ben-spencer.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

I’ve never really written about my kids before, so I hope they forgive me for this one. I’ve written a piece for the Sunday Times Magazine about what being a parent does to the brain: good and bad, cuddles and tantrums, short and long-term. 👇 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/3709...

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments

I’ve never really written about my kids before, so I hope they forgive me for this one. I’ve written a piece for the Sunday Times Magazine about what being a parent does to the brain: good and bad, cuddles and tantrums, short and long-term. 👇 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/3709...

submitted 11 days ago • 2 comments

Thrilled to be shortlisted for science and tech journalist of the year at this year’s Press Awards, especially in such auspicious company. thepressawards.com/shortlist

submitted 15 days ago • 2 comments

"It is no coincidence that the green backlash has emerged as countries stop merely setting net zero goals and start launching policies to meet them. This was always going to be fraught, especially during a cost of living crunch" <<Pilita hits the nail on the head here...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

Why the idea of our unchanging green and pleasant land is a myth. In today's environment newsletter link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

“We need to be more empathetic about the instinct to want to keep things that you love the same", & a better public conversation on what needs to change in order to save those things. Good @ben-spencer.bsky.social interview with @elpinchbeck.bsky.social shorturl.at/91VtD

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

A pleasure to go for a stroll with CCC CEO @elpinchbeck.bsky.social to talk about the trade offs between nature and climate, what climate action means for the UK and the metropolitan fantasy of an unchanging English countryside. In the Sunday Times @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/b729...

submitted 25 days ago • 1 comment

Officials on the National Screening Committee have ordered a new review of the evidence on prostate cancer screening, potentially paving the way for the biggest shift in prostate cancer detection in decades. Report by MJA member @ben-spencer.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

The Nimby Wars and other stories. In today's @thetimes.com environment newsletter link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61ed3e6...

submitted 30 days ago • 0 comments

Are you a net zero hero? Why you can't save the planet alone, in today's environment newsletter. link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

The Saturday before Christmas I spent six hours waiting to be seen in A&E for a scratched eye. All of humanity was there, with two doctors to see us. It got me thinking about how the NHS deals with minor injuries. There must be a better way. www.thetimes.com/article/fe2b...

submitted 52 days ago • 2 comments

The Saturday before Christmas I spent six hours waiting to be seen in A&E for a scratched eye. All of humanity was there, with two doctors to see us. It got me thinking about how the NHS deals with minor injuries. There must be a better way. www.thetimes.com/article/fe2b...

submitted 52 days ago • 2 comments

After three decades of social care inquiries, commissions, green papers and policy proposals, Starmer is embarking on the latest attempt to fix the system. I've outlined the key challenges he will have to solve in today's Sunday Times 👇🏻 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/189f...

submitted 53 days ago • 0 comments

SUNDAY TIMES: NATO warns UK over ballistic missile threat #TomorrowsPapersToday

submitted 53 days ago • 3 comments

This week I visited St Helier Hospital in south London, one of the 40 places promised a new hospital but still waiting. Leaking roofs, broken lifts, peeling paint, patients waiting in corridors. As one patient put it,“It feels like the end of the road.” 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/1a69...

submitted 67 days ago • 4 comments

We are in the midst of the West’s “second wave” of allergies - admissions for food anaphylaxis have trebled in 20 years. But why? What is driving up rates of these awful diseases? I’ve dug into the science for tomorrow’s Sunday Times @thetimes.com 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/aa7e...

submitted 67 days ago • 0 comments

Coffee prices are at a 50-yr high after drought hit Brazil and Vietnam; chocolate costs are spiking, £ orange juice is up and you need a mortgage for a bottle of olive oil. Climate change is hitting Britain in the pocket. In today's Times environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

submitted 72 days ago • 1 comment

Almost a million more homes in England are at risk from flooding than six years ago due to climate change, new houses built in floodplains and a more accurate assessment of the threat, according to the Environment Agency www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

submitted 72 days ago • 3 comments

The spike in flu is piling pressure on the NHS two-three weeks earlier than wards usually begin to fill up. My piece online now @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

submitted 75 days ago • 2 comments

Bit of a moment. The UK has issued its first permit for carbon capture and storage. For the Endurance store off the Yorkshire coast. First CO2 could (could) be injected in 2027. www.nstauthority.co.uk/news-publica...

submitted 79 days ago • 6 comments

Reasons to be cheerful on a Tuesday morning. This year is set to be the first in which green power overtakes fossil fuel generation in the UK electricity system. See the details in today's Times environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/633483f...

submitted 79 days ago • 2 comments

Why is palliative care in Britain in such a state? I went through the accounts of @ashgatehospice.bsky.social in Chesterfield - they rely on selling second-hand clothes and had to turn away 87 dying patients last year. In the Sunday Times 👇🏻 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/a176...

