Helen Czerski

Physics, bubbles, oceans, hot chocolate and curiosity. Associate Professor at UCL, writer, broadcaster. Author of Storm in a Teacup and Blue Machine: https://linktr.ee/helenczerski #fedi22 #physics #ocean #climate #bikes

Website: www.helenczerski.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/helen_czerski/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-czerski-045b956/recent-activity/
BlueSky: helenczerski.bsky.social

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npub1d8tzfmdn8987wtn3z4hr6q2sagexzy8kyf674xzg2y0zgaam69rs7sfud4

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helenczerski_at_fediscience.org@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsxn43yakenjnl89ec32m3aq9gw5vnpzrmzya02npy9z83yw7aaz3cprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntzphpxj

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relay.momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2025-12-20 18:07:02 UTC

If you need a bit of ocean in your day (and who doesn't?), here's me in full ocean-enthusiast mode, on the BBC podcast/videocast The Climate Question. Now available both as a video-podcast and good old-fashioned audio-only podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-E7hOs900g&list=PLz_B0PFGIn4dlFahw2svjb6-aW_BVOn4x&index=2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct702x
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/753/223/630/612/717/original/5c3c8e962daebd64.png

2025-12-12 09:00:30 UTC

How could/should/will we get around the cities of the future? A car for everyone is never going to work in a city, but once we go back to seeing the streets as places for people to get around (rather than "where the cars go") how could it all work? Cities and technology are constantly evolving, and so our city streets will too. For this week's Rare Earth, on air at 12 today and online afterwards, we talked to Chris Boardman, Stephen Potter and Karen Lucas about what the future holds. Listen here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002n7p1
#Podcast #transport #ActiveTravel #cities
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/705/771/469/967/804/original/f03cdeb5e1111111.jpeg

2025-12-07 11:38:46 UTC

*cough* If you're gift shopping for anyone interested in how the world works, do consider these. Storm in a Teacup is all about the physics of everyday life and Blue Machine is all about how the ocean works - the water itself, which is the biggest story on Earth. Share the joy of nature & science!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/678/085/368/381/880/original/84dcd7568f5a2533.png

2025-11-21 16:53:25 UTC

Do you remember the Shoe Event Horizon from the brilliant Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy? (explained in pic if not)
Is that where we are today with online fast fashion clothes shopping?
Listen now to this week's Rare Earth, all about fast fashion, its effect on the environment, and options for what happens next as this giant industry perhaps faces the end of the road:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vbt0
#radio #fashion #podcast #environment
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/588/724/333/739/655/original/2b4bd8d2e442278f.png

2025-11-18 16:39:23 UTC

Spot the stylishly dressed! Here we all are in the studio today for this week's Rare Earth, on fashion/clothing. Can the massive fast fashion consumption machine be turned off, and what could /should we make our clothes from? Hear it all online or on air on Friday: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mc4w
Pictured: Simon Platts, me, Kate Fletcher, Tom Heap and Patrick Grant (yes, hte one from the Sewing Bee).
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/571/681/605/906/630/original/6462e3a5cd55e7a3.jpeg

2025-09-20 11:05:35 UTC

If you're in London today (Sat 20th), don't miss the spectacle that is the Great River Race! This historic race is a fabulous way to see all sorts of traditional (from many traditions) boats - skiffs, coracles, gigs & more - race through central London. You can keep up here: https://greatriverrace.org.uk/live-map/
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/236/296/061/371/632/original/7945f9500c7e9d77.png

2025-09-13 10:52:04 UTC

The nuts and bolts of our world are literally made from steel: furniture, tools, buildings, containers & more. But making all this steel produces 8% of our carbon emissions, so one of the pillars of a clean future is green steel. Can it be done? We find out, in this week's Rare Earth:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002j631
#podcast #radio #environment #RareEarth

2025-09-08 08:17:25 UTC

Useless private medical tests=bad. But I heard recently (as an eg) abt work on a clock accurate to 1 second in the lifetime of the universe, while (peri)menopause is still poorly researched. Data *would* help, if collected & analysed properly, directly benefitting 1/2 of us. Why aren't we doing it?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/sep/07/private-menopause-tests-risk-undermining-nhs-care-doctors-say

2025-09-02 21:30:27 UTC

Still gutted about the news on a lack of specialist physics teachers. Storm in a Teacup has been translated into 21 languages, & is still in print 7 years after I wrote it. Clearly people ARE interested in the physics of the world around them and how it works. This should be for everyone.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/136/831/609/805/441/original/3fdad0572e0b6d15.jpeg

2025-09-02 08:24:52 UTC

It's incredibly disappointing to hear that a quarter of UK schools don't have a specialist physics teacher. It's essential that we can all see the basics of how the world works & it's fun to satisfy that very basic curiosity. Physics gives us all agency in a complex world.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/sep/02/quarter-schools-england-lack-physics-teacher

