Carsten Timmermann
@ctimmermann.bsky.social
Historian of Biology and Medicine. Science is culture, and long live the Humanities. Director of @manchstm.bsky.social. Lapsed biochemist. Migrant. Rheinländer in 🇩🇪. Northerner in 🇬🇧. Lived in 🇺🇸. Owned by dog. Here privately. He/him.
Pinned
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
FWIW, after 2+ decades in 🇬🇧 diplomacy my settled view is that BBCWS is *the* (not *a*) vital element of British soft power and the continued attacks on its funding are nothing short of barbaric and self defeating.
February 15, 2026 at 8:51 PM
FWIW, after 2+ decades in 🇬🇧 diplomacy my settled view is that BBCWS is *the* (not *a*) vital element of British soft power and the continued attacks on its funding are nothing short of barbaric and self defeating.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:40 PM
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Ashamed to say I hadn't kept up with this story when it funding problems first emerged towards the end of last year, but scrapping the World Service (or severely depleting its funding further than it already has) would be a fucking unforgivable account of self-harm.
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Ashamed to say I hadn't kept up with this story when it funding problems first emerged towards the end of last year, but scrapping the World Service (or severely depleting its funding further than it already has) would be a fucking unforgivable account of self-harm.
Is it ironic or deliberate that Rubio and the MAGA dudes keep harking on about "civilization", which in Oswald Spengler's early-20th-century vision of the decline of the west is the last, corrupt phase in the life cycle of a culture, marked by the end of democracy, caesarism and imperialism?
February 15, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Is it ironic or deliberate that Rubio and the MAGA dudes keep harking on about "civilization", which in Oswald Spengler's early-20th-century vision of the decline of the west is the last, corrupt phase in the life cycle of a culture, marked by the end of democracy, caesarism and imperialism?
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Interesting piece that struggles with a 'both sides' framing and sadly fails to recognise how medicalisation and commercialisation of everyday problems and sexual issues is not new. Missing the huge amount of evidence from the 00s and prior that could contextualise it
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sex drive and the great debate over whether testosterone can help
Can boosting testosterone improve libido, or is much of the attention solely hype, profit, and placebo?
www.bbc.co.uk
February 15, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Interesting piece that struggles with a 'both sides' framing and sadly fails to recognise how medicalisation and commercialisation of everyday problems and sexual issues is not new. Missing the huge amount of evidence from the 00s and prior that could contextualise it
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Am 15. Februar 1933 mussten Käthe Kollwitz und Heinrich Mann im Zuge der von Bernhard Rust forcierten "Säuberung politisch unzuverlässiger und jüdischer Elemente" aus der Preußischen Akademie der Künste austreten. Sie hatten zuvor zur Einheitsfront von SPD und KPD aufgerufen. 🧵
February 15, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Am 15. Februar 1933 mussten Käthe Kollwitz und Heinrich Mann im Zuge der von Bernhard Rust forcierten "Säuberung politisch unzuverlässiger und jüdischer Elemente" aus der Preußischen Akademie der Künste austreten. Sie hatten zuvor zur Einheitsfront von SPD und KPD aufgerufen. 🧵
Reading Lolita on Epstein Island
The Epstein emails are crawling with Humbert Humberts
magazine.newstatesman.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:59 AM
I want to be that bear.
Franzi Schimmer captured this Grizzly bear in Brooks Falls, Alaska just floating along, tippy-tapping down the river, browsing the salmon.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
February 15, 2026 at 9:35 AM
I want to be that bear.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Franzi Schimmer captured this Grizzly bear in Brooks Falls, Alaska just floating along, tippy-tapping down the river, browsing the salmon.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
February 14, 2026 at 9:47 PM
Franzi Schimmer captured this Grizzly bear in Brooks Falls, Alaska just floating along, tippy-tapping down the river, browsing the salmon.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
Prior to hibernation, up to 40% of a bear's body mass is fat, which is less dense than water (~0.9 g/cm^2), so the murder-monster is also a floaty-boaty.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Some incredible side-eye from this guy for #WorldHippoDay.
Hippopotamus amphibius from 'Dictionnaire Histoire Naturelle' (1837) by Charles d'Orbigny (1806-1876).
Hippopotamus amphibius from 'Dictionnaire Histoire Naturelle' (1837) by Charles d'Orbigny (1806-1876).
February 15, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Some incredible side-eye from this guy for #WorldHippoDay.
Hippopotamus amphibius from 'Dictionnaire Histoire Naturelle' (1837) by Charles d'Orbigny (1806-1876).
Hippopotamus amphibius from 'Dictionnaire Histoire Naturelle' (1837) by Charles d'Orbigny (1806-1876).
We need to talk to our sons (and daughters) about this, even if it can be uncomfortable. I suspect most problems are caused by boys whose parents don’t talk to them about it.
magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/02/04/p...
magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/02/04/p...
