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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action

@srdfrench.bsky.social

4.7K followers 1.4K following 610 posts

Philosopher of science in a previous life, short story writer in this one and comics and music lover in both.

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Steven Richard Douglas French is an emeritus professor of philosophy at University of Leeds.

Source: Wikipedia

Philosophy 36%

Physics 21%

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Reposted by Steven French

Kevin Miranda @kevinmiranda.bsky.social · 16h

Batman by Walt Simonson

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Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Steven French

Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 1d

Ever since I finished Question Time, Reform have massively been on the attack.

Including a rant from Richard Tice entirely designed to distract from Reform and Russia.

Everyone should know about Nathan Gill, the bribes from Russia and the link to Reform.

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Reuters @reuters.com · 2d

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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Reposted by John R. Hutchinson, Patrick Dunleavy, Simon Chapman , and 6 more John R. Hutchinson, Patrick Dunleavy, Simon Chapman, Christopher McCabe, Steven French, Lesley A. Hall, Steven Fielding, Pauline Stafford, Vaughan S. Roberts

Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 2d

Private Eye offers up an excellently scornful commentary on the relentless polling. It’s become ridiculous and has oversimplified our politics to dangerous levels of stupid and irresponsible.

SHOCK POLL:
NIGEL FARAGE WILL BE PM TOMORROW
IN an amazing poll conducted
by The Pointless Polling Company, it was revealed that voters' intentions
may well change over the next three and a half years and at present it's 100 percent impossible to guess what the next government might look like.
However, 99 percent of journalists
agree that it would be much more fun if we had an election tomorrow and everybody resigned and everything was chaos and Farage had a go at being PM, just for the hell of it, because it was so much fun when
Brexit happened and then the government kept falling every five minutes and we could write endless pieces about (cont. p94)

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Reposted by Steven French

Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · 2d

Riddle me this, historians of technology!

What do saxophones (🎷), hearing aids (🦻), FM radio (📻), and Biblical archaeology (📖⛏️) have in common?

A: They'll all be the focus of talks in the #SHOT2025 panel I'm chairing this morning (Media & Tech I). Join us at 8:30 AM, CEST in Classroom 3.380.

a man wearing a top hat and a green jacket with question marks on it .

ALT: a man wearing a top hat and a green jacket with question marks on it .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Shooti @bambooshooti.bsky.social · 2d

#ResistanceRoots
#NationalHispanicHeritageMonth

Albert Báez was Mexican American physicist who co-invented the X-ray reflection microscope for examining living cells. He was also the father of Pauline, Mimi and Joan Baez, all of whom became musicians and activists. /1

Left to right, Pauline, Mimi and Joan Báez.

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Reposted by Steven French

Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 2d

Only have time to (or just prefer to) listen to short stories? The podcast episode for "The Cancer Wolves" by Fiona Moore is up.
clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_10_25a/
or wherever you like to listen to podcasts
clarkesworldmagazine.com/podcasting/

The Cancer Wolves by Fiona Moore (audio)

Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

clarkesworldmagazine.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Center for PhilSci @center4philsci.bsky.social · 2d

Don’t miss our Annual Lecture Series with Angela Potochnik!

📅 Tomorrow, October 10th
⏰ 3:30pm EDT
📍 CL-1008

Title: "Causes Don’t Push"

Can't make the talk? Join on Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/94976944388

#ALS #CenterPhilSci

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Reposted by Steven French

Soazig Le Bihan @soaziglebihan.bsky.social · 2d

Two cool-looking articles in my mailbox today: one by @193.bsky.social making the case for the underdetermination of data, and another by Ahmad Elabbar providing an institutional analysis of value influence in climate science. #philsci #phisky #valuesinscience #climate
Links in comments

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Reposted by David M. Schultz, Steven French, Akiko Suwa‐Eisenmann , and 1 more David M. Schultz, Steven French, Akiko Suwa‐Eisenmann, Stuart White

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 2d

That England has had its three worst harvests on record inside the past five years really should be being treated as a much bigger cause for concern than is currently the case. www.businessgreen.com/news/4520171...

'This is what farming with climate change looks like': England endures second worst harvest on record

New analysis confirms three of the five worst harvests on record have occurred in the past five years on the back of extreme heat, drought, and rainfall

www.businessgreen.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science @mcps-philsci.bsky.social · 2d

Looking forward to our next colloquium speaker, @plaisance.bsky.social! Dr. Kathryn (Katie) Plaisance is Professor of Knowledge Integration at University of Waterloo. She’s visiting on Fri 17 Oct to discuss “What makes philosophy-STEM collaborations successful&why do they matter?” buff.ly/hK0CQ5y

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Reposted by Steven French, Pádua Fernandes

Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 2d

Couldn’t be happier that the Nobel has gone to Laszlo Krasznahorkai. Back in 2012 I tried to astroturf a movement claiming him as the Next Big Thjng but it didn’t take off because he’s too difficult www.theguardian.com/books/2012/j...

Why is New York's literary crowd suddenly in thrall to Hungarian fiction? | Hari Kunzru

Hari Kunzru: The highly educated aspiring writers of New York are looking beyond the English-speaking world for their reading fixes. It must be a sign of the times

www.theguardian.com

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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action @srdfrench.bsky.social · 3d

#philsci

Barry C Smith @barrycsmith.bsky.social · 3d

Next Friday, talk, discussion and reception at the Francis Crick Institute with philosopher, Hasock Chang talking about the tricky role of measurement in science. Free and open to all

Part of School of Advanced Study and Crick Institute Being Human Lectures

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/measuremen...