2025-08-29 11:07:55 UTC

Did you know that we only have tequila because bats pollinate agave plants *at night*? While we're asleep, the ecological action carries on. So what are we missing out on and how important is it? Join us for this week's BBC R4 Rare Earth (on air & online now) to find out.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002hmqn
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/115/111/734/517/686/067/original/506ac76fa44aeef2.png

2025-08-26 16:23:03 UTC

It's 20 yrs since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans & flooding is becoming a fixture in their lives.
In Front Yard Floods, out on the BBC World Service today, we met the local communities who taking flood protection into their own hands, to give their city a future.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80hn

2025-08-02 15:36:08 UTC

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is coming round again and the shortlist is stunning.
See the whole shortlist here: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/galleries/2025-shortlist and there will be an exhibition of all of them at Royal Museums Greenwich after the winner is announced.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/959/906/768/196/653/original/8049f73728701860.png

2025-07-30 12:10:16 UTC

Reading Rebecca Solnit & I love this:
""The remains of the swamp grass, the ferns ... turned into coal. And to this cemetery we intend to go, drag the dead out of their tombs, and force them to work for us." That language frames it as a zombie movie, a horror story, the dead come back to haunt us."
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/942/110/359/529/018/original/0e1f9849fc597072.jpeg

2025-07-23 10:36:02 UTC

Open Planet is doing some great stuff, and this is an incredible resource for anyone telling stories about the ocean:
thousands of cinematic clips themed around marine issues and environments available to everyone.
Seeing is believing, and this will help everyone see.
https://openplanet.org/news/ocean-collection/

2025-07-10 17:54:12 UTC

New evidence on how relatively small changes to how "AI" is used could reduce its (huge!) energy use significantly:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/jul/practical-changes-could-reduce-ai-energy-demand-90
Our recent episode of Rare Earth on the environmental costs of data centres and "AI" is here, with a deep dive into the wider issues: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dc92

2025-06-28 14:32:31 UTC

In 1860, the British Parliamentary Standard Candle was used as a measure of brightness. Hunting for spermaceti to make this & far more drove a huge expansion of whaling in the 17th & 18th centuries.
In Friday's Rare Earth, 40 years on from the global moratorium on hunting whales for profit, we looked back at whalers, the long term consequences, new science on whale communication and connection to their ecosystem & the global whale health today. Available online now:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002f013
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/761/474/013/427/588/original/b3ff74f095977cb3.jpeg

2025-06-20 21:59:54 UTC

Only a few hours to go until the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere - it's at 03.42 BST (02.42 GMT) on Saturday 21 June. So yes, the middle of the night, and the 21st is the longest day of the year. Happy Summer (Winter for southerners) Solstice everyone!
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/time/summer-solstice

2025-06-13 16:23:21 UTC

Ocean hivemind, I have a question. 🌊 Does anyone know of any academics or conservation organisation doing research into Mola mola (ocean sunfish) in Europe? And especially in the UK? All the studies I can find seem to have finished.

2025-06-13 10:50:36 UTC

What are the current and future environmental impacts of data centres/AI? Who is responsible - companies or individuals? This week's Rare Earth (on BBC R4 at 12:04 and available online afterwards) got pretty lively as we dug into it all. One not to miss!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002dc92

2025-06-07 08:32:13 UTC

In London and wondering what to do today? (Sat June 7th) Come to the World Ocean Day celebration at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich! There will be LOADS of free family activities, and you can see the refurbished Ocean Court with its fantastic map. Do join us.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/national-maritime-museum/world-ocean-day
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/641/150/513/539/017/original/b09f255379682f8a.png

2025-05-30 17:34:03 UTC

Today's Rare Earth was on insects - how they're doing and how we really need to work with them.
Here's my favourite example of how much we take insects for granted: Cattle make wet soft dung but wombat/kangaroo dung is dry/hard, so when cows came Australia the native beetles couldn't cope.
Since there was no fast way to recycle it, cow dung piled up for months/years. A decades-long project brought in foreign dung beetles so fields weren't covered in poo. A similar recent project had the strapline Beetles with Benefits.
You can hear the programme here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002cq4z
#Radio #environment #insects

2025-05-26 09:05:10 UTC

Just finished @frediotto.bsky.social
's new book Climate Injustice. It presents a convincing & important argument that (in her words) "the climate crisis is shaped largely by inequality". Essential stuff - do read it!
Also, come to Cheltenham Sci Festival on June 4th to hear me discuss it with her.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/573/331/355/205/534/original/1ba0bbc64356b28a.jpg

