Tom Pickard
@oddtwang.bsky.social
PhD in NLP @ Sheffield | Tell me your favourite idioms! | Occasional crossword puzzles.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
January 21, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below!
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
Reposted by Tom Pickard
(linguistics) pals, a student of mine is conducting a short (<10 minutes) perception study on Child Directed Speech -- open to all L1 speakers of English who have grown up in & live in the UK! 🐦🐦
please share and/or complete: essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
please share and/or complete: essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
January 20, 2026 at 4:51 PM
(linguistics) pals, a student of mine is conducting a short (<10 minutes) perception study on Child Directed Speech -- open to all L1 speakers of English who have grown up in & live in the UK! 🐦🐦
please share and/or complete: essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
please share and/or complete: essex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
My back-scratchin' bovine is driving me crazy
My Friesian with a lesion
My Brown Swiss scrape
My Friesian with a lesion
My Brown Swiss scrape
Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in multiple ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees
Scientists have been forced to rethink the intelligence of cattle after an Austrian cow named Veronika displayed an impressive – and until now undocumented – knack for tool use.
Witgar Wiegele, an organic farmer and baker from a small town in Carinthia near the Italian border, keeps Veronika as a pet and noticed that she occasionally played with sticks and used them to scratch her body. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:47 AM
My back-scratchin' bovine is driving me crazy
My Friesian with a lesion
My Brown Swiss scrape
My Friesian with a lesion
My Brown Swiss scrape
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Going to share a picture in a sec of one of the cats that aren’t mine and don’t live in my house, and I contend it’s the single smuggest looking animal that has ever existed. I just want you to think of a cat, looking as smug as you can possible imagine - I GUARANTEE you this cat looks smugger.
January 16, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Going to share a picture in a sec of one of the cats that aren’t mine and don’t live in my house, and I contend it’s the single smuggest looking animal that has ever existed. I just want you to think of a cat, looking as smug as you can possible imagine - I GUARANTEE you this cat looks smugger.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️
January 12, 2026 at 8:13 PM
✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Look, does our university fee system create an active market in higher education? No.
But does it function to incentivise investment in your education and encourage aspiration? Well, also no.
But at least it does fund the universities? Ha, you're not going to believe this.
But does it function to incentivise investment in your education and encourage aspiration? Well, also no.
But at least it does fund the universities? Ha, you're not going to believe this.
Not least because if you actually *want* more people to do high paying tertiary qualifications, you’re creating a weird situation where an electrician on a higher salary is paying less tax than an English teacher. Not clear what the value of this is.
January 11, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Look, does our university fee system create an active market in higher education? No.
But does it function to incentivise investment in your education and encourage aspiration? Well, also no.
But at least it does fund the universities? Ha, you're not going to believe this.
But does it function to incentivise investment in your education and encourage aspiration? Well, also no.
But at least it does fund the universities? Ha, you're not going to believe this.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
The greatest achievement of my entire epistolary career was the day I got two letters printed on the same page.
A good deed and a crush, telling a single, increasingly horrifying, story from two unconnected people.
A good deed and a crush, telling a single, increasingly horrifying, story from two unconnected people.
October 17, 2023 at 9:24 AM
The greatest achievement of my entire epistolary career was the day I got two letters printed on the same page.
A good deed and a crush, telling a single, increasingly horrifying, story from two unconnected people.
A good deed and a crush, telling a single, increasingly horrifying, story from two unconnected people.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
this post is even funnier with the fancy uk schools labeler on
January 2, 2026 at 1:28 PM
this post is even funnier with the fancy uk schools labeler on
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Deck the halls with
December 31, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Deck the halls with
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Today is the last day that you can repost this image
December 31, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Today is the last day that you can repost this image
Reposted by Tom Pickard
No idea who Laurent Brindeau is, but isn’t this caricature of @zackpolanski.bsky.social in today’s @dailymailpolitics.bsky.social ragingly antisemitic?
December 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM
No idea who Laurent Brindeau is, but isn’t this caricature of @zackpolanski.bsky.social in today’s @dailymailpolitics.bsky.social ragingly antisemitic?
