Benjamin Axson

Lead anchor on @WednesdayPod. Solent University.
Media enquiries - [email protected]

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

Two months later and still struggling to comprehend how good this Lord of the Rings performance was.
@RoyalAlbertHall #LordOfTheRings #London #concert

The young lad who sang 'In Dreams' brought 5,000+ in attendance to tears!

10/10, 5⭐️- Truly unforgettable performance.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@Dre_WTF1 The drivers are NOT better/more consistent, they just don’t push the limit anymore. Pedestrian.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@Dre_WTF1 Very well said, but as a long time fan you must admit the sport is moving from on-track action to paddock attraction. I’ve been a fan since 1992’ when the fast German was emerging, and I understand F1 needs to evolve but the management has evolved into controlled driving.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

Susie Dent killing it today. How appropriate. @CPC_HQ

[Susie Dent @susie_dent]

Word of the day is ‘snollygoster’ (19th century): one who abandons their principles for short-term gain or power.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@SkySportsF1 Correction: No F1 until 2024. Fans have checked out.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@trussliz @Telegraph @CouttsandCo @Nigel_Farage I bet these comments are fun…

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@Dre_WTF1 The Pirelli range contains a “brilliant race tyre” 😂 new to Formula 1 are you? The term ‘nursing’ shouldn’t be used in the sport unless it’s followed by ‘… home a car stuck in 7th gear, like a heroic champion’ We are in the worst tyre situation since the 2005 debacle.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

Big piles of cash landed on corrupt political desks this weekend.

[Rt Hon Sir Grant Shapps @grantshapps]

Today we are saying no to @JustStop_Oil and their political wing the Labour Party 

We will power ahead with new oil and gas because it’s in the best interests of the British people, of our economy and of our national security

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

The most used word in modern @F1 commentary is “nursing”. Attendances masking an awful season for the sport. #Formula1 #spafrancorchamps

[Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox]

A few more thoughts on the possibility of life beyond Earth. All these thoughts are guesses. The lack of firm evidence for alien intelligence (so far) is sometimes called the Fermi Paradox, and it is a paradox. Put simply, there has been over 10 billion years and there are many millions of worlds in the Milky Way on which a civilisation could have arisen as far as we know. At first sight, one might therefore expect that there should be many civilisations in the galaxy far in advance of us, and we might have expected to see them. Why don’t we (or, let’s be careful, why is the evidence not bloody obvious!)?

One answer might be that civilisations never develop interstellar travel. I don’t see any reason why interstellar travel is impossible, and I think we’ll develop it if we survive into the 22nd century.

Related - perhaps civilisations don’t ever solve the problems posed by industrialisation and the discovery of nuclear weapons and never make it to the stars. Topical - see Oppenheimer!Maybe just ‘getting along’ as a global civilisation is harder than science.

Maybe (see UFO hearings) they are here but we haven’t discovered them or somebody knows but has managed to keep it a secret? Maybe. But if this is the case then at least I can say that the alien civilisations aren’t making their presence very obvious, otherwise my Astronomy colleagues who spend their time gazing at the sky and listening for signals would surely have spotted them! But let’s not rule out the possibility that we just haven’t detected them (or there is evidence but only a few people know about it) but they are indeed here.

My guess is that the average number of civilisations in a typical galaxy is low - perhaps less than 1. That’s a guess, based on what we know about the evolution of complex life on Earth. Put simply, it took the best part of 4 billion years here to go from cell to civilisation, and that’s a third of the age of the Universe. I think this MAY imply that, if this is typical (lots of ifs) then the Milky Way may be filled with microbes but not complex living things at our level of intelligence. This would be my guess.

BUT make no mistake, I wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if a UFO landed in Oldham town centre tomorrow morning and the captain said ‘Take me to the leader of Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’. In that case the Fermi Paradox would no longer be a paradox, I’d have learnt a lot about biology and I could get back to tweeting about other interesting stuff. I’d also ask them why gravity is so weak relative to the other forces of Nature.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

There is no way the weekend attendance at Spa is 380,000. Just making the numbers up at this point. #Formula1

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@LBC @ColinBrazierTV Did he just compare global warming to a trip to Sri Lanka? A simpleton with a big title.

[Jeremy Clarkson @JeremyClarkson]

Elton. Magnificent.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@piersmorgan It's just too easy for Piers to stay trending at this point. Classic.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@BBCNews It’s healthier!

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

More quality racing in 1 hour of @24hoursoflemans than the entire 2023 @F1 season…

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

Formula 1 did used to be exciting, honest. @F1 #Barcelona

[Lex Fridman @lexfridman]

Identity politics is an outrage machine, fueled by dogmatic extremes from both sides.

Ignore the outrage online. I think it doesn't represent the majority. Most people are sensible and kind.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@RichardBurgon Price caps on basic foods is disgusting. Because it allows the supermarkets to hit that cap and keep it there. What a waste of a good country.

[Benjamin Axson @AxsonBenjamin]

@guardian Like every tool, they have a purpose. Breaking down after losing a run is not the watches fault.

[Howard Beckett @mayamuskl]

Ofgem energy price cap is just another scam.

Your energy bill will be £2,074 this next year (from July).

That’s an 80% rise in your energy bill compared to 2 yrs ago.

But here is the thing. Wholesale gas today is 4p per therm cheaper than exactly 2 years ago. It’s a rip off.