2025-05-25 18:13:24 UTC

Cosmic Shambles has a whole area at this year's Latitude Festival and I'll be part of it, doing events throughout the festival alongside an amazing group of other scientists, musicians, comedians & other ace people. What more could you want than a Forest of Science and Culture? Do come and join us!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/569/825/785/944/048/original/914cd47f40dc5f44.jpeg

2025-05-23 10:48:28 UTC

Things I never thought I would need to say: do UK maggot vending machines still exist? We're covering insects on Rare Earth next week and I would love mention them. Anyone got recent pics?
If you don't believe me, here's comedian Stewart Lee's brush with them 11 years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/23/stewart-lee-vending-machine-tory-party-maggots-grant

2025-05-17 13:20:41 UTC

New series of Rare Earth coming soon... and the first programme will be on INSECTS.
What are they doing to keep ecosystems running, how are they doing, and could they help us make the future greener and healthier?
Listen on May 30th to find out.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vbt0
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/523/370/683/287/348/original/21ccafd4ecccd2f7.mp4

2025-05-15 08:27:42 UTC

Shoutout to all UK ocean scientists! This third FMRI podcast is the most interesting so far - really getting into the details of what the future could look like. This is going to affect ALL of us, so please do listen to the podcast and have your say. The fourth episode will be focussed on responding to your thoughts (we've got a bunch already but more is better), so do send your ideas, concerns, questions and comments!
This is also for anyone who uses UK marine research infrastructure - geologists, atmospheric scientists, polar scientists etc. Please do help spread the word, and feel free to post about your responses to the issues in the podcast - the aim of this is to stimulate discussion.
https://fmri.ac.uk/podcasts
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2025-05-06 21:33:55 UTC

"Data product" is science language for a processed dataset that is organised, checked and ready for sharing. This announcement from the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration means they're ending snow/ice data sharing. Globally critical data streams on the polar regions will just stop.
https://nsidc.org/data/user-resources/data-announcements/user-notice-level-service-update-data-products
And this is Ralph Keeling himself talking about the implications of NOAA being effectively shut down on global monitoring of CO2. Note that it's the global intercalibration of sensors that is at stake, not just someone making a measurement somewhere.
https://thebulletin.org/2025/05/how-the-dismantling-of-noaa-threatens-the-keeling-curve/

2025-05-04 10:33:06 UTC

Happy 99th birthday David Attenborough! The day itself is actually Thursday - May 8th - but today the Observer has published a lovely list of memories and the things he did that have provided inspiration from 99 people (including me). Well worth a read :)
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/03/david-attenborough-birthday-99-by-barack-obama-billie-eilish-morgan-freeman

2025-05-02 08:18:21 UTC

So much of the destruction in the USA is away from the spotlight at grass roots level. But the foundations of a modern society are being smashed. The National Science Foundation has just stopped awarding new grants and funding existing ones. That effectively means that work on all existing NSF grants has to stop immediately. Universities are telling researchers to stop spending on those grants right away. That's jobs and progress and opportunity just being eradicated.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01396-2

2025-04-26 07:52:24 UTC

It's a beautiful sunny morning in Berlin, everyone is walking to their local bakery or walking dogs, and the streets are completely clear. But there are cars everywhere, parked. The public transport here is so good, and people use it, but the cars sit around like the ghosts of a gridlocked past.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/403/176/909/863/865/original/7180e414c622f6aa.jpeg

2025-04-23 10:50:19 UTC

It's taken me a while to finish The Dawn Of Everything - it's 525 pages long and quite dense - but it was totally worth it. It reexamines history by looking at the many periods (the majority?) when there *weren't* kings, empires & hierarchical societies, questions a lot of assumptions about who was in charge, and suggests we're asking the wrong questions about our past. Highly recommended for anyone interested in how societies could and should be organised.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/386/889/554/280/751/original/9e11835d290e58fe.jpeg

2025-04-16 08:42:07 UTC

It's the first morning of Everything Electric here at the ExCeL... loads of electric cars, heat pumps, solar panels, batteries & lots to learn about a cleaner electrified future.
It's on today, tomorrow and Friday and open to everyone.
Also, there's loads for kids to do. Bring the whole family!
https://uk.everythingelectric.show/london
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/346/747/065/054/803/original/373b92137335d5c0.jpg

2025-04-11 18:34:35 UTC

In today's Rare Earth on concrete, I somehow omitted my favourite thing about it:
To make concrete you need cement, which needs limestone. And the calcium in limestone was all collected by tiny sea creatures, building their shells atom by atom from the water around them. So the calcium in every single bit of concrete has passed through a sea creature. We only have skyscrapers because of marine life.
[The ace pic is from a WSJ column I wrote on this]
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0029rqw
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2025-04-11 10:45:13 UTC

Today's Rare Earth (on air at noon) is all about concrete. We associate it with solidity and reliability, but also with being the scourge of the natural world. It has a huge environmental cost, so what does the future hold? And what might a concrete-free world look like?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0029rqw

