Express support for our chemistry lecturers! YouTube video by Hector HH

Sheffield students, stepping up.

youtu.be/TxdDV0G9Ys0?...

University of Sheffield staff 'intimidated' by pay forfeit warning University of Sheffield to withhold pay if staff do not make up for teaching missed while striking.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You can donate to our strike fund here ucu.group.shef.ac.uk/hardship-fund/

University of Sheffield staff 'intimidated' by pay forfeit warning University of Sheffield to withhold pay if staff do not make up for teaching missed while striking.

We will resist the bullies with our usual courage and resolve - for the good of our students, our university, and our city. We won't allow the dismantling of higher education without resistance. @ucu.org.uk @sheffielducu.bsky.social @ucuhallam.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

📢 Looking forward to @stsvienna.bsky.social talk 'Reimagining AI policy for societal challenges' on Wednesday 1 October 16:00 Vienna time.

Join us in person or online, more info here sts.univie.ac.at/en/news-even... #STS #AI

When a teenager who calls himself BigBalls is given carte blanche by the US president to destroy his own government from within *you* are not the crazy person.

An excellent analysis by Nuffield PRC of exactly where Labour's so-called "lost voters" have gone, and why lurching to the right is the absolutely worst strategy for winning the next election. Now if only SOME PEOPLE ::cough:: would listen.

politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

That's now 10 of those "new schools" created 2 years ago up for further restructures and redundancies (including mine).

Welcome back from summer, kids. 🤬

5 years post-pandemic and hybrid conferencing is still an adventure every time.

2025 Andrew Webster PhD Prize We are delighted to announce that the 2025 Andrew Webster PhD Prize is awarded to: Dr. Ryan Shum (University of Exeter) for his thesis: Caring for microplastics: a multi-sited laboratory …

Absolutely stoked to share that my @renewbiodiversity.bsky.social colleague Ryan Shum has been awarded the AsSIST-UK Andrew Webster PhD prize for his work, 'Caring for microplastics: a multi-sited laboratory ethnography'! #STS #EnvHums #geography

assistuk.org/2025/06/03/2...

💰Ahead of the Spending Review, Policy Director, @jo3hill.bsky.social shares his thoughts on the dynamics between the Treasury and the rest of Whitehall...

As a former Treasury official himself, this one is definitely worth a read👇

STS scholar Judy Wajcman in front of slide with a quote by Joanne Mackiejewska which says "I want AI to do my dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes."

Judy Wajcman, speaking at @assist-uk.bsky.social's gala to celebrate the 40th anniversary of 'The Social Shaping of Technology' has the perfect response to genAI.

Thanks to everyone at @assist-uk.bsky.social for a great conference (special thanks to those who got up in time to make my 9am panel on robots 🤖) See you all in two years, hopefully before!

📢 AsSIST-UK is now on Bluesky!

🌍 AsSIST-UK brings together scholars across the social sciences, humanities, and sciences to explore innovation, science, and technology in society. With 386+ members, we’re building a vibrant, transdisciplinary community.

Will RT...or is that RS 😜

New #Postdoctoral Job! I'm recruiting for multi-country project on research #metadata & evaluation - UK, Germany, France, and Canada. Funded by SSHRC under Open Research Area 8 initiative. More info: www.yorku.ca/research/wp-...

#research #metascience #researchevaluation #universities #metrics

Wonder how long it will take before they decide faculty are actually unnecessary. No worries at all in the present climate.

Alex Haley and the “Roots” Effect By Alondra Nelson | As a wide-eyed girl watching Roots, and wondering about mine, I never could have dreamed a future where one day I’d have the surreal experience of having my genealogical results re...

ROOTS was THE television event when it had its premiere on this day in 1977. @alondra.bsky.social felt the effects of the cultural sensation and got turned onto discovering her own African ancestry and genetic genealogy.

A sinkhole in a road, representing an existential pit of despair.

I actually thought that quote was from The Onion or McSweeney's at first glance.

SERVICE UPDATE: any newsreaders pronouncing it Storm “Eye-oh-win” are to be immediately deported to the tower of Cirith Ungol

Oh good. Something nice to RT (RS?)

Definitely not a reason to go to the corner and hang your head in shame 🤓

Don't just stop using AI; start using the public domain! Here's a search engine for public domain works that are absolutely *free to use and remix*: picryl.com

Hana tosses a Quadrat, a metal grid, on to a canvas printed with green leaves and colourful bugs

For today’s #ArtAdventCalendar - I present one of my more ridiculous #SciComm & #SciArt ideas.

A hand printed canvas to demonstrate sampling using a quadrat.

Thread of the process 👇🏼

What do you love when you fall for AI? Inside the surprisingly meaningful, unexpectedly heartbreaking, and deeply confusing reality of AI relationships.

"Our tendency to imbue things with human-like minds is a fundamental fact of our cognition."

Really rich account of how humans use AI to substitute for human relationships. I don't think this is a "when you've read one, you've read 'em all" thing--we'll be mining these phenomena for a long time.

One of the first great Bluesky live moments

I will never, ever get over this.

📌

Faculty, Rejoice: Gmail Can Now Translate “Deanspeak” We are thrilled to announce that Google Translate has recently added “Deanspeak” to its suite of language-detection tools. In addition to offering ...

"Rather than attempt to read between the lines of the latest email from the Subdean for Academic Affairs, simply click on the ADMINISTRATOR LANGUAGE DETECTED icon to reveal the message in English and determine the threat level to your department, program, or mental health."

When I am hired as an legal expert, I do my own work. This includes tracking down my own citations.
Given what they pay us, it seems like the ethical thing to do.

It is a scandal if you get caught cheating.
It is a bigger scandal -- I think -- if your excuse is that you are lazy.

And get rid of the one for That Place, while you're at it. 🤓