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Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk.com

29K followers 1.6K following 4.5K posts

Freelance science and technology journalist. 11+ years experience. Irish/Polish. I write for the BBC, Wired, the BMJ, The Guardian, and others! Newsletter: thereengineer.pro Portfolio: chrisbaraniuk.com HQ: Belfast, Northern Ireland

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · Nov 14

🚨I have a big announcement, everyone!!🚨

Today, I'm launching my newsletter: The Reengineer.

It’s about the surprising ways in which climate change is impacting technology, buildings and infrastructure – and how we can make those things more efficient, to slash emissions.

www.thereengineer.pro

The Reengineer | Chris Baraniuk | Substack

A newsletter about how climate change affects technology and infrastructure – and what we can do about it. Click to read The Reengineer, by Chris Baraniuk, a Substack publication. Launched 13 minutes ...

www.thereengineer.pro

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 5m

I mean, the approach in the article above is a very specific definition of fast. ("Minutes"!)

But the general point I'm making is that there are ways of improving the speed / efficacy of installs to lower the (prohibitive for many) cost. Stay tuned, am covering this sort of thing all the time.

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 2h

Various firms in the UK are also coming up with new ways of getting HPs in as fast - and intelligently, they say - as possible.

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 2h

A theme emerging - honing heat pump *installation* methods could make a significant difference to uptake going forward.

Todd Woody @toddwoody.bsky.social · 2h

New: A heat pump that can be installed in minutes is allowing Boston to quickly decarbonize a public housing complex for the elderly and provide air conditioning as climate change-driven heat waves intensify. The window heat pump is made by SF startup Gradient.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Boston Public Housing Upgrades Units With Window Heat Pumps

A pilot project aims to cut heating costs and provide air conditioning while reducing emissions.

www.bloomberg.com

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 4h

Yh I'm just getting "no results"

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 7h

www.thereengineer.pro/p/how-we-wor...

How we worked out that climate change messes with Earth’s spin

Cosmic radio waves and computer models revealed the phenomenon

www.thereengineer.pro

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 7h

www.thereengineer.pro/p/wind-farms...

Wind farms 'could disrupt railway radio tech' – wait, what?

Please try not to freak out

www.thereengineer.pro

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 7h

Tomorrow's story for The Reengineer is subbed and ready to go in the morning!

Here are a few other recent stories, if you're thinking of subscribing:

www.thereengineer.pro/p/the-big-co...

The big cover-up: ‘We should bring back old habits of shading windows’

Shutters and awnings can cool properties down, and look good, too

www.thereengineer.pro

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 8h

"everything changes, but never changes" applies to many a sitcom - but it's a powerful sentiment that appears elsewhere, too.

Another fantastic example is this song, which is a favourite of mine:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkc...

The Highwaymen - Highwayman

YouTube video by HighwaymenVEVO

www.youtube.com

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 8h

Great post by @gralefrit.bsky.social about one of the greatest TV title sequences of all time - and the mysterious identities of all those people boozing away the day and night.

joelmorris.substack.com/p/where-nobo...

Where nobody knows your name...

Tracing the anonymous faces at the start of Cheers.

joelmorris.substack.com

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 21h

And now this:

BBC News - Two arrested over nursery cyber-attack
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Two arrested over nursery cyber-attack

Pair held by police investigating reports of attack on a chain of London-based nurseries.

www.bbc.com

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 23h

Looking forward to reading this. I've always wondered who they were!

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

Interesting - marketing around Bond films now increasingly anti-guns??

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoBB...

Why Are Guns Being Removed from James Bond?

YouTube video by Calvin Dyson

www.youtube.com

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

Oh thank you so much!

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

Ah I know the site has been glitchy lately - at least you can see it!!

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

It looks like this story is now offline. ☹️

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 2d

If the TNW website goes offline, it means my stories for them will all disappear.

Including this - an exclusive on the rise of Heat Geek. It's among my favourite bits of work from recent years. Please read it while you still can!

thenextweb.com/news/heat-ge...

The rise of Heat Geek — a startup bringing heat pumps to the Brits

Tech industry whizz Aadil Qureshi stumbled on a YouTube channel called Heat Geek during the pandemic. He is now the startup's CEO.

thenextweb.com

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

*pregnant female

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

That last one looks like the size of the one we saw in daylight in our garden recently - my *guess* is it was a female out busy getting the nest ready. But can't be sure. Am no hogspert!

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

I enjoyed this! Just shared the link with some friends earlier today in fact.

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

Always loved the way the overture from Dido and Aeneas was used over the train tracks at the start of Before Sunrise: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhMZ... Not sure if Purcell would approve or not, lol. But it's great!

Opening of Before Sunrise

YouTube video by rain foolish

www.youtube.com

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

Oh this is cool!

Emilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 1d

Exciting! Congrats @musicheritageplace.bsky.social #earlymodern 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell

Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Chris Baraniuk

Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 1d

IMPORTANT

All freelancers, self-employed, creatives

This is the first I've heard of this, but the Department for Business and Trade is running a consultation on the scourge of late payments, they want to introduce new legislation to tackle poor practices

Deadline to respond is 23 October

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

I think average people (not like you and me, who are in Bluesky ffs!) really have no time for trad social media anymore. It's too much effort battling algorithms and fielding abuse. Few want that.

I think podcasts replaced social media for a lot of folks.

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 1d

The thesis below = social media companies are flooding platforms with attention-grabbing slop while, ironically, more and more people are giving up on social media altogether. It's a fight to retain a few.

Dr. Jens Foell @jensfoell.de · 1d

This sounds plausible to me. But if it’s true, it means that the age of social media might be over soon, with only the old and wrinkled (like myself) spending any actual time there.

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Reposted by Chris Baraniuk

Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 2d

NEW: I wrote about the incredible science of radiocarbon dating. From Willard Libby's original work on the technique to some of the amazing applications it has had not just in archaeology but also in forensics and climate science.

www.bbc.co.uk/future/artic...

The natural clocks that can pinpoint someone's time of death

When something dies, a telltale radioactive signal ticks like a natural clock. Discovering it helped us solve all sorts of natural mysteries.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Chris Baraniuk @chrisbaraniuk.com · 2d

What do people think of this - a 21st Century alternative to strategic petroleum reserves??

Sustainable Us @havantenviro.bsky.social · 2d

A nation could actually keep a strategic stock of solar PV panels and other equipment in case of war.

They could easily be distributed to sites that have been attacked.

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