Malcolm Thomas

Retired doctor & medical educator. Hobbies incl:- archaeology; birding; cycling; outdoors. Father & husband. Retweet = interest +/- endorsement. Photo 2020

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

The more I read about Doggerland - including the latest speculation that the Stonehenge altar stone may have been dropped there as a glacial erratic before being carried to Stonehenge later - the more convinced I become that UK/Dk/NL should make a big island there.

[Malcolm Thomas @oldnegrounder]

“Professor Steve Trench Tour” would be a suitable character for a remake of <Whacky Races>

[The Govan Stones 🛡👑 @GovanStones]

⏰️ 2pm TODAY, Sat 30th May!

FREE Prof. Steve Trench Tour of the astonishing early medieval archaeology of Govan Old and its 1,500-year-old kirkyard!

#glasgow #museum #scotland #history #archaeology

[Malcolm Thomas @oldnegrounder]

@ChrisStringer65 With commentary inviting caution regarding this study here https://t.co/uzqizzjEkJ

[Dr Simon Elliott FSA @SimonElliott20]

Multangular Tower in York...stunning!

[Tony Juniper @TonyJuniper]

Crane.

Just at the edge of #Cambridge, & breeding

Not so long ago this would have been quite unimaginable.

Also at this bit of wetland were Cuckoo, Marsh Harrier, Corn Bunting, Reed, Sedge & Cetti’s Warblers & much else besides.

Farmer here is very thoughtful about wildlife.

[Hans Mahncke @HansMahncke]

This cannot be said loudly or often enough. If Covid had happened before social media, and in particular before Twitter, and even more so anonymous Twitter, the truth of its origin might have been buried forever. This is why all efforts to regulate social media, enforce ID or age verification, or create backdoors into VPNs must be resisted at all costs.

[Reivers Archaeology @Reiverology]

The online site archive for this large evaluation in South-East #Northumberland is now uploaded to ADS. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) allows permanent reliable access where traditional web links may break. #Infrastructures #civils #transport #railway

https://t.co/GeQNJAocoC

[Bear @BearJFK]

For such a small party, you have to give the plucky @SDPhq credit for compiling by far the most detailed and reasoned set of policies in British politics.

I don’t agree with all of it, but plenty I do.

If only they were the representatives of the centre-Left instead of pointless Labour.

[Chris Stringer @ChrisStringer65]

Look out for new excavations @WoganCavern beginning soon!

[Alexandra Coghlan @AlexaCoghlan]

Email of the day…

[Malcolm Thomas @oldnegrounder]

Interesting angle

[Aris Roussinos @arisroussinos]

The Greens, by virtue of their support for Irish, Welsh, and Scottish nationalism, are functionally the only UK-wide party committed to an independent English state. They're technically more of an English nationalist party than Reform, the dominant but ambivalent Unionist party.

[Abi Olvera @Abi0lvera]

Imagine if we had blocked farm automation to protect agriculture jobs.

[Kate Sheehan-Finn🇮🇪🇪🇺✍️📖🏛🏺 @KatesfWriter]

@pete_savin Nice!

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

Yes

[Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel]

Prestige bias is a major problem in academia: success in academia leads to numerous unfair advantages (eg., professors at prestigious universities have an easier time getting their papers published).

But prestige bias is bigger in fields that are less scientific (eg., art, history, politics, and philosophy). In these fields, the claims of academics are hard to test so people rely more on prestige as a heuristic about the truth of their claims.

In contrast, fields where claims are more testable exhibit lower concentrations of prestige markers (eg., math, physics, computer science, and medicine). This makes it easier for unknown or early career researchers to break through and have success.

A new analysis finds that a 10% increase in the testability of claims in a field is associated with a 9% decrease in citation concentration. Evaluators rely less on prestige for quality assurance when the work is testable.

My field is psychology is in the middle (close to biology). In the last decade, the credibility revolution has dramatically changed the field. As people published replication attempts, several the leading figures in the field lost significant prestige when their claims did not hold up to empirical scrutiny.

This is actually the sign of a healthy scientific field: Prestige should not trump empirical evidence.

https://t.co/p4Xy4jv7PF

[Malcolm Thomas @oldnegrounder]

@Synergymhc @FourteenFish Mind you, that website doesn’t seem to recognise it on my phone- works fine via Google on laptop

[Malcolm Thomas @oldnegrounder]

@Synergymhc @FourteenFish It’s down for me. At least re portfolio log in. Down for everyone according to https://t.co/twBrdlJGmr

[Brian Crosby @Briancrosby163]

The largest seabird in the Northern Hemisphere. Gannet. #SuperSeabirdsSunday ⁦@SteelySeabirder⁩ ⁦@VexHill⁩

[Craig Reed @MidlandsBirder]

A male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker at a site in central #Worcestershire this morning where the species has not been recorded in 10+ years. I seem to be repeating myself year on year, but they're out there to be found! @WorcsWT @lesserspotnet #WorcsBirds

[Chris Stringer @ChrisStringer65]

@NHM_London Not actually that easy to answer... https://t.co/m9IV3VhsE0