Philip Ball
@philipcball.bsky.social
Science writer and author of books including Bright Earth, The Music Instinct, Beyond Weird, How Life Works.
We knew what we wanted for HollowHead's album cover: something based on the Welsh folk tradition of the Mari Lwyd. AI could have done it, but horribly. Nothing like making it for real. (Same with the logo.)
November 28, 2025 at 5:28 PM
We knew what we wanted for HollowHead's album cover: something based on the Welsh folk tradition of the Mari Lwyd. AI could have done it, but horribly. Nothing like making it for real. (Same with the logo.)
Equally devastating is Max's deadpan ending. 👏
November 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Equally devastating is Max's deadpan ending. 👏
Nature went to the MAHA Summit. It was wild. Can we please take a moment to appreciate how brilliantly Max nails it by simply presenting facts, expertly mashalled.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Nature went to the MAHA Summit. It was wild. Can we please take a moment to appreciate how brilliantly Max nails it by simply presenting facts, expertly mashalled.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Just read the Covid inquiry report. Crikey. In the general shitshow, this was one of the passages that stood out. So here (as elsewhere), Johnson lied under oath. Consequences? Don't hold your breath.
November 26, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Just read the Covid inquiry report. Crikey. In the general shitshow, this was one of the passages that stood out. So here (as elsewhere), Johnson lied under oath. Consequences? Don't hold your breath.
I know that we knew all this already, but still it makes me furious all over again to see it spelled out. Johnson, Cummings, Hancock, Sunak: all failed the nation so badly, all responsible for the terrible outcome, none suffering any consequences.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
November 20, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I know that we knew all this already, but still it makes me furious all over again to see it spelled out. Johnson, Cummings, Hancock, Sunak: all failed the nation so badly, all responsible for the terrible outcome, none suffering any consequences.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
Of course the damning verdict of the Covid inquiry falls squarely on Johnson and his acolytes, and I'm glad it recognizes the part Cummings played in the chaos too. The scientific advisers had an impossible task. But this still rankles...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Of course the damning verdict of the Covid inquiry falls squarely on Johnson and his acolytes, and I'm glad it recognizes the part Cummings played in the chaos too. The scientific advisers had an impossible task. But this still rankles...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The trophy is very Heavy Metal. Forged in Moria, I reckon.
November 19, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The trophy is very Heavy Metal. Forged in Moria, I reckon.
Regent Street Christmas mural unveiled.
November 19, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Regent Street Christmas mural unveiled.
This is, of course excellent.
November 16, 2025 at 5:10 PM
This is, of course excellent.
Since you ask.
From the birth of quantum to the birth of CERN.
From the birth of quantum to the birth of CERN.
November 13, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Since you ask.
From the birth of quantum to the birth of CERN.
From the birth of quantum to the birth of CERN.
So what does the OCT4 protein actually do? Well, it's a transcription factor. Yeah, but what does it regulate? Oh god. I'm not sure we know much about that. And look at the goddamn protein!
November 11, 2025 at 5:02 PM
So what does the OCT4 protein actually do? Well, it's a transcription factor. Yeah, but what does it regulate? Oh god. I'm not sure we know much about that. And look at the goddamn protein!
I'm here on a mission, and the mission is to finish writing my bloody book. Fortunately, much rain is forecast.
November 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I'm here on a mission, and the mission is to finish writing my bloody book. Fortunately, much rain is forecast.
"Um, are you sure Ronald?"
"Yes, paint me like this, what's the problem?"
"It's just your h-"
"What? My what?"
"Oh nothing, OK, hold still."
"Yes, paint me like this, what's the problem?"
"It's just your h-"
"What? My what?"
"Oh nothing, OK, hold still."
November 8, 2025 at 10:19 AM
"Um, are you sure Ronald?"
"Yes, paint me like this, what's the problem?"
"It's just your h-"
"What? My what?"
"Oh nothing, OK, hold still."
"Yes, paint me like this, what's the problem?"
"It's just your h-"
"What? My what?"
"Oh nothing, OK, hold still."
My excellent and astute friend Jonathan got me a 1993 copy of the Fortean Times for my birthday, and it is truly excellent. Like a paranormal Viz.
November 2, 2025 at 1:04 PM
My excellent and astute friend Jonathan got me a 1993 copy of the Fortean Times for my birthday, and it is truly excellent. Like a paranormal Viz.
This one I'm in two minds about. I'm always reminding daughter to read the question. But we both missed this, because it is literally a trick question: we read "calcium carbonate" as "copper carbonate", because the question totally sets you up to do that. Fair or not?
November 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
This one I'm in two minds about. I'm always reminding daughter to read the question. But we both missed this, because it is literally a trick question: we read "calcium carbonate" as "copper carbonate", because the question totally sets you up to do that. Fair or not?
I stared and stared at this question in my daughter's GCSE revision and thought "Am I dumb, or is this question just wrong?" It's not me, right?
November 1, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I stared and stared at this question in my daughter's GCSE revision and thought "Am I dumb, or is this question just wrong?" It's not me, right?
The low-affinity sites overlap in interwoven ways, making them a sort of selection committee that decides whether or not prospective TFs are granted access to the high-affinity site. Here's how the authors depict it. /6
October 30, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The low-affinity sites overlap in interwoven ways, making them a sort of selection committee that decides whether or not prospective TFs are granted access to the high-affinity site. Here's how the authors depict it. /6
The opinion of Abraham Pais's Danish landlady on Heisenberg in 1946. Presented without comment 😉
October 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
The opinion of Abraham Pais's Danish landlady on Heisenberg in 1946. Presented without comment 😉
When he wasn't depressed, Paul Ehrenfest was quite a wag.
October 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
When he wasn't depressed, Paul Ehrenfest was quite a wag.
How the origin of life was debated at the 1913 BA meeting in Birmingham. Have we progressed on this topic today?
October 24, 2025 at 10:22 AM
How the origin of life was debated at the 1913 BA meeting in Birmingham. Have we progressed on this topic today?
Wilson & Jungner is the classic work on principles and practice of screening from the 1960s. This is how Margaret McCartney ends her brilliant Adelphi Lecture tonight.
October 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Wilson & Jungner is the classic work on principles and practice of screening from the 1960s. This is how Margaret McCartney ends her brilliant Adelphi Lecture tonight.
Polygenic risk scores obtained for a single individual over a range of commercially available tests. FFS
October 23, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Polygenic risk scores obtained for a single individual over a range of commercially available tests. FFS