Alice Roberts
@profaliceroberts.bsky.social
Prof of Public Engagement in Science, Uni of Birmingham; anatomist, author, broadcaster; vice President of Humanists UK. All views my own.
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Imagine showing a petrol engine to someone who had only known electric vehicles, and trying to convince them to switch to petrol. No-one would choose the dirty, noisy, less efficient, more expensive vehicle. This isn't 1910, hostage to gender insecurity. We can just choose the better tech.
November 28, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Imagine showing a petrol engine to someone who had only known electric vehicles, and trying to convince them to switch to petrol. No-one would choose the dirty, noisy, less efficient, more expensive vehicle. This isn't 1910, hostage to gender insecurity. We can just choose the better tech.
I am trying to write this book but it’s very easy to get a bit distracted by a squirrel eating crab apples in the garden.
November 28, 2025 at 10:15 AM
I am trying to write this book but it’s very easy to get a bit distracted by a squirrel eating crab apples in the garden.
Reposted by Alice Roberts
This is a really good comprehensive overview of the current evidence on Devon being the cradle of world civilization
Well worth your time, good maps too
Well worth your time, good maps too
Did you know Bronze Age Cyprus had trade connections all the way to Britain? Tin was imported from south-west England, playing a fundamental role in the transition from copper to full tin-bronze metallurgy across Europe and the Mediterranean.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
From Land's End to the Levant: did Britain's tin sources transform the Bronze Age in Europe and the Mediterranean?
Bronze Age–Early Iron Age tin ingots recovered from four Mediterranean shipwrecks off the coasts of Israel and southern France can now be provenanced to tin ores in south-west Britain. These exceptionally rich and accessible ores played a fundamental role in the transition from copper to full tin-bronze metallurgy across Europe and the Mediterranean during the second millennium BC. The authors’ application of a novel combination of three independent analyses (trace element, lead and tin isotopes) to tin ores and artefacts from Western and Central Europe also provides the foundation for future analyses of the pan-continental tin trade in later periods.
doi.org
November 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
This is a really good comprehensive overview of the current evidence on Devon being the cradle of world civilization
Well worth your time, good maps too
Well worth your time, good maps too
Reposted by Alice Roberts
This is an extremely interesting article about the collapse of early farming societies across Europe around ~5000 BC.
We like to think of prehistoric times as being largely peaceful, but it seems early civilisations weren't immune to ritualistic violence & cultural collapse.
We like to think of prehistoric times as being largely peaceful, but it seems early civilisations weren't immune to ritualistic violence & cultural collapse.
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
This is an extremely interesting article about the collapse of early farming societies across Europe around ~5000 BC.
We like to think of prehistoric times as being largely peaceful, but it seems early civilisations weren't immune to ritualistic violence & cultural collapse.
We like to think of prehistoric times as being largely peaceful, but it seems early civilisations weren't immune to ritualistic violence & cultural collapse.
Another hominin cousin! Nice toes!
The Burtele foot has been puzzling anthropologists for a while - but it looks like there was another australopith living around the same time as Lucy (A. afarensis) - 3.4 Myra - that liked climbing trees a lot more
go.nature.com/49BkCZY
The Burtele foot has been puzzling anthropologists for a while - but it looks like there was another australopith living around the same time as Lucy (A. afarensis) - 3.4 Myra - that liked climbing trees a lot more
go.nature.com/49BkCZY
New finds shed light on diet and locomotion in Australopithecus deyiremeda - Nature
3.4-million-year-old hominin fossils discovered in Ethiopia provide insight into the diet and locomotion of Australopithecus deyiremeda.
go.nature.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Another hominin cousin! Nice toes!
The Burtele foot has been puzzling anthropologists for a while - but it looks like there was another australopith living around the same time as Lucy (A. afarensis) - 3.4 Myra - that liked climbing trees a lot more
go.nature.com/49BkCZY
The Burtele foot has been puzzling anthropologists for a while - but it looks like there was another australopith living around the same time as Lucy (A. afarensis) - 3.4 Myra - that liked climbing trees a lot more
go.nature.com/49BkCZY
Reposted by Alice Roberts
The more of these other #TasTepeler sites in SE #Türkiye is coming to light, the more fascinating the early #Neolithic of the region gets:
arkeonews.net/a-stunning-t...
Have a look at this just announced sculpture from #Sayburc, emphasized ribs already hinting at death, but there's more ... 🏺💀
arkeonews.net/a-stunning-t...
Have a look at this just announced sculpture from #Sayburc, emphasized ribs already hinting at death, but there's more ... 🏺💀
November 26, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The more of these other #TasTepeler sites in SE #Türkiye is coming to light, the more fascinating the early #Neolithic of the region gets:
arkeonews.net/a-stunning-t...
Have a look at this just announced sculpture from #Sayburc, emphasized ribs already hinting at death, but there's more ... 🏺💀
arkeonews.net/a-stunning-t...
Have a look at this just announced sculpture from #Sayburc, emphasized ribs already hinting at death, but there's more ... 🏺💀
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Our lecture 27th Nov is by Dr Adelle Bricking-Patterns in the Paucity: Mortuary Practices in the Iron Age of Southwest Britain.
