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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

👻madeline boOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 12h

This is very cool as a visual and also yes I agree that a whole lot of people have not/do not want to realise this. It will reduce traffic to the busiest area, thereby reducing traffic in the ‘thru’ zones, without reducing access TO the ‘thru’ zones

Stephen Gower @sjgower.bsky.social · 15h

I made an infographic map. Oxford's Congestion Charge scheme (from 29th Oct) is not like most congestion charge schemes, because you can get to most streets in the city without being charged. My impression is a lot of people haven't realised this.

A street map of Oxford.

Woodstock Road, Banbury Road and the streets in their immediate vicinity are coloured pink. Botley Road and streets off it are coloured green. Cowley Road, Iffley Road and Abingdon Road and streets off them are coloured blue. Streets in Marston and Headington are coloured orange. The ring road matches the colours at each junction and fades between colours as it goes around. A small area in the middle is coloured yellow, and labelled "Central Permit Area". THe Congestion Charge traffic filters are indicated by black circles circles with white segments, those white segments correspond on a 24 hour clock face with when the filter isn't operational (and the remaining black, when the filters are operational). Crosses mark other filters in the city that are enforced by ANPR but are not part of the Congestion Charge scheme.

Text at the top of the image reads "Temporary Congestion Charge for Cars in Oxford 2025-2026. Any road outside the Central Permit Area can be accessed without passing any traffic filers by using the Ring Road and selecting an approporiate exit junction (matching colours on this map)."

A key at the bottom matches the filter types, with text "Traffic Filters. Hollow Way & Marston Ferry Road 7-9am and 3-6pm. St Cross Road, Hythe Bridge Street, Thames Street and St Clements, 7am-7pm. £5 daily permit covers all Congestion Charge filters. Free Permits available. For example for residents, business use, health and car, SEND and disabilty. Congestion Charge permits do not apply for other filters, such as High Street or in East Oxford/Cowley."

Small print reads "Full details at https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/transport-and-travel" and "©@sjgower Contains OpenStreetMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Locations of highway filters are approximate and for overview purposes only. v1.3"

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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Ian Fraser @ianfraser.bsky.social · 18h

Israel used 3D scans developed by the Scottish Maritime Museum in propaganda animations, which were a key part of its attempts to justify attacks on hospitals and residential areas in Gaza, Syria and Iran. The 3D scans, developed for boatbuilding workshops, were used without the museum's knowledge.

How a Scottish maritime museum ended up in Israel’s 3D propaganda

An analysis of dozens of Israeli army animations discovered digital assets sourced not from classified intelligence but commercial libraries and content creators.

www.972mag.com

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 18h

Paging @garius.bsky.social - thought you might be interested.

Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Shivaji Shiva @shivajishivalaw.bsky.social · 1d

"“Too many people are locked out of opportunity because the transport system simply doesn’t work for them."

"Many families can't afford a car or would spend a huge proportion of their weekly budget running one."

#TransportJustice

@betterstreetsforbirmingham.org

www.ippr.org/media-office...

Revealed: Car ownership eats up a quarter of poorest households’ incomes | IPPR

Poorest households spend a quarter (25 per cent) of their income on their carTransport costs take up twice the share of income for the least well-offIPPR r

www.ippr.org

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Greg Jenner @gregjenner.bsky.social · 19h

You may call it ‘Chatfishing’, but I shall only refer to it as ‘Cyrano de Berger-App’
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘I realised I’d been ChatGPT-ed into bed’: how ‘Chatfishing’ made finding love on dating apps even weirder

Where once people were duped by soft-focus photos and borrowed chat-up lines, now they have to watch out for computer-generated charm. But it’s one thing to use a witty phrase – another thing entirely...

www.theguardian.com

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Dan Grey @dangrey.bsky.social · 19h

You may have seen Mingyang – builder of the biggest wind turbine so far, a 20 MW machine that lost two of three blades within four months of erection – announce on Friday that it was "going to" build a £1.5B turbine factory in Scotland.

That's not the full story

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UPDATED: 20 MW Wind Turbine Prototype in China Suffers Blade Failure — Reports

Mingyang Smart Energy issued a statement on 13 December, following reports that two blades broke off of the company's 20 MW offshore wind turbine prototype in Hainan, China.

www.offshorewind.biz

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Jenka @jenka.bsky.social · 22h

In the USSR my father invented a ventilation system that kept produce fresh on trains from the farms to the cities. However this created a surplus, which was unacceptable under communism, so he was forced to make his system worse, so that some of the produce would rot. Anyway.

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 23h

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

David Roberts @volts.wtf · Jul 23

Today on Volts: last year, the residents of Ann Arbor, MI, voted to create a "sustainable energy utility" that operates alongside the investor-owned utility & supplements it with clean energy. This is, AFAIK, the first arrangement of this kind in the world. I talk with its architect & champion.

Ann Arbor's experiment with a new kind of utility

Missy Stults explains Ann Arbor's novel plan to build a second, clean-energy utility alongside its incumbent.

www.volts.wtf

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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Glyn Hudson @glynhudson.bsky.social · 1d

Well done Isle of Man! I wasn't aware of this, installing fossil heating in new build houses is bonkers

Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, BUT the Isle of Man banned fossil fuel heating systems for all new buildings.