2025-04-09 08:14:57 UTC

For UK peeps not following climate science across the pond, these came yday:
An executive order to override state energy laws that mention climate:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/
Ending one $4M grant to study climate because it "focuses on alarming scenarios"
https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2025/04/ending-cooperative-agreements-funding-princeton-university

2025-04-08 08:53:41 UTC

This is a rare & very real week of drama at the International Maritime Organisation, as they debate future environmental regulation in a once-in-10-years effort.
The tensions are set out here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/07/poor-countries-say-rich-world-betraying-them-over-climate-pledges-on-shipping?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Our recent Rare Earth on this was great fun - do listen! https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00297dc

2025-04-07 09:40:43 UTC

Science types out there... I'm sure I have seen a demonstration of the poor tensile strength of concrete where you hit one side of a concrete block with a hammer and then a chip falls off the other end because that's where the reflected wave is first in tension. But I can't find a video of this online. Have I made this up? Does anyone know where I might find a video of this if not? Obviously google etc isn't getting me very far. Any ideas?

2025-04-04 21:01:46 UTC

After further consideration (& your suggestions), here's a starter list for running any country properly:
PM: Paddington
Chancellor: The Count from Sesame Street
Transport Secretary: Ivor the Engine
Foreign Secretaries: The Clangers
Home Sec: Moominpapa
Head of MI5: Danger Mouse
Env Sec: Great Uncle Bulgaria (head Womble)
Justice: Grotbags?
Health & Social care: Cookie Monster, helped by Bert & Ernie
Transport: Ivor the Engine
Science & innovation: Gromit
Space: Mr Spoon from Button Moon
Polar science: Pingu
DCMS: Kermit
Emergency services: Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb
Civil Service: The mice from Bagpuss (we will fix it, we will fix it…)
Comments/modifications?

2025-04-04 09:08:53 UTC

This exchange happened five years ago. Today, we need the Womble Apocalypse more than ever.
Basically, I would like the world to be run by Paddington Bear, the Wombles and Bagpuss, with the Muppets as special advisors.
Please?
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/278/906/830/191/902/original/44b5543a13755e46.png

2025-04-01 11:03:24 UTC

I will be doing loads of interesting things at Cheltenham Science Festival this year - seeing the ocean from space, extreme weather, climate justice, the past, present & future of visual displays & astronomy past and future. Do come along!
Full prog: https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/whats-on/science
Tix on sale 23rd April
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/262/370/178/760/846/original/b1e3c25f6b90c8e9.png

2025-03-27 12:52:11 UTC

Great stuff here from Adam Rutherford on the science (or not) of what 23andMe was actually doing & why.
The real question is about the vast amount of genetic data they collected. It will get sold to someone - but who, and what will *they* use it for?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/27/geneticist-mourn-23andme-useless-health-information

2025-03-23 11:39:53 UTC

It may feel as though we live in dark times, but here in the UK there are LOADS of science festivals celebrating ideas, sparking curiosity, and sharing the latest research (for both adults and kids). Someone told me recently they didn’t know where to look, so I made a list. Here goes… [deep breath]:
15th-26th Mar, ATOM in Oxford https://www.atomfestival.org.uk/
19th Mar-4th Apr, Cambridge Festival https://cambridgesciencefestival.org/
5th – 20th Apr, Edinburgh Sci Fest https://www.edinburghscience.co.uk/
1/5

2025-03-22 10:12:32 UTC

Chemists often complain the public mistakenly thinks chemicals=evil
But when you see the self-described "chemical industry" fighting reasonable regulation of 1000s of substances they make but don't explain to the public, many of which *do* spread invisibly and cause harm, I think this is on them.

2025-03-21 20:01:44 UTC

I love this, from Elif Shafak, & it's what I need to hear at the moment:
"When times are confusing, everybody is a little lost. No-one is as inwardly confident as they present themselves to be. Hence the reason we must read, my boy. Books. like paper lanterns, provide us with a light amidst the fog"
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/202/201/564/245/539/original/85ddad130fd99553.png

2025-03-21 17:32:36 UTC

I was looking (for legitimate science writing reasons) for data on fecal size in relation to body mass and I discovered this, which is clearly a lockdown project that got a bit out of control:
https://justsomeweirdnerd.github.io/Blog_pages/Other/Poop_Olympics_Mammals.html
And the Cosmic Shambles bunch think that I'm unreasonably obsessed with poo...
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/201/615/135/495/765/original/a010b8f65c72e7b9.png

2025-03-20 19:07:35 UTC

Oh... this is really sad news. Ripple Energy will cease to trade (although their existing turbines etc are owned by separate co-ops and will continue to function).
Shared green energy ownership is such a great idea. I really hope this isn't a major roadblock to more of it.
#RippleEnergy
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2025-03-20 13:57:22 UTC

Happy Spring Equinox! For those of us in the northern hemisphere, spring has sprung, and we passed the official equinox position at 9:01am (UK time).
I wish you all a day filled with sunshine, happy bunnies, daffodils, and perhaps some hedgehogs emerging from hibernation.
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/varying-march-equinox-date.html

2025-03-19 12:33:23 UTC

The world is complicated, but I think the great challenge of our time is simple to express:
To learn how our natural life support systems work (our planet and our own bodies), to understand that they are complex and should be treated with respect, and to work with them rather than against them.

