Neil Robinson

Sunrise over the Tyrol alps It will be alright in the end. And if it's not alright, it is not yet the end. #AcademicSky #ClimateSky #Altmetrics

THREAD

Things that didn't make the news that will likely change our lives for the better

The news is not an accurate reflection of the world.

Good news doesn't get reported as much.

Here are the wonderful things researchers have achieved recently.
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How far back in time can you understand English? An experiment in language change

If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle.

It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get.

www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...

Written English has barely changed in 300 years. If you can read Harry Potter, you can read Robinson Crusoe (1719).

A cat who once had a big suburban house and a hugely stressful prestigious job and now lives on a cliff instead, free of the trappings of modern life, to the admiration of its friends, who, as they idealise its life, never imagine the terrible loneliness it feels during cold winters, six miles from the nearest shop, cinema and pub.

THREAD.

A collection of photos I have taken of excellent cats I have met on walks.

You will find the all-important captions to the photos in the alt text.

Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Interior view of the building showing massive stone columns with detailed carvings and colorful hieroglyphs as well as the ceiling. The columns are shaped like lotus or papyrus plants and are closely spaced, supporting a decorated ceiling. 📷 Daniel von Recklinghausen

Today, a friend involved in the Esna restoration project has shared with me his latest stunning photos of the restored ceiling and columns of the Temple of Khnum in Esna, Upper #Egypt. During a multi-year restoration project, the dirt and soot that had obscured the ...🧵1/3

📷 D. v. Recklinghausen
🏺

Day 8 of #31DaysOfGraves - Glass

When visiting a graveyard, have you ever wondered what these flat marble plates, reminiscent of chopping boards, are?

They're the bases of Victorian/Edwardian "Immortelles" that once held fragile memorial ornaments under a glass dome. Not many now survive intact...

you ever think about those real weird overlaps. like tennessee williams might have listened to the ramones

“one cat has “eyes like dewdrops on a lotus”, while another’s are “lit like fireflies, applied liquid gold”. One has a “body colored as a conch shell”, while another is “white as cliffs”…” publicdomainreview.org/collection/t...

Research funding requires research capacity The Leverhulme Trust is investing an extra £100m in supporting research next year. Anna Vignoles calls for new thinking on ways to sustain university research infrastructures

Big day @leverhulme.ac.uk - we are celebrating our centenary by investing £100m in blue skies research and doctoral centres. Here I explain why... @wonkhe.bsky.social

Research funding requires research capacity wonkhe.com/blogs/resear...

Statements of Need in Research Infrastructure EPSRC wishes to understand the scale, nature, and scientific value of potential large-scale infrastructure investments to maintain the UK as a leading scientific nation. Representatives of relevant scientific communities are invited to submit statements of need according to the assessment criteria.

ICYMI: EPSRC wishes to understand the scale, nature, and scientific value of potential large-scale infrastructure investments to maintain the UK as a leading scientific nation. Representatives of relevant scientific communities are invited to submit statements of need according to the… #EPSRC

They deserve some kind of award at Bloomberg for making these excellent visualizations of monopolization tendencies in the AI supply chain.

In a first for any research council we know of, EPSRC shared their data with us and the Alan Turing Institute to delve into what it shows about equity and diversity in application processes.

📖 Read about our findings: rss.org.uk/news-publica...

" Dear Colleagues,

As part of the ongoing Road-mapping Exercise for Electron Microscopy in the Physical Sciences, EPSRC are arranging an initial Town Hall meeting on 26 March 2025 at Mary Ward House Conference Centre (London WC1H 9SN), which is just off Tavistock Square,

a visual poem for #smallpoemsunday, using Walden as the source text. this is in the new issue of @hungermtn.bsky.social

Eight critical questions for the new chief executive of UKRI With announcement of a new UKRI chief executive expected imminently, Anton Muscatelli and Miles Padgett set out the most pressing issues for the new incumbent With announcement of a new UKRI chief exe...

eight-critical-questions-for-the-new-chief-executive-of-ukri. Fun as ever to write with @uofgvc.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social

In the early 1930’s, Hans Bethe developed an “ansatz,” a starting point for predicting the behavior of quantum systems. When Hitler rose to power, he fled Germany and became a leader of the Manhattan project in America. His ansatz is still widely used today. https://buff.ly/4gU4fb3

Prometheus and the privatization of science Prometheus in Greek mythology stole fire from Zeus, who had taken it away from humans and was threatening their destruction, and returned it to them, and also taught them arts and technology. His p…

If there ever was a moment for all of us to stand together in defence of publicly funded #science in all its disciplinary breadth, it is now.

anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/02/10/p...

The white-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener albomaculosus) is known for its unique and complex courtship display which involves creating large, geometric circles in the sand. These circles are constructed in an effort to attract females for copulation.

The purr article on French Wikipedia has a chart that sorts cats into the groups "purrs," "uncertain," "probably purrs," and "no data"

Output from gravity meter, showing increase in noise as we go from 23 Jan to 24 Jan of 2025.

Winds from #StormEowyn already causing an increase in seismic noise as measured by the gravity meter at the University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences. (Current plots at www.geos.ed.ac.uk/~hcp/gravity/ .)

2025 The way ahead This year, Government will set a multi-year spending settlement for financial years 2026/7 and on.  It’s the first major reset since 2021.  In that settlement the overall science budget r…

Happy New Year from AHRC!

Here's a vision for 2025, in which properly funding the national capability that we have in outstanding #arts and #humanities #research will strengthen the power of #science to build a better future for all.

anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2025/01/01/2...

Funding arts and humanities Arts and humanities research in the UK is consistently producing outstanding work across all disciplines.  By all the criteria of judgement, the Research Excellence Framework, league tables (which …

On the opportunity cost of failing – radically failing – to recognise what we can and what we need to do in arts and humanities to develop a national capability that genuinely supports this country’s future agenda.

anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2024/12/31/f...

This may look hand made but it's not. Strong winds during #StormDarragh over Exmoor have created this. Beautiful.

📷 Exmoor4All

A Navajo rug with a complex pattern with muted reds, pinks and blues. The pattern consists of various vertical and horizontal rectangles with stripes. Around the border are small alternating black and colored rectangles. The weaving is mounted in a wooden frame and hanging on the museum wall.

I recently saw an amazing Navajo rug at the National Gallery of Art. It looks abstract at first, but it is a detailed representation of the Intel Pentium processor. Called "Replica of a Chip", it was created in 1994 by Marilou Schultz, a Navajo/Diné weaver and math teacher. 1/n

UK Research Funding Policy and Practice Join the conversation

Several weeks after it was first cool to make starter packs... here's mine on UK Research Policy and Practice.

I'm sure there are many I've missed, so further suggestions for the list are very welcome.

go.bsky.app/8TzcaEV

Great 🧵

Ea-nāṣir is the recipient of the world’s oldest complaint letter. He’s reportedly the worst businessman of the 18th century, a mediocre conman whose actions should have him put out of business. Is this fair?

Here’s a thread on the most up-to-date research on this captivating figure.

A haunting piece about reconstructed prehistoric homes that have been abandoned and are themselves now becoming archaeology: 'Fragments of material culture ... are slowly becoming archaeology within the interior: this time we can witness the end of a prehistory.'

🧵SALT🧵
It's been snowing in the UK and the road gritters are out in force, begging the question:
Have you ever wondered where that grit actually COMES from?
The answer is more magical, beautiful and fascinating than you probably realised.
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