Measurement and the search for meaningful scientific concepts

Professor Hasok Chang, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, delivers the eight Being Human talk.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reposted by Steven French

Barry C Smith @barrycsmith.bsky.social · 3d

Measurement and the search for meaningful scientific concepts

Professor Hasok Chang, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, delivers the eight Being Human talk.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action @srdfrench.bsky.social · 3d

Also take a look at Bandcamp!

Reposted by Steven French

AAPTHQ @aapthq.bsky.social · 3d

Check out the Living Physics Portal! An online environment for physics educators to find, share, and discuss free teaching materials for introductory physics for life sciences (IPLS)! ow.ly/5eZa50NqeNa. #Physics #PhysicsTeachers #PhysicsEducation #ITeachPhysics

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Reposted by Steven French

Sexy Andrew Hickey Costume @andrewhickey.500songs.com · 3d

Of course, there is absolutely no such thing as a best lyricist for myriad reasons, not least because what qualifies as a "good lyric" depends very much on the whole song.

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Reposted by Steven French

Physics World @physicsworld.bsky.social · 3d

As the Earth moves through space, it wobbles, and researchers have now observed this wobble directly with the highest precision yet. This could enable us to test predictions of relativistic effects like the distortion of space-time due to Earth’s rotation.🧪⚛️🔭💡 physicsworld.com/a/optical-gy...

Optical gyroscope detects Earth's rotation with the highest precision yet – Physics World

With further improvements, the instrument could enable direct tests of relativistic effects

physicsworld.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Institute of Art and Ideas @iai.tv · 3d

We are well aware by now of the observer problem in quantum mechanics. Human subjectivity appears to play a key role in the results of quantum experiments. | https://bit.ly/4gqMUrx

However, the observer problem reaches far beyond just quantum mechanics, argues Edward Frenkel.

#philsci ⚛️ 🧪

Maths, like quantum physics, has observer problems | Edward Frenkel

We are well aware by now of the observer problem in quantum mechanics. Human subjectivity appears to play a key role in the results of quantum experiments. However, the observer problem reaches far be...

bit.ly

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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action @srdfrench.bsky.social · 3d

I’ve just been asked to review a paper by a certain ‘Team Loopwell’ whose email address is [email protected].
Hmmmmm …

a man says something seems really sketchy about this while wearing a sweater

ALT: a man says something seems really sketchy about this while wearing a sweater

media.tenor.com

Reposted by Steven French

Simon Lohse @simonlohse.bsky.social · 3d

*EPSA27 Venue - Call for Bids*

philsci.eu/news/13550199

@epsaphilsci.bsky.social #philsci

European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) - News

philsci.eu

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Reposted by Steven French

Adrian Currie @adrian-currie.bsky.social · 3d

If you’re interested in practicing the philosophy of science in practice why not come along to an online workshop “the philosophy of science in practice - in practice”? #philsci

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British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 3d

It's October, which means - yes, you guessed it - we're going dark for this month's ask an expert column with @danielwillcocks.bsky.social !

Ever wondered why someone turns to the dark side of writing? How you can create tension? How you can unsettle, or even scare the pants off your reader? 🧵⬇️

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Reposted by Steven French

Daniel Kostic @danielkostic.bsky.social · 3d

CFA: the 8th SURe workshop will take place May 27-29, 2026, at the IFiS PAN in Warsaw.

Submission deadline: 20 January 2026.

For more info visit: sure-workshop.weebly.com/current-work...

@philsci.bsky.social @epsaphilsci.bsky.social

Current Workshop

CFA: 8th Scientific Understanding and Representation (SURe) annual workshop Call for abstracts We invite authors to submit abstracts of up to 750-words for the upcoming...

sure-workshop.weebly.com

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Reposted by Steven French

Republic @republiccampaign.bsky.social · 3d

It's time for some proper democracy. #NotMyKing #AbolishTheMonarchy #DownWithTheCrown

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Reposted by Steven French, Marisa Linton

Greta Colombani (she/her) @gretacolombani.bsky.social · 3d

Had a blast last night chatting with @rjbarker.bsky.social, @davidmbarnett.bsky.social, and @mlinton.bsky.social about folklore, headless horses, children-kicking spirits, and humans being the scariest. Go read their brilliant novels and stay tuned for other fab @britfantasysoc.bsky.social events 💫

a group of people are standing in a line playing musical instruments .

ALT: a group of people are standing in a line playing musical instruments .

media.tenor.com

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I Support People Protesting in Support of Palestinian Action @srdfrench.bsky.social · 3d

AI is so last year!

Reposted by Steven French

Dia VanGunten / Writer @pinkzombierose.bsky.social · 3d

The second just insane photo I’ve seen of last night’s moon. This was in the UK. Captured by Oliver Bennet Photography. I’ll try to find the other one and post it below. Meanwhile, my photos of the same moon would look like a toenail on a distant and dirty floor.

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Reposted by Steven French

Alasdair Craig @alasdaircraig.bsky.social · 4d

Werner Heisenberg meets William Blake in Mark Vernon's new article for @iai.tv – Physicist & poet alike warn of the danger of viewing the world only through idealising models, losing the vitality of direct encounters with reality. bit.ly/47eI8u3 #philsky #physics #poetry #philsci

Heisenberg meets William Blake: The danger of science's "single vision" | Mark Vernon

bit.ly

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Reposted by Steven French, Lesley A. Hall, Kelly Smith , and 1 more Steven French, Lesley A. Hall, Kelly Smith, Graham Dutfield

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 4d

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?

It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 4d

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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