Pornhub’s harm will never be undone
Access to videos of violent, degrading, absurd sex hasn’t been good for girls or boys
magazine.newstatesman.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:22 AM
We need to talk to our sons (and daughters) about this, even if it can be uncomfortable. I suspect most problems are caused by boys whose parents don’t talk to them about it.
magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/02/04/p...
magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/02/04/p...
February 15, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Tyneside morning, 1950, photo by Harry Morrison.
February 15, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Tyneside morning, 1950, photo by Harry Morrison.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
A reminder that if you live in England or Wales & were born between 1970-1990 – or even before 1970 – you can help protect your community by getting the MMR vaccine free from your NHS GP now. I did last year. www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...
February 15, 2026 at 8:30 AM
A reminder that if you live in England or Wales & were born between 1970-1990 – or even before 1970 – you can help protect your community by getting the MMR vaccine free from your NHS GP now. I did last year. www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...
We can probably assume that he didn’t bump into an Equadorian frog with poisonous skin by accident while in Siberia.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Russia killed Alexei Navalny with frog toxin, UK and four European allies say
Intelligence agencies say deadly toxin in skin of Ecuador dart frogs found in Navalny’s body and highly likely resulted in his death
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:33 AM
We can probably assume that he didn’t bump into an Equadorian frog with poisonous skin by accident while in Siberia.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
I had no idea that I’m losing my Y chromosome.
· MedSky ·
Men tend to lose the Y chromosome from their cells as they age. But because the Y bears few genes other than for male determination, it was thought this would not affect health. But evidence has mounted over the past few years that when people who have a Y chromosome lose it… ⮛
Men tend to lose the Y chromosome from their cells as they age. But because the Y bears few genes other than for male determination, it was thought this would not affect health. But evidence has mounted over the past few years that when people who have a Y chromosome lose it… ⮛
Men lose their Y chromosome as they age: Scientists thought it didn't matter—but now we're learning more
Men tend to lose the Y chromosome from their cells as they age. But because the Y bears few genes other than for male determination, it was thought this loss would not affect health. But evidence has ...
medicalxpress.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:19 AM
I had no idea that I’m losing my Y chromosome.
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
"The collision of a multiparty electorate with a voting system designed for two parties is creating new risks for Britain".
I signed this letter. It's not about blocking Reform;it's about the danger to democracy of a system that can't cope with multiparty voting
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
I signed this letter. It's not about blocking Reform;it's about the danger to democracy of a system that can't cope with multiparty voting
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Over 50 Academics Warn That Voting System Is Not Fit For Multi-Party Politics
Dozens of academics have written to the government to warn that the current voting system risks producing distorted results on an 'unprecedented' s...
www.politicshome.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:27 PM
"The collision of a multiparty electorate with a voting system designed for two parties is creating new risks for Britain".
I signed this letter. It's not about blocking Reform;it's about the danger to democracy of a system that can't cope with multiparty voting
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
I signed this letter. It's not about blocking Reform;it's about the danger to democracy of a system that can't cope with multiparty voting
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Ernst blickende Geister demonstrierten beim #geisterzug in #Köln für bezahlbaren Wohnraum. Für #WikimediaCommons fotografiert und hier zu finden: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Geisterzug_2026
February 12, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Ernst blickende Geister demonstrierten beim #geisterzug in #Köln für bezahlbaren Wohnraum. Für #WikimediaCommons fotografiert und hier zu finden: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Geisterzug_2026
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
I have tried to keep up with AI/LLMs as an emerging technology. But for the life of me, I don't understand AI agents. There is talk about social, reasoning etc. agents, agentic systems etc. Are there any #scicomm people out there who could do some good old 'filling people's knowledge gaps' stuff??
February 15, 2026 at 7:28 AM
I have tried to keep up with AI/LLMs as an emerging technology. But for the life of me, I don't understand AI agents. There is talk about social, reasoning etc. agents, agentic systems etc. Are there any #scicomm people out there who could do some good old 'filling people's knowledge gaps' stuff??
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
Galileo Galilei was born 15 February 1568, it's more than 15 years since my infamous deflation of his bloated reputation #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/e...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/e...
February 15, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Galileo Galilei was born 15 February 1568, it's more than 15 years since my infamous deflation of his bloated reputation #histsci
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/e...
thonyc.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/e...
Reposted by Carsten Timmermann
My brother Garry has dementia and is currently lost somewhere in the Chester area. If anyone should spot him please call the police on 999. We'd appreciate reposts. @shitchester.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 8:00 PM
My brother Garry has dementia and is currently lost somewhere in the Chester area. If anyone should spot him please call the police on 999. We'd appreciate reposts. @shitchester.bsky.social
LOL
Matt Goodwin driving up and down the extremely non-residential end of Ashton Old Road with a loudspeaker is such a tell that he's never been there before. That's a product of googling "main road Gorton".
February 14, 2026 at 8:35 PM
LOL
Good news for European competitors such as BioNTech in Germany? www.biontech.com/int/en/home....
February 14, 2026 at 6:55 PM
Good news for European competitors such as BioNTech in Germany? www.biontech.com/int/en/home....