FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
@50ishgardener.bsky.social
Rusty Astrophysicist. Gardener. North Cotswolds
Intriguing…👇🤔. It’s not that unusual for small asteroids on very similar paths around the sun to the Earth to go into orbit around the Earth, but IF this object did then spiral down through the atmosphere to “soft land” in what is now the Sahara, that would’ve been spectacular to see…
A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle
The century-long hunt for the gigantic meteorite that vanished
A soldier returned from the Sahara desert in 1916 with a wild story about a meteorite that dwarfed all others. Over 100 years of hunting yielded nothing – but now twin brothers think they have solved the puzzle
www.newscientist.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Intriguing…👇🤔. It’s not that unusual for small asteroids on very similar paths around the sun to the Earth to go into orbit around the Earth, but IF this object did then spiral down through the atmosphere to “soft land” in what is now the Sahara, that would’ve been spectacular to see…
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
This may be my favourite video clip of the year: As a metaphor for our relationship with technology it’s hard to beat…
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 28, 2025 at 7:56 AM
This may be my favourite video clip of the year: As a metaphor for our relationship with technology it’s hard to beat…
This…👇
Two books, both by Carl Sagan, that every young adult should read and discuss in school: Pale Blue Dot, which this cartoon references, and The Demon Haunted World
It is painfully obvious that none of those politicians and leaders currently driving human affairs have read either
Two books, both by Carl Sagan, that every young adult should read and discuss in school: Pale Blue Dot, which this cartoon references, and The Demon Haunted World
It is painfully obvious that none of those politicians and leaders currently driving human affairs have read either
December 24, 2025 at 10:37 PM
This…👇
Two books, both by Carl Sagan, that every young adult should read and discuss in school: Pale Blue Dot, which this cartoon references, and The Demon Haunted World
It is painfully obvious that none of those politicians and leaders currently driving human affairs have read either
Two books, both by Carl Sagan, that every young adult should read and discuss in school: Pale Blue Dot, which this cartoon references, and The Demon Haunted World
It is painfully obvious that none of those politicians and leaders currently driving human affairs have read either
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
Do you remember the famous #Earthrise photo from #Apollo8? On Christmas Eve in 1968, William Anders turned his camera toward Earth and captured the legendary photo. It showed humans a new perspective, with the moon in the foreground and Earth floating in distant space. 🌎🚀🔭📸
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
December 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Do you remember the famous #Earthrise photo from #Apollo8? On Christmas Eve in 1968, William Anders turned his camera toward Earth and captured the legendary photo. It showed humans a new perspective, with the moon in the foreground and Earth floating in distant space. 🌎🚀🔭📸
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
buff.ly/s01u0Ww
📸 NASA.
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
UK is VERY familiar with this song this time of year, but not sure the rest of the world is as aware of the greatest Christmas track of all time…
You’re welcome!
youtu.be/WM7M7zSMJcw?...
You’re welcome!
youtu.be/WM7M7zSMJcw?...
Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody (Official Top Of The Pops Video)
YouTube video by Slade Official
youtu.be
December 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM
UK is VERY familiar with this song this time of year, but not sure the rest of the world is as aware of the greatest Christmas track of all time…
You’re welcome!
youtu.be/WM7M7zSMJcw?...
You’re welcome!
youtu.be/WM7M7zSMJcw?...
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
Let's find this lovely boy
December 21, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Let's find this lovely boy
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
Just sent out my free weekend update. Was quite a week in the land war, started with great doom for Ukraine and ended with the Ukrainians pushing the Russians away from Kupyansk and advancing in a week twice as much as the Russians advanced in 4 months. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Weekend Update #163: Ukraine Goes From Collapsing to Liberating Kupyansk
The Two Negotiations; Stirrings in Europe
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Just sent out my free weekend update. Was quite a week in the land war, started with great doom for Ukraine and ended with the Ukrainians pushing the Russians away from Kupyansk and advancing in a week twice as much as the Russians advanced in 4 months. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
Just so we're clear, one incident of alleged anti-semitism by a musician = a major national scandal that should be roundly condemned.
