three things: fallibilism is the best explanation, life is complicated and how's about not assuming the worst of people?
Joined August 2010
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gary sibbet retweeted
Scientists & science journalists decry the public's rejection of science, but are oblivious to the major cause: the perception, sometimes correct, that scientists are just another political faction. Among the guiltiest perpetrators are the recent editors of Scientific American, who turned this once-beloved treasure into a left-wing propaganda rag. This absolutely does not justify the Trump administration's unconstitutional meddling, but the new owners are right to restore it to its mission of explaining science to Americans. The Nation reports on The Fall of “Scientific American” thenation.com/article/societ…
gary sibbet retweeted
I can't get enough of this family of illusions (not least because it took me so long to figure out how they work).
gary sibbet retweeted
This is indeed a superb letter from The Astronomer Royal of Scotland. “Someone, somewhere, has taken the decision to defund astrophysics research in the UK, but no-one seems quite sure who that was, or why.” I agree - my colleagues in particle physics have also tried, without success, to discover who owns the decision to damage physics research in the UK, perhaps irreparably, at a time when our economy desperately needs the skills and knowledge we develop and teach. @UKRI_News need to get a grip urgently and fix the problem someone, somewhere, has created.
I couldn't say it better than the Astronomer Royal of Scotland, in her letter to Nature.
"...whoever made this decision failed to foresee the disastrous and damaging repercussions for UK science and the economy."
🧪🔭 #UKRI #DSIT #STFC #ScienceFunding
nature.com/articles/s41550-0…
gary sibbet retweeted
The public has a distorted view of science, because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.
- Freeman Dyson
"Bloody Red Squirrels, why're they so great?"
gary sibbet retweeted
After hearing the umpteenth perfectly functioning Harvard student tell me she's "autistic," and also teenagers who shriek uncontrollably, self-mutilate, and never look at another person, I've seen firsthand how the ever-expanding "autism spectrum" diagnosis is worse than useless, particularly with RFKJ and Trump claiming there's an explosion of cases. It also corrupts research by lumping heterogeneous people, foiling the search for a cause. nytimes.com/2025/10/01/healt…
gary sibbet retweeted
RIP Tom Lehrer, one of the funniest and cleverest men who ever lived. nytimes.com/2025/07/27/arts/…
gary sibbet retweeted
It took centuries to abolish the crime of blasphemy and many suffered in the cause. We are decivilising.
gary sibbet retweeted
Good morning, friends! 🐦 Who else is feeling the energy of this dancing Eurasian Wren?
gary sibbet retweeted
As it's Friday, I'm asking all my followers to please retweet (and comment) on this post if you see it, to help my bird account be seen!🙏😀
To make it worth sharing, here's a Robin showing a female House Sparrow who's boss!😅
(The Sparrow was fine!)
Thank you very much! 😊♥️
gary sibbet retweeted
This makes me so angry. I’ve known Kev since I was 18, and I’ve never seen him like this. I don’t believe in hell, but these medics and carers were in it, and the bastards who made light of this plague, denied it, called it a flu, and made it worse for everyone, you deserve it.
Prof @Kevin_Fong giving the most devastating and moving testimony to the Covid Inquiry of visiting hospital intensive care units at the height of the second wave in late Dec 2020.
The unimaginable scale of death, the trauma, the loss of hope.
Please watch this 2min clip.
gary sibbet retweeted
Prof @Kevin_Fong giving the most devastating and moving testimony to the Covid Inquiry of visiting hospital intensive care units at the height of the second wave in late Dec 2020.
The unimaginable scale of death, the trauma, the loss of hope.
Please watch this 2min clip.
gary sibbet retweeted
Thrilled to share the first publication of my Ph.D. thesis today in @naturemicrobiol with @wilenlab and @virusesimmunity. Here we synthesized, recovered, and studied two of the closest known relatives of SARS-CoV-2 from bats that were recently discovered in Laos to assess their zoonotic potential 👇 (1/)
nature.com/articles/s41564-0…
Thank you #JohnMayall for the music and introducing me to #JBLenoir. Forever grateful.
gary sibbet retweeted
My thoughts are with all of the riders involved. Crashes are an unfortunate part of cycling, but the last week has been terrible.
My thoughts also with the commentators around the world - they're as upset as the rest of us, trying to find the right words when there are none.
Again, fingers crossed nobody is seriously injured.