So they’re not lax about regulations for everything.

Isle of Man Govemment
NET ZERO
ISLE OF MAN
A QUICK GUIDE TO THE FOSSIL FUEL HEATING SYSTEM BAN
From 1 January 2025 it will be illegal to install a fossil fuel heating system in a new building.
Heating our homes is one of the greatest contributors to the Island's greenhouse gas emissions. It is imperative to decarbonise our buildings if we are to reach net zero by 2050 and new homes and buildings will lead the way in this transition.
WHAT BUILDINGS ARE AFFECTED?
The ban will apply to:
• new domestic and non-domestic buildings
• a new extension.
The ban will not apply to:
• fossil fuel heating systems in existing buildings.
• the use of an existing fossil fuel heating system in a new extension by the installation of pipework and/or
radiators connecting a new extension to the existing fossil fuel heating system.

KEY DATES
1 January 2024
Building Control refused on new buildings containing a fossil fuel heating system
Applications for Building Regulations Approval that contain a fossil fuel heating system will not be approved from this date.
1 January 2025
•Installing a fossil fuel heating system in a new building will be BANNED

This means you will need to make an amendment to your building control application and reapply for planning approval for your development.

FOSSIL FUEL HEATING SYSTEMS BAN - VISUAL GUIDE

Installation of fossil fuel heating system in new building - NOT PERMITTED
Use of existing fossil fuel heating system in now extension - PERMITTED
Installing a new or replacement fossil fuel heating systern in an existing building - PERMITTED
Installation of fossil fuel heating system in new extension - NOT PERMITTED

FOR FAQS & TO FIND OUT MORE VISIT WWW.NETZERO.IM/HEATINGSYSTEMS

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, BUT the Isle of Man banned fossil fuel heating systems for all new buildings.

So they’re not lax about regulations for everything.

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 1d

Also, how’s Mr Scampi doing? Can you give him a pat from me? 🐾

Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats! Amazing stuff! Have very much enjoyed following along.

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Katja Diehl @katjadiehl.bsky.social · 1d

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A small reminder for unimaginative, fearful, and innovation-free politicians in Germany.
Since January 2013, the installation of oil and gas heating systems in new buildings has been prohibited in Denmark. From 2016, the use of oil heating systems ist also be prohibited in old buildings

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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 1d

Death cult does it's thing.
#Trump #US #renewables #climate
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump officials cancel major solar project in latest hit to renewable energy

Esmeralda 7 in Nevada would have produced enough energy to power 2m homes

www.theguardian.com

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 1d

If you use Skeets for your BlueSky posts, and have a subscription, then you have a 10 minute edit window.

Screenshot of BlueSky with a edit option

Reposted by Abigail Dombey

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 1d

I’m not saying the clean tech transition is at the root of everything, but…
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump threatens 100% China tariffs as Beijing restricts rare-earth exports

President accuses China of ‘very hostile’ moves and says additional tariffs could come on 1 November ‘or sooner’

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Harriet Cannon @harrietcannon.bsky.social · 9d

I was thinking about this recently when taking my eldest to the Oxford Open Day. She's at a northern state grammar school. She was amongst groups of kids who had been bused in by their schools, had stayed in college, where their schools had already been visited by various colleges...

Patrick Dunleavy @patrickdunleavy.bsky.social · 10d

Elite school students end up in better universities than expected, based on their grades blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Elite school students end up in better universities than expected, based on their grades | British Politics and Policy at LSE

Students of private and grammar schools are over-represented in elite universities, but only part of that is explained by better grades.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 2d

We have truly not yet figured out how to cope with a person or institution that is "aware" of climate change, "accepts the science", but then decides to continue actively worsening it anyway

We don't even have a word or a phrase for this!

theconversation.com/mark-carneys...

Mark Carney’s climate inaction is at odds with his awareness of climate change’s existential threat

Climate action no longer seems to be a priority for Prime Minister Mark Carney, despite his previous activism. This is bad news for Canadians and the climate.

theconversation.com

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Jo Kibble (Political Animal) @politicanimal.bsky.social · 2d

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Justin Gundlach @justingundlach.bsky.social · 3d

Wanna guess when this article was published in Scientific American?

(No cheating)

The Heat Pump
Invented a century ago and widely applied in recent years, the device that utilizes the temperature of the ground or the air to heat and cool houses is still evolving
by John F. Sandfort

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 2d

I would’ve said 1960s based on the font.

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · 2d

📌

Reposted by Abigail Dombey

Old White Nepo Hat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 11d

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

harpers.org

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Dave @davemck.bsky.social · 6d

You're all wrong. It's the washing machine and dishwasher and the fridge.
They powered the post war boom as more women stopped working exclusively in the home and started picking up jobs. They weren't tied to back breaking labour in the home.
Electrification powers equality.

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Joannes Laveyne @jolaveyne.bsky.social · 6d

It may have escaped your attention, but the Belgian energy system has quietly passed an important test. During the weekend of 4-5 October 2025, our consumption was almost entirely covered by renewable energy. And yet the system ticked like a Swiss watch. /

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