Rob Smith
@rdjs.bsky.social
Lecturer in Science & Technology Studies @ Edinburgh
Biology, Politics, Funding, Governance, Morethanhuman etc.
Our group is engineeringlife.bsky.social
Biology, Politics, Funding, Governance, Morethanhuman etc.
Our group is engineeringlife.bsky.social
Pinned
Rob Smith
@rdjs.bsky.social
· 27d
The Soba Restaurant and the Oyster Bar: Peripheral Spaces for Responsible Research and Innovation
As STS researchers working closely with scientists and engineers, we have been invited into, created, reluctantly entered, and stumbled upon many kinds of spaces, some of which might be considered ...
doi.org
Tech democratisation narratives in action...(obv. 'nimbyism' is such a stupid hook for this)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt, experts warn
Tools that help people scan applications and find grounds for objection have potential to hit government’s housebuilding plans
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Tech democratisation narratives in action...(obv. 'nimbyism' is such a stupid hook for this)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Rob Smith
DISCARD - The aim is to combine gene segments to create a new genome, but recombination events will cause localised or system-wide death.
October 28, 2025 at 10:28 AM
DISCARD - The aim is to combine gene segments to create a new genome, but recombination events will cause localised or system-wide death.
Also our new book came out! It's technically a textbook, but should be a good primer for anyone trying to work out how to understand synbio in society using an approach
global.oup.com/ukhe/product...
#synbio #engbio #sts #governance
global.oup.com/ukhe/product...
#synbio #engbio #sts #governance
October 20, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Also our new book came out! It's technically a textbook, but should be a good primer for anyone trying to work out how to understand synbio in society using an approach
global.oup.com/ukhe/product...
#synbio #engbio #sts #governance
global.oup.com/ukhe/product...
#synbio #engbio #sts #governance
So happy this is finally out.
The first paper in our attempt to begin to think about spaces for responsible innovation beyond the tired tropes of ELSI panels etc. #sts #rri #soba
The first paper in our attempt to begin to think about spaces for responsible innovation beyond the tired tropes of ELSI panels etc. #sts #rri #soba
The Soba Restaurant and the Oyster Bar: Peripheral Spaces for Responsible Research and Innovation
As STS researchers working closely with scientists and engineers, we have been invited into, created, reluctantly entered, and stumbled upon many kinds of spaces, some of which might be considered ...
doi.org
October 20, 2025 at 9:21 AM
In Boston public gardens there is a statue to ether. Is this strange? Or are there actually loads of monuments celebrating chemicals and medical technologies?
July 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM
In Boston public gardens there is a statue to ether. Is this strange? Or are there actually loads of monuments celebrating chemicals and medical technologies?
a collaborative researcher's packing list.
July 18, 2025 at 7:26 PM
a collaborative researcher's packing list.
Sigh. This is such a terrible take on synthetic human genomes that just repeats tropes of the past.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Synthetic Human Genome Project gets go ahead
Scientists start a controversial project to create the building blocks of human life, in what is thought to be a world first.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 26, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Sigh. This is such a terrible take on synthetic human genomes that just repeats tropes of the past.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I'm still not sure what to make of a meeting that in many ways replayed the meeting it was thinking with (and all the tired tropes we've learnt since then), but I am VERY into it accommodating our weird events on the beach. #asilomar #sts #synbio
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
March 10, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I'm still not sure what to make of a meeting that in many ways replayed the meeting it was thinking with (and all the tired tropes we've learnt since then), but I am VERY into it accommodating our weird events on the beach. #asilomar #sts #synbio
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
The Edinburgh Joint Unions finance working group continues to do amazing work dissecting Edinburgh Executives' financial claims....and doing #sts in the process
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/3fzpaa5...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/3fzpaa5...
No Compulsory Redundancies at The University Of Edinburgh! — UCU Edinburgh
Financial mismanagement at the University of Edinburgh continues. On 11 February 2025, Peter Mathieson wrote to all staff threatening “restructuring, possible closures of programmes or even Schools, m...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
February 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The Edinburgh Joint Unions finance working group continues to do amazing work dissecting Edinburgh Executives' financial claims....and doing #sts in the process
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/3fzpaa5...
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/3fzpaa5...
