Dr Duncan Robertson
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duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Dr Duncan Robertson
@duncanrobertson.bsky.social
14K followers 1.6K following 2.8K posts
Policy & Strategy Analytics academic at Loughborough University; Member, Independent SAGE; Fellow, St Catherine's College, Oxford.
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Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
firefoxx66.bsky.social
I want to spell this out in case the implications aren't clear:

This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.

The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.
nextstrain.org Nextstrain @nextstrain.org · 4d
On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5
November 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
chrischirp.bsky.social
The early flu season in England continues to build, while the latest Covid wave continues to recede.

Latest UKHSA hospital admission data up to 27 Oct.
November 6, 2025 at 7:28 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Very good.
www.networkrail.co.uk/stories/a-ne...
A new Timepiece for the Railway - Network Rail
Two hundred years after the first modern railway train ran in Britain, our railway is marking the moment with the...
www.networkrail.co.uk
October 17, 2025 at 9:30 AM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
"Every member of the joint force... is required to meet the height ... requirements twice a year"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dvt...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rails against 'fat generals' and calls for physical fitness standards
YouTube video by NBC News
www.youtube.com
September 30, 2025 at 2:41 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Yeeesh.
July 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Just answering questions.
adambienkov.bsky.social Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · Jul 9
Keir Starmer's spokesman asked if the Government plans to remain on X, given its AI bot has been making antisemitic comments and endorsing Hitler, replies that this is an "internal" matter for the company
July 9, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
jdportes.bsky.social
I have sent this email to my Director of Comms at KCL and would encourage others to do likewise.
I am writing to ask you to delete the official King’s account on X, or at least to stop posting there, and to instruct other official KCL accounts to do the same “Grok” – which is the official X integrated AI/chat feature – is now directly praising Hitler and calling for Jews and others to be put in concentration camps. This is ,as widely reported, the direct result of its reprogramming by Elon Musk. In other words, it’s not that X has been largely overrun by far-right accounts – although that is also the case – this directly Nazi propaganda is coming directly from X itself/its senior management There is absolutely no excuse or justification for us to have any presence there at all any more and we should stop
July 8, 2025 at 9:54 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Err...
davidleavitt.bsky.social David Leavitt @davidleavitt.bsky.social · Jul 8
Elon Musk’s AI Grok is praising Hitler
July 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
liamthorp.bsky.social
The thing about Mamdani is that as well as having appealing policies, he’s actually just a very likeable guy. Comes across as very genuine and real but with charisma and the ability to communicate.
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Jul 8
Shooting our videos is a little bit different now.
July 8, 2025 at 8:00 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Good old Thames Water. No water in Oxford yesterday. Burst pipe. So they repair it, and in so doing so, they damage a valve. And then another valve...
July 8, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
lizziedearden.bsky.social
Russian agents paid a group of UK criminals to set warehouses filled with supplies for Ukraine on fire

Their next mission was to kidnap a Putin critic and burn down his Michelin-starred restaurant, but their efforts to "move clean" failed and they were caught in time
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/w...
The Wild Russian Plot to Burn a London Restaurant and Kidnap Its Owner
www.nytimes.com
July 8, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
kenklippenstein.bsky.social
I've obtained a trove of leaked documents about today's federal crackdown on Los Angeles' MacArthur Park. One revelation is its codename: "Operation Excalibur"
Exclusive: Operation Excalibur in Los Angeles “Show of Presence”
Leaks from military's LA deployment reveal Coca Cola vs. Pepsi rivalry, sweaty guardsmen, and abject failure
www.kenklippenstein.com
July 7, 2025 at 10:50 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
🧐
July 7, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
jamesomalley.co.uk
Obviously Ken Livingstone has a… checkered… reputation but fucking hell this was a great speech.

