Hundreds feared dead as Cyclone Chido devastates French island of Mayotte Witnesses tell of ‘apocalyptic scenes’ after worst storm to hit the Indian Ocean territory in almost a century

France claims this as part of its territory. Would the inhabitants of continental parts of France have been left so vulnerable?

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

One of the impacts of the UKHE financial crisis is that, while (some) German academics are forcing their system to confront the endless insecure post-doc of #ichbinhanna, we are drifting ever more into the same system, de facto. (good X thread on the comparison here: x.com/mahaelhissy/... )

Home - Oral History Society Interested in oral history? Get advice on interviewing, recording equipment, archiving, ethics, copyright and Data Protection.

I just completed an introduction to Oral History with the www.ohs.org.uk . Honestly, I was sceptical about what we could learn in two days, but my word, how wrong I was - absolutely brilliant training, covers so much ground, clear and authoritative, very interactive. Would recommend to anyone.

SURF

Delighted to be launching the next round of SURF Leverhulme Doctoral Scholars recruitment!
The Sustainable Rural Futures programme aims to train a new generation of interdisciplinary rural researchers. Scholarships are for FOUR years (or five for Masters+) - tell your PGTs! www.keele.ac.uk/surf/

Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction a book by Sadiah Qureshi. Anyone alive today is among a tiny fraction of the once living: over 90 percent of species that ever lived are now extinct. How did we come to think of ourselves as survivors in a world where species ...

I’ve finally finished my book on extinction! If you’re interested in reading how ideas of race, empire, and extinction have shaped our world and left important legacies for thinking about just conservation and the future of our planet, preorder here.

#skystorians

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/vani...

It's a bit open to question as to whether Zangerl's ascent is more impressive than Honnold's. It is less spectacular, and less dangerous, but physically much harder; and route size makes a difference. Either way, women continue to show the way forward on the most famous cliff in the world.

There are two things to think about: equipment, and prior knowledge. The 'best' ascent relies on the least equipment and no prior knowledge - an onsight free-solo. A 'flash' means no practice, but with other prior knowledge - videos, advice. One fall means an onsight or flash attempt has failed.

Climbing styles In climbing, a basic distinction is made between aid climbing and free climbing. Free climbing can be ...

2024 - Babsi Zangerl flashes Freerider, and is the first person to flash a big-wall route on El Cap.
I know some people will be confused about all these ascent 'styles' and terminology. Here's a decent summary, but I'll do one more post too: www.outdooractive.com/en/knowledge...

Life’s Work: An Interview with Alex Honnold Free soloing requires a tremendous amount of time thinking about risk.

2017 - Alex Honnold free-solos Freerider - you've probably seen this! But note: Honnold knew this route well before he set off - it was a long way from a 'flash' ascent. hbr.org/2021/05/life...

2006-2013 - Many more free routes are established, but nothing really surpasses the above.
2014 - Pete Whittaker *sort of* flashes Freerider. This is complex - basically, there are two versions of the hardest pitch; Pete fell off one, but then flashed the other. For purists, this isn't quite there.

2005 - Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden make the second free ascent (and first male ascent) of the Nose. Steph Davis, having freed Freerider in a day in 2004, is the first woman to free Salathe wall. www.climbing.com/news/caldwel...

1998: More free routes are established by Thomas and Alex Huber: El Nino and Freerider - they establish many more over the next few years. Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden free Lurking Fear, also the first of many. Scott Burk spends 261 days almost freeing The Nose - but he top-ropes one pitch.

Lynn Hill On The Nose YouTube video by Lynn Hill

Then (and I still get goose bumps about this), in 1994 Lynn Hill freed The Nose a second time IN A SINGLE DAY. This is a feat that (I think), has only been repeated by one person - Tommy Caldwell, in 2005. Even just free ascents of the Nose are still very very rare. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS63...

That (groundbreaking) ascent is really overshadowed by the two most impressive ascents in the history of rock climbing. First, in 1993 Lynn Hill freed El Cap's most famous route, The Nose, over 4 days. The hardest pitch alone was amongst the hardest ever climbed. www.tetongravity.com/story/Advent...

History of Free Climbing The Nose 5.14 on El Capitan - Gripped Magazine And 45 years of free climbs on the world's most famous big wall

First Free Ascent (FFA) - this is tricky. Ray Jardine and Bill Price freed the West Face in 1979, but didn't really fully tackle El Cap. Todd Skinner and Paul Piana freed Salathé Wall in 1988 - they took turns, but still the first FFA of a big wall on El Cap. However.. gripped.com/routes/histo...

NEWS: Babsi Zangerl makes historic first flash of El Capitan via Freerider 5.13a Austrian Babsi Zangerl has made the first-ever flash ascent of a route on Yosemite's El Capitan, climbing Freerider 5.13a via the Boulder Problem in a three-day push with no falls. Her ascent...

In honour of Babsi Zangerl's astonishing Flash of Freerider on El Capitan (El Cap), Yosemite, here's a brief thread on the history of free climbing the most famous piece of rock in the world. You'll see why this is appropriate. www.ukclimbing.com/news/2024/11...

Watchdog refuses to sign off UK public sector accounts over unreliable data National Audit Office ‘disclaims’ accounts because of shortcomings in auditing of English local authorities

Kemi Badenoch: we need to let the private sector run more stuff.
NAO's response to Eric Pickles' attempt to privatise council auditing: www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

New art installation launch: Raphael Daden ‘Where Are the Trees, Where Are the Birds?’ in Longton (Stoke-on-Trent), commissioned by my fabulous long-term partners urbanwildernesscic.com in their project with @dccmckay.bsky.social. Think birdsong and backlit natural shapes in a 1970s precinct!

Would thoroughly recommend taking Dolly up on her offer - great audience discussion and a nice way of reaching international #envhum networks!

Ah thanks!!!

I suspect I'm too late! But if not do please add me!

My #starterpack of Historians in Britain is very nearly full, but please continue to share it so we can build our community and find our people now that we are exiled from the other place! There are about 10 spots left so if you want to be included, gimme a shout: go.bsky.app/Fpw6Tvr

Meanwhile, a pretty standard PMQs in the UK doesn't even have enough seats for all the people with a seat.

We rarely talk about what the space of our main chamber does to political debate and its possibilities.

Image cc House of Commons.

My word. My main sensation on joining here is nostalgia. Now I remember why I enjoyed Twitter so much to begin with.

Ah, but yet they still rely on the labours of a vast hidden (migrant) workforce. I'll be gone from your feed once it can't support me anymore.

New article time!

I wrote this as part of the #NuSPACES project - it examines the increasingly fast-paced research re the materialities, communities & locations of nuclear cultural heritage.

Open access 🤩

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

What do people do with the little jobs that creep up on them every morning? you know - overdue book proposal review, another hoop to jump through before you can be given more work, contract discussions for a project that has already finished, surveys on what makes you unproductive?

Thanks Katrina. I seem to have missed the starter pack, so I'm digging out my feed by hand and need sustenance.

Rare Earth - Clean energy or green fields? - BBC Sounds Is it possible to build new green infrastructure without wrecking the countryside?

I talked abt pylons & history of energy infrastructure on Rare Earth this week (BBC R4). Got a bit squeezed out by the v effective green energy lobbyist, so didn’t get in everything I wanted to say, including reference to Chris Petit’s ‘Radio On’ (1978)…

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I'll just do one post on the post-election nonsense. Harris lost the popular vote 48%-50%. That's bad, in a universe where Dems need a decent lead to win, but it also isn't the end of days, as the left often likes to imagine.