Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing. At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.

Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists 🔭👩‍🔬⚛️

Graph from IoP report showing number of long duration job postings online as a function of time

I also like this one: employers are looking for graduates with physics skills and struggling to find them (hence postings open for >40 days).

‼️‘Significant unmet demand for physics skills exists, particularly outside the scientific sector’

Source: www.iop.org/sites/defaul...

Proposed budget cuts a catastrophe for UK astronomy The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is gravely concerned at the drastic cuts to support for UK astronomy outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (...

The Royal Astronomical Society is gravely concerned at the drastic cuts to support for UK astronomy outlined by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Read our statement 👉 ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

Perks of the job: sneak previews of awesome books! @dreochapman.bsky.social has outdone herself with Radio Universe - a truly joyful & eloquent tour of the Universe through the 'eyes' of the oft-neglected but nevertheless remarkable radio telescopes of the world. Warmly recommended - out in March!🔭

Congratulations Helen!

"Once I was beset by anxiety but I pushed the fear away by studying the sky, determining when the moon would come out and where the sun would appear in the morning"
- Louise Bourgeois
#WomensArt

This is an excellent tip!

also institutions.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

Can art help scientists better understand the quantum universe? YouTube video by New Scientist

Can art help scientists better understand the quantum universe?
@newscientist.com interviews Dr Ulrike Kuchner and Prof Silke Weinfurtner at the spectaculr "Cosmic Titans" exhibition @uniofnottingham.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBN4...

We're excited to chair the "A multi-scale and multi-tracer view of the cosmic web" session - with @emeegray.bsky.social @apontzen.bsky.social, @abdrake.bsky.social, Tianyi Yang, and me!

For those who don’t know, Jonathan is *the* person who keeps track of stuff in space, a key part of the information ecosystem for anyone who studies or writes about satellites. He now needs some help to keep doing this. (1/2)

On 5 March this year, the second Postgraduate Women in Physics conference will take place in Nottingham, with great speakers and chances to network and showcase your research.

UK friends please help us advertise this event by sharing with PhD students you know!

www.nottingham.ac.uk/conference/f...

World's darkest and clearest skies at risk from industrial megaproject On December 24th, AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US power company AES Corporation, submitted a project for a massive industrial complex for environmental impact assessment. This complex threatens the pristine skies above ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the darkest and clearest of any astronomical observatory in the world [1]. The industrial megaproject is planned to be located just 5 to 11 kilometres from telescopes at Paranal, which would cause irreparable damage to astronomical observations, in particular due to light pollution emitted throughout the project’s operational life. Relocating the complex would save one of Earth's last truly pristine dark skies.

The skies above Paranal are at risk from a proposed industrial megaproject. 

This would be located in the vicinity of ESO's Observatory. If constructed, it would irreparably impact astronomical observations.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2501/
🔭 

📷 ESO/P. Horálek

Congratulations on both accomplishments!

Just a reminder, as you look outside and notice it's already getting dark 😱, that today is the earliest sunset of the year (15:51 in London). From tomorrow the sunsets slowwwwly start getting later again. (Sunrises don't start getting earlier until Dec 30th hence solstice on 21st.) YOU ARE WELCOME.

Could I be added please? I'm working on galaxy evolution and environment.

It's okay to FAIL exams - Sixty Symbols Professor Philip Moriarty on why failure is not the end of the road... More links and info below ↓ ↓ ↓Also in this little collection of videos...The Problem...

Students, parents, teachers! Are you or someone you support anxiously awaiting UK A-level/Highers results?

If the outcomes are not as expected, all is not lost. There are always options (believe it or not)

My colleague Philip Moriarty: from failure to Professor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZJT...

Adding another voice to the chorus to say please rest, rest, and rest some more. Hope you have a swift recovery.