New insights into the diverse funerary traditions & highlights their nuanced approaches to death & commemoration.
To join us email [email protected]
New insights into the diverse funerary traditions & highlights their nuanced approaches to death & commemoration.
To join us email [email protected]
November 27, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Our lecture 27th Nov is by Dr Adelle Bricking-Patterns in the Paucity: Mortuary Practices in the Iron Age of Southwest Britain.
New insights into the diverse funerary traditions & highlights their nuanced approaches to death & commemoration.
To join us email [email protected]
New insights into the diverse funerary traditions & highlights their nuanced approaches to death & commemoration.
To join us email [email protected]
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Been playing with QGIS. Loving these colours and how they show intricate geology, like the long band of magnesian limestone running from the midlands to the north. #Archaeology #Geology #Data
November 27, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Been playing with QGIS. Loving these colours and how they show intricate geology, like the long band of magnesian limestone running from the midlands to the north. #Archaeology #Geology #Data
Reposted by Alice Roberts
November 26, 2025 at 11:45 AM
I think AI might have been a bit... overhyped.
It's just Clippy on steroids and even more annoying.
It's just Clippy on steroids and even more annoying.
November 26, 2025 at 11:07 AM
I think AI might have been a bit... overhyped.
It's just Clippy on steroids and even more annoying.
It's just Clippy on steroids and even more annoying.
Reposted by Alice Roberts
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
NEW Have archaeologists identified the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain? Survey at Brusselstown Ring, one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, found evidence for potentially hundreds of occupied roundhouses!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
November 26, 2025 at 8:13 AM
NEW Have archaeologists identified the largest nucleated settlement in prehistoric Ireland and Britain? Survey at Brusselstown Ring, one of the largest hillforts in Ireland, found evidence for potentially hundreds of occupied roundhouses!
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Loving the BBC’s new Civilsations: Rise and Fall series (apart from anachronistic Roman armour @durotrigesdig.bsky.social!).
The Rome episode laid bare the societal tensions with increasing gap between super rich and poor - so very relevant to the last 20 years here. 1/2
The Rome episode laid bare the societal tensions with increasing gap between super rich and poor - so very relevant to the last 20 years here. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Loving the BBC’s new Civilsations: Rise and Fall series (apart from anachronistic Roman armour @durotrigesdig.bsky.social!).
The Rome episode laid bare the societal tensions with increasing gap between super rich and poor - so very relevant to the last 20 years here. 1/2
The Rome episode laid bare the societal tensions with increasing gap between super rich and poor - so very relevant to the last 20 years here. 1/2
Reposted by Alice Roberts
So we are clear welfare spending in this country is NOT “out of control”. It’s risen very little in 10+ years. Small increase due to ageing & ill population. But benefits to working age families & children have been cut severely. Over 70% of children in poverty live in working families #Budget2025
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
www.independent.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 8:14 AM
So we are clear welfare spending in this country is NOT “out of control”. It’s risen very little in 10+ years. Small increase due to ageing & ill population. But benefits to working age families & children have been cut severely. Over 70% of children in poverty live in working families #Budget2025
Reposted by Alice Roberts
The BBC’s own “impartiality briefing” for freelancers included not doing anything to annoy the DM. So - not impartial! Also not great for freedom of speech.
November 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
The BBC’s own “impartiality briefing” for freelancers included not doing anything to annoy the DM. So - not impartial! Also not great for freedom of speech.
Reposted by Alice Roberts
What other Starter Pack brings together @adamrutherford.bsky.social, @profaliceroberts.bsky.social, @iandunt.bsky.social, @jimalkhalili.bsky.social, @stephenfry.bsky.social and so many other lovely humanists in one place?
November 25, 2025 at 12:01 PM
What other Starter Pack brings together @adamrutherford.bsky.social, @profaliceroberts.bsky.social, @iandunt.bsky.social, @jimalkhalili.bsky.social, @stephenfry.bsky.social and so many other lovely humanists in one place?
Reposted by Alice Roberts
By the way, if you haven't already, we highly recommend following the Humanists UK Starter Pack.
It's full of lovely people - Humanists UK patrons & activists; writers, scientists, experts; @newhumanist.bsky.social folk; and good people from across the UK charity sector.
bsky.app/starter-pack...
It's full of lovely people - Humanists UK patrons & activists; writers, scientists, experts; @newhumanist.bsky.social folk; and good people from across the UK charity sector.
bsky.app/starter-pack...
November 25, 2025 at 11:59 AM
By the way, if you haven't already, we highly recommend following the Humanists UK Starter Pack.
It's full of lovely people - Humanists UK patrons & activists; writers, scientists, experts; @newhumanist.bsky.social folk; and good people from across the UK charity sector.
bsky.app/starter-pack...
