Margaret Harris

I don’t know. Aaaaaaaaaa! 🧨

Operation Hannibal - Wikipedia

I feel this, but I can recommend Wikipedia rabbit holes related to late-Second World War battles. Nearly all feature spectacular Nazi cock-ups and large numbers of dead Nazis, which is sometimes weirdly reassuring. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...

Yes, the article mentions that it’s not a new idea or even, for the most part, a new technology. The question was whether it could be made quick and efficient enough to work on more than an artistic or niche scale, and apparently it can!

They found another workaround. Both relatives are safe for now. But thank you!

Right, who all is starting to get excited for #APSMarch #APSApril #APSGPS in Denver the week after next? Do I know anyone else who’s going to be there? Any talks I should definitely try to squeeze in? I’m open to suggestions!

I will ask. It’s a very kind offer.

African or European swallow?

(I don't know, but hopefully it's cuneiform rather than Linear B or, worse, Linear A.)

I hope they're okay, and I'm glad you've heard from her. A friend likewise has family there and last time I checked, she had heard nothing since an hour after the bombing started. Extremely worrying times for all in this situation.

The good news: We've found a data-storage medium that can outlast clay tablets!
The bad news: Future humans will need a microscope and a good working knowledge of optical physics to read whatever we write there.

I suppose it's not *that* much more difficult than deciphering cuneiform... 🧪⚛️

.country | Harmony Harmony's .country domains allow a seamless transition between Web2 and Web3. You can use your .country domain for both traditional websites and decentralized applications, making it easier to access ...

Right, so even when a country’s sample was representative of its <75 population, different demographics mean that the data will make e.g. a country with an older population appear to have attitudes more typical of older generations. I can see how that could mess with conclusions. Thanks!

I once spent Thanksgiving Day smelling like Julia Roberts.

Thanks for the link. The researchers claim that the surveyed populations in both Hungary and Japan are representative of adults <75 there. Are you able to elaborate on why you think the methodology is flawed?

It surprises me that Hungary and Japan are near the bottom of this list. My impression is that they are both somewhat socially conservative countries, unlike egalitarian, feminist-friendlier Sweden or the Netherlands, which are where I'd expect them to be. Does anyone have any insights on this?

It is very useful what they’re doing. I had not previously known that a scratch could transmit rabies; I thought you had to be bitten. I hope I never need to use this new knowledge, but it’s better to have it than not!

A LOT going on in the Commons select committee hearing on STFC budget pressures

Michele Dougherty said that, despite having previously been on STFC's council, she didn't know until starting as exec chair in Jan 2025 that there was a £100-150m shortfall

She said it was "not what I signed up to" 😶

Ancient reversal of Earth's magnetic field took an extraordinarily long time – Physics World Field-flipping event 40 million years ago in the Eocene epoch lasted 70,000 years

In the midst of the current turmoil, I found it weirdly soothing to contemplate the cataclysmic events described in this article, which took place on geophysical timescales some 40 million years ago. Perhaps you will, too. physicsworld.com/a/ancient-re...

Ah yes, Masks on a Train, the safer yet much less exciting sequel to Snakes on a Plane. Hope it goes well!

A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator YouTube video by Forbrukerrådet - Norwegian Consumer Council

I find myself slightly suprised to be recommending a video from the Norwegian Consumer Council, but it's bloody good. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Up...

Thread captures a reason my first instinct is skpeticism: many space advocates are so desperate for a 'space killer app', be it solar power satellites, missile defense, zero-g mfg, or now, data centers.

It's a backwards question. If space makes sense, great, if not, who cares?

The Epstein files document what many women researchers have long experienced but rarely seen laid bare so starkly: exclusion operating behind closed doors, shaping who gets funded, invited, mentored, and taken seriously. How many of these networks, norms, and gatekeepers remain in place?

Would anybody like to read one of my long threads about a 2.5bn year old rock, bacteria that could produce oxygen but not consume it, and tank production in wwii

This is really cool! I was able to make out 1200 with great difficulty, but 1100 was a nope and by 1000 I understood hardly a word.

Hello, my employer @physicsworld.bsky.social does not publish AI-generated stories, images or videos, per our policy here: physicsworld.com/p/our-artifi... Please could you add us to this starter pack?

Almost all primary journals are digital only - there are no hardcopy prints of the publications. It is hard to imagine how it is justified to charge thousands of USD for a single article. Especially when considering that current peer-review journals would not exist without the main ingredient: free reviewers.

Also, this is maddening.

The authors could have *asked* why even zero-profit-margin journals is the AAS Journals cost so much to produce. No need to imagine! There's a lot more to producing a real, archived, edited, typeset, scientific article with data than peer reviewer labor.

Grave memorial reading: In Memory of Sarah Jarvis, who departed this life the 11th Day of December 1753 in the Hundred and Seventh Year of her Age Some time before her Death She had Fresh Teeth

There’s an excellent example of this recorded on a grave memorial near me.

It sounds of a piece with the government’s tendency to do things that will create a fillip of vaguely positive publicity for a single media cycle, with little interest and less care about how it will play out in the longer term.

🎶Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landsliiide
Of a champagne superkilonover
A champagne superkilonover in the sky-y

"Enshrined in law" is a particular bugbear for @davidallengreen.bsky.social for, I believe, similar reasons.

When I did this to my mom as a teenager, I had to make dinner for the family later in the week. It was a “You inconvenience me, you make it up to me by giving me back some time later” arrangement. Bonus: I went off to uni knowing how to make several different dinners!

If you're a UK physicist or astronomer who's concerned about planned funding cuts to science funding by the UKRI, our parent organization @iop.org wants to hear from you: 🧪⚛️🔭 www.iop.org/feedback-fol...