Paul Stevenson
@pdstevenson.bsky.social
Nuclear physicist and quantum computerer &c. J'habite le sarf of England
What next? Legislating that pi is 3? War is Peace? Freedom is Slavery?
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 11:40 PM
What next? Legislating that pi is 3? War is Peace? Freedom is Slavery?
My shortlist for ambassador to Washington: Hugh Grant, Nigella Lawson, Alice Nutter
My shortlist for UK ambassador in Trump's Washington would have been Tina Brown, Daniel Craig or Vinnie Jones
This piece in The Spectator by @shippersunbound.bsky.social has an absolutely mad detail that I was not previously aware of spectator.com/article/auth...
February 12, 2026 at 1:43 PM
My shortlist for ambassador to Washington: Hugh Grant, Nigella Lawson, Alice Nutter
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
Ooh an email! How exciting! … hmm its from Waitrose. What can it be!? Oh oh thank GOD. There’s still time for me to leave a review of my groceries.
February 11, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Ooh an email! How exciting! … hmm its from Waitrose. What can it be!? Oh oh thank GOD. There’s still time for me to leave a review of my groceries.
On my way to Teddington, which sounds like a CBeebies show about a delightful small town populated by soft toys
February 11, 2026 at 8:19 AM
On my way to Teddington, which sounds like a CBeebies show about a delightful small town populated by soft toys
Waiting for the Lower School Concert to start. Glad to see they have precautions in case the drum kit explodes
February 10, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Waiting for the Lower School Concert to start. Glad to see they have precautions in case the drum kit explodes
Confected free speech wars against Universities will come with any Reform victory
This is pretty menacing.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
Sarah Pochin wrote to Bangor's university student run debating society requesting that she attend to "answer questions from students."
When they said "no" Reform rolled all it's tanks onto the lawns and said they'll cut funding to the entire university if they win.
February 10, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Confected free speech wars against Universities will come with any Reform victory
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
In case you want a prestigious certificate on your wall theagat.co
The AGAT - The Adventure Game Aptitude Test
Can you beat an 80s adventure game without a walkthrough? Prove it by taking the world's first standardized gaming exam.
theagat.co
February 9, 2026 at 8:28 PM
In case you want a prestigious certificate on your wall theagat.co
A sad story on the BBC News website about scammers, but I had to laugh at this line www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 AM
A sad story on the BBC News website about scammers, but I had to laugh at this line www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Hertfordshire, where I grew up, is rarely in the news, but we've just had Matt Goodwin's origin story and now this. It's all happening in Herts (Herts CC, you can have that slogan for free).
As and adult, I live in a radically different place. Surrey.
As and adult, I live in a radically different place. Surrey.
February 2, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Hertfordshire, where I grew up, is rarely in the news, but we've just had Matt Goodwin's origin story and now this. It's all happening in Herts (Herts CC, you can have that slogan for free).
As and adult, I live in a radically different place. Surrey.
As and adult, I live in a radically different place. Surrey.
Tonight’s Pick of the Pops part 1. What a year 1983 was
February 1, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Tonight’s Pick of the Pops part 1. What a year 1983 was
Plenty of seats (all of them) still available for the two screenings of Mel*nia at the Guildford Odeon tomorrow
January 31, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Plenty of seats (all of them) still available for the two screenings of Mel*nia at the Guildford Odeon tomorrow
I'd suggest starting here
January 28, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I'd suggest starting here
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
The government’s suggestion that rolling out 20 minute courses on writing “AI“ prompts, sponsored by Google, Microsoft and Amazon, is somehow comparable to the founding of the Open University (the Wilson government‘s, & Jennie Lee’s, proudest achievement), is an insult to our human intelligence.
January 28, 2026 at 8:37 AM
The government’s suggestion that rolling out 20 minute courses on writing “AI“ prompts, sponsored by Google, Microsoft and Amazon, is somehow comparable to the founding of the Open University (the Wilson government‘s, & Jennie Lee’s, proudest achievement), is an insult to our human intelligence.