2025-03-12 22:47:58 UTC

The news has been more than a bit grim of late, so hooray for Carbon Brief providing some genuine and really meaningful **good** news: the UK's carbon emissions in 2024 were the lowest since 1872, because demand for fossil fuels just keeps decreasing.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-emissions-fall-3-6-in-2024-as-coal-use-drops-to-lowest-since-1666/
#climate #GHG #science #GoodNews
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2025-03-12 10:53:30 UTC

It's hard to say this, but science (& research more generally) is just being **stopped** in the US right now. This is just one university, losing nearly a billion dollars in project funding pretty much overnight. That's people's jobs, and the research that could save lives.
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/johns-hopkins-federal-funding-foreign-aid-cut-ca841d31?st=EJYFJk&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
#America #science
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2025-03-08 10:04:24 UTC

Hooray for International Womens Day etc, but really, it's an utter embarrassment to society that it's still necessary in 2025.
We need a Gaia-like parent to tell the tech bros that they're not allowed to play with their shiny scifi toys until the basic homework of human equality is sorted out.

2025-03-07 14:35:08 UTC

The USA is about to try to dismantle its national Department for Education:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/06/politics/trump-education-department-shut-down-order/index.html
Education is what gives us all agency to operate in the world, to read & learn for ourselves, to navigate complex systems and to collaborate on building better ones. This is a power grab.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/121/644/989/298/655/original/7dfbc579f24c25fe.png

2025-03-05 19:06:06 UTC

In last week's Rare Earth, we looked at the Arctic & especially Greenland: the geopolitics of mineral extraction, what Greenlanders want & the impacts etc
Today, this: "Fearing toxic waste, Greenland ended uranium mining. Now, they could be forced to restart - or pay $11bn"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/05/greenland-mining-energy-transition-minerals-environmental-laws-uranium-rare-earth-toxic-waste-investor-state-dispute-settlement-isds-aoe?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

2025-02-18 09:48:42 UTC

This is a very nice list to be on, in very impressive company!
"The Unwin Award ... recognises.. non-fiction writers in the earlier stages of their careers as authors, whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world"
https://www.publishers.org.uk/inaugural-shortlist-revealed-for-the-unwin-award-2025/
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/114/024/259/375/487/728/original/6512832cc8575a0d.png

2025-02-12 22:41:02 UTC

Was it Cory Doctorow who noted that the only way to stop a system being corrupted is to design it to be impossible to corrupt from the outset? AI involves surrendering a HUGE amount of power, and expecting no operator ever to surrender to the temptation to tweak it for their own benefit is ludicrous

2025-02-12 00:27:09 UTC

Fluorescing birds of paradise! One of the things I love about these studies is that curators carefully store samples for decades with no knowledge of the techniques and ideas that will come along later to show the stories that were hidden there all along.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/12/many-birds-of-paradise-species-emit-light-through-their-plumage-study-finds
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/988/077/410/981/885/original/65ca3de1ce72c664.png

2025-02-10 14:32:47 UTC

Can't get a comparison from this book out of my head: between the anonymity of driving and of internet interaction. Because you can't see a face, talk or get direct impartial feedback on your own behaviour, the other person is always an idiot & it's easy to triumphantly claim the moral high ground.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/980/077/961/371/762/original/e9e6a64c773a695d.jpeg

2025-02-09 17:54:24 UTC

It is SuperbOwl day, so here are some of the superb owls I learned about while preparing our Rare Earth episode on raptors (bird of prey) earlier this year.
Episode here, for the owl keen beans: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024x4b
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/975/208/454/018/652/original/df04ae7db78846b4.jpeg
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/975/208/454/693/580/original/a376c8d645493922.jpeg

2025-02-09 12:15:53 UTC

It is such a delight to discover that the origin of Reuters (the huge news agency) is that in 1850 Paul Julius Reuters started a service using pigeons to carry news & stock market prices between Brussels & Aachen, until telegraph could take over. Pigeons went by train each day & then flew back.

