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drkatel.bsky.social
All about lasers/plasmas/fusion/bread/miscellany. Senior lecturer in physics. She/Her
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In an office sort out at the YPI a draft version of “The Physics of Laser Plasma Intereactions” by W. L. Kruer was found! What a total find! Pictures show a newer copy of the book this draft became. Very much a “how it started / how it’s going” situation 🥰

I was at this event as part of the final panel on communication of research at a wider level (outreach etc) with @emmayhnell.bsky.social and Clau Nader and expertly chaired by Andrew Barker 😀

Fancy working with me? Want to do messy, community-led research with communities in Clackmannanshire? Then do I have the job for you! www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-a...

Culture is bad for you! Live! @edbookfest.bsky.social 19th August, all welcome, tickets here www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival...

I am taking part in the #FathersWhoCare campaign, organised by @mothersinsci.bsky.social. This will amplify the voices of men who are redefining fatherhood in the STEM workplace. There is a free webinar about caregiving and inclusive workplaces - sign up here: www.mothersinscience.com/scimomchats

I don’t think there is a more appropriate song to play for the day Sly Stone has died. I want this played at my funeral when the time comes (don’t worry - I have no idea when that is, there’s no hidden message here!). youtu.be/99Ya2Oh4Q9M?...

Ach this one hits hard - RIP Sly Stone. I first became obsessed with Sly and the Family Stone at sixth form college and the music has been ever present since then. www.theguardian.com/music/2025/j...

Burrata starter 🥰. Summer home cooking 🥰

So @markrt.bsky.social is playing “popcorn” on the kitchen speaker just before we go to bed. That’ll be a lovely ear worm for both of us 😱😱😱😱😱🍿

A grassroots movement like Arts Emergency rarely lasts or grows as we have.Our work changes lives, but we rely on monthly donations.Those donations are down £50k since 2021. We've cut all we can, now we're appealing to you for £2/month to plug the gap & go on www.arts-emergency.org/donate%F0%9F...

'we know far less about how graduates themselves experience their early careers. Until now, subject-level data on graduate job quality—how meaningful their work is, how well it aligns with their goals, and whether it uses their university-acquired skills—has been missing from the policy debate.' 1/3

Lovely day down at RAL giving a talk to the lab. Always get a lovely warm welcome when I come back. Lovely to catch up with CLF folk. Snuck a look at the VULCAN 20-20 destruction/ build! It’s amazing that it’s happening but also crazy that TAW/E are gone forever!!! 😮😀🥰

46 today! What more can a girl want except a wedge of mojito cake (made by @markrt.bsky.social ) and a cuppa 🥰🥰🥰🥰

I’m profoundly sad to say that as of today, I’ll no longer be able to do my job as co-artistic director of #Touretteshero because of a recent decision by #AccessToWork to cut my support by 61%. Read & share this post, the hardest I've had to write: www.touretteshero.com/2025/05/23/a... 1/4

Lovely weekend watching Kylie with the boys in Newcastle. So many bangers! Back to our hotel in time for bubbles and Eurovision results. 🥰

🚨 NEW: Opportunities for the poorest young people in London far outstrip the rest of England, we have found. Our new Opportunity Index reveals how the area young people grow up in shapes their life chances, with huge differences between constituencies across the country 🧵⬇️

Asking for some help from science communication & public engagement folks! STEM for a Queer Youth is a project which involves LGBTQ+ scientists sharing their careers and running activities at a LGBTQ+ youth group. This project finished a 2 year pilot and I am looking to share it across the sector.

Lovely solid, sunny run! Gorgeous bit of breeze to cool 🥰

As someone who grew up in one of the UK's most ethnically diverse cities, I do find Starmer's "island of strangers" comment oddly personally insulting 😕 In contrast to it, I really enjoyed this article about the Muslim photographer Nudrat Afza photographing Bradford's last synagogue:

Graduate visas cut to 18 months. @timeshighered.bsky.social A new levy on international students. The immigration white paper is a direct attack on education and economic growth. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/graduat...

It’s outdoor sofa season 🥰

Great evening watching Wes Banderson (a band that plays the music from Wes Anderson movies).Made me want to rewatch all the movies 🥰

As a person who mucks about with lasers for a living (albeit at the hot end of things) I found myself singing along to the “lasers lasers lasers lasers” bit😂

This is a new image from #JWST. The bright points with spikes are stars in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. Everything. Else. Is. A. Galaxy.

I’ve been hurling myself around on the floor like a 20 year old in street dance this evening. Gonna look like a mouldy ol banana tomorrow 😂

Went along to the protest in York around the Supreme Court decision. Great turnout! York will stand with trans, non-binary, and intersex folk forever and always 🏳️‍⚧️❤️🏳️‍⚧️

Time is of the essence and we need to fight the EHRC interim guidance before it becomes statutory and Parliament make it law. Don’t just shout about it, write to them. Also tell the media, if you can get them to care. I’ve posted this on Instagram. Speak to your unions and staff networks at work

Well I woke up to read this and wish I hadn't. My UK cis friends - please help us fight these evil rules which take trans rights back to the 50s or worse. I'm terrified.

UCU stands in unwavering solidarity with trans members following the Supreme Court ruling. We proudly support trans rights. We will listen, learn and act alongside our members. Our full statement: www.ucu.org.uk/article/1399...

I am obsessed with the Pepto Bismol advert. Particularly the coquettish way the guy at the end does the “diarrhoea-ha” move. I decided to learn the dance 😂

This statement about the transphobic Supreme Court ruling by the UK's Crab Museum (yes a museum about crabs) is better than 99% of the statements I've seen on the topic www.crabmuseum.org/visit 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀

In the light of the Radio 4 nonsense, just reminding people of this. Stop thinking you’re achieving something by posting pictures of hypermasc trans guys and going ooooh they’re gonna be in the ladies

Like a number of older trans people, I was involved in consultations around all the legislation of the 90s and 00s around trans equality. At no point was 'biological sex' discussed as a real thing which would impact and reduce my equal human rights.

In the year ending June 2024, UK police recorded 69,184 rapes. (It’s likely this represents c. 1 in 6 of the rapes actually committed.) In 2023/24 there were 2,283 prosecutions for rape, and 1,220 convictions. And c. 11,900 rape cases are currently waiting to go to court, many for more than 2 years.

Today and everyday I stand by my trans friends and colleagues. ❤️🏳️‍⚧️❤️