Iwan Rhys Morus
@irmorus.bsky.social
Professor of History. Historian of Science.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
Well, that's us fucked, then.
Government launches major push for AI-driven science.
Strategy focuses on five areas of “existing UK strength” with £137m in funding.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Strategy focuses on five areas of “existing UK strength” with £137m in funding.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Government launches major push for AI-driven science - Research Professional News
Strategy focuses on five areas of “existing UK strength” with £137m in funding
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Well, that's us fucked, then.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
The simplest definition of "enshittification" is this:
Google has made it ridiculously difficult to google things and get a genuinely useful result.
Google has made it ridiculously difficult to google things and get a genuinely useful result.
November 20, 2025 at 8:43 PM
The simplest definition of "enshittification" is this:
Google has made it ridiculously difficult to google things and get a genuinely useful result.
Google has made it ridiculously difficult to google things and get a genuinely useful result.
I’m reminded of how, thirty odd years ago, I applied for AHRC funding for a project on science and culture in nineteenth century Ireland. The reviewers were unanimous that there was nothing there to study. Good to see that times have changed!
Fabulous PhD opportunity at Queen's University Belfast and Armagh Observatory:
Observing the Heavens from the 'Periphery': Astronomy in Ireland 1640-1830
www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post... Deadline 13 Jan #histSTM #histastro
Observing the Heavens from the 'Periphery': Astronomy in Ireland 1640-1830
www.qub.ac.uk/courses/post... Deadline 13 Jan #histSTM #histastro
November 20, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I’m reminded of how, thirty odd years ago, I applied for AHRC funding for a project on science and culture in nineteenth century Ireland. The reviewers were unanimous that there was nothing there to study. Good to see that times have changed!
So the pusillanimity of institutions like the Royal Society or the National Academy of Sciences have no bearing on the erosion of trust? Or the bleating of self appointed leaders about keeping politics out of science?
I really hate it when scientists keep saying that “we need to rebuild trust in science,” because it implies that scientists are to blame for the mistrust rather than the millions of dollars of dark money that have funded political attacks on science in order to advance a far right agenda.
November 19, 2025 at 10:31 PM
So the pusillanimity of institutions like the Royal Society or the National Academy of Sciences have no bearing on the erosion of trust? Or the bleating of self appointed leaders about keeping politics out of science?
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
Why can't they just analyse their data? Why is any computation or statistics called AI now?
Major UK project launched to tackle drug-resistant superbugs with AI. 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Major AI project to tackle drug-resistant superbugs
The UK turns to artificial intelligence (AI) to reverse the rising numbers of infections that shrug off antibiotics.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Why can't they just analyse their data? Why is any computation or statistics called AI now?
There's no 'if' about it, surely. Bursting is what bubbles do.
Google boss Sundar Pichai warns 'no company immune' if AI bubble bursts
Speaking exclusively to BBC News, CEO Sundar Pichai said the artificial intelligence boom had been an
www.bbc.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM
There's no 'if' about it, surely. Bursting is what bubbles do.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
posted by a friend who is Professor of Molecular Biophysics. PM me if you have any ideas and want to be put in touch.
November 17, 2025 at 8:03 PM
posted by a friend who is Professor of Molecular Biophysics. PM me if you have any ideas and want to be put in touch.
We had a bit of a pumpkin crop this year.
November 16, 2025 at 1:35 PM
We had a bit of a pumpkin crop this year.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
Good to see someone involved in the field describing the techbro fantasies as “bullshit”. But note the link between this nonsense and eugenicist ideas from Altman. These people are rich, stupid and influential, which = dangerous.
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Fascination of investors such as Elon Musk with uploading their brains to computers is hindering progress in curing disease, say scientists
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Good to see someone involved in the field describing the techbro fantasies as “bullshit”. But note the link between this nonsense and eugenicist ideas from Altman. These people are rich, stupid and influential, which = dangerous.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
Actually, folks, this is not phrenology (feeling the bumps on the skull) as people are saying in comments, it is physiognomy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiog... a similarly exploded 'science'. (What it is to be C19th quackery nerd.)
November 7, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Actually, folks, this is not phrenology (feeling the bumps on the skull) as people are saying in comments, it is physiognomy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiog... a similarly exploded 'science'. (What it is to be C19th quackery nerd.)
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
New issue alert!
‘Nineteenth-Century Visual Technologies in Contemporary Practices’, guest edited by Gülru Çakmak and Patricia Smyth is now freely available online at 19.bbk.ac.uk. @openlibhums.org
‘Nineteenth-Century Visual Technologies in Contemporary Practices’, guest edited by Gülru Çakmak and Patricia Smyth is now freely available online at 19.bbk.ac.uk. @openlibhums.org
November 3, 2025 at 3:15 PM
New issue alert!
