Thomas Cheney
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thomascheney.bsky.social
Thomas Cheney
@thomascheney.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.9K following 3.6K posts
Academic, (outer) Space Governance at Northumbria University. Legal geography and environmental humanities of space governance (space resources, planetary protection, astrobiology, settlement etc). Working on project 'Life the Ultimate Frontier'. He/him.
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thomascheney.bsky.social
This is the sort of stuff I love finding in the archives - those dastardly French are trying to usurp the UK's place as the 3rd place country in the space race!
Typewritten text of a document: "Outer Space: Liability Convention. I see from paragraph 4 of Paris telegram No. 41 Saving of 20 May that Monsieur de Lipkowski, the junior Minister at the Quai d'Orsay, has recently said that France is the third space power. 2. Particularly in the light of this, I think that the brief for the forthcoming meeting of the Legal Sub-Committee should assemble the arguments which we can use to establish that the U.K., and not France, should be nominated as the third depositary for an eventual Liability Convention. You will remember that the question whether we should resist any attempt byt he French to secure their inclusion as the third depositary was considered earlier and our conclusion was that we should. I do not, however, believe that there was then any marshalling of arguments which could be advanced for that purpose."
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Here's a wacky idea - raise your graduate salaries... (From the FT's First FT newsletter)
Screenshot of text which reads: "Why it matters: Several chief executives have voiced their fears about the impact on recruitment if the minimum wage reaches pay levels for graduate positions in traditional white-collar jobs. 'Why would young people take on £45,000 of student debt if they can earn the same stacking shelves?' asked one."
November 3, 2025 at 9:10 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Always enjoy being able to make a reference to this Mr Show sketch in lectures - and when better than when discussing Project A119 the 'plan' to nuke the Moon

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTJ3...
Two men white men, one, a balding man wearing black rimmed glasses stands in front of a podium, he is wearing a long sleeve blue shirt, with another man stood behind him in a short sleeve white shirt. They are stood in front of a NASA logo as this is meant to be a NASA press conference (it is a scene from a comedy show) and on the screen the text reads, as a quote from the show "America can, should, must, and will blow up the Moon."
October 30, 2025 at 9:15 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
13 years ago today this little creature entered my life, bit bigger and a tad creakier but theyve been an excellent 13 years, hopefully have a good few more to come
October 17, 2025 at 11:22 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
lol... (been reading up on the Committee on the Present Danger: China because of Greg Autry, and oh boy as if that book wasn't unhinged enough) and does the graphic imply that MAGA is a sockpuppet of China?
Webinar - Civil War 2.0: Xi's Plan for Finishing Off the USA? Hosted by the Committee on the Present Danger: China
October 14, 2025 at 2:17 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Ok stupid question but don't the Republicans control both houses of congress and the presidency? How weak ass pathetic do you have to be to let the opposition party shut down the government?
Federal Government Shutdown - Due to the Democrat led shutdown, website updates will be limited until full operations resume
October 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
ERC Starter Grant submitted - usually manage to maintain a degree of emotional detachment from grant applications (because I won't get the funding) but I'm proud of and excited by this one so will be hard when it doesn't get funded.
Screenshot of text, first line, in bold: ERC Starting Grant 2026; second line, also in bold: Part B1; third line, not in bold: May Legal Worlds: The Legal Geography of Life Beyond Earth and the Constructions of Nature/Natures [there is just one Nature in the text but with an s in a paracentesis to indicate the dual and different use of the words]; the fourth is the acronym which is LIFE squared meaning Legal Implications of Extraterrestrial Life.
October 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Despite everything, 1112 words today! #writinggoals
Screenshot of text that reads Space Expansionism and the American Empire
September 12, 2025 at 2:57 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
will stop ranting...
four panel cartoon from phdcomics, the main character a white woman with black hair is depicted as doing normal day to day things, sleeping, eating, and riding her bike in the final panel she is at a computer - in the first three panels she has a though bubble saying "I should be writing" the last panel had the title "you should be writing" to which our main character responds in exasperation "I know", the tag line for the comic is "this message brought to you by that manuscript you're supposed to be writing"
September 12, 2025 at 11:09 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Brandy and Cleo send their love
September 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
jesus Labour must be desperate
September 6, 2025 at 4:57 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
not new from the Trump admin either - this has been my go to for talking about Manifest Density in space since Trump 1 - they used to be a teeny bit more subtle
the back of Donald Trump and Mike Pence looking at the launch of a SpaceX rocket (I think it was Crew Dragon 1) with the text Destiny: Salute to America
July 24, 2025 at 1:44 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
working on my ERC starter grant bid so of course I've spent most of the day working on my presentation for next week
Powerpoint slide - the background is a a computer rendering of a scene from the movie Silent Running, the background image is Saturn in the darkness of space with three space ships in the foreground, these are large long structures which look like girders, they have clusters of domes with much greenery in them as they are essentially greenhouses in space. The text of the slide reads "Outer Space as 'Nature? An Environmental Humanities/Legal Geography Approach to Space Governance or How Mining, Terraforming and Extraterrestrials Fit Together" with my details listed in the bottom left corner - Dr Thomas Cheney, Vice Chancellors Research Fellow, Space Law, Northumbria University, thomas.e.l.cheney@northumbria.ac.uk and my bluesky handle "thomascheney.bsky.social' the Northumbria University Law School Logo is in the bottom corner it is the university shield which has two castles a gear and a book on it with the worlds Northumbria University Newcastle Law School next to it.