submitted 80 days ago • 2 comments

Just catching up with this piece about farming by @willhumphries.bsky.social. The payoff is glorious 'Rebanks said some farmers believe “intentional harm” is being done to farming by the government but added: “Maybe they are just staggeringly shit at their jobs.' www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

submitted 83 days ago • 0 comments

Two brilliant pieces about the Bovaer / farting cows row in today's @thetimes.com: 1) @harrywallop.co.uk introduces the methane-reduction row www.thetimes.com/business-mon... 2) @whippletom.bsky.social explains why it isn't a conspiracy theory, it's just laziness www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

submitted 83 days ago • 1 comment

In case you missed this at the weekend: my science books of the year, in yesterday's Sunday Times Culture magazine 👇🏻

submitted 87 days ago • 1 comment

What does the assisted dying bill mean in practice? There are still lots of unanswered questions as to how this will work. @shaunlintern.bsky.social looks at the options 👇🏻

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

The truth about fluoride in water. An excellent piece by @thetimes.com science editor and MJA member @ben-spencer.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/f109...

submitted 88 days ago • 1 comment

I was in the Commons press gallery for every word of Friday's five-hour assisted dying debate. The picture that emerged was of a palliative care system desperate for an overhaul, whether the right to die law makes it or not. edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dyn...

submitted 88 days ago • 3 comments

The Times and Sunday Times science books of the year list is out! @thetimes.com Featuring: @richarddawkins.bsky.social @sophieyeo.bsky.social Lisa Kaltenagger @charan-neuro.bsky.social Rahul Jandial Matt Parker Venki Ramakrishnan Rob Jackson www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

submitted 90 days ago • 1 comment

The Times and Sunday Times science books of the year list is out! @thetimes.com Featuring: @richarddawkins.bsky.social @sophieyeo.bsky.social Lisa Kaltenagger @charan-neuro.bsky.social Rahul Jandial Matt Parker Venki Ramakrishnan Rob Jackson www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

submitted 90 days ago • 1 comment

Lots of commentary around about net zero going backwards. This is a big increase from a low base, but it suggests not all green action is in retreat 👇

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Was it a good Cop or bad Cop in Baku? I've waded through the messy deal that emerged from #Cop29 and looked forward to where the Cop process goes from here. In today's Times Environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

submitted 93 days ago • 0 comments

If you're just waking up and missed the overnight drama in Baku, #Cop29 was rescued from collapse with a bad-tempered deal for a $300bn fund for climate finance. Read all the details in our story below 👇🏻

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

Ministers say the new inheritance tax rules are supposed to affect only the largest, richest farms. But a family farm in Suffolk opened their books this week, and revealed that with assets of £8m, they’d barely break even under the new rules 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/bbc6...

submitted 95 days ago • 3 comments

Our write-up is now live. With @adamvaughan.bsky.social on the ground in Baku www.thetimes.com/uk/article/c...

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

Our write-up is now live. With @adamvaughan.bsky.social on the ground in Baku www.thetimes.com/uk/article/c...

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

A deal for $300bn climate finance for poor countries reached at #Cop29. Energy secretary Ed Miliband says: “This is a critical 11th hour deal at the 11th hour for the climate. If this finance is used in the right way, it could cut the equivalent emissions of one billion cars.”

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

I’ve never really written about my kids before, so I hope they forgive me for this one. I’ve written a piece for the Sunday Times Magazine about what being a parent does to the brain: good and bad, cuddles and tantrums, short and long-term. 👇 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/3709...

I’ve never really written about my kids before, so I hope they forgive me for this one. I’ve written a piece for the Sunday Times Magazine about what being a parent does to the brain: good and bad, cuddles and tantrums, short and long-term. 👇 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/3709...

Thrilled to be shortlisted for science and tech journalist of the year at this year’s Press Awards, especially in such auspicious company. thepressawards.com/shortlist

"It is no coincidence that the green backlash has emerged as countries stop merely setting net zero goals and start launching policies to meet them. This was always going to be fraught, especially during a cost of living crunch" <<Pilita hits the nail on the head here...

Why the idea of our unchanging green and pleasant land is a myth. In today's environment newsletter link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

“We need to be more empathetic about the instinct to want to keep things that you love the same", & a better public conversation on what needs to change in order to save those things. Good @ben-spencer.bsky.social interview with @elpinchbeck.bsky.social shorturl.at/91VtD

A pleasure to go for a stroll with CCC CEO @elpinchbeck.bsky.social to talk about the trade offs between nature and climate, what climate action means for the UK and the metropolitan fantasy of an unchanging English countryside. In the Sunday Times @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/b729...

Officials on the National Screening Committee have ordered a new review of the evidence on prostate cancer screening, potentially paving the way for the biggest shift in prostate cancer detection in decades. Report by MJA member @ben-spencer.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

The Nimby Wars and other stories. In today's @thetimes.com environment newsletter link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61ed3e6...

Online now: how to keep the lights on when the wind doesn't blow. An exploration of energy storage @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/7692...

Online now: how to keep the lights on when the wind doesn't blow. An exploration of energy storage @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/7692...

Are you a net zero hero? Why you can't save the planet alone, in today's environment newsletter. link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

The Saturday before Christmas I spent six hours waiting to be seen in A&E for a scratched eye. All of humanity was there, with two doctors to see us. It got me thinking about how the NHS deals with minor injuries. There must be a better way. www.thetimes.com/article/fe2b...

