Dr Gavin Merrifield
@drgavinm.bsky.social
Science in Churches and Communities. Also fun with spiders, MRI and giant converting robots.
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
November 30, 2025 at 9:57 AM
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
Regardless of what you think of the Budget this says a lot more about how desperate the Tories have become to try and be relevant.
An unserious leader for an unserious party that cannot even look itself on the mirror.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
An unserious leader for an unserious party that cannot even look itself on the mirror.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Chancellor says she can be trusted with the UK's finances despite claims she misled the public
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch says she's not satisfied with the chancellor's denial of lying and called on her to resign.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Regardless of what you think of the Budget this says a lot more about how desperate the Tories have become to try and be relevant.
An unserious leader for an unserious party that cannot even look itself on the mirror.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
An unserious leader for an unserious party that cannot even look itself on the mirror.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove Made Orwell Prize Judge Despite Record of Attacking Journalists and Dodging Scrutiny
Critics say "Orwell would have enjoyed the irony" of the former Conservative minister's appointment
bylinetimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I’m a past winner of the Orwell Prize & won partly because I exposed Vote Leave’s unlawful activities.
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
Michael Gove was its co-convener & refused to answer a single q. He’s now a judge of the prize & our world is truly one that Orwell would recognise
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
This is where I post from
November 30, 2025 at 3:35 PM
This is where I post from
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
🔭 The Surface of Titan from Huygens
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, Huygens Lander
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25113...
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, Huygens Lander
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25113...
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
🔭 The Surface of Titan from Huygens
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, Huygens Lander
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25113...
Image Credit: ESA, NASA, JPL, U. Arizona, Huygens Lander
apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25113...
To be clear
1) This is a problem that must be addressed.
2) The headline is a touch alarmist as levels found are well below dangerous levels. This does not negate 1.
3) Only a minority of MRI scans use Gadolinium (or any contrast agent). This also does not negate 1, but some perspective...
1) This is a problem that must be addressed.
2) The headline is a touch alarmist as levels found are well below dangerous levels. This does not negate 1.
3) Only a minority of MRI scans use Gadolinium (or any contrast agent). This also does not negate 1, but some perspective...
On this #PoisonedPlanet one more reminder that you can't throw anything "away". There is no such place.
Anything we make or concentrate ends up somewhere
phys.org/news/2025-11...
Anything we make or concentrate ends up somewhere
phys.org/news/2025-11...
North and Baltic seas show widespread contamination by MRI contrasting agents
A comprehensive study by the CritMET research group, led by Prof. Michael Bau, a geochemist at Constructor University in Bremen, provides evidence of widespread contamination of the North Sea and the ...
phys.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:00 AM
To be clear
1) This is a problem that must be addressed.
2) The headline is a touch alarmist as levels found are well below dangerous levels. This does not negate 1.
3) Only a minority of MRI scans use Gadolinium (or any contrast agent). This also does not negate 1, but some perspective...
1) This is a problem that must be addressed.
2) The headline is a touch alarmist as levels found are well below dangerous levels. This does not negate 1.
3) Only a minority of MRI scans use Gadolinium (or any contrast agent). This also does not negate 1, but some perspective...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
Today we pray for:
Advent Sunday – Hope. Candle prayers. We light this candle to remember those who waited in hope for the Messiah. We light one candle and hope that the brightness will grow as we travel through Advent to Christmas #SheffPrayer
Advent Sunday – Hope. Candle prayers. We light this candle to remember those who waited in hope for the Messiah. We light one candle and hope that the brightness will grow as we travel through Advent to Christmas #SheffPrayer
November 30, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Today we pray for:
Advent Sunday – Hope. Candle prayers. We light this candle to remember those who waited in hope for the Messiah. We light one candle and hope that the brightness will grow as we travel through Advent to Christmas #SheffPrayer
Advent Sunday – Hope. Candle prayers. We light this candle to remember those who waited in hope for the Messiah. We light one candle and hope that the brightness will grow as we travel through Advent to Christmas #SheffPrayer
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
Agree that the Trump administration is going to generate a fiasco if it wages a sustained war around the Caribbean.
But American observers should also not underestimate how many people in and around Venezuela want Maduro gone.
But American observers should also not underestimate how many people in and around Venezuela want Maduro gone.
The deranged madman now threatens to blow up commercial airliners flying in and out of Venezuela.
November 29, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Agree that the Trump administration is going to generate a fiasco if it wages a sustained war around the Caribbean.
But American observers should also not underestimate how many people in and around Venezuela want Maduro gone.
But American observers should also not underestimate how many people in and around Venezuela want Maduro gone.
