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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · Sep 19

Everybody makes money out of academic authors except the authors...News.

Wiley is the latest academic publisher to reach a multi-million deal to allow access to its content to AI developers, with no opt out, let alone payment, for the authors who created that content.

Wiley set to earn $44m from AI rights deals, confirms “no opt-out" for authors

The US publisher is the latest to capitalise on deals to give tech firms access to its authors’ content to train their Large Language Models (LLMs).

www.thebookseller.com

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 2d

Imogen was a novella about a pasty lumpen teenager who accidentally goes on holiday with a glamorous St Tropez gang. Pasty lumpen teenage me loved it. Even with the terrible puns.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Jilly Cooper, author of Rivals and Riders, dies aged 88

The author of 18 ‘bonkbuster’ novels including Riders, Rivals and Bella has died following a fall Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88, her agent has confirmed. The author, whose 18 novels include Riders and Rivals, “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago,” said her agent Felicity Blunt. “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things - class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.” Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 2d

My Queen is dead. Jilly Cooper is gone 💔

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 4d

Conventional wisdom says motherhood should wait for tenure as before you land a permanent post, #academia is just not that family friendly🙁

@carersinstemm.bsky.social are calling for change and to celebrate their new report, a Saturday🧵on parenting & academia! 1/9 👩‍🔬🧪🔭⚛️

ℹ️: carersinstemm.co.uk

From 2006. A younger and shell-shocked looking Catherine on a balcony holding a very tiny baby with the mountains of Vancouver in the background. The baby is so new, Catherine still has the pregnant bump.

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Caroline Steel @carolinesteel.bsky.social · 6d

Right now, I’m on Radio 4’s Inside Science with @amsterdammed.bsky.social, chatting about my favourite science news:

🪐 potential signs exoplanet Trappist 1e could be habitable
🐨 a new vaccine for koala chlamydia

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Are embryos made from skin cells the future of fertility treatment?

Scientists have made early-stage human embryos using skin cell DNA fertilised with sperm

www.bbc.co.uk

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 7d

Just discovered that Jane Goodall like this! We discuss her life and legacy on Inside Science tomorrow. #RIPJaneGoodall

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 9d

“Utter bastards” yes please

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 14d

Someone, or some group, has cable-tied 16 union jacks around the BBC. Which feels excessive. I’d love to know if any outfit has a flag budget?

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 15d

Double yup to this!

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 15d

Is …. That bad? It feels like double what you’d get in the Uk?

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Ernesto Priego @ernestopriego.com · 21d

Simply astonishing. Maybe Lecturer A should not have to mark over 100 essays in a two-week window in the first place? Invest in qualified staff and reduce impossible workloads FFS www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strate...

Screenshot. King's College London page. Examples of effective practice

The following scenarios follow the above guidelines and offer insights into ways that academic staff can use AI transparently and in an assistive capacity, always ensuring human oversight and judgment remain central.
Scenario A – Scaling feedback while maintaining quality

Lecturer A is responsible for marking over 100 essays within a two-week window.

Conscious of the limitations this workload places on the depth of individual feedback, they adopt a hybrid approach using their university’s approved or supported LLM tool, Copilot.

Without ever uploading student work directly, Lecturer A composes an anonymised summary for each student, noting which marking criteria were met and the approximate percentage achieved for each. They input this summary alongside the official rubric into Copilot, prompting it to generate supportive, criterion-referenced feedback. This feedback is then carefully reviewed, adapted, and personalised before being uploaded to the marking platform.

Students are made aware of this process in advance and shown a demonstration, reinforcing transparency and trust.

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Greg Jenner @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21d

Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN commission of inquiry says www.bbc.com/news/article...

Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN commission of inquiry says

The panel finds that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out against Palestinians during the war.

www.bbc.com

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 22d

Dear internet- if I’m doing a science show about trains for the World Service, what should I absolutely cover, topic-wise?

