Eric Glover
@dolichon.bsky.social
Astronomy, classics, London. My book on Hipparchus due out April 2026.
Trump ending the Greenland war should make him a front runner for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
It's Trump so you can never be sure but I think the tariff tantrum was because he was told he can't use force.
Why threaten tariffs in the summer if you're about to invade?
Why threaten tariffs in the summer if you're about to invade?
Attn news commentators: Trump saying he could use force to obtain Greenland but won’t is not Trump saying he won’t use force to obtain Greenland. It is Trump using force as a threat to obtain Greenland. That is why he mentions it.
January 21, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Trump ending the Greenland war should make him a front runner for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
It's easy enough to lay new cables (e.g. along Prescot Street). Cut the old ones or use them for disinformation.
Chinese mega Embassy on old Royal Mint site is not a security threat, say secret services bit.ly/49C5qtP What quadruple bluff is being played here by them? Or is
it part of Harvest now, decrypt later? google it or see bit.ly/4a4Czij
it part of Harvest now, decrypt later? google it or see bit.ly/4a4Czij
China’s super-embassy no risk to UK, says cyber security expert
A former GCHQ chief and founder of the National Cyber Security Centre has dismissed criticism of the plans as ‘simplistic’
bit.ly
January 17, 2026 at 12:42 PM
It's easy enough to lay new cables (e.g. along Prescot Street). Cut the old ones or use them for disinformation.
Reposted by Eric Glover
'Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.'
January 12, 2026 at 2:57 PM
'Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.'
Infamous grifter is abducted by aliens.
Famed pseudoarchaeological content creator Erich von Däniken, best known for his popularization and promotion of ancient aliens claims, has died at age 90.
Erich von Däniken, Swiss writer who spawned alien archaeology, dies at 90
Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose bestselling books about the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him fame among paranormal enthusiasts and scorn from the scientific comm...
www.ctvnews.ca
January 12, 2026 at 6:39 AM
Infamous grifter is abducted by aliens.
I don't get this. The US has several abandoned bases in eastern Greenland. Few would object to them being reopened. Would many object to US companies exploiting minerals there? Is Trump just trying to get Denmark to step up, or is it about intimidating Canada?
“They really don’t believe that Donald Trump would annex Greenland”
Nick Watt shares what he’s hearing “in private” from members of the UK Government regarding the US President’s Greenland plans.
#Newsnight
Nick Watt shares what he’s hearing “in private” from members of the UK Government regarding the US President’s Greenland plans.
#Newsnight
January 6, 2026 at 6:18 PM
I don't get this. The US has several abandoned bases in eastern Greenland. Few would object to them being reopened. Would many object to US companies exploiting minerals there? Is Trump just trying to get Denmark to step up, or is it about intimidating Canada?
Reposted by Eric Glover
At 5.15pm GMT today, the Earth will be at perihelion, the closest point to the Sun in our annual round.
This should be the start of the year. Happy new orbit, everyone!
This should be the start of the year. Happy new orbit, everyone!
January 3, 2026 at 9:48 AM
At 5.15pm GMT today, the Earth will be at perihelion, the closest point to the Sun in our annual round.
This should be the start of the year. Happy new orbit, everyone!
This should be the start of the year. Happy new orbit, everyone!
Reposted by Eric Glover
In a NY taxi. Comment on current events?
January 3, 2026 at 3:05 PM
In a NY taxi. Comment on current events?
Reposted by Eric Glover
Does that qualify you for a special award?
January 3, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Does that qualify you for a special award?
Is 'impact' more impactful than 'affect' or is it an affectation?
Clichés to avoid in 2026 - NB putting one in inverted commas does not make it OK. And parenting doesn’t really have a location. And I know it is becoming fashionable to use ‘impact’ as a verb but it is ugly and unnecessary. Try
Where you live and work affects your child’s growth
Where you live and work affects your child’s growth
January 1, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Is 'impact' more impactful than 'affect' or is it an affectation?
Reposted by Eric Glover
Congratulations Yorkshire, every last one of you.
December 30, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Congratulations Yorkshire, every last one of you.
Reposted by Eric Glover
“A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood bank. The rabbit says: I think I might be a type O.” Favourite of the decade by Barry Mulligan
December 21, 2025 at 10:13 PM
“A priest, a minister and a rabbit walk into a blood bank. The rabbit says: I think I might be a type O.” Favourite of the decade by Barry Mulligan
Today is the solstice (around 15:03) and the shortest day in the northern hemisphere, but the Sun will continue to rise later for a few days here until the end of December.