Trump not just supporting the behaviour of Putin, but in fact taking lessons from it it seems.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trump tells airlines Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed
The US cannot legally close another country's airspace, but Trump's comments could deter airlines from operating in Venezuela.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Trump not just supporting the behaviour of Putin, but in fact taking lessons from it it seems.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
really went dark for the sequel
November 28, 2025 at 5:41 PM
really went dark for the sequel
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
I'm literally watching people outsourcing their thinking and imagination to glorified auto-complete. This is basically what Frank Herbert's characters were talking about they remembered a nightmare past - " a time humanity nearly enslaved itself to thinking machines and their creators"...
November 29, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I'm literally watching people outsourcing their thinking and imagination to glorified auto-complete. This is basically what Frank Herbert's characters were talking about they remembered a nightmare past - " a time humanity nearly enslaved itself to thinking machines and their creators"...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1720
November 29, 2025 at 6:59 AM
I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1720
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
Astonishing theological and historical ignorance.
People worry about the extreme right trying to subsume Christianity into a nationalistic agenda.
Yes, worry about that but also worry about people thinking this sort of heartless nonsense is remotely 'Christian' too.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
People worry about the extreme right trying to subsume Christianity into a nationalistic agenda.
Yes, worry about that but also worry about people thinking this sort of heartless nonsense is remotely 'Christian' too.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
MSN
www.msn.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Astonishing theological and historical ignorance.
People worry about the extreme right trying to subsume Christianity into a nationalistic agenda.
Yes, worry about that but also worry about people thinking this sort of heartless nonsense is remotely 'Christian' too.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
People worry about the extreme right trying to subsume Christianity into a nationalistic agenda.
Yes, worry about that but also worry about people thinking this sort of heartless nonsense is remotely 'Christian' too.
www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
"...she started it..."
Oh, boo hoo. Even *if* Reeves had 'started it' (she doesn't seem to have) you don't have to react, but could maybe, you know, rise above it?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Oh, boo hoo. Even *if* Reeves had 'started it' (she doesn't seem to have) you don't have to react, but could maybe, you know, rise above it?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Badenoch defends calling chancellor 'spineless' in Budget row
The Conservative Party leader says she was
www.bbc.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"...she started it..."
Oh, boo hoo. Even *if* Reeves had 'started it' (she doesn't seem to have) you don't have to react, but could maybe, you know, rise above it?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Oh, boo hoo. Even *if* Reeves had 'started it' (she doesn't seem to have) you don't have to react, but could maybe, you know, rise above it?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
November 27, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The UK, where the day after a decision to take half a million children out of poverty, the media & political world has been full of sneering at those same children & their families, labelling them as ‘Benefits Street’, while the same people are moaning about a tax on £2m mansions. Shameful stuff.
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
What the Dickens!!
November 27, 2025 at 3:53 PM
What the Dickens!!
Ah yes, the Government who regularly chest thumps their 'Christian' values.. wants vengeance killings.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
Suspect who shot National Guard soldiers in DC drove across country before attack
The suspect has been taken into custody and the scene is secured after a
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Ah yes, the Government who regularly chest thumps their 'Christian' values.. wants vengeance killings.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:36 PM
NEW: BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith Lecture
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC News article & Media Show prevented from repeating Rutger Bregman’s corruption allegation in its coverage… of whether the BBC censored his speech!
BBC/Trump fallout continues
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
It’s time to stop worshipping the liberal arts | Letters
Letters: While such institutions have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever, says Jianyang Geng
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
How strange. They want to claim 'success' (as they see it) today is based on their past efforts, but never want to claim responsibility for today's problems based on their past efforts.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...
UK net migration drops sharply to 204,000 in year to June - live updates
The Office for National Statistics says the fall is driven by fewer non-EU nationals arriving for work and study, and a
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 12:41 PM
How strange. They want to claim 'success' (as they see it) today is based on their past efforts, but never want to claim responsibility for today's problems based on their past efforts.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn...
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Dr Gavin Merrifield
Chris Packham kicking off the #NationalEmergencyBriefing making the simple point that ignoring scientific advice on climate, as are current government, costs lives, and that disinformation from fossil fuel interests is one of the biggest problems...
November 27, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Chris Packham kicking off the #NationalEmergencyBriefing making the simple point that ignoring scientific advice on climate, as are current government, costs lives, and that disinformation from fossil fuel interests is one of the biggest problems...
It's not your imagination, the flight travel in the USA really has become more uncivilised... since Trump took over things and started setting the example.
November 27, 2025 at 9:23 AM
It's not your imagination, the flight travel in the USA really has become more uncivilised... since Trump took over things and started setting the example.