2025-01-29 04:35:07 UTC

The National Science Foundation funds a huge amount of science in the US, and this appeared on their website 7 hours ago (at https://new.nsf.gov/executive-orders )
This is telling people to stop work on existing grants if the work might touch on equality or diversity considerations (keep reading down).
I’m pretty sure that every grant application had to have a section on how those considerations were being addressed. This is mindblowingly disruptive and destructive.
#NSF #science
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/909/721/213/328/781/original/d5906b447abf2b65.png

2025-01-24 16:32:33 UTC

Ocean research peeps, especially any of you who study animal movement, I've got a question for you. I've got data from the Labrador Sea in Nov/Dec that appears to show lots of swimming creatures(?) that comes upwards in the water column (from below 15m to about 10m) when it's daylight and disappear back down at night. It's definitely correlated with light (not there on completely overcast days), and it's definitely movement (ADCP scattering that's not at the bulk water velocity). What's weird is that it seems to come up during the day. Has anyone got any idea what that might be?
#ocean #oceanography #research

2025-01-03 01:32:29 UTC

My favourite discovery in The Golden Mole: a whole new meaning to a house-moving chain. Hermit crabs that find a potential new shell that's too big wait next to it, & as others arrive they line up in size order until there's one who can take the big new shell. Then everyone upgrades.
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpjklLt1qWk
https://fediscience.org/@helenczerski/113761811908855195
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/761/840/415/173/451/original/0b0eeeb9672d1508.png

2025-01-01 12:23:22 UTC

The last book I read in 2024 was Ed Yong's superb An Immense World, about how animals sense the world.
One aspect is similar to Blue Machine: it's a book full of wonder, new perspectives & joy, with a final chapter about how humans are mucking it all up.
In 2025, we need to choose to do better.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/753/076/692/476/345/original/a1508da1d3bd2e21.jpeg

2024-12-14 15:53:14 UTC

Those distinctive Thames lampposts in London aren't dolphins - they're sturgeon, which can grow up to 5m long and used to fill Europe's rivers.
Great piece here from Hakai magazine on how the fashion for caviar is bringing these ancient fish to the edge of extinction:
https://tinyurl.com/59dew5zd
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/651/980/294/413/388/original/85ea7484e9d7e7ad.png

2024-12-13 13:24:35 UTC

11 yrs ago I found this funny: 'How many Microsoft designers does it take to change a lightbulb? None. They just define darkness as “industry standard”
But now I can't unsee this:
'How many huge companies does it take to fix the climate? None. They just define global warming as “industry standard”

2024-12-11 18:14:15 UTC

TIL that you do occasionally get TWELVE-sided snowflakes, when two six-sided ones collide in the right way and stick together. They seem to stick at a suspiciously perfect angle!
Photos from Ken Libbrecht's brilliant website here:
https://www.snowcrystals.com/guide/guide.html
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/635/547/871/912/689/original/4fd5ec54af0f28a7.png

2024-12-09 22:48:30 UTC

Blast from the past... Just found this photo from 9 yrs ago when I let TV people give me hair extensions in order to demonstrate how TV hair adverts are made (it was a documentary on the science of hair - I swear this was serious science!).
1/2
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/625/301/672/592/631/original/8b990b4c07d5efc7.jpeg

2024-12-08 11:20:45 UTC

Ever wondered why walking around museums is weirdly tiring? At normal speed our legs act like pendulums, swinging forward from the hip & saving us a huge amount of energy. In "museum shuffle" our muscles must do ALL the work of constant readjustment. So cake in the cafe is scientifically justified 🥳

2024-12-03 17:16:19 UTC

Wow. I knew the Amazon river was big, but I just looked it up properly. It's 18% of GLOBAL outflow from all rivers to the ocean, five times bigger by volume than the next biggest river. The Amazon basin is about 5% of all the land, so it really is disproportionately wet. Impressed.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/590/021/631/166/586/original/0cc89b657a2f4939.png

2024-12-02 09:36:49 UTC

This is incredibly disappointing: "Countries fail to reach agreement in UN plastic talks".
https://tinyurl.com/y9v4bx9z
Plastic usage is increasing dramatically & we've got to face up to fixing the system we've created. We covered all that and more on a recent Rare Earth:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00254gg

2024-12-01 20:20:02 UTC

The new Science Museum off-site store sounds fantastic, but it isn't "a new kind of museum experience". The amzing Nat. Maritime Museum/Royal Observatory collections + restoration have been open to the public since 2018 in London (Kidbrooke). Do go!
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/prince-philip-maritime-collections-centre
https://tinyurl.com/2p8xy9vp

2024-12-01 17:32:48 UTC

Sending solar power from Morocco may well be technically feasible, but I would like to see more analysis of what Morocco gets out of this. Only 20% of their electricity is currently renewable - surely local decarbonisation should be the priority. Is this energy colonialism?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/01/morocco-to-great-britain-subsea-power-cable-former-tesco-boss-dave-lewis