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Yesterday @bootsmcgoot.bsky.social and I saw some techbro giving “30 pieces of advice for people under 30” over on Twitter and it was all grind culture bullshit. As adults of 38 and 43 respectively, we compiled 30 pieces of advice that people under 30 won’t have heard before:
December 28, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Yesterday @bootsmcgoot.bsky.social and I saw some techbro giving “30 pieces of advice for people under 30” over on Twitter and it was all grind culture bullshit. As adults of 38 and 43 respectively, we compiled 30 pieces of advice that people under 30 won’t have heard before:
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again
April 22, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again
Reposted by Tom Pickard
And to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, and will return in Avengers: Doomsday
December 23, 2025 at 11:28 PM
And to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, and will return in Avengers: Doomsday
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
December 20, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Your power bill has tripled and you can't afford new PC parts just to create this.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
A while ago, @wangleberry.bsky.social and I made a shocking discovery. By writing a caption, hiding that caption, and having another person draw an unrelated Thing, the caption and the drawing inevitably resolve into a perfect New Yorker cartoon. We've blown the whole thing wide open.
Thread:
Thread:
January 14, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A while ago, @wangleberry.bsky.social and I made a shocking discovery. By writing a caption, hiding that caption, and having another person draw an unrelated Thing, the caption and the drawing inevitably resolve into a perfect New Yorker cartoon. We've blown the whole thing wide open.
Thread:
Thread:
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Like it or not, radium toothpaste is here to stay! The only possible thing to do now is to put all your money into lovely zingy radium toothpaste!
December 19, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Like it or not, radium toothpaste is here to stay! The only possible thing to do now is to put all your money into lovely zingy radium toothpaste!
Reposted by Tom Pickard
This interaction is just brilliantly sweet and sublimely played by a wonderfully present Frank Oz…
December 12, 2025 at 3:19 AM
This interaction is just brilliantly sweet and sublimely played by a wonderfully present Frank Oz…
Reposted by Tom Pickard
I looked up "anxiety" in the thesaurus and found worry, concern, and apprehension. Then I looked up "stillness" and found tranquility, serenity, and peace.
From this, I conclude traumatic words stress out the thesaurus, but soothing, mindful words can calm it down. The thesaurus is intelligent.
From this, I conclude traumatic words stress out the thesaurus, but soothing, mindful words can calm it down. The thesaurus is intelligent.
March 18, 2025 at 3:28 AM
I looked up "anxiety" in the thesaurus and found worry, concern, and apprehension. Then I looked up "stillness" and found tranquility, serenity, and peace.
From this, I conclude traumatic words stress out the thesaurus, but soothing, mindful words can calm it down. The thesaurus is intelligent.
From this, I conclude traumatic words stress out the thesaurus, but soothing, mindful words can calm it down. The thesaurus is intelligent.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Tonight Þvörusleikir (Spoon Licker), the 4th of Iceland's 13 Yule Lads, comes down from the mountains. He sneaks in to lick used þvörur (large wooden cooking spoons).
Children leave their shoes out for him in the window. He gives the good ones a small gift or a treat. The bad ones get a potato.
Children leave their shoes out for him in the window. He gives the good ones a small gift or a treat. The bad ones get a potato.
December 14, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Tonight Þvörusleikir (Spoon Licker), the 4th of Iceland's 13 Yule Lads, comes down from the mountains. He sneaks in to lick used þvörur (large wooden cooking spoons).
Children leave their shoes out for him in the window. He gives the good ones a small gift or a treat. The bad ones get a potato.
Children leave their shoes out for him in the window. He gives the good ones a small gift or a treat. The bad ones get a potato.
Reposted by Tom Pickard
The moment when AI news summaries accidentally create the murder mystery we deserve
December 14, 2025 at 3:33 PM
The moment when AI news summaries accidentally create the murder mystery we deserve
Reposted by Tom Pickard
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
Turns out that decaff is a nice pale lilac colour. Who knew?
December 9, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Turns out that decaff is a nice pale lilac colour. Who knew?