Wait, You’re Supposed to Hang Your Bananas? If bananas spoiling in the blink of an eye drives you b-a-n-a-n-a-s, these science-based tips can extend their shelf life (and spare you some of the misery).

Bananas are ticking time bombs. One moment, they’re yellow, velvety, and tender; the next, they’re a brown, mushy, goopy mess. But there are ways to slow the clock. nyti.ms/3QwdfLJ

Again, where the fuck have AAPG, GSA, and AGU *been* in raising alarm about this shit?

All three geological and geophysical professional societies have *direct interests* in at least getting the public aware of what an absolute disaster the targeting of civilian energy infrastructure is.

Interesting. Morning news was totally devoted to the Mandelson business.

Good point, but is it any different to those with pre-1990 (ish) driving licenses who kept grandfather rights for driving up to 7.5t vehicles without an additional test?

While I understand the health motivation for this, and I really do, I remain deeply uncomfortable about the idea that we can create a subsidiary group of adults who don’t have all the same freedoms as other adults (yes, even to chose to do stupid dangerous shit). 1/2

Also hands up if you are now recalling the taste of said adhesive!

It’s fair question… I suspect because 8/10 UK adults drink at least once a year - including the law makers and medics, cf 1/10 who smoke.

Smoking ban for people born after 2008 in the UK agreed The

Any proposal that upsets the tabacco industry is surely a win for public health! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The mythbuster: Policy-based evidence is deadly NHS England has once again made the wrong call on improving emergency care

The latest proposals to fix NHS corridor care are an unfocussed clusterfuck of bad ideas that manage to ignore the biggest cause of the problem:
www.hsj.co.uk/daily-insigh...

Lisa Carroll, a physician in South Carolina and professor at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, helps run a weekly outreach program at a local food pantry where she’s increasingly encountered more families asking about the MMR. Many of them aren’t explicitly anti-vaccine, they just don’t know much about the shot or where to get it, she said. It was just easier for some of them to sign an exemption form.

In this "antivaxxers" article, there's a great paragraph about the vaccine hesitant, who shouldn't be lumped into this category

Remember when Wes Streeting announced he was going to make around 100k NHS backroom staff redundant with no audit, risk or impact assessment, then spent six months or so begging the treasury to give him the money for redundancy pay outs, to then be forced to take it out of future healthcare budgets?

Oh that’s nice! Love it in the classy blue!

What are you making/doing?

Just in: the Strait Of Hormuz has a five star rating.
Business hours are a bit constrained though

www.linkedin.com/posts/activi...

So stop bloody well dipping it then!

Oh I didn’t realise #OllyRobbins wasn’t in post at the time Mandelson’s appointment was announced - he’s picking up someone else’s shit for that too then?

You know what's great if you have a child who about twice a year ends up in A&E due to asthma - salbutamol and dexamethasone available in a nearby NHS children's hospital full of very experienced and kind staff. There's no cost, admin or insurance forms. Just fix you up and off you pop.

#OllyRobbins

OR: I don't think I was under any obligation to tell anybody.

ET: I think you were under an obligation to keep notes.

Robbins: "that's a clever version of the chair's question, earlier"

Slightly off-mic, an audible indignant squawk from the chair, Thornberry. 🤣 #Mandelson #OllyRobbins

a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a framed picture ALT: a man in a suit and tie is standing in front of a framed picture

'Leaning on borderline' #Mandelson #OllyRobbins

This reminded me to tell you something I learned to today for anyone else still running an iPhone 12 (mini or normal). If you need a new battery, do it at an Apple shop or authorised repairer… the 12s’ screens are notorious for breaking when removed, and Apple replace the screen FOC.

Disabled parrot is undefeated alpha male of his group thanks to novel 'beak jousting' A study reported in Current Biology shows how physical disabilities in the animal world can be overcome through behavioral innovation. The report features an endangered kea parrot in captivity at New ...

Wonderful tale of animal innovation, and food for thought: "if a disabled animal can innovate its way to success, well-intentioned interventions like prosthetics might not always improve their quality of life."

So much to #Unlearn about non-human animals

phys.org/news/2026-04...

Memories of the Sara Lee Chocolate Gateau which took 400 hours to defrost

Microplastics and nanoplastics were found in 100% of healthy brains, 99.4% of diseased brains, with much higher concentrations adjacent to brain tumors
nature.com/articles/s44...

The MPs are furious with the PM, the PM is furious with the civil service, the civil service is apolitical so can only silently fume, and the voters are furious with all of them.
And all that sound and fury leaves little space for careful deliberation of the political choices shaping our future.

A big part of his electoral pitch to the UK was that he represented honesty, stability, sanity and decency, which compared with Johnson et al. was what we desperately wanted. He's been found wanting and is still trying to throw everyone else under the bus. It's just not OK.

New PEPFAR Data Show Worrying Declines in Testing and Treatment for H.I.V.

“What these data show us is the deliberate unraveling of the elements of H.I.V. prevention and treatment service delivery that are essential to actually finish the job and defeat this pandemic”

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

two images of the human body's circulatory system. One of them with good cable management

The human circulatory system, before and after proper cable management.

Deaths caused by long ED waits more than doubled in 5 years, new RCEM analysis suggests  - RCEM 17/04/2026 - Northern Irish policymakers must address the “catastrophe” unfolding in EDs, as the estimated number of people who may have died due to long Emergency Department waits more than doubled i...

An estimated 1,032 deaths were associated with waits of 12 or more hours in Northern Irish EDs before admission in 2025.

That's according to RCEM's State of Emergency Medicine in Northern Ireland report, published today.

Read more below.
rcem.ac.uk/press-releas...