Multiple incidents of alleged anti-semitism from the man leading the race to run the country = a load of nothing that should be completely ignored
Multiple incidents of alleged anti-semitism from the man leading the race to run the country = a load of nothing that should be completely ignored
December 13, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Just so we're clear, one incident of alleged anti-semitism by a musician = a major national scandal that should be roundly condemned.
Multiple incidents of alleged anti-semitism from the man leading the race to run the country = a load of nothing that should be completely ignored
Multiple incidents of alleged anti-semitism from the man leading the race to run the country = a load of nothing that should be completely ignored
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 12, 2025 at 5:36 AM
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
“The realpolitik is clear: we must unite with Europe or succumb to vassal status for America’s imploding republic”…👇
It is clear that any reliance on the US is wishful thinking. Europe, including the UK, must stand on its own two feet. Fast…
It is clear that any reliance on the US is wishful thinking. Europe, including the UK, must stand on its own two feet. Fast…
There are two views of the new US National Security Strategy published last week by the White House. One is that it is a declaration of war on Europe
✏️ @paulmason.bsky.social
✏️ @paulmason.bsky.social
Trump’s new war on Europe
A new strategy statement from the US makes clear that America is imploding, and that its main enemies are not Russia or China but Europe’s democracies
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 8:32 AM
“The realpolitik is clear: we must unite with Europe or succumb to vassal status for America’s imploding republic”…👇
It is clear that any reliance on the US is wishful thinking. Europe, including the UK, must stand on its own two feet. Fast…
It is clear that any reliance on the US is wishful thinking. Europe, including the UK, must stand on its own two feet. Fast…
My own utterly futile rearguard action is against the use of the term “supermoon”, which was invented in the 70s by an astrologer ffs and has zero astronomical relevance. Moon looks a bit brighter because it’s a bit nearer, shock 🙄
It's the final supermoon of 2025 tonight, known as the Cold Moon, but will it be clear enough to see it? 🌕
www.metoffice.gov.uk/syndication/...
www.metoffice.gov.uk/syndication/...
December 4, 2025 at 3:11 PM
My own utterly futile rearguard action is against the use of the term “supermoon”, which was invented in the 70s by an astrologer ffs and has zero astronomical relevance. Moon looks a bit brighter because it’s a bit nearer, shock 🙄
Nailed it 👇👏👏👏
Free speechwriting tip for the PM: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
December 4, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Nailed it 👇👏👏👏
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
The writer coined the word ‘enshittification’ to describe how useful tech inevitably gets worse. Now he’s turning his sights on AI
✏️ @jamesrball.com
✏️ @jamesrball.com
Cory Doctorow, the gatecrasher at the AI party
The writer coined the word ‘enshittification’ to describe how useful tech inevitably gets worse. Now he’s turning his sights on AI
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
The writer coined the word ‘enshittification’ to describe how useful tech inevitably gets worse. Now he’s turning his sights on AI
✏️ @jamesrball.com
✏️ @jamesrball.com
If PG Wodehouse was reincarnated as a political writer…👇 Superb!!!
🚨Some personal news.
I'm thrilled to announce that I've just filed my first copy for The New Yorker.
A profile of Jonathan Gullis.
"You get the sense that offstage, Jonathan Gullis struggles with being Jonathan Gullis."
open.substack.com/pub/mrhenrym...
I'm thrilled to announce that I've just filed my first copy for The New Yorker.
A profile of Jonathan Gullis.
"You get the sense that offstage, Jonathan Gullis struggles with being Jonathan Gullis."
open.substack.com/pub/mrhenrym...
Jonathan Gullis, The Seagull's Lament
A New Yorker Profile
open.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:16 AM
If PG Wodehouse was reincarnated as a political writer…👇 Superb!!!
