Dr Kat Day (she/her)
@chronicleflask.katday.com
Science & Fiction editor/writer. Chemistry PhD ⚛️ Co-Editor at PseudoPod 🦑 Writer: The Crash Course Organic Chemistry & various DK science books 🧪 Short fiction https://thefictionphial.wordpress.com 🖊️
Pinned
Maybe I STARTED OUT made of sugar and spice and all things nice, but now I’m made of coffee, capsicum, obstreperousness and dark stories.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Santa Claus is a woman. Always has been. (Always will be?)
on.ft.com/43POQET
on.ft.com/43POQET
Santa Claus is still a woman
[FREE TO READ] There is something particularly stubborn about gender roles at Christmas
on.ft.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Santa Claus is a woman. Always has been. (Always will be?)
on.ft.com/43POQET
on.ft.com/43POQET
I’m sorry, what?
‘the company warns that users should "only enable this feature if you understand the security implications, "and has confirmed that because of the potential dangers, it'll be off by default.’
‘the company warns that users should "only enable this feature if you understand the security implications, "and has confirmed that because of the potential dangers, it'll be off by default.’
I do this ish for a living, I am an AI developer and researcher, and *I* don’t fully understand the security implications. What hope do regular users have?
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/wi...
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/wi...
Microsoft warns that Windows 11's agentic AI could install malware on your PC: "Only enable this feature if you understand the security implications"
Microsoft is pushing ahead with its plan to add agentic capabilities to Windows 11 but has issued an important security warning for anyone who is interested in trying it out.
www.windowscentral.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I’m sorry, what?
‘the company warns that users should "only enable this feature if you understand the security implications, "and has confirmed that because of the potential dangers, it'll be off by default.’
‘the company warns that users should "only enable this feature if you understand the security implications, "and has confirmed that because of the potential dangers, it'll be off by default.’
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Hiraeth (HEE-reyeth)
(n.)
- An intense longing for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.
Used in a sentence:
“And evermore, deep in his small and ancient brest, there stirred a sorrow sharp as winter wind—a hiraeth for the numinous lands of Faerie that slipt into legend many ages agone.”
(n.)
- An intense longing for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.
Used in a sentence:
“And evermore, deep in his small and ancient brest, there stirred a sorrow sharp as winter wind—a hiraeth for the numinous lands of Faerie that slipt into legend many ages agone.”
November 26, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Hiraeth (HEE-reyeth)
(n.)
- An intense longing for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.
Used in a sentence:
“And evermore, deep in his small and ancient brest, there stirred a sorrow sharp as winter wind—a hiraeth for the numinous lands of Faerie that slipt into legend many ages agone.”
(n.)
- An intense longing for a home you can’t return to, or that never was.
Used in a sentence:
“And evermore, deep in his small and ancient brest, there stirred a sorrow sharp as winter wind—a hiraeth for the numinous lands of Faerie that slipt into legend many ages agone.”
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Inside every old person There is a young person trying to get out
What statement did this saying evolve from?
quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/26/i...
What statement did this saying evolve from?
quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/26/i...
November 26, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Inside every old person There is a young person trying to get out
What statement did this saying evolve from?
quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/26/i...
What statement did this saying evolve from?
quoteinvestigator.com/2025/11/26/i...
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
November 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
This is the thing to hang onto - I’m glad people are appalled by Farage’s Nazi sympathies now, but the fact is, he was able to present TV programmes and constantly appear as a sofa guest for decades, booked by people who knew it all. We must reckon with that.
Evidence of Farage’s unabashed youthful racism has been in the public domain since at least 2013, yet somehow he has been allowed to remain part of the British political conversation. The fact he wasn’t driven back under a rock years ago has emboldened racists across the country to spread hatred.
November 26, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is the thing to hang onto - I’m glad people are appalled by Farage’s Nazi sympathies now, but the fact is, he was able to present TV programmes and constantly appear as a sofa guest for decades, booked by people who knew it all. We must reckon with that.
Farage COULD have said, “I said some terrible things as a teenage boy. I regret that now, I’m ashamed, and I apologise unreservedly.”
He CHOSE to dismiss it as “banter in a playground”
And that choice tells you everything you need to know
(C/W for serious hate speech in the attached article)
He CHOSE to dismiss it as “banter in a playground”
And that choice tells you everything you need to know
(C/W for serious hate speech in the attached article)
Don’t believe Nigel Farage’s denials. He targeted me for being Jewish – and it hurt | Peter Ettedgui
Don’t believe Nigel Farage’s denials. He targeted me for being Jewish – and it hurt | Peter Ettedgui
Now that my former classmate has finally spoken about the allegations of his behaviour at school, I feel compelled to address his points directly, says Peter Ettedgui, a film director and producer
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Farage COULD have said, “I said some terrible things as a teenage boy. I regret that now, I’m ashamed, and I apologise unreservedly.”
He CHOSE to dismiss it as “banter in a playground”
And that choice tells you everything you need to know
(C/W for serious hate speech in the attached article)
He CHOSE to dismiss it as “banter in a playground”
And that choice tells you everything you need to know
(C/W for serious hate speech in the attached article)
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Volunteers created blankets for elephants during a cold spell in Myanmar, Winga Baw Elephant camp #WomensArt
November 26, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Volunteers created blankets for elephants during a cold spell in Myanmar, Winga Baw Elephant camp #WomensArt
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I guess I now have to do a thread on shoes in ancient Mesopotamia in response to this (which happens to be from one of my favourite accounts).