December 21, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Today is the solstice (around 15:03) and the shortest day in the northern hemisphere, but the Sun will continue to rise later for a few days here until the end of December.
The local park this morning.
December 17, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The local park this morning.
This is not okay.
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 8, 2025 at 6:13 AM
This is not okay.
Me too, but monomaniacally.
December 4, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Me too, but monomaniacally.
Reposted by Eric Glover
I told you they were Lennonists
December 1, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I told you they were Lennonists
Reposted by Eric Glover
‘Twas frymblal, and the Fexcectorn
AUC Totalbottl on Line Scoree.
Runctitional was the bottleneck
And Remech N FS-1 NC.
AUC Totalbottl on Line Scoree.
Runctitional was the bottleneck
And Remech N FS-1 NC.
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 27, 2025 at 9:36 PM
‘Twas frymblal, and the Fexcectorn
AUC Totalbottl on Line Scoree.
Runctitional was the bottleneck
And Remech N FS-1 NC.
AUC Totalbottl on Line Scoree.
Runctitional was the bottleneck
And Remech N FS-1 NC.
Reposted by Eric Glover
Right.
November 25, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Right.
Reposted by Eric Glover
For more than a decade now the government’s answer to how to fund universities has been to make money from overseas students.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 7:43 AM
For more than a decade now the government’s answer to how to fund universities has been to make money from overseas students.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
The last lot then tried to discourage students from coming here.
This lot just want the money back.
But then how do we fund ourselves?
Crazy.
Reposted by Eric Glover
Here's an extraordinarily cynical take: did the government talk up the likelihood of a manifesto-breaking income tax rise in the knowledge that it would push down gilt yields in the window the OBR will use for its forecasts? Rowing back now pushes up yields but too late to enter the forecast on 26th
And there we go 10y opened up 11 basis points erasing 1/3 of the rally since October.
39 minutes until the bond markets make reeves reconsider I reckon.
November 14, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Here's an extraordinarily cynical take: did the government talk up the likelihood of a manifesto-breaking income tax rise in the knowledge that it would push down gilt yields in the window the OBR will use for its forecasts? Rowing back now pushes up yields but too late to enter the forecast on 26th
I've always been conflicted about Nov 5th. As a child (weirdly) I thought we were celebrating the near success of GF, not the failure. I'm sad to think this tradition will probably die since, unlike Halloween and Xmas, it's hard to monetise and it means nothing to the rest of the world.
🎆 It's Bonfire Night🎆
To celebrate we're showing our copy of 'The second booke teaching most exactly, the composing of all manner of fire-works for tryumph and recreation' by John Bate, published in 1635 (shelf marl: S PAM 479).
To celebrate we're showing our copy of 'The second booke teaching most exactly, the composing of all manner of fire-works for tryumph and recreation' by John Bate, published in 1635 (shelf marl: S PAM 479).
November 5, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I've always been conflicted about Nov 5th. As a child (weirdly) I thought we were celebrating the near success of GF, not the failure. I'm sad to think this tradition will probably die since, unlike Halloween and Xmas, it's hard to monetise and it means nothing to the rest of the world.
Swiftian insights
New substack: how the government can raise economic growth: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/increasing...
Increasing economic growth: some modest proposals
Commodify, enshittify, skillify.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Swiftian insights
Well worth a read by NM on the AI slop that is Grokpedia. Wales 1 - Musk 0. Pro-tip: a grammatically correct em-dash in online text suggests LLM involvement.
Grottypedia on Thucydides: “Contemporary scholarship, while acknowledging these limitations, generally upholds his evidentiary rigor against ancient norms…”
November 2, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Well worth a read by NM on the AI slop that is Grokpedia. Wales 1 - Musk 0. Pro-tip: a grammatically correct em-dash in online text suggests LLM involvement.
Iirc, that printer was just along from Aldgate station.
From when all books published in London had to be registered at Stationers' Hall, this is the 1773 record of Poems on Various Subjects by Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American woman whose writings were published, although she had to come to London to find a printer.
October 24, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Iirc, that printer was just along from Aldgate station.
Reposted by Eric Glover
The London Business School might want to rethink the name of this course.
www.london.edu/executive-ed...
www.london.edu/executive-ed...
October 22, 2025 at 8:49 AM
The London Business School might want to rethink the name of this course.
www.london.edu/executive-ed...
www.london.edu/executive-ed...