Phil
@ppharris.bsky.social
Climate and modelling and UK and 90s music. Also @philharris@fediscience.org. No cats, please
Pinned
Phil
@ppharris.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Why Bluesky isn’t really decentralised or federated
This is the best explainer I’ve read anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
Does this matter?
If Bluesky Social PBC enshittifies there’s not much users can do currently other than quit
This is the best explainer I’ve read anderegg.ca/2024/11/15/m...
Does this matter?
If Bluesky Social PBC enshittifies there’s not much users can do currently other than quit
Maybe Bluesky has “won”
November has sucked so far. One upside of the terrible nonsense is that more people are fleeing X. Many are choosing Bluesky. I’ve seen a bunch of takes about this recently, but I keep seeing things I...
anderegg.ca
This is why I'm keeping one foot (well, a whole leg really) in Mastodon. It may be weird and shonky over there, but the decentralisation isn't just a promise and my BSky is still feeling a little too much like a GenX early retirement home
Reposted by Phil
I'm just a science reporter begging scientists and space agencies to stop capitalizing random letters in the middle of words and calling it an acronym. This heartfelt plea brought to you by the European Space maTerIal deMisability dATabasE and the letters O, H, N, and O.
December 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM
I'm just a science reporter begging scientists and space agencies to stop capitalizing random letters in the middle of words and calling it an acronym. This heartfelt plea brought to you by the European Space maTerIal deMisability dATabasE and the letters O, H, N, and O.
Reposted by Phil
Global change research in the observational era
Leuzinger and Medlyn
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Leuzinger and Medlyn
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
November 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Global change research in the observational era
Leuzinger and Medlyn
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Leuzinger and Medlyn
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Phil
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Phil
Right... there must be *someone* out there who actually had their birthday read out by the hopping puppet menace on Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays. If you did, then let's hear all about it and exactly how much of a short-term local celebrity it made you...
timworthington.org/2024/05/28/l...
timworthington.org/2024/05/28/l...
November 15, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Right... there must be *someone* out there who actually had their birthday read out by the hopping puppet menace on Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays. If you did, then let's hear all about it and exactly how much of a short-term local celebrity it made you...
timworthington.org/2024/05/28/l...
timworthington.org/2024/05/28/l...
Reposted by Phil
Published today in Earth System Science Data: The Global Carbon Budget 2025
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Global Carbon Budget 2025
Abstract. Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to bette...
essd.copernicus.org
November 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Published today in Earth System Science Data: The Global Carbon Budget 2025
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
essd.copernicus.org/preprints/es...
Reposted by Phil
🧵I've posted them before, but here's my thread of horror/kids' TV double-bill cinema posters. Happy Halloween...
#halloween #cinema #graphicdesign #poster
#halloween #cinema #graphicdesign #poster
October 31, 2025 at 9:39 AM
🧵I've posted them before, but here's my thread of horror/kids' TV double-bill cinema posters. Happy Halloween...
#halloween #cinema #graphicdesign #poster
#halloween #cinema #graphicdesign #poster
Reposted by Phil
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Phil
🔥 Human-driven global warming made recent wildfires in South America & Southern California much larger & more destructive, the latest State of Wildfires report reveals.
🔸 LA wildfires 25× larger, 2× as likely
🔸 Pantanal–Chiquitano fires 35× larger
🔸 Global CO₂ from fires >8 bn tonnes
🧪 1/
🔸 LA wildfires 25× larger, 2× as likely
🔸 Pantanal–Chiquitano fires 35× larger
🔸 Global CO₂ from fires >8 bn tonnes
🧪 1/
October 16, 2025 at 10:38 AM
🔥 Human-driven global warming made recent wildfires in South America & Southern California much larger & more destructive, the latest State of Wildfires report reveals.
🔸 LA wildfires 25× larger, 2× as likely
🔸 Pantanal–Chiquitano fires 35× larger
🔸 Global CO₂ from fires >8 bn tonnes
🧪 1/
🔸 LA wildfires 25× larger, 2× as likely
🔸 Pantanal–Chiquitano fires 35× larger
🔸 Global CO₂ from fires >8 bn tonnes
🧪 1/
Reposted by Phil
I hate it when people compare the amount of heat the ocean has absorbed to the power of atomic bombs dropped on Japan. It’s gruesome and not relatable. As my Japanese PhD student said when he heard the comparison, “It’s not a good memory for us.”
