punit retweeted
Today is the Spring Equilux for the southern half of the UK, where daylight is closest to 12 hours
From tomorrow, days will be longer than the nights until late September
Check out the explainer here 👇 youtube.com/watch?v=3Oc5KSJt…
punit retweeted
There is a campaign to save the Shrewsbury Shirehall.
The 20th Century Society say: "It reflects the boldness of the age, the freedom of expression and the desire to be imaginative."
The author of "Modern Buildings in Britain: A Gazetteer" calls it "an excellent civic building, well-made and individual."
Another architect described it as "one of the most distinguished modern council headquarters buildings in the country."
A BBC headline described it as 'marmite'.
One Councillor says: "We have to use our heads and not our hearts when making this decision... Shirehall has become costly to maintain and operate. Annual maintenance costs are around £400,000 and the building requires significant investment to remain fit for purpose."
What do you think? Is it worth saving?
punit retweeted
The UK valued each salmon at £170m when designing fish protection for Hinckley Point C nuclear plant. This fact, uncovered by @JohnFingleton1, (source here: Samuel Albanie) explains Britain's (and Europe's) growth problem better than any macro statistic.
punit retweeted
Worth pointing out that the Grenfell Inquiry explicitly and forcefully rejected the idea of basing the building safety regime on arbitrary height limits. Govt responded by introducing a new building safety regime revolving entirely around arbitrary height limits.
punit retweeted
What if there was a consensus on the tax reforms the UK needs?
What if it was backed by policy experts from think tanks across the political spectrum, from the Adam Smith Institute to the Resolution Foundation?
The consensus is real. The question is: will anyone act on it?
punit retweeted
NEW: Today we release the results of the @britishprogress Growth Survey.
We asked over 100 economists and experts what the Government needs to do to fix productivity and drive growth.
Here’s what they said: 🧵
punit retweeted
The Guardian is warning that the Chancellor is about to unleash a tide of destruction against protected snails.
You might have more sympathy for Rachel Reeves than you expect.
Along the way, let me teach you how to seize control of half a county with a sheet of A4.
punit retweeted
London is currently paralysed by transport strikes, at enormous cost to the British economy, as yet more rents are extracted from the people of London.
Since 2023, TfL has actually had the power to require continued minumum service (40% of normal sevices) during strikes. Similar requirements exist in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and elsewhere. (In New York, transport strikes are simply banned.)
However, the current Government has instructed public bodies not to use these powers, and has announced plans to abolish them.
Frustrated Londoners this morning should remember that their troubles are a political choice, which their Government could partly undo at any time at no cost and with no new legislation.
punit retweeted
On the rugged face of Trirashmi Hill in #Nashik, #Maharashtra, lie the Pandav Lena Caves – a remarkable example ancient craftsmanship. This group of 24 caves date back to 1st century BCE to the 6th–7th century CE.
Situated along an ancient trade route connecting coastal ports like Kalyana and Sopara with inland cities, the site benefited from the patronage of ruling dynasties families as well as the trader community.
An inscription in Cave 10 reveals that the hill on which these caves are hewn, was known as #Trirashmi.
These caves reflect the changing face of #Buddhism. The earliest ones, created during the Hinayana phase, were simple and image-free. Later, as Mahayana beliefs spread, some caves were expanded and decorated with carvings of the #Buddha and #Bodhisattvas.
#ASI #HeritageSites #ArchaeologicalSurveyOfIndia #CultureUnitesAll #AurangabadCircleASI
(1/2)
punit retweeted
1/ Do nuclear energy plants cause cancer?
We get asked this at public meetings for our Llynfi project. Locals often cite old reports of cancer clusters near Sellafield and Dounreay in the 1980s. These are understandable questions, they deserve clear answers.
punit retweeted
The details have been released for this year’s auction in which wind farms can bid for electricity price guarantees:
1. The contracts are longer;
2. The prices ceilings are higher;
3. The capacity factors are lower;
4. The amount of guarantees that can be issued is larger.
punit retweeted
1. Wind and solar both keep me up at night, but for opposite reasons. Solar works and is winning the global race, Britain simply sits too far north to benefit. Britain is betting on wind instead, yet wind lacks the very traits that makes solar work.
punit retweeted
On Thursday night, we heard that government was making big concessions on its planning bill, putting lots more controls on its nature recovery plans.
I find this disappointing. And to explain why, I have to tell a story I’ve been holding off from sharing.
punit retweeted
📊#IFSSatStat: Emissions from electricity are taxed much more heavily than emissions from gas in the UK.
A tonne of carbon dioxide from (non-energy-intensive) business activities is taxed £249 if it comes from electricity, but just £52 if it comes from gas.
ALT Chart showing emissions from electricity are taxed much more heavily than emissions from gas. Title states "Implicit tax rates on carbon dioxide (or equivalent) emissionsin the energy market, 2024-25."
punit retweeted
What’s Ireland’s biggest development problem?
We can build houses – at a small scale.
But what we really struggle with is new neighbourhoods – with transport, parks, jobs, and homes.
Our new Progress Ireland paper, on land readjustment, shows how we can do this:
punit retweeted
I wrote a new piece on how much progress has been made in treating childhood leukemia.
The answer is: quite a lot!
Before the 1970s, fewer than 10% of children diagnosed survived 5 years after diagnosis.
Now most are cured and around 85% survive that long.
punit retweeted
One principle makes nuclear power unaffordable. That’s Linear No Threshold: the theory that there is no safe level of radiation.
It's wrong.
But on Friday, the US President signed an executive order to reconsider it. 🧵
worksinprogress.co/issue/the…
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The Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce is looking for SHORT (1–2 pages) evidence submissions. Deadline is Monday at midnight.
If you have anything useful to add, please do so. While these things should not be treated as ballots, in practice they often are.
gov.uk/government/calls-for-…
punit retweeted
I explain today why the Single market is broken: mutual recognition is not what we think it is; harmonisation actually fragments, and the Commission is not doing its core job. If you only ever read one post, let it be this one siliconcontinent.com/p/the-m…