The Saturday before Christmas I spent six hours waiting to be seen in A&E for a scratched eye. All of humanity was there, with two doctors to see us. It got me thinking about how the NHS deals with minor injuries. There must be a better way. www.thetimes.com/article/fe2b...

After three decades of social care inquiries, commissions, green papers and policy proposals, Starmer is embarking on the latest attempt to fix the system. I've outlined the key challenges he will have to solve in today's Sunday Times 👇🏻 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/189f...

SUNDAY TIMES: NATO warns UK over ballistic missile threat #TomorrowsPapersToday

This week I visited St Helier Hospital in south London, one of the 40 places promised a new hospital but still waiting. Leaking roofs, broken lifts, peeling paint, patients waiting in corridors. As one patient put it,“It feels like the end of the road.” 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/1a69...

We are in the midst of the West’s “second wave” of allergies - admissions for food anaphylaxis have trebled in 20 years. But why? What is driving up rates of these awful diseases? I’ve dug into the science for tomorrow’s Sunday Times @thetimes.com 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/aa7e...

Coffee prices are at a 50-yr high after drought hit Brazil and Vietnam; chocolate costs are spiking, £ orange juice is up and you need a mortgage for a bottle of olive oil. Climate change is hitting Britain in the pocket. In today's Times environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

Almost a million more homes in England are at risk from flooding than six years ago due to climate change, new houses built in floodplains and a more accurate assessment of the threat, according to the Environment Agency www.thetimes.com/uk/environme...

The spike in flu is piling pressure on the NHS two-three weeks earlier than wards usually begin to fill up. My piece online now @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Bit of a moment. The UK has issued its first permit for carbon capture and storage. For the Endurance store off the Yorkshire coast. First CO2 could (could) be injected in 2027. www.nstauthority.co.uk/news-publica...

Reasons to be cheerful on a Tuesday morning. This year is set to be the first in which green power overtakes fossil fuel generation in the UK electricity system. See the details in today's Times environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/633483f...

Why is palliative care in Britain in such a state? I went through the accounts of @ashgatehospice.bsky.social in Chesterfield - they rely on selling second-hand clothes and had to turn away 87 dying patients last year. In the Sunday Times 👇🏻 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/a176...

Two brilliant pieces about the Bovaer / farting cows row in today's @thetimes.com: 1) @harrywallop.co.uk introduces the methane-reduction row www.thetimes.com/business-mon... 2) @whippletom.bsky.social explains why it isn't a conspiracy theory, it's just laziness www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

In case you missed this at the weekend: my science books of the year, in yesterday's Sunday Times Culture magazine 👇🏻

What does the assisted dying bill mean in practice? There are still lots of unanswered questions as to how this will work. @shaunlintern.bsky.social looks at the options 👇🏻

The truth about fluoride in water. An excellent piece by @thetimes.com science editor and MJA member @ben-spencer.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/article/f109...

I was in the Commons press gallery for every word of Friday's five-hour assisted dying debate. The picture that emerged was of a palliative care system desperate for an overhaul, whether the right to die law makes it or not. edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dyn...

The Times and Sunday Times science books of the year list is out! @thetimes.com Featuring: @richarddawkins.bsky.social @sophieyeo.bsky.social Lisa Kaltenagger @charan-neuro.bsky.social Rahul Jandial Matt Parker Venki Ramakrishnan Rob Jackson www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

The Times and Sunday Times science books of the year list is out! @thetimes.com Featuring: @richarddawkins.bsky.social @sophieyeo.bsky.social Lisa Kaltenagger @charan-neuro.bsky.social Rahul Jandial Matt Parker Venki Ramakrishnan Rob Jackson www.thetimes.com/culture/book...

Lots of commentary around about net zero going backwards. This is a big increase from a low base, but it suggests not all green action is in retreat 👇

Was it a good Cop or bad Cop in Baku? I've waded through the messy deal that emerged from #Cop29 and looked forward to where the Cop process goes from here. In today's Times Environment newsletter: link.thetimes.co.uk/view/61951ca...

If you're just waking up and missed the overnight drama in Baku, #Cop29 was rescued from collapse with a bad-tempered deal for a $300bn fund for climate finance. Read all the details in our story below 👇🏻

Ministers say the new inheritance tax rules are supposed to affect only the largest, richest farms. But a family farm in Suffolk opened their books this week, and revealed that with assets of £8m, they’d barely break even under the new rules 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/bbc6...

Our write-up is now live. With @adamvaughan.bsky.social on the ground in Baku www.thetimes.com/uk/article/c...

Our write-up is now live. With @adamvaughan.bsky.social on the ground in Baku www.thetimes.com/uk/article/c...

A deal for $300bn climate finance for poor countries reached at #Cop29. Energy secretary Ed Miliband says: “This is a critical 11th hour deal at the 11th hour for the climate. If this finance is used in the right way, it could cut the equivalent emissions of one billion cars.”