September 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I hate it when people compare the amount of heat the ocean has absorbed to the power of atomic bombs dropped on Japan. It’s gruesome and not relatable. As my Japanese PhD student said when he heard the comparison, “It’s not a good memory for us.”
Reposted by Phil
Right now, this is an extreme minority magnified by a social media that sends extremes viral. If nobody has the courage to say that’s what it is - & that normal people, even if worried about immigration, spend their Saturdays in Tesco or taking the kids to football - it won’t stay extreme for long.
September 14, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Right now, this is an extreme minority magnified by a social media that sends extremes viral. If nobody has the courage to say that’s what it is - & that normal people, even if worried about immigration, spend their Saturdays in Tesco or taking the kids to football - it won’t stay extreme for long.
Reposted by Phil
Astonishing human emotions from Tim Cook.
September 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Astonishing human emotions from Tim Cook.
Reposted by Phil
There were no education events at Reform conference. Their only policies appear to be giving private schools their tax breaks back and changing the history curriculum to trumpet the benefits of empire.
September 7, 2025 at 11:19 AM
There were no education events at Reform conference. Their only policies appear to be giving private schools their tax breaks back and changing the history curriculum to trumpet the benefits of empire.
Reposted by Phil
🎧😎 Ready for a new podcast this summer?
Try Counting the Earth — our series exploring nature through numbers – from the zero in net zero, all the way to 50 trillion – the estimated number of earthworms in the UK 🪱😲
Discover it here: audioboom.com/channels/512...
🧪 1/
Try Counting the Earth — our series exploring nature through numbers – from the zero in net zero, all the way to 50 trillion – the estimated number of earthworms in the UK 🪱😲
Discover it here: audioboom.com/channels/512...
🧪 1/
August 18, 2025 at 1:39 PM
🎧😎 Ready for a new podcast this summer?
Try Counting the Earth — our series exploring nature through numbers – from the zero in net zero, all the way to 50 trillion – the estimated number of earthworms in the UK 🪱😲
Discover it here: audioboom.com/channels/512...
🧪 1/
Try Counting the Earth — our series exploring nature through numbers – from the zero in net zero, all the way to 50 trillion – the estimated number of earthworms in the UK 🪱😲
Discover it here: audioboom.com/channels/512...
🧪 1/
Reposted by Phil
“Tinderbox Britain” is such an artificial idea. Immigration is only of real salience to Reform and (to a lesser extent) Tory supporters. Panic over migrant hotels is a small subset of an existing subset, largely radicalised by Twitter/Telegraph. Alarm over Gaza is a *much* more mainstream view.
Judith joins in.
July 26, 2025 at 7:24 AM
“Tinderbox Britain” is such an artificial idea. Immigration is only of real salience to Reform and (to a lesser extent) Tory supporters. Panic over migrant hotels is a small subset of an existing subset, largely radicalised by Twitter/Telegraph. Alarm over Gaza is a *much* more mainstream view.
Reposted by Phil
Can someone smarter than the New York Times explain to me what exactly the $200M fine that Columbia is paying is *for*?
Because in my naiveté and with $400M in grant funding canceled, this is indistinguishable from a protection racket.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/n...
Because in my naiveté and with $400M in grant funding canceled, this is indistinguishable from a protection racket.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/n...
Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump
www.nytimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Can someone smarter than the New York Times explain to me what exactly the $200M fine that Columbia is paying is *for*?
Because in my naiveté and with $400M in grant funding canceled, this is indistinguishable from a protection racket.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/n...
Because in my naiveté and with $400M in grant funding canceled, this is indistinguishable from a protection racket.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/n...
Reposted by Phil
Come on Laura - stop letting Farage get away with grotesque lies on #climate - the green economy is growing 3 times faster than rest of the economy. The green transition is in our *economic interests* & it’s Farage who’ll de-industrialise the UK, not green policy #bbclaurak
July 20, 2025 at 8:39 AM
Come on Laura - stop letting Farage get away with grotesque lies on #climate - the green economy is growing 3 times faster than rest of the economy. The green transition is in our *economic interests* & it’s Farage who’ll de-industrialise the UK, not green policy #bbclaurak
Reposted by Phil
Still trying with GPTo3. I asked it to help me confirm and find a half-remembered anecdote from philosopher Jonathan Glover probably his brilliant book "Humanity".
GPT found it, gave me page refs in 2 editions, and listed other sources. Impressive! Only problem: the story is not in the book.