‘Nineteenth-Century Visual Technologies in Contemporary Practices’, guest edited by Gülru Çakmak and Patricia Smyth is now freely available online at 19.bbk.ac.uk. @openlibhums.org
‘Nineteenth-Century Visual Technologies in Contemporary Practices’, guest edited by Gülru Çakmak and Patricia Smyth is now freely available online at 19.bbk.ac.uk. @openlibhums.org
Machlud haul yn Aberystwyth/Aberystwyth sunset.
October 29, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Machlud haul yn Aberystwyth/Aberystwyth sunset.
Y gwir yn erbyn y byd.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
How did we beat Nigel Farage and Reform in Caerphilly? We stood by our convictions | Rhun ap Iorwerth
Welsh voters have rejected Labour and Starmerite managerialism. By offering hope and not division we showed the populist right can be beaten, says Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Y gwir yn erbyn y byd.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
The beloved BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time has been awarded the 2025 British Academy President’s Medal!
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy, praised the programme for bringing rigorous yet accessible discussion of complex ideas to millions of listeners: buff.ly/1bn63FD
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy, praised the programme for bringing rigorous yet accessible discussion of complex ideas to millions of listeners: buff.ly/1bn63FD
October 17, 2025 at 8:15 AM
The beloved BBC Radio 4 programme In Our Time has been awarded the 2025 British Academy President’s Medal!
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy, praised the programme for bringing rigorous yet accessible discussion of complex ideas to millions of listeners: buff.ly/1bn63FD
Professor Susan J Smith, President of the British Academy, praised the programme for bringing rigorous yet accessible discussion of complex ideas to millions of listeners: buff.ly/1bn63FD
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
SCIENCE RELIGION AND THE HUMAN FUTURE (Oxford UP) available Jan 16! So grateful to fabulous co-authors Charlotte Sleigh & David Wilkinson who stepped up after the dreadful loss of Tom McLeish (plus new jobs for other authors): book would not be here without them! @eclasproject.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 9:30 AM
SCIENCE RELIGION AND THE HUMAN FUTURE (Oxford UP) available Jan 16! So grateful to fabulous co-authors Charlotte Sleigh & David Wilkinson who stepped up after the dreadful loss of Tom McLeish (plus new jobs for other authors): book would not be here without them! @eclasproject.bsky.social
Still going cheap. You can't afford NOT to buy at this price!
UK readers: if you want to buy a hardback HTVTUTTM at a paperback price, Amazon currently have it at a whopping 68% off. Worth it for the amazing dust-jacket alone:
How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future
Buy How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future by Rhys Morus, Iwan (ISBN: 9781785789281) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
October 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Still going cheap. You can't afford NOT to buy at this price!
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
I'm pleased to share the news that I have recently begun a term as co-editor of the British Journal for the History of Science (BJHS), working together with the now editor-in-chief, the brilliant Amanda Rees @amandarees.bsky.social.
October 2, 2025 at 1:16 PM
I'm pleased to share the news that I have recently begun a term as co-editor of the British Journal for the History of Science (BJHS), working together with the now editor-in-chief, the brilliant Amanda Rees @amandarees.bsky.social.
Still going cheap. Hurry - it can’t last!
UK readers: if you want to buy a hardback HTVTUTTM at a paperback price, Amazon currently have it at a whopping 68% off. Worth it for the amazing dust-jacket alone:
How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future
Buy How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future by Rhys Morus, Iwan (ISBN: 9781785789281) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
September 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Still going cheap. Hurry - it can’t last!
And if you happened to leave some nice reviews, I wouldn't mind at all!
UK readers: if you want to buy a hardback HTVTUTTM at a paperback price, Amazon currently have it at a whopping 68% off. Worth it for the amazing dust-jacket alone:
How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future
Buy How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future by Rhys Morus, Iwan (ISBN: 9781785789281) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 10:26 AM
And if you happened to leave some nice reviews, I wouldn't mind at all!
Oh, and there's a bridge in Brooklyn we'd like to sell you, too.
Nvidia and Microsoft bosses hail huge UK AI investment
Microsoft, Google and Nvidia have announced investments as part of a £31bn UK-US
www.bbc.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Oh, and there's a bridge in Brooklyn we'd like to sell you, too.
Reposted by Iwan Rhys Morus
UK readers: if you want to buy a hardback HTVTUTTM at a paperback price, Amazon currently have it at a whopping 68% off. Worth it for the amazing dust-jacket alone:
How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future
Buy How the Victorians Took Us to the Moon: The Story of the Nineteenth-Century Innovators Who Forged the Future by Rhys Morus, Iwan (ISBN: 9781785789281) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
September 16, 2025 at 4:39 PM
UK readers: if you want to buy a hardback HTVTUTTM at a paperback price, Amazon currently have it at a whopping 68% off. Worth it for the amazing dust-jacket alone:
Entirely agree.
How AI is undermining learning and teaching in universities | Letter
Letter: Prof Leo McCann and Prof Simon Sweeney say student misuse of generative artificial intelligence is widespread and we must be sceptical of its usefulness
www.theguardian.com
September 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Entirely agree.