Bleddyn Bowen
@bleddb.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Astropolitics | Space warfare | Own views
Books: Original Sin http://bit.ly/3JYbcIe ; War in Space http://bit.ly/34Stplv 🏴🏳️🌈 🚀🛰
Web: https://tinyurl.com/p9pt8n9n
“He doesn’t see the stars - just the vast dark spaces in between.”
Books: Original Sin http://bit.ly/3JYbcIe ; War in Space http://bit.ly/34Stplv 🏴🏳️🌈 🚀🛰
Web: https://tinyurl.com/p9pt8n9n
“He doesn’t see the stars - just the vast dark spaces in between.”
Pinned
Bleddyn Bowen
@bleddb.bsky.social
· Oct 11
Coming in 2026 in paperback - Original Sin: Power, Technology and War in Outer Space! With @hurstpublishers.bsky.social
@sgiadurham.bsky.social
Get all your international political space history and strategy at even greater value!
www.hurstpublishers.com/catalogues/s...
@sgiadurham.bsky.social
Get all your international political space history and strategy at even greater value!
www.hurstpublishers.com/catalogues/s...
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
Trump is making foreign tourists to US national park pay $100 (£76) per person to access 11 of the most popular sites.
Makes £1.30 per night tourism tax in Wales seem a bit tame doesn't it?
Weird that the politicians who said this would "kill tourism" in Wales are quiet about this...
Makes £1.30 per night tourism tax in Wales seem a bit tame doesn't it?
Weird that the politicians who said this would "kill tourism" in Wales are quiet about this...
November 26, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Trump is making foreign tourists to US national park pay $100 (£76) per person to access 11 of the most popular sites.
Makes £1.30 per night tourism tax in Wales seem a bit tame doesn't it?
Weird that the politicians who said this would "kill tourism" in Wales are quiet about this...
Makes £1.30 per night tourism tax in Wales seem a bit tame doesn't it?
Weird that the politicians who said this would "kill tourism" in Wales are quiet about this...
When EUSPA’s tanks are on ESA’s lawn…
November 26, 2025 at 1:33 PM
When EUSPA’s tanks are on ESA’s lawn…
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
The proposed ESA budget for the next three years and its programmatic breakdown. For context, the budget for the preceding three years was €16.9 billion.
November 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The proposed ESA budget for the next three years and its programmatic breakdown. For context, the budget for the preceding three years was €16.9 billion.
Ah yes, budget day!
ESA budget, that is.
ESA budget, that is.
He's proposing a 22 billion Euro budget for the next three years that he wants the Council (composed of ESA's 23 member states) to approve.
November 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Ah yes, budget day!
ESA budget, that is.
ESA budget, that is.
So… you have a less efficient form of light rail/trams then?
By investing in Monocab Owl, the EU is revolutionising sustainable commuting.
A gyro-stabilised monorail offers autonomous, on-demand transport, boosting rural connectivity. 🚆
Do you know any other innovative transport solutions?
📸© Monocab Owl
#WorldSustainableTransportDay
A gyro-stabilised monorail offers autonomous, on-demand transport, boosting rural connectivity. 🚆
Do you know any other innovative transport solutions?
📸© Monocab Owl
#WorldSustainableTransportDay
November 26, 2025 at 11:21 AM
So… you have a less efficient form of light rail/trams then?
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
Seven ‘large providers’ at risk of going under in the next year
Skills minister says no higher education institutions are at imminent risk of collapse this year but OfS confirms more than 20 providers are being closely monitored
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
The media really will treat LLMs as human before they give trans people the same courtesy
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 PM
The media really will treat LLMs as human before they give trans people the same courtesy
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
I like those odds!
I like those odds!
November 25, 2025 at 5:20 PM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
I like those odds!
I like those odds!
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
Still the greatest rule in any wargame in history.
November 25, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Still the greatest rule in any wargame in history.
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
What would the government do if an HEI became insolvent? JS: We would not intervene solely in the interests of the provider, but would potentially intervene on behalf of students and research. [It's a good thing then that HEIs don't have any staff]. 3/n
November 25, 2025 at 10:38 AM
What would the government do if an HEI became insolvent? JS: We would not intervene solely in the interests of the provider, but would potentially intervene on behalf of students and research. [It's a good thing then that HEIs don't have any staff]. 3/n
I should have put a bet on whether the REF pause would be more than just a few months of the REF management rethinking some metrics…
Smith says it was Pat Vallance that put a "pause" on the REF. Is that new information or did we know it was his idea? All the scholarly societies are getting zero answers and zero clarity on all things REF at the moment.
