Prof. Simon Blockley
@simon-blockley.bsky.social
Archaeological and Quaternary Scienctist, fascinated by the amazing world we live in. All posts my own opinion.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
PhD project on the evolution of animal memory now available in my research group, through the TREES DLA: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo.... Come and join us if you're interested in the evolution of animal minds and you want to do some cool experimental evolution!
Evolutionary ecology of animal memory | TREES DLA
This project seeks to explore how memory evolves in response to the ecological tasks that animals face in their natural environment. Associative memory exists in some form in almost all animal species...
www.trees-dla.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:23 PM
PhD project on the evolution of animal memory now available in my research group, through the TREES DLA: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/evo.... Come and join us if you're interested in the evolution of animal minds and you want to do some cool experimental evolution!
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
This ⬇️
Do we need humanities graduates to deliver the industrial strategy? Yes we do. www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/do-we-n...
Do we need humanities graduates to deliver the industrial strategy?
Policymakers should take a broad view of the value of degree courses when building our future workforce, says Charlotte Hallahan
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:40 PM
This ⬇️
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Sunday protests seem to be < 500 nationwide, maybe < 300, across 4-6 locations
Yet ITV news using language of "erupt nationwide" (!)
Epping: 100-150
London: 20
Birmingham: 30
Stevenage: 30-50
Norwich: ? anything of any scale
Manchester: ? anything of any scale
Dudley: ? anything of any scale?
Yet ITV news using language of "erupt nationwide" (!)
Epping: 100-150
London: 20
Birmingham: 30
Stevenage: 30-50
Norwich: ? anything of any scale
Manchester: ? anything of any scale
Dudley: ? anything of any scale?
August 24, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Today's view of Etna lava flows.
Image taken by Sentinel-2.
Image taken by Sentinel-2.
August 24, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Today's view of Etna lava flows.
Image taken by Sentinel-2.
Image taken by Sentinel-2.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure.
It's capital.
The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
It's capital.
The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
August 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
It's not asylum seekers who jack up rents, undermine the NHS, hold down wages and keep people insecure.
It's capital.
The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
It's capital.
The role of the far right is to shift the blame for decades of economic attacks by the rich and powerful onto powerless people who have only just arrived here.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
This is just getting ridiculous. Nothing that has happened (or is reported below the headline to have happened) this weekend remotely justifies talk of an explosion or mass protests. The media are confecting a crisis, and, in some sections of it, hoping to provoke one. 1/3
August 24, 2025 at 7:47 PM
This is just getting ridiculous. Nothing that has happened (or is reported below the headline to have happened) this weekend remotely justifies talk of an explosion or mass protests. The media are confecting a crisis, and, in some sections of it, hoping to provoke one. 1/3
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Intelligent and gentle, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus ❤️🐒🐵 is critically endangered in #Ghana 🇬🇭🇨🇮 #Ivory Coast in #Africa mainly due to #palmoil 🌴🪔 #cocoa 🍫 #deforestation. Don't let them vanish! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/m...
August 21, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Intelligent and gentle, Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus ❤️🐒🐵 is critically endangered in #Ghana 🇬🇭🇨🇮 #Ivory Coast in #Africa mainly due to #palmoil 🌴🪔 #cocoa 🍫 #deforestation. Don't let them vanish! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/m...
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
This is maybe the worst part about being an educator in the AI era.
AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.
AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.
“Educators now spend a significant amount of their time detecting AI-generated work and seeking ways to assess whether students are developing essential skills.”
Yes. Everywhere.
Yes. Everywhere.
August 12, 2025 at 7:04 AM
This is maybe the worst part about being an educator in the AI era.
AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.
AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Now with correct link: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
August 6, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Now with correct link: doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
“It is less that AI is the cause of degradation in reading and thinking, and more that the creation of a culture that views knowledge primarily in an instrumental manner has made it easier to misuse AI.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
AI thrives where education has been devalued | The Observer
A culture that views knowledge as a means to an end invites the misuse of new technology
observer.co.uk
August 3, 2025 at 7:59 AM
“It is less that AI is the cause of degradation in reading and thinking, and more that the creation of a culture that views knowledge primarily in an instrumental manner has made it easier to misuse AI.” My @theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
The depressing, awful reality of where we are as a society.
People are made to feel guilty for literally saving human lives.
People are made to feel guilty for literally saving human lives.
Lifeboat crew members who are called out to migrants crossing the Channel in small boats have told the BBC they make no apologies for saving lives at sea.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
RNLI crew makes no apologies for saving migrants' lives in English Channel
It says it has saved the lives of 58 people crossing the Channel
www.bbc.co.uk
July 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The depressing, awful reality of where we are as a society.