2024-11-27 11:54:23 UTC

On Rare Earth this week we're talking about space, & it reminded me of this fabulous video, which you MUST watch (keep going to the end - it builds and builds): it's every single shuttle launch, in order, showing the gigantic human achievement that the shuttle programme was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II7QBLt36xo

2024-11-27 08:34:41 UTC

If you're in or near Liverpool this coming weekend, & you're curious about the impact of the music, film and sporting worlds on the climate (and what we can do about it), come along for FREE to our live recording of BBC Rare Earth, Saturday 2:15pm. Spread the word!
Tix here
https://ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=tq-expedition-one-d2&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/553/996/573/396/434/original/17bd394ce54c7138.jpeg

2024-11-25 20:03:19 UTC

The problem with a lot of ocean "exploitation" is that it's like mining a human for calcium. Yes, a human body contains ~1kg of calcium, and you could take it out, but it's already *doing* quite a lot of useful things, and the human has far more potential to help you if you leave the calcium alone.

2024-11-23 22:01:05 UTC

It's more than a bit windy out there, but just look how clean the UK electricity grid is right now with all that wind energy flowing in (graphics source: https://grid.iamkate.com/)
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/534/518/251/683/123/original/74d08a61a7546b25.png

2024-11-23 20:27:33 UTC

How sad that apparently no-one has digitized the brilliant book "The Compleet Molesworth", with its fabulous cartoons by Ronald Searle. It's a work of satirical genius, and the spelling is delicious, as any fule kno.
(pic: speculation by a bored public school boy on how a gerund spends its time)
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/534/150/480/211/664/original/2c294484a5247d71.png

2024-11-17 12:21:54 UTC

This week I learned that sunsets on Mars are blue (contrasting with the sky during the day, which is pink-yellow-brown). It seems to be due to the exact size and composition of Martian dust particles, which scatter red light in many directions while changing the direction of blue light very little.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/498/266/903/020/741/original/7c25ed93dc5c3e35.png

2024-11-15 11:47:56 UTC

Look who I met for this week's Rare Earth (on air at 12 today, online any time). He looks cute until you look at those big talons. We're talking about birds of prey - how are they doing, & can there ever be too many?
Thx to the UK Owl and Raptor Centre for letting us visit
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024x4b
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/486/808/617/863/874/original/d48ce3cc261456da.jpeg

2024-11-13 09:12:47 UTC

Bad climate news for rice fans... "Warming leads to lower rice quality in East Asia".
"Results show a significant decline in high quality rice rate, mainly driven by warm nighttime temperatures when they exceed a critical threshold estimated at 18°C
and 12°C in China & Japan, respectively."
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/474/874/038/595/713/original/730635219f2902c8.png

2024-11-12 19:45:39 UTC

Figure showing market share of heat pumps in different countries (HT Jan Rosenow). The big story isn't the massive increases in Switzerland, Denmark etc - it's near universality in Norway, Sweden, Finland - this is very well-established tech, ESPECIALLY in cold countries.
https://www.ehpa.org/market-data/
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/471/700/169/440/507/original/a615f0576f1a5c95.png

2024-11-11 16:41:08 UTC

I was in New Orleans earlier in the year & I visited Leroy Conish to make an episode of On Your Farm (out this week). He is farming a narrow ribbon of land perpendicular to the Mississippi River, selling to local food banks, and standing up for Black farmers. Listen here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024lky
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/465/312/427/702/803/original/3871f19781f7e456.png

2024-11-05 16:43:32 UTC

Spent a lovely afternoon recording this week's Rare Earth (out on Friday at 12), which is on new green infrastructure. And then I got out and remembered about the US elections. So to take all of our minds off that, here are some beautiful electricity pylon designs (the Land of the Giants project).
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/431/347/945/843/232/original/ed9fd75184796aa5.png

2024-10-28 22:27:15 UTC

Pondering this: the most recent estimates for the size of the armies at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 (the last time England was successfully invaded) are ~15,000 in total for both. That wouldn't even fill the O2 arena today. Yes, populations were much smaller, but England is still the same size.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/387/401/054/173/992/original/b720a34ed0e7104d.jpeg

2024-10-25 10:49:30 UTC

Nearly time for this week's Rare Earth on BBC R4 (at noon, also online at any time). This week we're talking about the US elections, and what difference the outcome will make for climate & the environment. There's a lot to cover, & we dig into the specifics. 10 days to go...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00244x3
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/367/670/424/717/488/original/9b70c7c15e690174.png

2024-10-21 17:29:10 UTC

Well, that's an interesting and hopefully constructive "first":
"The UK government has appointed Ruth Davis OBE as the first Special Representative for Nature."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/special-representative-for-nature-appointed-in-landmark-first