It's full of lovely people - Humanists UK patrons & activists; writers, scientists, experts; @newhumanist.bsky.social folk; and good people from across the UK charity sector.
bsky.app/starter-pack...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
"The former BBC director general Tim Davie misled the public in suggesting BBC news reporters had a leftwing political agenda, Good Law Project can reveal." goodlaw.social/vyyj
Tim Davie misled audience about the BBC’s supposed leftwing agenda | Good Law Project
Speaking at a book festival, the former director general suggested the BBC newsroom was full of BLM T-shirts and Kamala mugs. But that’s fake news.
goodlaw.social
November 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
"The former BBC director general Tim Davie misled the public in suggesting BBC news reporters had a leftwing political agenda, Good Law Project can reveal." goodlaw.social/vyyj
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
November 24, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Just a jaw-dropping paragraph in Trevor Phillips's column for The Times.
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
This is a policy that, by his own account, has left parents of a particular race too frightened to walk their children to school.
And that's the example he chooses of the "vigour" we "need".
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Laura Lacole and Eunan O’Kane didn’t just get married, they changed the law so ALL humanists can have a legally recognised humanist marriage in Northern Ireland. Laura shares her powerful story on her episode of #WhatIBelieve. Listen today! humanists.uk/what-i-belie...
November 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Laura Lacole and Eunan O’Kane didn’t just get married, they changed the law so ALL humanists can have a legally recognised humanist marriage in Northern Ireland. Laura shares her powerful story on her episode of #WhatIBelieve. Listen today! humanists.uk/what-i-belie...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
This year's humanist Christmas card just dropped 🙌
Featuring Sir Isaac Newton – ‘father of gravity’ and scientific trailblazer – taking on a very uncooperative Christmas tree.
Orders are officially open. Get yours while stocks last. Head to our website to buy now.
humanists.uk/shop/product...
Featuring Sir Isaac Newton – ‘father of gravity’ and scientific trailblazer – taking on a very uncooperative Christmas tree.
Orders are officially open. Get yours while stocks last. Head to our website to buy now.
humanists.uk/shop/product...
Humanist Christmas Cards
Our festive cards are folded to A6 and come in packs of 10, including envelopes. The cards are blank inside, and have some information about the design and Humanists UK on the reverse.
humanists.uk
November 24, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This year's humanist Christmas card just dropped 🙌
Featuring Sir Isaac Newton – ‘father of gravity’ and scientific trailblazer – taking on a very uncooperative Christmas tree.
Orders are officially open. Get yours while stocks last. Head to our website to buy now.
humanists.uk/shop/product...
Featuring Sir Isaac Newton – ‘father of gravity’ and scientific trailblazer – taking on a very uncooperative Christmas tree.
Orders are officially open. Get yours while stocks last. Head to our website to buy now.
humanists.uk/shop/product...
Delighted to see Hotwells School in Bristol maintaining its secular status - and not being taken over by a religious school. Schools should be MORE inclusive and pluralistic - not segregating children according to religion or forcing a particular religion on them.
discover.swns.com/2025/11/tv-p...
discover.swns.com/2025/11/tv-p...
TV presenter David Dimbleby joins successful campaign to save 100-year-old school – Discover SWNS
discover.swns.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Delighted to see Hotwells School in Bristol maintaining its secular status - and not being taken over by a religious school. Schools should be MORE inclusive and pluralistic - not segregating children according to religion or forcing a particular religion on them.
discover.swns.com/2025/11/tv-p...
discover.swns.com/2025/11/tv-p...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
Yes, this is the Great Barrington Declaration. Infect everyone under 70 so that the economy is not harmed. Except that ill consumers and workers cannot support the economy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
We Want Them Infected Podcast
Documentary Podcast · Updated Weekly · Our podcast delves deep into the dark side of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing how influential doctors shaped the narrative.
📖 A Movement in the Making:
podcasts.apple.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Yes, this is the Great Barrington Declaration. Infect everyone under 70 so that the economy is not harmed. Except that ill consumers and workers cannot support the economy. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Reposted by Alice Roberts
The state — and state schools — must not teach any religion as truth or push it on children.
It’s simple: would Christian parents want their kids taught Islam as fact?
Or Muslims want their kids taught Christianity?
Exactly. That’s why we keep all religious indoctrination out of public education!
It’s simple: would Christian parents want their kids taught Islam as fact?
Or Muslims want their kids taught Christianity?
Exactly. That’s why we keep all religious indoctrination out of public education!
A very welcome ruling in Northern Ireland - supporting that basic right of freedom of/from religion. The state - and state schools - should not teach a religion as truth or push it on children.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c2...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c2...
Religious education: Supreme Court rules the Christian-focused RE taught in NI schools is unlawful
In a unanimous judgement the Supreme Court allowed an appeal by an unnamed father and daughter from Northern Ireland.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 9:52 PM
The state — and state schools — must not teach any religion as truth or push it on children.
It’s simple: would Christian parents want their kids taught Islam as fact?
Or Muslims want their kids taught Christianity?
Exactly. That’s why we keep all religious indoctrination out of public education!
It’s simple: would Christian parents want their kids taught Islam as fact?
Or Muslims want their kids taught Christianity?
Exactly. That’s why we keep all religious indoctrination out of public education!