life sciences, systems, neuroscience,mental hlth, wine,gardens,gargoyles, wales may intrude. I cross boundaries. Speaking in my own voice. @johnhuww.bsky.social

Cheltenham, England
Joined September 2011
Before the storm..
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john williams retweeted
I’ve read this and I still can’t quite believe they would ever be so stupid.
NEW: BBC will no longer have a dedicated education editor as part of proposal that will see 100 jobs go across BBC News. School leaders call the plan “deeply regrettable” and ask for a rethink. Education/Social affairs editor jobs being combined. theguardian.com/media/2026/o…
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Alzheimer’s Researchers Look at an Unusual Data Point: Head Shape “Could the geometry of our brains increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease? It’s a provocative question, but one that some scientists are beginning to explore.” nytimes.com/2026/10/22/scien… via @NYTimes
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“Could the repeated mechanical stresses of everyday life, paired with the sag of gravity over a lifetime, create pressure points in the brain? And could that biomechanical wear and tear influence people’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease?”
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“the “slouch of gravity,” which compresses the brain in some directions and stretches it in others. Certain aspects of this resculpting, they found, tended to be pronounced in older adults experiencing impairments in memory and cognitive functioning.” Out of the box ideas.
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“She begged Scholem not to become a “fanatic for truth”, not to let an “orgy of truth-telling” dissolve a friendship that had survived exile and war. “A human being,” she wrote, “is far more valuable than his opinions.” lesson for us all. ft.com/content/074aaed0-6edb…
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“To consider a fellow citizen who disagrees with us — even fundamentally — an enemy of humanity is not moral seriousness. It is how a shared world rips apart.”
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“Friendship asks something harder than moral clarity: it asks that we judge without pretending that our judgment contains the whole of another person. A human being is worth more than his opinions because the world we share depends upon our treating him as one.”
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john williams retweeted
is alas unhelpful; traced back to artlift.org/wp-content/uploa…, an uncontrolled referral study with no inclusion criteria not capable of showing causation. This is not to say that creativity and expression are not good. It is to say that overstating claims should be resisted
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john williams retweeted
it was good to join @BBCFrontRow last night to talk about social prescribing. It's really important that we do not overpromise - and I have massive concerns about medicalising the need for normal human interactions. This claim in the press release from the Southbank Centre/
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“the government is yet to set out a precise definition of what constitutes an innovation cluster, describing it as a “live conversation”. He said ministers planned to establish criteria to foster “nationally & internationally significant” hubs.” researchprofessionalnews.com…
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john williams retweeted
Some of us are old enough to remember this
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john williams retweeted
Cannot see the point of a commissioner who is unable to make binding recommendations 😡
Breaking - Ministers have dropped plans to scrap a independent health investigations body following opposition in Parliament. Letter from minister also reveals new maternity commissioner will not be able to make binding recommendations hsj.co.uk/policy-and-regulat…
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“judgment matters. Experience matters. The ability to listen, understand risk and distinguish political ambition from operational reality matters. Burnham could not have understood the mess, and damage Streeting had done to the NHS” myemail.constantcontact.com/…
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“What advice did the permanent secretary give?  What did the accounting officer conclude about feasibility and value for money? What risks were put before ministers? We should know. The health select committee should ask.” Are our representatives sufficiently curious?!
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john williams retweeted
In the NHS, patients live with the life changing consequences of decisions long after the minister has left the building. Now, with national defence at stake, surely we should ask… Who holds ministers accountable for the decisions they leave behind? myemail.constantcontact.com/…
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👏 A question they probably wouldn’t understand in Silicon Valley “Human creativity isn’t about finding the answer to a specific question; often we don’t even know what the question is when we begin exploring. What it does require is undistracted time.” giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…
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“in recent years, Chinese pharma groups have been developing drugs that global pharma giants want to license and export.” ft.com/content/d3ad59b9-b3fe…
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“But the progress is clear. The first phase was learning to make drugs, then discovering them. Now Chinese drugmakers are capturing more of the global value those discoveries generate.”
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“The country’s manufacturers have already moved from their origins in cheap mass production to redefining markets like electric vehicles, batteries and drones. Pharma might just be next.”
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