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
I should have put a bet on whether the REF pause would be more than just a few months of the REF management rethinking some metrics…
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
7 large institutions with less than 12 months solvency provable.
November 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM
7 large institutions with less than 12 months solvency provable.
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
I will say the committee's questions give me hope, these MPs at least do see the huge gaps and remarkable complacency here, and they are asking repeated questions which show exactly this. The OfS is currently having to admit they literally do not have the ability to help most if a lg uni goes.
November 25, 2025 at 10:28 AM
I will say the committee's questions give me hope, these MPs at least do see the huge gaps and remarkable complacency here, and they are asking repeated questions which show exactly this. The OfS is currently having to admit they literally do not have the ability to help most if a lg uni goes.
Well that Commons Committee session is going as badly as I’d expected.
"A system built on specialisation, efficiency", that right there is the death knell for the current university system in the UK, if (big if) government pushes it through. They actively don't want HE to grow, they will intervene, apparently, to help it shrink.
per this morning's education committee.
per this morning's education committee.
November 25, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Well that Commons Committee session is going as badly as I’d expected.
‘Vestager [rebuked Dublin] in 2022, saying Ireland “has a responsibility as does everyone else. No one can be a weak link in our chain of protection”. One former UK military official was even blunter: “This [infrastructure] is Ireland’s cash cow. And it’s taking the piss.”’
How Ireland became the weak spot in Europe’s defences
With few ships and limited intelligence-sharing, some say the country cannot hope to protect itself or its infrastructure
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:49 AM
‘Vestager [rebuked Dublin] in 2022, saying Ireland “has a responsibility as does everyone else. No one can be a weak link in our chain of protection”. One former UK military official was even blunter: “This [infrastructure] is Ireland’s cash cow. And it’s taking the piss.”’
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
Great to read this table, the week after my institution announces a voluntary severance programme, to see the government introducing a policy that will cost us an extra *£13 million*
These are HEPI estimates of the 20 institutions affected: I think this illustrates the impact if the tariff is absorbed in full by institutions.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
What share of the 6% tariff different universities may try to pass on to fees - or the impact might be on demand if they did - is not publicly known.
November 24, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Great to read this table, the week after my institution announces a voluntary severance programme, to see the government introducing a policy that will cost us an extra *£13 million*
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
It's not going away
November 24, 2025 at 7:30 AM
It's not going away
An export tax then…
'Despite these concerns, little positive news is expected for universities in the upcoming budget....the focus will...be on the proposed international student levy, which would result in universities being taxed on their income from overseas students.' 2/3
Universities receiving £6.4bn a year less for teaching students compared to a decade ago
New analysis from Universities UK (UUK) shows the scale of underfunding English universities face in teaching today’s home students, compared to ten years ago.
www.universitiesuk.ac.uk
November 24, 2025 at 7:50 AM
An export tax then…
Post a movie where you are from
November 23, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Post a movie where you are from
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
It would have been the easiest thing for the Russians to say nothing and let Trump try to pressure Ukraine into accepting. Fortunately, they absolutely cannot help themselves.
November 22, 2025 at 8:15 PM
It would have been the easiest thing for the Russians to say nothing and let Trump try to pressure Ukraine into accepting. Fortunately, they absolutely cannot help themselves.
Reposted by Bleddyn Bowen
Fighter jet purchases depend on confidence in future reliability. They need parts, maintenance, ongoing communication, trust that no measure will ever be electronically disabled, etc.
Telling Canada buy US jets or we’ll hurt your economy more is effectively communicating it’d be dumb to buy US jets.
Telling Canada buy US jets or we’ll hurt your economy more is effectively communicating it’d be dumb to buy US jets.
Hoekstra continues to be utterly terrible at his job as *checks notes* an ambassador of the United States.
Or, flipside: continues to be the living embodiment of why there is nation-wide contempt towards the US.
www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
Or, flipside: continues to be the living embodiment of why there is nation-wide contempt towards the US.
www.thestar.com/politics/fed...
Future of trade talks depends on Canada’s purchase of American fighter jets, U.S. ambassador says
Pete Hoekstra said it will not be easy to restart the now-stalled trade talks, and urged Canada to "harmonize" as much as possible with the U.S. on a range of
www.thestar.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Fighter jet purchases depend on confidence in future reliability. They need parts, maintenance, ongoing communication, trust that no measure will ever be electronically disabled, etc.
Telling Canada buy US jets or we’ll hurt your economy more is effectively communicating it’d be dumb to buy US jets.
Telling Canada buy US jets or we’ll hurt your economy more is effectively communicating it’d be dumb to buy US jets.