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
I’m not an archaeologist, nor do I really know anything about shoes, but let’s go on this journey together.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
November 25, 2025 at 6:41 PM
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
I think I want what we all want - peace, love, warmth, and an enchanted cottage that floats through the night, trading used books and black market rum with the wild folk of the wood.
November 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
I think I want what we all want - peace, love, warmth, and an enchanted cottage that floats through the night, trading used books and black market rum with the wild folk of the wood.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Why does skunk spray smell so bad, and what are some science-backed methods for removing the stench? The latest edition of #PeriodicGraphics in @cenmag.bsky.social takes a look: cen.acs.org/biological-c...
#ChemSky 🧪
#ChemSky 🧪
November 25, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Why does skunk spray smell so bad, and what are some science-backed methods for removing the stench? The latest edition of #PeriodicGraphics in @cenmag.bsky.social takes a look: cen.acs.org/biological-c...
#ChemSky 🧪
#ChemSky 🧪
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family.
Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!
Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!
November 25, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Not that you asked, but here's a thread of intriguing (real!) food facts to amuse/bore your friends and family.
Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!
Great for gatherings when you need to change the subject!
This is cool: “Placed in a skin patch, the sensor could tell doctors in minutes whether patients need vaccine boosters”
Researchers have created a supersensitive and fast sensor for detecting antibodies that fight influenza and COVID-19: cen.acs.org/biological-c... #chemsky 🧪
Ultrasensitive sensor tracks flu- and COVID-19-fighting antibodies
Researchers could use it to make a skin patch that measures vaccine effectiveness
cen.acs.org
November 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
This is cool: “Placed in a skin patch, the sensor could tell doctors in minutes whether patients need vaccine boosters”
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
Your daily horoscope:
Today you will feel like a dentist - working in the dark, filling little voids, and cleaning up after others.
Today you will feel like a dentist - working in the dark, filling little voids, and cleaning up after others.
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Your daily horoscope:
Today you will feel like a dentist - working in the dark, filling little voids, and cleaning up after others.
Today you will feel like a dentist - working in the dark, filling little voids, and cleaning up after others.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
hubble- n159 star-forming cloud
2016 | 2025
2016 | 2025
November 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
hubble- n159 star-forming cloud
2016 | 2025
2016 | 2025
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
—André Gide, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature
—André Gide, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature
November 25, 2025 at 11:52 AM
“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
—André Gide, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature
—André Gide, winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
The 25th of November is St Catherine's feast day.
"This isn't about God,
the stained-glass legends of broken wheels, the barrowload
of miracles, or the dinner-plate halo they will nail to your head.
Under the gospel,
the truth of it: woman answers back, ends up dead."
- Rosie Garland
"This isn't about God,
the stained-glass legends of broken wheels, the barrowload
of miracles, or the dinner-plate halo they will nail to your head.
Under the gospel,
the truth of it: woman answers back, ends up dead."
- Rosie Garland
November 25, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The 25th of November is St Catherine's feast day.
"This isn't about God,
the stained-glass legends of broken wheels, the barrowload
of miracles, or the dinner-plate halo they will nail to your head.
Under the gospel,
the truth of it: woman answers back, ends up dead."
- Rosie Garland
"This isn't about God,
the stained-glass legends of broken wheels, the barrowload
of miracles, or the dinner-plate halo they will nail to your head.
Under the gospel,
the truth of it: woman answers back, ends up dead."
- Rosie Garland
This is beautiful.
“All important matters are invisible.”
“All important matters are invisible.”
A brand new episode of the #podcast series #heavyweight is (finally) here: Etta
https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/heavyweight/59-etta
https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/heavyweight/59-etta
#59 Etta - Heavyweight Podcast - Pushkin
Gregor's parents are pushing 90. Gregor wants to move them out of their big Victorian home. But they refuse. So, he's come up with a bold plan.
www.pushkin.fm
November 25, 2025 at 9:34 AM
This is beautiful.
“All important matters are invisible.”
“All important matters are invisible.”
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
"Generative AI is just like calculators and people criticised them too!!!!"
NO
www.instagram.com/reel/DRQAZDj...
NO
www.instagram.com/reel/DRQAZDj...
November 25, 2025 at 8:10 AM
"Generative AI is just like calculators and people criticised them too!!!!"
NO
www.instagram.com/reel/DRQAZDj...
NO
www.instagram.com/reel/DRQAZDj...
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
For in this love he now felt there was compassion: without which love is untempered, and is not whole, and does not last.
November 24, 2025 at 8:40 PM
For in this love he now felt there was compassion: without which love is untempered, and is not whole, and does not last.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
I find it difficult to trust anyone who doesn’t consider The Princess Bride to be one of the greatest films of all-time.
November 24, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I find it difficult to trust anyone who doesn’t consider The Princess Bride to be one of the greatest films of all-time.
Reposted by Dr Kat Day (she/her)
They can’t make computers as intelligent as humans, but they can make humans as unthinking as computers.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
They can’t make computers as intelligent as humans, but they can make humans as unthinking as computers.