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Ben Barclay

@benbarclay.bsky.social

3.9K followers 1.2K following 8.6K posts

Translator and textbook writer. Post on climate, energy, health, Spain, Brexit and other stuff. Produce VoiceMap audio tours of Andalucía: https://voicemap.me/publisher/ben-barclay#tours Substack: https://thegreentransition.substack.com/

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · Dec 31

It’s been a year of ups and too many downs for the world, but on a personal level it’s been fantastic criss-crossing Andalucia to research and test 7 new audio tours.

Here’s a quick reminder why you should visit these 7 fantastic places even if you have no interest in doing one of my tours.

🧵

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 8h

A week or so ago, I saw some mad discussion on here about how insulting chatbots/LLMs was aggression towards some kind of human-adjacent beings.

If they had that human sensibility, billions of people asking them endless inane questions would drive them mad. Maybe it has.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 8h

This would cause massive evolutionary pressure, and frogs would evolve rapidly into giraffes and pandas.

Molly Ploofkins @mollyploofkins.bsky.social · 1d

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 9h

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed by 154 countries in Rio in 1992. 2025-1992=33. That’s the post.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 13h

Free trade and laisser faire are not the same thing. Unfortunately, we’ve spent the last few decades assuming that they are, with consequences tgat are all too apparent on.ft.com/48YLOBs A bad bet on globalisation — and the new age of tech autocrats

A bad bet on globalisation — and the new age of tech autocrats

Bill Clinton emerges as something of a prophet in a book about a gamble on free trade, while Giuliano da Empoli offers a stark warning on the coming world order

on.ft.com

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 12h

The badlands, which have featured in many films, and seismites, which are formed by earthquakes in sedimentary rocks, are two of the characteristic landscape features.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 13h

It was a fascinating drive across to Murcia, past Puebla de Don Fadrique, which we’ve never visited before.

The north of Granada province has an incredible landscape including the Granada Geopark. Highly recommended for anyone with just a passing interest in geology or simply in unusual landscapes.

GEOPARQUE UNESCO GRANADA 1min ESP SUBT

YouTube video by Geoparque de Granada

m.youtube.com

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 13h

I can now recommend the wine and the rock pool.

Salto del Usero Bullas, Murcia, Spain English

YouTube video by Norwegian Viking in Spain

m.youtube.com

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 13h

Not familiar with DOP Bullas? Nor were we until a short while ago. By a happy coincidence we went to Bullas last week and came home with this bottle named after a famous waterfall and rock pool where we went for a dip.

It’s in Murcia, not too far from the better-known Jumilla.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · 16h

If you’re visiting London there’s a few reasons to be interested in my VoiceMap Publishers walking tour: Marylebone’s Garden Squares: From Village Green to Georgian Grandeur -
Browse the whole tour here…

voicemap.me/tour/london/...

Beatlemania on Montagu Square

Once across, turn left and walk until you see a blue plaque. Close to the corner of Montagu Place and Montagu Square is #34 - and this is Beatles country. Let's stop here. Ringo Starr rented the...

voicemap.me

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Ed Porter @edporter.bsky.social · 16h

Had a blast speaking at Everything Electric on the future of resilient grids hosted by the excellent @bobbyllew.bsky.social

Key topics:
🔋 how quickly the battery fleet has grown (now 6.5GW/10GWh) to dominate short term flexibility, for example, in frequency response markets and at lower cost.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 1d

Record high temperatures are currently being set across the northernmost portions of the #Arctic. In fact, it is effectively ice-free on the Atlantic side of the Arctic all the way up to about 85°N latitude! This includes record low sea ice around Svalbard.

Graphic by zacklabe.com/arctic-tempe...

Line graph time series of 2025's daily 2-m temperature in the Arctic compared to each year from 1958 through 2024. There is a long-term warming trend for every day of the year. There is also large interannual variability and a clear seasonal cycle.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

adamplatform.bsky.social @adamplatform.bsky.social · 1d

Northern #Vietnam has been hit by extreme weather, facing its worst #floods in 60 years and devastating landslides.
📹 The video shows #Nguyencity and the Song Gau River before and after Storm #Matmo, captured by #Copernicus #Sentinel2 on July 31 and October 9. #climateemergency

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 18h

They are spectacular. They saved the hunting scenes until last, and we were blown away by them.

The guide described using smaller tesserae as increasing the resolution/pixel count. More expensive, but gives a better, more life-like result.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 18h

Incidentally, each tessera (piece of stone) in the mosaic is just the natural colour of the stone - they’re not painted or dyed. That’s why the colours are still perfectly preserved.

A few more photos.

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 18h

Visits are only by guided tour (in Spanish), at 9 and 12 from Wed to Sun, and you need to book online, so it needs a bit of planning.

But it is easily accessible off the A-92 motor, and really worth the effort.

Private tours are available in other languages and at other times, but expensive.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 21h

The figures are really detailed and dynamic, thanks to small tesserae used and the variety of colour tones. Blood drips from the spear wound in the wild boar, and the lions actually look like lions.

It’s thought the owner of the villa may have been from Africa or had connections with it.

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 22h

Just been to the Roman villa at Salar, which was discovered by chance when doing excavations for a wastewater treatmen plant.

Some of the most impressive mosaics we’ve ever seen in situ.

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Kent Parkstreet, Laird of Doofus @kentparkskeet.bsky.social · 1d

Good news everyone.

Green turtle bounces back from brink in conservation 'win'

Once endangered due to hunting, it is making a strong recovery thanks to global conservation efforts.

www.bbc.com

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d

Sure, it’s not much in the grand scheme of things. A bigger element that possibly also needs to be added for a fair comparison with the wind power CfD price is the power station’s profit margin.

In any case, thanks for a great thread.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d

Is non-fuel OPEX included somewhere in that?

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Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 3d

FACTCHECK: Claire Coutinho claims UK gas power only costs £55/MWh…

…but she is ignoring a few small details:

🤫 Gas prices always rise in winter
🤫 Gas plants cost money to build
🤫 CO2 causes economic damages

THREAD with receipts

1/8

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is hugely important. I have done a lot of research on religion and politics for my book (about 🇬🇧) and I cannot overstate the difference between the pundits and politicians who talk aggressively
about "cultural Christianity“ and the people you meet when you actually go to church.

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 1d

"People who attend church or identify with a Christian tradition are not systematically more (or less) nativist, authoritarian or populist than their secular counterparts. Conversely, people who hold nativist and authoritarian views are often also Islamophobes, and vice versa." 👏 @kai-arzheimer.com

Islamophobia in Western Europe is not driven by religiosity

Are Christians more likely to be Islamophobic than other citizens in Europe? New research finds European Islamophobia has no link to a person’s religiosity.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

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Reposted by Ben Barclay

Election Maps UK @electionmaps.uk · 2d

Kenn Valley (Teignbridge) Council By-Election Result:

🔶 LDM: 50.4% (+11.0)
➡️ RFM: 23.1% (New)
🌳 CON: 9.6% (-19.0)
🙋 Ind: 8.2% (New)
🌍 GRN: 5.5% (-13.9)
🌹 LAB: 2.7% (-9.9)
🙋 Ind: 0.5% (New)

Liberal Democrat GAIN from Conservative.
Changes w/ 2023.

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Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d

Not just rich countries - many middle-income ones too, across continents.

And these data only go to 2023, but in many cases birth rates have fallen further since then.

Ben Barclay @benbarclay.bsky.social · 1d

Japanese politicians may not be screaming that the country needs more immigrants, but policy has changed.

Japan's foreign population hits record 3.95 mln

english.news.cn