Monthly Archives: December 2025

Books of 2025

Posted on 31 December 2025 by Stephen

My annual round-up of the books I read in 2025 was pre-empted by a request from Research Professional News (RPN) to write 250 words on my favourite reads of the past year. The article, which includes selections by others, is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Photos of 2025

Posted on 28 December 2025 by Stephen

My annual selection of favourites from the photographs I took in the past year is now available on Flickr. Do people still use Flickr? I have broken my usual rule of not including family photos because of the very exceptional … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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In which we pause

Posted on 27 December 2025 by Jennifer Rohn

Silent night. Well, not really night anymore, as I first opened this page at 4 AM. Out the window brittle stars burn, though the faintest of glows already encroaches. That limbo before morning, when the house is utterly silent, the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Behind the Nativity scenes

Posted on 23 December 2025 by Erika Cule

May the lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting From morning prayer in Advent Working in a church as Christmas approaches means doing two jobs at once. One task is to continue our walk through the liturgical year. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bellringing, Blogging by Candlelight, Christmas, discernment, Faith, Jesus, musings on life and death | Comments Off on Behind the Nativity scenes

Have We Had Enough of Experts?

Posted on 21 December 2025 by Athene Donald

Recently, my Cambridge colleagues Diane Coyle and Michael Kenny from the Bennett School of Public Policy took to the pages of Nature to write a cautionary Comment about the role of science and scientists in public policy. They are critical … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Communicating Science, Diane Coyle, education, Michael Kenny, Policy, Science Culture, Tim Minshall | Comments Off on Have We Had Enough of Experts?

Practice and Experience

Posted on 14 December 2025 by Athene Donald

It seems appropriate in this 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen’s birth to use a quote from Pride and Prejudice to kickstart this post. ‘If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.’ says Lady Catherine de … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Paranoid Android

Posted on 9 December 2025 by rpg

I hate AI (or to be exact, LLMs). There, I said it. In the day job, that’s not really something I’m allowed to say. It’s supposed to be making our tasks quicker (it doesn’t), and our deliverables more accurate (it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Ethics, Ill-considered rants, LLM, Me, med comms, wibbling, work, Writing | Comments Off on Paranoid Android

What Voice?

Posted on 7 December 2025 by Athene Donald

It is more than 40 years since the American psychologist Carol Gilligan wrote her book, In a Different Voice, challenging the view that women were morally less developed than men, pointing out this difference arose because the schema had been … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Carol Gilligan, Caroline Herschel, Gene Machine, Jennifer Doudna, Let Toys be Toys, Roger Highfield, Women in science | Comments Off on What Voice?

What I Read In November

Posted on 1 December 2025 by Henry Gee

Mick Herron: Real Tigers, Spook Street, London Rules, Joe Country, Slough House, Bad Actors, Clown Town Following on from Slow Horses and Dead Lions (both reviewed last month) these novels — which should be read (or listened to) in that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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