July 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
can anyone recommend a simple explainer on 'the digital pound'? Several students have written about it and basically I'm not getting how this is different from what i've got now, I basically never use cash, 99% of my pounds are digital? is it simply that they'll be on a BoE computer and not Lloyds?
Text reads: A digital pounds would be like a digital form of cash - a banknote for the digital era. Like banknotes, it would be issued directly by the Bank of England. You could hold your digital pounds in a digital wallet and spend them in shops or online. A digital pound would be denominated in sterling and its value would be stable, just like banknotes. £10 in digital pounds would always have the same value as a £10 banknote.
June 6, 2025 at 8:32 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Latest Better World Books Haul, going to need to win the lottery tomorrow so I have a place to put the ever growing horde...
A stack of secondhand books, on the top is Mary Midgley's Animals and why they matter, then Philosophy, Technology, and the Environment edited by David Kaplan, then Oelschlaeger's The Idea of Wilderness, Carolyn Merchant's Reinventing Eden and Worster's Nature's Economy (Second Edition)
June 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Come on linkedin at least claim something believable
Linkedin notification which says You have oneo f the most-viewed profiles. Add verification to boost trust.
May 29, 2025 at 4:16 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Final proofs sent off - hopefully out before the end of the year! Genuinely very proud of this piece, think it might be the best thing I've written so far
photo of the title page of a book chapter, reads "Chapter 18. Non-use of Space: Reconsidering Article I of the Outer Space Treaty and the Useability of Space Resources" by Thomas Cheney
May 23, 2025 at 10:42 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
French 'delay' in signing the OST simply because the man responsible for sorting it had not got around to it... relatable
2. M. Couve de Murville explained that the delay in French signature of the Treaty was due solely to the fact that he had not himself got round to dealing with the matter.
May 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
cornbread and veggie chili
May 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
you might me a mid-30s academic if you get excited about finally buying a decent stapler! #newstationary
May 16, 2025 at 7:25 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
FT Jan 2025
Screenshot of the Financial Times, taken today 15 May 2025, article from 12 Jan 2025, headline reads More UK mines needed to secure critical minerals warns watchdog
May 15, 2025 at 8:37 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
FT July 1979
Photo of a page of the Financial Times from 19 July 1979, headline reads UK Mineral Supplies: the threats and the remedies
May 15, 2025 at 8:35 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
One of my favourite bits from my archival haul so far...
photographed text reads "I received an Immediate envelope by Cabinet Office messenger last evening which contained a Secret and Personal cover which I tore open eagerly to reveal - a copy of the Shackleton Report, which was published five days ago by HMSO [Her Majesty's Stationary Office], price £7.80. I know the Cabinet Office believes in secrecy but even so...
May 6, 2025 at 8:55 PM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Where are these workers coming from? If welding is such a better job why aren't people already retraining? so what does "existing workforces will be required to train" mean? Ops sorry you lost the JSA lottery and you now need to be a welder! Why not focus on whatever barriers to training there are?
Bluesky post from Antonia Bance MP (@antoniabance.bsky.social) posted 9 hours ago from when the screenshot was taken, so sometime Sunday night, says "The Black Country is the home of metal working. Welding is on the shortage occupations list. About time it came off, we stopped importing welders and trained local people instead. So glad to see this line in the briefing of the immigration white paper in the Tel[egraph]". Photo quoting the telegraph reads "Existing workforces will also be required to train for roles often taken by workers on foreign visas."
April 28, 2025 at 8:15 AM
thomascheney.bsky.social
Policy Exchange are part of your victory party...
Multipanel cartoon, two white figures standing in the front panel, one holding a rainbow banner which says "gays against drag queens", the figure on the right saying "we did it! we finally outlawed all the trans people and drag queens! thanks for your help!" the other figure holding the sign says "happy to be fo service" - black and queer coded figures are in the background being led off in handcuffs. the next panel is of the "gay" person saying "So, who are we going after next?" with a blank stare from the other person, followed by the "gay" person saying "I said, who's next?", also met by a blank stare as if to indicate "you know who", the penultimate panel is the "gay" person saying "who..." as they seemingly realise who, with the final panel being the person initially on the rights with the same expression as the other panels.
April 16, 2025 at 11:13 AM