“Former Conservatives have defected to Reform, with former minister Jonathan Gullis among the most recent to have joined the party, following Danny Kruger, Nadine Dorries, Jake Berry and Maria Caulfield”
Truly a government of all the talents in waiting…
Truly a government of all the talents in waiting…
Farage tells donors he expects Reform to do election deal with Tories – report
Farage tells donors he expects Reform to do election deal with Tories – report
One donor tells FT that Reform leader described an agreement as ‘inevitable’, despite denials from both sides
Nigel Farage has told donors he expects a deal or merger between his Reform UK party and the Conservatives before the next general election.
Reform donors told the Financial Times that the leader expected his party to join with or make a deal with the Tories. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:04 AM
“Former Conservatives have defected to Reform, with former minister Jonathan Gullis among the most recent to have joined the party, following Danny Kruger, Nadine Dorries, Jake Berry and Maria Caulfield”
Truly a government of all the talents in waiting…
Truly a government of all the talents in waiting…
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
“Will Your Party become the acorn of a newly liberated society, or a battleground dominated by revolutionary sects thanks to their organisational capacity, stamina and obsessive behaviour?”
Ooh, I wonder…🙄🤣
Ooh, I wonder…🙄🤣
Your Party's antics assume a luxury the left does not have: time | Owen Jones
Your Party's antics assume a luxury the left does not have: time | Owen Jones
Legal spats, public denunciations and an obsession with internal process must be consigned to the past, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:32 PM
“Will Your Party become the acorn of a newly liberated society, or a battleground dominated by revolutionary sects thanks to their organisational capacity, stamina and obsessive behaviour?”
Ooh, I wonder…🙄🤣
Ooh, I wonder…🙄🤣
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
Leonard Woolf’s The Barbarians At The Gate warns that tyranny begins not with tanks in the streets, but with compassion being turned off in the public mind
✏️ Katherine Cooper
✏️ Katherine Cooper
The book from 1939 that reads like breaking news
Leonard Woolf’s The Barbarians At The Gate warns that tyranny begins not with tanks in the streets, but with compassion being turned off in the public mind
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Leonard Woolf’s The Barbarians At The Gate warns that tyranny begins not with tanks in the streets, but with compassion being turned off in the public mind
✏️ Katherine Cooper
✏️ Katherine Cooper
Reposted by FiftySomething Gardener 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇺
🚨WOW! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 75,000 signatures! 🙏
LET’S KEEP GOING!
If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
LET’S KEEP GOING!
If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 27, 2025 at 9:38 PM
🚨WOW! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 75,000 signatures! 🙏
LET’S KEEP GOING!
If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
LET’S KEEP GOING!
If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
@bathnes.bsky.social Just used the toilet at Lansdown P&R and not impressed 💩 ☹️
If you’re going to charge to use the facilities at least make sure that they’re cleaned occasionally…
If you’re going to charge to use the facilities at least make sure that they’re cleaned occasionally…
November 27, 2025 at 10:53 AM
@bathnes.bsky.social Just used the toilet at Lansdown P&R and not impressed 💩 ☹️
If you’re going to charge to use the facilities at least make sure that they’re cleaned occasionally…
If you’re going to charge to use the facilities at least make sure that they’re cleaned occasionally…
Likewise 👇 Thank you
🔥 Highly recommended that you all sign and share.
Link to the petition—> petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Link to the petition—> petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 26, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Likewise 👇 Thank you
As Brian Clough rightly pointed out, if you’re on the pitch and not interfering with play then what are you getting paid for…
November 24, 2025 at 5:09 PM
As Brian Clough rightly pointed out, if you’re on the pitch and not interfering with play then what are you getting paid for…
If only Malcolm Tucker were still in charge of Labour’s comms, they might just get onto the front foot. Some pointers below…👇
Trump vs The BBC.
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Love or loathe the BBC, recent events have put the UK's journalistic sovereignty in peril.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCMn...
Trump vs The BBC
YouTube video by Jonathan Pie
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:43 PM
If only Malcolm Tucker were still in charge of Labour’s comms, they might just get onto the front foot. Some pointers below…👇