Then on Tuesday at 3pm UK time, Sarah Hartley and I will be talking about our squirrels work (↓↓↓). That's online as part of the Biological Engineering Collaboratory and very much open to all. (Send me a note if you want to come)
January 29, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Then on Tuesday at 3pm UK time, Sarah Hartley and I will be talking about our squirrels work (↓↓↓). That's online as part of the Biological Engineering Collaboratory and very much open to all. (Send me a note if you want to come)
Some promo! On Monday I'll be talking about Asilomar, why old visions of governance repeat, why it's so tiring and whether there's any way out of that loop. That's in Exeter at the wonderful Egenis Centre.
January 29, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Some promo! On Monday I'll be talking about Asilomar, why old visions of governance repeat, why it's so tiring and whether there's any way out of that loop. That's in Exeter at the wonderful Egenis Centre.
Reposted by Rob Smith
Watching grownups pretend not to recognize a Nazi salute flashed three times is...expected in an authoritarian takeover.
Next, they'll do it en masse to "own the libs."
Refuse to normalize or be gaslit.
We know what they meant all along.
#ElonNaziSalute
Next, they'll do it en masse to "own the libs."
Refuse to normalize or be gaslit.
We know what they meant all along.
#ElonNaziSalute
January 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Watching grownups pretend not to recognize a Nazi salute flashed three times is...expected in an authoritarian takeover.
Next, they'll do it en masse to "own the libs."
Refuse to normalize or be gaslit.
We know what they meant all along.
#ElonNaziSalute
Next, they'll do it en masse to "own the libs."
Refuse to normalize or be gaslit.
We know what they meant all along.
#ElonNaziSalute
I just drank a GMO enhancement to prevent my hangover, went on cybertruck safari and caught a robot to the airport.
January 10, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I just drank a GMO enhancement to prevent my hangover, went on cybertruck safari and caught a robot to the airport.
Long but useful Christmas reading on the Tony Blair Institute's slightly weird infatuation with tech
williamcullernebown.substack.com/p/big-tech-i...
williamcullernebown.substack.com/p/big-tech-i...
Big Tech in the UK
Dorothy Bishop’s attempt to get The Royal Society to oust Elon Musk has crystallised political dilemmas of sweeping consequence
williamcullernebown.substack.com
December 28, 2024 at 9:15 AM
Long but useful Christmas reading on the Tony Blair Institute's slightly weird infatuation with tech
williamcullernebown.substack.com/p/big-tech-i...
williamcullernebown.substack.com/p/big-tech-i...
Reposted by Rob Smith
In my latest piece for @science.org, I ask how we should think about experiments that take place outside the lab. It begins here, in St Ives, Cornwall. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
a large body of water with waves coming in and out of it
ALT: a large body of water with waves coming in and out of it
media.tenor.com
December 20, 2024 at 8:23 AM
In my latest piece for @science.org, I ask how we should think about experiments that take place outside the lab. It begins here, in St Ives, Cornwall. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This is really rare! Synthetic biologists saying the path forward is 'don't do it'.... obvious parallel is rDNA in the 60s/70s, but that's probably a red herring...
www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
December 13, 2024 at 10:55 AM
This is really rare! Synthetic biologists saying the path forward is 'don't do it'.... obvious parallel is rDNA in the 60s/70s, but that's probably a red herring...
www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
Reposted by Rob Smith
ASU president Michael Crow talks to Cynthia Selin about the original motivation for the Centre for Science, Policy and Outcomes. Giant US inequalities, and innovation appeared to be implicated
December 10, 2024 at 9:16 PM
ASU president Michael Crow talks to Cynthia Selin about the original motivation for the Centre for Science, Policy and Outcomes. Giant US inequalities, and innovation appeared to be implicated
Reposted by Rob Smith
Meanwhile, on Twitter
November 30, 2024 at 9:09 AM
Meanwhile, on Twitter
Reposted by Rob Smith
If you submit your grants last minute, you're in good company. For the 2005 NIH Pioneer grant, half of the applications were submitted in the last two days. The red bars indicate the awardees. One awardee submitted 8 minutes before the deadline.
bsky.app/profile/jere... @jeremymberg.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/jere... @jeremymberg.bsky.social
November 28, 2024 at 2:18 PM
If you submit your grants last minute, you're in good company. For the 2005 NIH Pioneer grant, half of the applications were submitted in the last two days. The red bars indicate the awardees. One awardee submitted 8 minutes before the deadline.
bsky.app/profile/jere... @jeremymberg.bsky.social
bsky.app/profile/jere... @jeremymberg.bsky.social
