Dr Mike Ward

michaelaward1.substack.com/p/the-inheri... Part one of a (probably) six part series. (Three parts written thus far.)

@ericidle.bsky.social welcome back!

🧵With a big thank you to Dr Mel for this. How have I not visited this? Rooley Moor Road, Rochdale or The Cotton Famine Road, is a lasting reminder of hardship, resilience and solidarity. During the Lancashire Cotton Famine, caused by the disruption of cotton supplies during the American Civil War,

An acupuncturist, a punctured lung – and needles apparently too small to do any harm edzardernst.com/2026/10/an-a...

'Reform UK has said "there is no room for racism" in its party' Well indeed. It's already full up! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Glory to Ukraine

Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. Countries that still have public executions. Now to be joined by Trump’s USA.

Ayn Rand, one of the most influential political novelists of the 20th Century, is the subject @iandunt.bsky.social and @dorianlynskey.bsky.social are revisiting this week. Listen ➡️ linktr.ee/originstoryp...

I wrote about Elon Musk, and why it bothers me that he is still first and foremost described in the media as an entrepreneur, rocketeer, or tech mogul, when the most salient fact about him is that he is now the world's most powerful white supremacist. religiondispatches.org/2026/10/06/e...

A lot of excitement on here about the article in Science summarising the discoveries of @alistairsponsel.bsky.social and Brian Sutton, just published in the Journal of the History of Biology. Some people have asked, so here is what I think they show, and what are the implications:

Counter: severe tax cliff edges, particularly in cases like this when the marginal rate spirals into infinity, are bad for everyone. They mutilate incentives and reduce overall wealth. They should be fixed and not avoided simply because they initially benefit wealthy people.

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This is "Stormtroops & Freikorps Again!" - our parody of "Time Warp" from Rocky Horror Picture Show, taking on the topic of the emergence of #PatriotPlatform last week & putting it in an outrageous and glam 👠European context. One of us may have made a mistake towards the end 🤨 youtu.be/R0DGY3iH9ao

What if you could eat your water bottle instead of recycling it?🧪 @alexdainis.bsky.social shows how, using a bit of kitchen chemistry. Sodium alginate, a powder derived from seaweed, reacts with calcium lactate to form a gel wherever the two meet. #Chemistry #DIY #Science #STEM #ScienceExperiment

Day 16. Today’s #SciArtSeptember shape prompt, scallop, made me think of scalloped leaves. Feeling autumn in the air, I decided to make four prints about leaf colour chemistry using bur oak leaves. 🧪 Every autumn we marvel at the beautiful change in the colour of leaves of our deciduous trees. 🧵

Most supplements and vitamins have little or no proven benefit, and even some have potential of harm, but that hasn't held back ~80% Americans taking them, highest proportion ever www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/w...

I just got the latest Deutsche Post stamps featuring the USS Enterprise NCC-1701, issued to celebrate Star Trek’s 60th anniversary! Love it! 🖖

A really interesting thread:

There was a very active critic of the history syllabus in the 90s. Very wise people scoffed at how much time kids were forced to spend learning about the Nazis and democratic decay in the 30s. Turns out we should have gone much harder.

My cousin’s shirt took me a second. He said “it’s great because anyone who would be offended by it couldn’t understand it anyway.”

@iandunt.bsky.social @dorianlynskey.bsky.social re open.spotify.com/episode/5968... I think you are a bit unfair to the CPGB! see e.g. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_As...

Just a reminder, Professor James Orr, Reform UK head of policy, teaches 'ethics' to undergraduates at Cambridge University youtu.be/aXut3s90rUI

Aaron Copland must be turning in his grave.

Are you all watching Channel Four News?

Aside from the messiness of this, I am very uncomfortable with the idea that two people convicted of the same crime should be treated differently because politicians and the public are really angry about one but don't know or care about the other. Not a good way to do justice policy

I've been revisiting my 2021 book How to Argue With a Racist, in light of the Cofnas situation - i didn't name him or the scientifically illiterati with who he breaks bread. But I thought these sections from the end might be of interest.

Have you ever wanted to visually compare the size of your favorite extinct animals? Now you can, as I'm launching an interactive size comparison tool on my website. Give it a try and let me know what you think: www.skeletaldrawing.com/compare/

This thread is *exactly* right - and hits the nail squarely on the head.

Bad men fallen against Fabians? davidaaronovitch.substack.com/p/letting-th... by @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social

The depressing thing about the US isn't Trump really. He's just a grotesque. It's the complete failure of all the things liberals believe in: Congress, the judiciary, the press, voters themselves, all persistently unwilling or unable to stop him. It's the failure of an entire society.

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Other *relevant* experts have also now contributed to the damning criticisms of 'The Great #ADHD Myth?', with more professionalism than me. But less rage-fuelled snark. Which, let's be fair, is probably helpful www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...

He may well have 1000 Einsteins and Mozarts working in his warehouses right now, but they can't do anything with their abilities what with having to work 18 hours a day under constant threat of being fired for taking a piss

New book is out in just ONE WEEK, ama

“I don’t believe in climate change.” Dude, this is physics, not Santa Claus.

suzannemoore.substack.com/p/apologies-... by @suzannemoore.bsky.social - from her sick-bed

There are some drops of water coming out of the sky!