youtu.be/vEBAVUCX0j4?...
Ken Livingstone's London 7/7 Response Speech 7th July 2005 (Original Video)
YouTube video by AsleepAtTheWheel
youtu.be
July 7, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
hetanshah.bsky.social
Interesting example of where policy intention does not translate to practice. Despite the ban on single use vapes, people are using reusable versions once and throwing away. FT found many shops don’t stock reusable cartridges at all
on.ft.com/3Gbz8vg
UK stores still stock throwaway vapes despite single-use ban
Government drive to cut waste and protect health being undermined by near-identical new products, experts warn
on.ft.com
July 7, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
adamrothman.bsky.social
Absolutely incredible graphic from 1880 tracing the history of political parties in the United States.
From Smithsonian description: "This ambitious chart presents U.S. political history on a single page. Moving from left to right, a timeline of parties, policies, persons, and events courses like a river through graphic space marked in four-year intervals. The analogy between politics and springs and rivulets (that jump and rejoin their banks) is the most conspicuous feature of the timeline. The parties appear in different colors. The ascendance of a party is gauged as its stream rises above the centerline, and above the streams of other parties. The thickness of a stream indicates the party’s strength. The diagram is meant to dramatize U.S. political history in a more accessible shape for educators and to offer a ready reference for scholars, statisticians, and statesmen. The chart itself, titled “Diagram of the Rise and Fall of American Political Parties, from 1789 to 1880, inclusive,” is from the Conspectus of the History of Political Parties and the Federal Government, by Walter R. Houghton, 1880"
July 6, 2025 at 8:05 PM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Decked by the @financialtimes.com
katie0martin.ft.com Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · Jul 6
😬😬😬
July 6, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
financialtimes.com
Tony Blair’s staff took part in ‘Gaza Riviera’ project with BCG https://on.ft.com/40Akc0s
Tony Blair’s staff took part in ‘Gaza Riviera’ project with BCG
Former UK prime minister’s institute participated in meetings on plan to turn shattered enclave into trading hub
on.ft.com
July 6, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
financialtimes.com
Breaking news: Boston Consulting Group modelled the costs of 'relocating' Palestinians from Gaza and entered into a multimillion-dollar contract to help launch a new aid scheme for the shattered enclave https://on.ft.com/3TrfEpn
July 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
nisreenalwan.bsky.social
Despite all the aggressive hostile propaganda, the UK remains one of the most diverse and inclusive places in the world. This is the lived experience of so many. We should be proud of this spirit. We should celebrate it. We should definitely guard and protect it.
July 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
jowilliams.bsky.social
I've already "Well actually"ed Kate about 1976 this morning, so I'll spare her yet another reply, but...
This is a great demo from @edhawkins.org to show how although 1976 was really hot in the UK & northern France, it wasn't in the rest of the world. Unlike more recent years.
Caption: "Surface temperature anomalies: can you spot 1976 amongst 2014-2021?" 9 world maps of annual global temperature anomalies compared to a baseline at each place of the average period. (Baseline is 1951-1980 I think but it doesn't say). The outer 8 maps are all mostly red (hotter than normal for the place) with a few white patches and a little bit of blue. The centre map is mostly blue (cool) or white with a few red spots. A dark red spot covers the UK and north France, it was a very hot year there, but almost the only unusually warm place in the world that year. (Spoiler: that is 1976, and that level of hot is becoming normal)
July 4, 2025 at 10:34 AM
duncanrobertson.bsky.social
Agentic AI meets the Principal Agent problem.
July 4, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Chief exec of Hitachi Energy tells FT that 'no other industry would be allowed as volatile use of power as the AI sector'. Governments' bromance with the tech bros plays out unimpeded against this backdrop. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers: on.ft.com/3IdDJha
Hitachi Energy warns AI power spikes threaten to destabilise global supply
Head of the world’s biggest transformer maker calls for rules to alert utilities to the wild fluctuations in data centre demand
www.ft.com
July 4, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: The U.S. Supreme Court holds that a district court cannot enforce its remedy order providing due process to the 8 people the Trump admin sent out of the U.S. (who are now in Djibouti) in violation of the injunction in the third country removals case, which the Supreme Court later stayed.
The motion for clarification is granted. Our June 23 order stayed the April 18 preliminary injunction in full. The May 21 remedial order cannot now be used to enforce an injunction that our stay rendered unenforceable. See Nken v. Holder, 556 U. S. 418, 428 (2009) (explaining that a reviewing court's stay order "divest[s]" the district court "order of enforceability"). Even if we accepted respondents' characterization of the May 21 order, such a remedy would serve to "coerce" the Government into "compliance" and would be unenforceable given our stay of the underlying injunction. United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U. S. 258, 303 (1947); see id., at 295 ("The right to remedial relief falls with an injunction which events prove was erroneously issued and a fortiori when the injunction or restraining order was beyond the jurisdiction of the court." (citations and footnote omitted)).
July 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Dr Duncan Robertson
drjennings.bsky.social
Wouldn't be surprised to see Palantir top of this list within a few years... www.cnbc.com/2025/07/03/w...
Generation Lab polled respondents to see which major companies they “associate with unethical behavior or negative impact.” Several big tech companies fared poorly on this question, with Tesla (68%), Meta (64%), and Amazon (61%) all being perceived negatively by over 60% of respondents. Boeing, at 61%, was the only other major company to be viewed negatively by more than 60% of the survey audience. The three big tech firms have worse reputations among young Americans than Exxon Mobil (51% view the oil and gas company negatively). Some of the hottest tech companies in the newest generation of Silicon Valley also had relatively low reputational scores compared to many companies: OpenAI (43% view it negatively) and Palantir (49% view it negatively).
July 3, 2025 at 9:12 PM