You Don't Know What You're M ss ng is out.
It's about how the information we use to understand the world contains gaps and how those gaps are important.
If you've enjoyed reading my stuff on this site, do me a favour and get yourself a copy:
amazon.co.uk/Dont-Know-What-…
I was on BBC Inside Science yesterday as presenter's friend.
We talked about leap seconds being on borrowed time, a ‘fire-loving’ amoeba and taking the temperature of T. rex.
You can catch up with it here: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct97…
I'm on @BBCRadio4's Inside Science again this afternoon at 16:30.
This week I’m going to be finding out exactly how much of a hot-blooded predator T-rex really was and detailing a new record temperature for the survival of "complex life".
Check it out:
bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct978…
”Experts say it picked up some genetic material from other bugs found naturally in the throats of some people.
This exchange created a new strain or variant that then spread between clubbers and caused severe illness.“
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmdx…
So excited to be back speaking in this fantastic lecture theatre at the Royal Institution.
But this is a lot of books to sign after the talk. My hand is going to be sore.
Just arrived at the Royal Institution for my talk on “You don’t know what you’re missing”.
Just made it inside before it really started to rain heavily.
Wish me luck.
Just a few days until my talk at the Royal Institution on Saturday evening.
Just a reminder that you can still get yourself a ticket here.
Come and find out what you've been missing....
rigb.org/whats-on/you-dont-k…
Delighted that my friend and colleague Alex Bellos has been awarded the 2026 Christopher Zeeman medal for communicating mathematics.
Well done Alex.
Here we are at the recent opening of Maths World in London alongside the excellent Alexander Masters.
lms.ac.uk/news/alex-bellos-c…
I'm talking at the Royal Institution a week today.
There are still some tickets left.
Come and find out what you're missing.
rigb.org/whats-on/you-dont-k…
Our new paper on investigating the impact of sex and gender on tuberculosis transmission.
TL;DR Turns out both within-host and between-host parameters are important.
link.springer.com/article/10…
"As National Statistician, Andre will lead the wider UK statistical system, providing advice to the government on statistical matters."
What else would you have a national statistician do?
gov.uk/government/news/andre…
I have a feeling this story is going to be all over the science news fairly soon.
It has scandal, vitriol and a $1M dollar prize at its heart.
siliconreckoner.substack.com…
As news breaks of another robbery from a museum in France, it's probably timely to reshare this article I wrote about museum security after the heist at the Louvre last year.
bbc.com/future/article/20251…
I was on BBC Inside Science yesterday with Roland Pease as Presenter's Friend.
We talked about a new way of dating an artefact, the appearance of a decagon on Saturn and a about a hint of dark matter.
You can read all about it on my substack here:
kityates.substack.com/p/pres…?
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I'm going to be talking at the Royal Institution on Saturday September 19th.
"Explore how our understanding of reality is shaped by missing information, just as much as what is there."
Don't forget to get your tickets and to come and say hello: rigb.org/whats-on/you-dont-k…
I'm going to be on BBC Inside Science at 16:30 this afternoon discussing a new way to date "ancient" artefacts and the discovery of a new polygon on Saturn.
Sound interesting?
See you there.
bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036f7w…
“The number of suspected illegal discharges of raw sewage into rivers and seas by water companies during dry weather increased significantly during the first five months of 2026.”
Why are we still seemingly powerless to do anything about this?
theguardian.com/business/202…
A nice piece here on BBC FUTURE about decision making in insects.
bbc.co.uk/future/article/202…
Here’s the part about our recent work with locusts and humans.
"Getting people to change their minds is hard, especially when a group is split between two options.
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"With fewer active votes in play, the same small nudge – a brief local cluster moving the other way, a noisy bit of information, a couple of people switching allegiance – produces a larger proportional effect on the group's direction," says Yates.
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Ultimately, locusts teach us that neutrality can create the necessary pause for everybody to reassess and reach a consensus, says Yates. The takeaway? If you want to overturn the status quo, don't worry about the indecisive – encourage more people to be so."
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