Shibani Radway

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@Robert_E_Kelly This was my favourite moment of lockdown

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@Baddiel Do what we do

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 Merry Christmas to you and your wonderful dog. Two year triumph!

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 @sociabledog Looking forward to seeing her in the new years honours list!

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@Matt_Pinner Eurovision every time

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@BoyGeorge Come to blue sky a nice person has already made you an account!

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 @sociabledog Triumphant faces next to Sophie’s Sofa ❤️❤️

[Zack Bornstein @ZackBornstein]

until the day I die I will never understand why he was even still allowed to run after this

[Jemima Goldsmith @Jemima_Khan]

In the last few weeks there have been serious and concerning developments regarding my sons’ father, Imran Khan’s treatment in prison. The Pakistan authorities have stopped all visits to him by his family and his lawyers. They have also postponed all court hearings. In addition to cutting off in- person visits, and in defiance of a court order, his weekly calls to his sons, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, who are British and who live in London, were stopped on 10th September. We have received reports that the authorities have now turned off the lights and electricity in his cell and he is no longer allowed to leave his cell at any time. The jail cook has been sent on leave. He is now completely isolated, in solitary confinement, literally in the dark, with no contact with the outside world. His lawyers are concerned about his safety and well-being.

These actions come in the context of ongoing targeting of Imran’s family, as well as his party (PTI) members and supporters in an attempt to silence them and all political opposition in Pakistan. Imran’s nephew, Hassan Niazi, a civilian, has been detained in military custody since August 2023. More recently, Imran Khan’s sisters, Uzma and Aleema Khan, who have continued to speak out on his behalf, have also been arrested as they made their way peacefully to a demonstration and they are currently being held in jail, despite there being no proper or lawful basis for their imprisonment.

In June this year the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Imran is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained and called for his immediate release.

 As a matter of urgency , we are calling for Imran Khan’s release, and for the release of his sisters and nephew as well as for his sons’ contact with their father to be re-established, so that they may have assurance first-hand that he is well and not being mistreated.

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

Farnham #northernlights

[Brian Cox @ProfBrianCox]

I don't look at this timeline much these days, but noticed increased activity with people shouting stuff. I tracked the cause down to reactions to an article promoting my new Solar System series on the BBC website - nice that it has got attention - Monday, 9pm, BBC2 if you are asking ;-) It's fun I hope, and I do some experiments with eggs in the first episode.

However, just to be clear:

1) I don't think it is 'probable' that we are the only advanced civilisation in the Milky Way. I have no way of assigning a probability to it. I can make an argument that complex life may be rare, and I think it's a good working hypothesis to assume this in the absence of other evidence, because it might make us value ourselves and our planet more. I certainly think there's a chance we may find simple life on Mars, Europa, Enceladus, Ganymede or even in possible sub-surface water on Pluto or elsewhere. I'm excited for the missions we have planned to explore these worlds. There are of course trillions of planets and moons in the Milky Way, and I'd be very surprised if they were all lifeless. But Civilisations - my guess is a handful at best. Beyond the Milky Way, in the trillions of galaxies in the observable Universe, surely there are other civilisations more advanced than us.

2) I do think that it is important for us to learn how to live and work in space - and the first steps beyond Earth orbit will be the Moon and Mars. HOWEVER (and I ALWAYS say this in interviews on this subject) there is a caveat! There is nowhere else we could go that would replace Earth, and therefore our number 1 priority must be to protect this planet. If we mess this one up, there is nowhere else we could live in large numbers - at least (in my view) for many centuries to come. It is a major error to assume that we can just up sticks and start again. In my lifetime, to paraphrase Carl Sagan, I can only hope we take our first steps into the Cosmic Ocean - the waters seem inviting.

3) I'd love to see Earth from orbit. But - as someone who was born close to Yorkshire - when asked if I'd like to go I always answer the same way. "Yes, if someone else is paying ...."

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@Lookinupatstars Tell her it really doesn’t matter. And take her out to celebrate her hard work

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Krishnun Guru-Murthy, "Have we been clear about what is going on?"

Sathnam Sanghera, "I keep hearing these disturbances described as race riots.. The term implies that people of colour have blame in causing them.. When they're caused entirely by white mob violence" @Sathnam

"One of my first memories as a kid was hiding in a Sikh temple as hordes of far right national front thugs tried to burn down shops and homes in Wolverhampton"

"Each time there is talk of white mobs attacking people of colour.. There is talk of brown people being blamed.. It's happening today.. Asian thugs gathering in Birmingham"

"Let's call this what it is.. These are racist riots.. It's racially aggravated violence.. These are lynch mobs.. And at worst, it's domestic terrorism"

KGM, "I can feel on social media people asking: what about the Asian mobs, what about those guys we've seen with weapons"

Sathnam Sanghera, "If you're living in a community and your house is at threat of being burnt down, like the police station was being burnt down.. You probably would organise and assemble and protect your community from that threat"

"But when Asian people gather it's a gang.. But when white thugs gather, seemingly, it's a protest"

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 @dailey_in Maybe she just wants to go on holiday!

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@GavinNewsom Then ban guns

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 She’s missing her mum

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@sasha_crace @AQA So have we. I just think unfair if other exam boards have been more balanced. Even teachers are up in arms about the level of difficulty. It’s just a terrible message to give those that have a genuine passion for physics.

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@krishgm £2000 over and over again

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@ruskin147 Baby lasagna all the way!

[Shibani Radway @ShibaniRadway]

@DianeCoyle1859 Norway