GPT found it, gave me page refs in 2 editions, and listed other sources. Impressive! Only problem: the story is not in the book.
July 11, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Still trying with GPTo3. I asked it to help me confirm and find a half-remembered anecdote from philosopher Jonathan Glover probably his brilliant book "Humanity".
GPT found it, gave me page refs in 2 editions, and listed other sources. Impressive! Only problem: the story is not in the book.
GPT found it, gave me page refs in 2 editions, and listed other sources. Impressive! Only problem: the story is not in the book.
Reposted by Phil
Just to accurately lay out the course of events, people were yelling at him because his auto-responding robot that was trained on Twitter’s userbase still displayed — against all odds — a modicum of empathy. He then made the robot speak like him and within hours it was calling itself Mechahitler.
July 9, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Just to accurately lay out the course of events, people were yelling at him because his auto-responding robot that was trained on Twitter’s userbase still displayed — against all odds — a modicum of empathy. He then made the robot speak like him and within hours it was calling itself Mechahitler.
Reposted by Phil
I would go so far as to say they are the greatest book covers of all time & its unlikely they'll ever be surpassed. The magic of seeing them appear in the bookshop back in the day is indescribable
The Kirby Discworld covers aren't the perfect illustration of Discworld, but they are the perfect book covers, and I'm against anyone who has ever made the decision to change them
July 1, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I would go so far as to say they are the greatest book covers of all time & its unlikely they'll ever be surpassed. The magic of seeing them appear in the bookshop back in the day is indescribable
👀❗
The Glastonbury run: for all the talk of an eco-festival, right this minute ere are at least 10 helicopters airborne dropping people to and from Glasto.
June 26, 2025 at 1:24 PM
👀❗
Reposted by Phil
Four years ago this week, Hobbes suddenly appeared in "Bloom County" and if that wasn't Watterson drawing his moments, I don't know what to think. I just remember this catching me in the bits of me that get *really* sentimental and emotional.
June 25, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Four years ago this week, Hobbes suddenly appeared in "Bloom County" and if that wasn't Watterson drawing his moments, I don't know what to think. I just remember this catching me in the bits of me that get *really* sentimental and emotional.
Reposted by Phil
British multiculturalism - day to day, on the ground - is a successful experiment. The UK enjoys a shared set of political facts, as represented by the non-tribal backlash over Partygate/Truss. The British obsession with irony & suspicion of sincerity provides some protection against demagoguery.
So,as a little thought-experiment, tell me something about the United Kingdom that works well and is actually quite impressive. I am not trying to sound like some boosterish politician. I just genuinely believe that making people believe that all is lost is a convenient pretext for shady characters.
June 17, 2025 at 7:27 AM
British multiculturalism - day to day, on the ground - is a successful experiment. The UK enjoys a shared set of political facts, as represented by the non-tribal backlash over Partygate/Truss. The British obsession with irony & suspicion of sincerity provides some protection against demagoguery.
Reposted by Phil
🌼🐝 Which plants are best to sow in gardens and parks to support pollinators like bees and hoverflies?
A new study offers evidence-based guidance on which annual seed mixes work best in horticultural plots — for both wildlife and people.
🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪
🧵1/ #gardens #pollinators
A new study offers evidence-based guidance on which annual seed mixes work best in horticultural plots — for both wildlife and people.
🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪
🧵1/ #gardens #pollinators
June 4, 2025 at 10:56 AM
🌼🐝 Which plants are best to sow in gardens and parks to support pollinators like bees and hoverflies?
A new study offers evidence-based guidance on which annual seed mixes work best in horticultural plots — for both wildlife and people.
🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪
🧵1/ #gardens #pollinators
A new study offers evidence-based guidance on which annual seed mixes work best in horticultural plots — for both wildlife and people.
🔗 www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪
🧵1/ #gardens #pollinators
Ceci ne pas un subtweet
I realize posting this here is preaching to the choir. But after the Grok White Genocide thing & Ye essentially launching an exclusive Neo Nazi single on the platform... I felt motivated to write about X and how bizarre it is that so many people (news outlets, celebrities, politicians) use it
What Are People Still Doing on X?
Imagine if your favorite neighborhood bar turned into a Nazi hangout
www.theatlantic.com
May 24, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Ceci ne pas un subtweet
Reposted by Phil
Traditional breadmaking in Uzbekistan
May 23, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Traditional breadmaking in Uzbekistan