Phil Watson

@timeshighered Phew

Jo Grady, leader of the University and College Union, has called on the government to conduct “an emergency review” of higher education funding in light of the “crisis” facing the sector #edusky #UCUCongress timeshighereducation.com/news/jo-grady-…

@mattwridley Perhaps Nature or careless experimentation killed 20 million people. Oddly enough I think the more important issue is how many biologists have the hubris to carry gain of function experiments. With total faith in their containment protocols, and believing the goals are worth it.

I have been told someone found my lecture persuasive until they spoke to a virologist who said: "lots of viruses have furin cleavage sites". Repeat after me, slowly: SARS-COV-2 IS THE ONLY SARBECOVIRUS EVER FOUND WITH A FURIN CLEAVAGE SITE. OUT OF SEVERAL HUNDRED STRAINS.

WTF?? X2 This is one seriously crazy capture. You have to be blind, crippled and crazy not to see this son of a BISCUT floating above the damn ocean!! These folks did. Asian Pacific May 2026 Out on an Ocean Excursion these people watch a Diamond shaped craft emerge from the Ocean… Lucky for them it hung out for a few seconds before vanishing without a trace…. Here is what they captured… @JonStewartIL

@ruthefordml There is a kind of symmetry at work as medics tend to imagine they could excel at everyone else's profession. Save perhaps lawyers, the only individuals that cause them a certain degree of apprehension.

Healthcare is probably the only profession where people think it's okay to argue what the professionals on what they know. Nobody argues quantum physics with physicists, or law with lawyers. But everyone is an expert in healthcare.

@MetamateDaz What you seek is genetic modification that will enable you to make chlorophyll

You’re born onto a planet you never asked to exist on… and society immediately hits you with: “Okay, now go earn the right to eat, sleep, rest, and have shelter.” Like… zoom out for a second. We’re floating on a rock in infinite space and we created a game where you have to spend most of your life working just to not starve or freeze to death. The whole concept is actually insane when you think about it.

@niftymitch @PorterPj85856 @DrNeilStone Fluorescence would really be simply a modification.

@_Phil_Watson @PorterPj85856 @DrNeilStone It is necessary to be specific. General answers are likely wrong. Dangerous research is well contained in BSL-4 facilities. A common change adds fluorescence to the pathogen so researchers can see where the pathogen binds. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/ms…

You can be all anti vax with Covid-19 and get away with it but wait til you've seen Ebola You'll be wanting a vaccine to prevention that I guarantee you

@niftymitch @PorterPj85856 @DrNeilStone The definition of "well contained" should factor in the risk of human failure. If a failure can lead to 20 million deaths worldwide then perhaps express confidence by building BSL-4 units on islands over a buried thermonuclear device.

@niftymitch @PorterPj85856 @DrNeilStone In general, gain of function studies are carried out to enhance the virulence of a pathogen in order to understand the mechanisms behind the evolution of natural pathogens and how they come to be a health problem. A lot of debate among scientists about the ethics and hazards.

@PorterPj85856 @DrNeilStone One must be specific about the function. Adding brakes is "gain of function" for a wagon. Adding an on/off switch is also a gain of function for a light and car. Adding a surface protein that antibiotics can attack is a gain of function. Hammer, wood, nail.

@BestofDem_szn Mature onset mumps?

It took me 48 seconds to understand this picture 😹

@jonathanbfine It was interesting in the 80s before the proliferation of journals and the advent of the all-powerful metric...

There's a thread going around mocking academics who "don't read their citations" and I'm trying not to haul out my soap box but...this is ableist? Not everyone can read for citations (or indeed at all) and some of those people are academics.

@aroog1278 A Victorian stent?

@MumofFatCassie Reasonable arguments - though only if we selectively ignore his appointment of Mandelson - which seems to suggest he is either seriously compromised or madly deluded. Certainly tone deaf.

It strikes me that the problem Starmer primarily has boils down to him wanting to make improvements quietly, sensibly and lastingly, and he isn't a massive bloody show-off. His unpopularity says more about us than it does about him. We are a profoundly unserious country. #r4today

@NeilFlochMD @Jmortonmd @PSchauerMD @Ali_Aminian_MD @JaimePonceMD @IfsoSecretariat @ASMBS @ASMBSIH A refreshing absence of Powerpoint

Men lose 38% less weight on GLP-1ra medications in this study of 64 randomized controlled trials jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai… #obesity #bariatricsurgery #GLP1

@English_Jew I think one definition of a decent suburb would be one in which you can't hear music from your neighbour.

My mum lives in a decent London suburb. Her neighbour (white guy) has a new Muslim family (letterbox burqa wearing) move in upstairs. He was playing music when the Muslim father knocked and told him to turn it off because he's not allowed to listen to it.

@0UTR0EG0 bands of grey and one streak with a hint of blue

How many colors do you see???? i see 4

@NoContextBrits Always include a till receipt in your missive. If steamed - it turns black.

British parents: “A letter came for you.” The letter:

@GuidoFawkes Mr Exeter had kids?

Sam Carling is the youngest Labour MP to call for Keir Starmer to resign.

@MatthewStadlen The appointment of Mandelson can in no way be interpreted as a mere weakness.

For all his weaknesses, Starmer has been underestimated. Now he needs to convert his toughness, resilience - even his ruthlessness - into vision and conviction. Get on with improving the country - and tell us how he’s improving it.

Without telling me your age. What is the first video game you played? GIFS ONLY!!!

@sofiatieger Oxygen in a magnetic field

This is how they make the McDonald's Sprite