People are made to feel guilty for literally saving human lives.
People are made to feel guilty for literally saving human lives.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
New paper. I wish this wasn't the case, but most progress on reducing US greenhouse gas emissions is likely spurious. Why? EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas. Relevant today as Repubs vote to gut IRA's methane monitoring/mitigation program. 🧵
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...
June 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
New paper. I wish this wasn't the case, but most progress on reducing US greenhouse gas emissions is likely spurious. Why? EPA underestimates methane emissions from oil and gas. Relevant today as Repubs vote to gut IRA's methane monitoring/mitigation program. 🧵
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1lL4K_6se4...
Really Labour get a grip you are alienating your own members and supporters
“more viscerally at the moment, is what can the government do to make these bastards pay, basically, and get some of the money back that has been stripped out of our countryside” genuinely should be Labour policy towards water companies. Absolutely incredibly to suspend an MP for an amendment!
Chris Hinchliffe (MP for NE Herts) was suspended from Labour for tabling an amendment to protect the ecologically unique chalk streams in his constituency - with other Labour MPs branding him the 'Hedgehog Hezbollah'.
The last days of Stalin had a healthier political culture than the Labour Party.
The last days of Stalin had a healthier political culture than the Labour Party.
July 26, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Really Labour get a grip you are alienating your own members and supporters
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
This really does encapsulate the stupidity of the UK's migration debate.
In order to reduce net migration we restrict visas to foreign students. Student numbers fall. Universities cut courses and go bankrupt. Fewer university places for British students.
Stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
In order to reduce net migration we restrict visas to foreign students. Student numbers fall. Universities cut courses and go bankrupt. Fewer university places for British students.
Stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Four in 10 universities face financial challenges
A drop in international student numbers has driven the worsening financial position, a report says.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 9, 2025 at 7:36 AM
This really does encapsulate the stupidity of the UK's migration debate.
In order to reduce net migration we restrict visas to foreign students. Student numbers fall. Universities cut courses and go bankrupt. Fewer university places for British students.
Stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
In order to reduce net migration we restrict visas to foreign students. Student numbers fall. Universities cut courses and go bankrupt. Fewer university places for British students.
Stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Come for the mastodon, stay for the women in science history!
A must read for all palaeo histsci fans, and a great aperitivo for the weekend's Palaeontology in Public launch.
cc @chrismanias.bsky.social
A must read for all palaeo histsci fans, and a great aperitivo for the weekend's Palaeontology in Public launch.
cc @chrismanias.bsky.social
March 19, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Come for the mastodon, stay for the women in science history!
A must read for all palaeo histsci fans, and a great aperitivo for the weekend's Palaeontology in Public launch.
cc @chrismanias.bsky.social
A must read for all palaeo histsci fans, and a great aperitivo for the weekend's Palaeontology in Public launch.
cc @chrismanias.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Volodymyr Zelensky is not an obstacle to peace with Russia.
He is the leader of a nation defending an entire continent from Russian brutality and imperialism.
That is why Putin, and apparently Trump, want to remove him.
He is the leader of a nation defending an entire continent from Russian brutality and imperialism.
That is why Putin, and apparently Trump, want to remove him.
March 6, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Volodymyr Zelensky is not an obstacle to peace with Russia.
He is the leader of a nation defending an entire continent from Russian brutality and imperialism.
That is why Putin, and apparently Trump, want to remove him.
He is the leader of a nation defending an entire continent from Russian brutality and imperialism.
That is why Putin, and apparently Trump, want to remove him.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
It’s quite clear by now that the answer to “why is the Trump administration doing x terrible thing?” is that they are *trying* to dismantle America and destabilize the entire world.
February 16, 2025 at 6:14 PM
It’s quite clear by now that the answer to “why is the Trump administration doing x terrible thing?” is that they are *trying* to dismantle America and destabilize the entire world.
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
Nothing to see here
February 16, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Nothing to see here
Reposted by Prof. Simon Blockley
The fall in international student numbers is putting fragile university finances under further pressure. The Observer reports a new study from @britishfuture.bsky.social showing most of public would not want to see a drop in students to cut immigration numbers
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Fall in overseas students fuels threat to English universities despite rise in fees
Higher tuition costs have already been ‘wiped out’ by government tax hikes, critics claim
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The fall in international student numbers is putting fragile university finances under further pressure. The Observer reports a new study from @britishfuture.bsky.social showing most of public would not want to see a drop in students to cut immigration numbers
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...