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · 23d

I can’t read this as anything other than sarcastic trolling from the NYT puzzle bot

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Caroline Steel @carolinesteel.bsky.social · Sep 8

Last week, I joined @amsterdammed.bsky.social on Radio 4’s Inside Science to chat about my favourite science news:

🌋 How a volcanic eruption might have sparked the French Revolution
☀️ A new way to detect worrying solar storms
🐕 Dogs can thrive on a vegan diet

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

BBC Inside Science - What does caffeine do to our bodies? - BBC Sounds

The evidence on whether high caffeine energy drinks affect our health.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · Sep 3

‘On 18 August, judicial police showed up at the Research Institute in Health Sciences (IRSS) in Bobo-Dioulasso, a key partner in Target Malaria, to stage what scientists described as a “brutal, humiliating” raid.’

My story on mosquitoes, malaria and misinformation in @science.org 🧪

After ‘humiliating’ raid, Burkina Faso halts ‘gene drive’ project to fight malaria

Disinformation campaign may have triggered “brutal” shutdown of mosquito lab

www.science.org

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Aug 22

Alert for Train Fans: I’m doing a special episode of Unexpected Elements for the 200th anniversary of passenger trains. It’s for the BBC World Service and is science themed, so any stories or experts I should be looking at? Please let me know/retweet

Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Aug 21

And @carolinesteel.bsky.social and I chat dark matter on Ganymede and strategies for winning Guess Who. Radio 4 now

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Aug 21

This week on #bbcinsidescience: solar panels in space, @simonparkin.bsky.social and @valmcdermid.bsky.social talk about Simon’s book, The Forbidden Gardens of Leningrad, shortlisted for the @royalsociety.org Trivedi Book Prize. @adamhartscience.bsky.social talks hunting for conservation.

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Roland Pease @peaseroland.bsky.social · Aug 14

On Science in Action today: the editor who won't be cowed.
Following RFKjr's astonishing attack on a vaccine safety study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, editor Christine Laine defends the research, and explains why his demand for its retraction is rebuffed.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w...

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Reposted by Marnie Chesterton

Caroline Steel @carolinesteel.bsky.social · Aug 8

What really killed Napoleon’s soldiers?

I was on Radio 4’s Inside Science yesterday with @amsterdammed.bsky.social.
Our favourite news:
- what divorce looks like in birds
- can we redirect spacecraft to look at a mysterious object which has entered our solar system?
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

BBC Inside Science - What’s the evidence for vaccines? - BBC Sounds

Cuts of $500 million to vaccines research have been announced by the US government.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Aug 4

This is the best threat for parents forced to look after the longed-for and neglected pet: “if you don’t clean its cage, it’s going to the zoo.”

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Aug 4

A zoo in Denmark is asking pet owners to donate their animal companions — their guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens and even small horses — to feed to its predators. In a Facebook post, the zoo noted that donations of pets would help it mimic the natural food chain.

A Zoo in Denmark Wants to Feed Your Pets to Its Predators

A Danish zoo is asking owners of companion animals nearing life’s end to instead donate them as food for captive lynxes, lions and other carnivores.

nyti.ms

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Aug 2

We reported on this for BBC World Service’s Unexpected Elements last week… it seemed to make no sense to not use data you’re gathering anyway, so glad there’s been a u-turn on this matter

Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.bsky.social · Aug 2

The Pentagon reversed plans to cut off critical military satellite data used for hurricane forecasting.

The data, vital for tracking storm intensification, will keep flowing through Sept 2026 after experts warned losing it could delay life‑saving alerts.

zurl.co/IGKQy

NOAA will continue receiving weather data from Navy satellites after sudden reversal

After announcing it would lose access to key weather satellite data, NOAA will retain access, the agency said in a statement.

zurl.co

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Jul 31

this week on #InsideScience. tsunami warnings, a Summer of Sports... data. And Scrumping. Primate scientist Cat Hobaiter explains why she's taken the word to describe how apes eat boozy fruit. Plus studio guest @garethmitchell.bsky.social on the best tech news. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Radio 4 - BBC Inside Science, Why wasn’t the Russia mega earthquake as damaging as previous ones?

The 8.8 magnitude quake sent tsunami waves into Japan, Hawaii and the US west coast.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Marnie Chesterton @amsterdammed.bsky.social · Jul 30

"...that is, one that tries to be a description of the real world, but that doesn't either permit non-local influences (connections between entangled, far-distant particles), or multiple universes."