GaryFoster

Well blow me over with a feather !! Having worked with Chenopodium amaranticolor for over 30 years as a plant virologist I never ever knew it was called tree spinach and sold as a herb !! Am I the only stupid plant virologist/plant pathologist/ plant scientist out there.

Universities appointing their twentieth Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Strategic Digital Futures while spaffing another thirty million on the latest edutech contract, paid for with a new wave of Voluntary Redundancies.

@scopedbylarry 🥵

@Prof_GD_Foster I grilled steaks on Wednesday and pork chops on Thursday. Both days it was over 107° when I started the grill. It nearly wiped me out

The “egg” is out for the first time this summer. Just been too hot to oven cook outside.

Blimey !! 8 years ago today !! When I was still pretending to be a scientist 🙃

@ReskiLab 😂

@Prof_GD_Foster We told our sons & their girlfriends „We are ready“.

Some people occasionally ask how I spend my days now I’m retired-well-a toy we’d ordered for our grandson arrived today but it also included a free gift of 3 tiny figurines that needed to be put together. As they’d contain bits too small for him-well-that’s how I spend my days 😂

@ReskiLab It’s a must have. Borrow one 🙃

@Prof_GD_Foster Enjoy! I will be retiring in April and still have no Grandchild. 🤔

@MotherBramley Contact Dr Andy Bailey in Biology at Bristol. I’ve now retired but he is continuing the work.

@Prof_GD_Foster Hello Professor Foster, I’m leading the conservation project for the Original Bramley Apple Tree in Southwell. I’ve been reading your research on Trichoderma and Armillaria, and I believe it could have real relevance to the long-term conservation of this nationally significant tree. I’d be delighted to connect and, if appropriate, discuss the project. Best wishes, Mother Bramley

⚽️ The UK government has fully backed UEFA's decision. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: "This is a principled decision that we strongly support. "Football belongs to the fans, not billionaire investors. Enough is enough. It’s time to take a stand to protect our game."

Excellent news. Excellent decision. To hell with @FIFA. And especially Infantino who has gambled & hopefully lost. theguardian.com/football/2026/…

The public outcry over the cuts to Jodrell Bank and UK physics is genuinely encouraging. It is not often expressed this way, but people in the UK have a deep appreciation for the inspiration we draw from studying the cosmos and seeking to understand the fundamental laws of nature. You can see it in the crowds at public lectures, science museums and places such as Jodrell Bank. British astronomers and physicists have been at the forefront of discovery since the emergence of physics as a modern science and it has long played an important role in the life of this country. It is (unfortunately) rarely an issue coming up in elections, but when a government threatens the institutions and symbols of British science, the public response reveals just how deeply it runs through the nation’s cultural DNA. These cuts have plunged UK physics into crisis. But the strength of the reaction to them is really, really reassuring!

I totally agree with this 👇

We've seen a significant amount of discussion online following STFC's update on its prioritisation decisions. We want to make sure the facts are clear.

Jodrell Bank is the most visible causality of UKRI’s short sighted ‘vision’ for science, but as you’ll see below, there are many other valuable UK facilities and collaborations at risk. We became aware of the problem in the autumn of last year. It is not a result of the overall funding settlement for science after the spending review, which was quite generous I would say in the circumstances. Neither as far as we can tell is it a direct decision by ministers (all of whom have now gone in any case). Rather the problems appears to have been caused by senior management at UKRI focusing on short term economic ‘impact’ (whatever that means) rather than doing their job as custodians of the foundations of science. What must happen now is that the new ministerial team make the time (and space ;-)) to review the upcoming catastrophe, and instruct UKRI to do their job and focus on making Britain the best place in the world to do science, now and in the future.

To put the £2.8 million Jodrell Bank budget in context, £7.2 million is currently allocated for “bespoke stationery” for MPs.

Eleanor Donaldson was asked to leave a Co Down caravan park last week. Enraged holidaymakers at Cranfield told Donaldson - who a jury unanimously found had aided & abetted her husband's historic child sex offences - that she wasn't welcome there. belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-…

This is the result of many bad legacy decisions taken by UKRI hastily and without proper consultation, overseen by a government department that no longer exists. Surely the new @andyburnham government will want to take time to review this.

UK's iconic Jodrell Bank telescope faces axe in science cuts bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@slyowusu en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey

@Prof_GD_Foster Save us the pain. What is it about? 2 sentences should cover it - I suspect

We went to see The Odyssey last night. Our opinion. Maybe not everyone’s opinion or even the la-de-da film critics. But we found this 3 hour so called epic just dull to average. Christopher Nolan seems to have swallowed his whole ego and drank his own inflated hype.