2024-10-17 15:20:42 UTC

Baby bison! Back in January on Rare Earth, we covered a herd of bison in Kent who were brought in to help the forest, and their herd has just grown by two. They might be the first wild bison born in the UK for centuries
https://news.sky.com/story/two-bison-calves-born-in-kent-to-rangers-absolute-astonishment-13234950
Our Rare Earth on rewilding: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001vbsp
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/323/438/401/551/590/original/b37cc6fc3954cb68.png

2024-10-17 08:38:23 UTC

My morning has just been rocked by the discovery that there's a bird - the Inca Tern - that has a moustache.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/321/856/412/385/491/original/0b35b519c4ed2b4f.png

2024-10-16 09:05:43 UTC

Interesting piece here from two psychologists on why climate disasters increase the number of people believing in conspiracy theories
"Importantly, this belief was explained by the fact that those affected by the tornadoes felt like they had no control over their own life."
https://tinyurl.com/4enyyyaz
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/316/301/571/499/655/original/ffcef7b49a2cd205.png

2024-10-15 17:09:58 UTC

Some sad news has just reminded me of the great online series we (Royal Museums Greenwich) did 4 years ago, getting experts from very different areas to talk about one theme each week - shipwrecks, mermaids, time rubbish, food supplies & more. They're really fun. Links here:
https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/ships-sea-stars
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/312/543/321/647/346/original/38c0877c32fc2180.png

2024-10-13 21:01:56 UTC

Having seen both the massive sharp-edged Cybertruck & the cute little Microlino in real life this w/e at Everything Electric, here is my proposal for managing cars in cities: Spagetti-measure style holes at the end of every street. If your vehicle can fit through the hole, it's allowed on that road.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/302/130/927/932/457/original/1399e09ea76ba6d7.png

2024-10-11 10:39:40 UTC

And here we are for the first day of Everything Electric SOUTH in Farnborough. Loads of people, loads of new clean electric tech - domestic heating, solar panels, zero-carbon kitchen, EVs, e-bikes, skateboards, scooters & discussions rich in ideas. Come along and join us!
https://uk.everythingelectric.show/south
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/288/359/450/415/390/original/31b01e75ffd89aa7.jpeg

2024-10-09 13:32:29 UTC

Wish for today: manufacturers should get rid of unnecessary packaging but double the font size of the instructions, word count, paper size and the effort that goes into them.
Explaining in proper sentences really wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would help people make best use of the material world.
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/277/714/256/127/347/original/1b06b78ecf7843b6.jpeg

2024-10-08 11:34:34 UTC

It's very nice of Waterstones to join in with the ocean enthusiasm and label Blue Machine one of their best paperbacks of 2024, and they'll be making sure copies are near the front of every store from the start of November onwards. Do share the ocean love and read it if you haven't yet!
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/271/588/354/155/359/original/78014314e8fa00b9.png

2024-10-04 09:30:57 UTC

I went to quite a posh event in Amsterdam last night and they had valet parking FOR BIKES as well as cars. More of that!
It's rubbish that bikes are still treated as second class transport in cities. Last time I had a bike stolen, lock cut in a "secure" car/bike park at a big event with attendents everywhere, they told me that the many security cameras only looked at the cars. No-one benefits from air pollution, traffic jams & giving up a huge amount of space to stationary lumps of metal.

2024-10-03 12:45:17 UTC

Everything Electric is nearly here (11th, 12th & 13th Oct, Farnborough) & tickets are just £10 for the day. Join us for a smorgasbord of clean energy and transport: panel discussions, the BOSH boys with plant-based cookery, test drives/rides (inc micromobility). Tix here:
https://tinyurl.com/2s4euw9v

2024-09-26 16:35:28 UTC

Kev Fong is both intellectually brilliant and an amazing writer, broadcaster, and friend. He was closer than so many to what happened in hospitals during the pandemic and his testimony to the Covid inquiry is clearly incredibly important. Please read this.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/26/doctor-in-tears-at-covid-inquiry-says-what-nhs-staff-saw-was-indescribable?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
#Covid
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/204/826/219/511/228/original/4caeea73b2a08f88.png

2024-09-24 11:18:33 UTC

The English language set is complete! Today, the paperback of The Blue Machine is published in the US & Canada
It won the Wainwright Prize, was BBC R4 book of the week, top 10 science book of 2023 by the FT, Times & Science.
Spread the ocean love & tell your friends!
https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324006718
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/192/253/051/082/840/original/85c3651530de7243.jpeg

2024-09-21 18:00:05 UTC

Earlier this week I went to the ARTIS-Micropia museum in Amsterdam, and it's brilliant: a beautifully done, elegant, inventive and informative museum of microbes. Do go if you get the chance!
https://www.micropia.nl/en/
https://fediscience.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/176/845/016/620/944/original/cf5ca8d7bccdaf7d.png