There was a conference last year called "My Favourite Dark Matter Model". It sounds more like a round in Just a Minute indico.cern.ch/event/134667...
MY FAVOURITE DARK MATTER MODEL
WARNING! ⚠️ Phishing attempts As usual there have been some phishing attempts regarding hotel reservations. As stated below, you should reserve your hotel and disregard any emails offering this servic...
indico.cern.ch
January 27, 2026 at 9:07 AM
There was a conference last year called "My Favourite Dark Matter Model". It sounds more like a round in Just a Minute indico.cern.ch/event/134667...
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
Congratulations to our PhD student Khlood Alharthi, who has her first preprint out today! It shows how nuclear octupole vibrations are related to the surface tension of the nucleus arxiv.org/html/2601.17...
The role of the surface energy in nuclear octupole excitations
arxiv.org
January 27, 2026 at 9:02 AM
Congratulations to our PhD student Khlood Alharthi, who has her first preprint out today! It shows how nuclear octupole vibrations are related to the surface tension of the nucleus arxiv.org/html/2601.17...
Perhaps foolish to post to social media about public space etiquette but … pedestrians around where I live seem to just wait at pelican crossings without pressing the button. This seems to be a new thing, or perhaps I’ve just noticed. Is this a thing?
January 26, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Perhaps foolish to post to social media about public space etiquette but … pedestrians around where I live seem to just wait at pelican crossings without pressing the button. This seems to be a new thing, or perhaps I’ve just noticed. Is this a thing?
I think having 15 minute cities would be great. 15 tiny cities. Like model villages but bigger. Who doesn’t like a model village?
January 25, 2026 at 7:34 PM
I think having 15 minute cities would be great. 15 tiny cities. Like model villages but bigger. Who doesn’t like a model village?
Burns’ Night! The one day of the year I can say that I hope you enjoy his Cock Up Your Beaver
January 25, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Burns’ Night! The one day of the year I can say that I hope you enjoy his Cock Up Your Beaver
"Mathematics distracts from God" - a blogpost blogoftheisotopes.blogspot.com/2026/01/math...
Mathematics distracts from God
I've just returned from the British Film Institute where I went with my brother to watch Eric Rohmer's 1969 film My Night at Maud's. It's ...
blogoftheisotopes.blogspot.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:36 AM
"Mathematics distracts from God" - a blogpost blogoftheisotopes.blogspot.com/2026/01/math...
Smuttily-named items aimed at the Christmas market are now discounted at Guildford Waitrose. Guess we're too prurient in Surrey
January 21, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Smuttily-named items aimed at the Christmas market are now discounted at Guildford Waitrose. Guess we're too prurient in Surrey
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
This should be posted under every post Farage sends and quoted at him in every interview he gives - forever.
January 21, 2026 at 7:27 AM
This should be posted under every post Farage sends and quoted at him in every interview he gives - forever.
Reposted by Paul Stevenson
There are lots of great things to say about Dolly Parton – I love pointing to her scientific philanthropy during the pandemic – but my favorite is that she has probably done more for childhood literacy than anyone alive. Happy 80th birthday, Dolly.
Entertainer, childhood literacy advocate, and *scientific philanthropist* Dolly Parton was born #OTD in 1946.
Mostly known for singing and songwriting, Dolly's Imagination Library program has distributed over 100 million free books to kids around the world. 🦋 📖 🎶
dollyparton.com/imagination-...
Mostly known for singing and songwriting, Dolly's Imagination Library program has distributed over 100 million free books to kids around the world. 🦋 📖 🎶
dollyparton.com/imagination-...
January 19, 2026 at 4:24 PM
There are lots of great things to say about Dolly Parton – I love pointing to her scientific philanthropy during the pandemic – but my favorite is that she has probably done more for childhood literacy than anyone alive. Happy 80th birthday, Dolly.