit home: "And it felt tremendously tough – depressing much of the time, arduous almost all of the time, but then occasionally joyful, inspiring, even triumphant when it came together."
Prof Sir Ian Chapman - new chief executive of UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)
www.ukri.org/publications...
This hit home: "And it felt tremendously tough – depressing much of the time, arduous almost all of the time, but then occasionally joyful, inspiring, even triumphant when it came together." I’m a big football fan, and I really believe in the power of supporters. My team were once in a European cup final… But at half-time we were losing three-nil. For those that don’t do football, winning from that position only happens 1% of the time statistically, so you feel success is unreachable… The players trudged off, crest-fallen, despondency all around. But collectively, the crowd knew they had to step in. I was in that crowd. Folk didn’t leave to go to the bathroom, or get a drink, or even go home, they stayed and sang and cheered. The team ended up turning it around and winning from an almost impossible position, and all commented afterwards that the show of support gave them renewed faith and confidence to keep trying. What’s he on about you may well ask…. I was a researcher for a long time, and for most of that time it felt like being three-nil down at half-time. I was always trying to do transformative things, always trying to make a real difference, not an incremental one. And it felt tremendously tough – depressing much of the time, arduous almost all of the time, but then occasionally joyful, inspiring, even triumphant when it came together. I needed all the support around me to get to those rare moments. That is our job. That is your job. We are the supporters, the crowd. We need to back our researchers, give them that unequivocal, unerring support and then together, we can achieve anything.
November 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Marc
profsimonfisher.bsky.social
Remember when you first learned about genetics at school? All those fascinating examples of human traits that are each apparently determined by just a single gene? Time to check in on some of your favourites to see how they’re doing. 🧬🧵🧪 1/n
Four images to illustrate some prominent single-gene myths. Top left shows a photograph of a person deftly rolling their tongue into a U-shape. Top right shows a photograph of a person’s ear, highlighting the shape and features of the earlobe and cartilage. Bottom left shows a close-up photograph of a person’s eye, with a vivid blue colouration. Bottom right shows a photograph of a person poised to write with their left hand on the blank white page of a spiral-bound notebook.
May 2, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Marc
markgrabowski.bsky.social
Resignation of the Journal of Human Evolution Editorial Board: We are saddened to announce the resignations of The Joint Editors-in-Chief, all Emeritus Editors retired or active in the field, and all but one Associate Editor. Press release below.
December 26, 2024 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Marc
vladvexler.bsky.social
I've just translated Dmitry Glukhovsky's powerful post on Russia's moral catastrophe. It's too good to leave to Google Translate. Read it for a rare perspective on how Russians should talk to themselves. 1/x
November 20, 2024 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Marc
karenlhargrave.bsky.social
I found some time recently to sit down and write for our #ThereForMe blog.

In my day job I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about narratives. Some thoughts on why #ME and #LongCovid narratives matter - and how we can change them for the better.

www.thereforme.uk/p/from-yuppi...
From ‘yuppie flu' to ’anti-recovery activists’
Why narratives around ME and Long Covid matter – and how to change them
www.thereforme.uk
November 12, 2024 at 9:11 AM
Reposted by Marc
luckytran.com
Today would have been Carl Sagan's 90th birthday. He wrote this in 1995. Carl was absolutely right. #CarlSaganDay
I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness. The dumbing down of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.
November 9, 2024 at 11:34 PM