Let's just say I'm not a happy bunny. But also read this for Chris's surgical dismantling of the statement announcing the FAAM decision.
09.03.2026 07:48
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Let's just say I'm not a happy bunny. But also read this for Chris's surgical dismantling of the statement announcing the FAAM decision.
Impressive statement from NCAS and FAAM to push back on most of the narrative put out by UKRI without ever losing composure 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 Leave the swearing to us offline (and potentially in staff meetings 🤫)
... meanwhile the amazing FAAM staff, having only recently found out about their fate, have to scramble to manage the fallout with their many stakeholders involved in their £51m upgrade that has now been cut short: faam.ac.uk/statement-on... (3/3)
... and followed today by a statement from the European Space Agency: www.met.reading.ac.uk/~swrhgnrj/fa... (2/3)
Following hot on the heels of the STFC cuts, the defunding of FAAM by UKRI shows similar "inconsistence" as clearly illustrated by the Royal Meteorological Society in their statement www.rmets.org/news/stateme... (1/3)
... on a cloudy daaaaaaaaaaaaay
These three contributions alone led to a huge financial benefit to UK plc, outweighing the costs of the aircraft.
After spending £50M over the past few years on an mid-life upgrade to the FAAM , the £32M to keep it flying for the next few years seems like a bargain.
A short-sighted decision? (4/4)
During the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, FAAM flights provided critical evidence to support the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre. The aircraft also made flights at the request of the Home Office in response to the Buncefield oil depot fire & the Elgin gas platform release, among others. (3/4)
Excellent statement from RMetS questioning the decision to cease funding for the FAAM aircraft: www.rmets.org/news/stateme...
Gorton & Denton by-election, 2026 Source: Britain Elects SIAIS r EFTIES Green GAIN from Labour 40.7 28.7 25.4 1.9 1.8 Grn 427.5 Ref 414.6 Lab 725.4 Con 76.0 Lib 72.0 1.4 Oth 78.9
Starmer:
“If you don’t like our policies you can leave.”
Voters:
The reference to autonomous platforms seems particularly bizarre given the major ARIA investment in exactly the same area of research: www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-...
I guess we no longer need to "tackle climate change from the skies" after spending £61m the last 6 years:
www.gov.uk/government/n...
Shocking from UKRI: no more aircraft observations, investing in "land-based capabilities and remote sensing equipment."
The atmosphere is not land-based(!) and remote sensing can only provide an approximation of what FAAM could do. And I say that as someone who should gain from such a pivot.
Wow.....to mentioned in the same air as the Tuskegee Airmen and my mentor Dr. Warren Washington is humbling
weather.com/news/weather...
Mesmerising performance by Lisa O'Neill in Poole last night: "Natural disasters devastate and turn our world upside down, BUT it is the man-made greed-motivated unnatural disasters put upon our beautiful planet and it’s people that inspired this song." #farright
youtu.be/Nbm-pNGPuo8?...
We use 30 year averages to show climatology (average weather conditions). During the 20th century the UK climatology followed a path around a confined box. With #globalwarming and #climatechange they have escaped out the box. This #dataviz shows UK rainfall and temperature.
I haven't managed to verbalise it well yet but the growing use of AI in weather forecasting and claims about improvement in forecast skill when using AI suggest we need a lot more investment in how we measure improvement in forecast skill 🙃
7 out of 13 that's cinema verdicts, is that luck, awards season, or careful planning?
Yeah, big space weather implications. Both in terms of protecting the hardware and in terms of transmitting the data through the ionosphere at high rates.
Sounds like someone may need to invest promptly into space weather forecasting! @mathewjowens.bsky.social (space weather awkwardly not featuring among the key challenges...)
‘The race is on’: will Elon Musk be the first to put a data centre in space? - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
If you were trying to come up with more harmful guidance towards trans and non-binary young people you would be hard pressed to find it. The fact it is backed by Cass shows how wrong it is.
We are already seeing an increase in suicide rates among trans young people.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
5 years is not "quite short". those 5 years cost us about fourteen grand, three horrendously stressful applications, and (for example) a full half decade where nobody would offer us a mortgage because my wife only had temporary residency, so we had to keep paying a fortune in rent instead
Shouldn't there be room for multiple forms of activism or protest? I understand there are problems with SUTR but they are the only org I see consistently running counter protests across the country. Their protest in Bournemouth I attended seemed to have a reasonably broad umbrella.
I see Stephen also spent most of 2002 on the sorting hat website! (It was the most popular pastime for us liberal arts college students outside of MSN messenger.)
they should make a movie series about how it’s irresponsible to use technology to mess with the natural order of things for profit
Wow. (1) Imagine having a "close personal friend" that then completely misrepresents your "agenda". (2) After 35 years still failing to understand the unique setup of the Met Office Unified Model 🤦🏻♂️
I believe Claer Barrett is your go-to for some admin fun: Gen Z trend for ‘admin nights’ is worth following - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
Forget Grand Designs! "As seen on Heated Rivalry" should attract a different customer base. www.tomraffield.com/products/ver...
Two actors posing together in what looks like a hotel room or restaurant. One of the actors is shirtless. Behind them, fancy pendants are prominently placed.
Free advertising advice for Tom Raffield: If my products were prominently placed in the hottest TV show right now I would probably make a bigger deal out of it. (Even if many viewers' eyes would be focused elsewhere.) #HeatedRivalry
Again, symptom of a lack of strategic thinking across Government is that we are simultaneously cutting university research grants, refusing to engage with university funding issues and announcing massive investment into green technology and AI.
