SellaTheChemistJun 10, 2025

It is with great sadness that I am doing what I would once have thought unthinkable. Following Salim Abdool Karim's superb Faraday Lecture 10 days ago, i have decided to return my own Faraday prize, awarded in 2014.

The silence of the Royal Society in the face of Elon Musk's rampage (a member of the RS since 2018) across US science is incomprehensible to me.

We must all draw the line somewhere in the face of authoritarian attacks and this is mine.
https://www.ft.com/content/877853df-1687-4d1f-940b-9eefc0cf69c0?accessToken=zwAAAZdYtYr2kdOHeFPfFodNH9OUC57vwM9pwA.MEUCIQDNG6kcQyHa-g6Kx4G9NHE2ofD36kR8OX0yEu-KfXlV0QIgcmMFKTaT90y42QfwQTWb05khk6thpQPe-JvIGkaZzQY&segmentId=e95a9ae7-622c-6235-5f87-51e412b47e97&shareType=enterprise&shareId=5fbecded-0dc9-419a-b064-cda0dee0d73a

Royal Society prize winner returns award in protest over Elon Musk

Andrea Sella is latest scientist to express dismay over UK science academy’s refusal to criticise tech billionaire

Financial Times
Show threadRuth MottramJun 10, 2025
@sellathechemist I don't think congratulations is quite the right word - but thankyou for the courage to do this and to do it so publicly.
Show threadMartin Vermeer FCDJun 10, 2025
@Ruth_Mottram @sellathechemist Wow! Didn't see that coming. Sadly, not in any position to do something similar 😏
Show threadSellaTheChemistJun 10, 2025
@martinvermeer @Ruth_Mottram We all do what we can with what we have. But is it really courage? What is the downside? I look at the people standing in front of militarised riot police, or under fire from tanks, drones and missiles and standing firm. They are the brave ones. I"m just an old guy talking the talk, hoping it nudges a few others to do the right thing. Not really brave.
The upside for me has been the outpouring of love and support. Not a single negative response online. Astonishing!
Show threadDorothy BishopJun 10, 2025
@sellathechemist I had same: far more congratulatory emails for resigning from RS than I had for being elected!
You may get a few weird people turning up in your emails, but for me ratio of positive to negative was around 19:1. And the negative were not impressive.
I think the RS really underestimates the strength of public opinion on this issue.
Show threadSellaTheChemist

@deevybee At the moment, the ratio is infinite. I have not had a single neutral response from social media.

Amusingly I had one very flat reply to the email that I sent a few people out of courtesy, to make sure they knew what was coming.
My naughty mind now infers things from that response that I won't put out in public but which make me giggle like a schoolboy… Nothing like meta-data to help fill in the blanks, right?

Jun 10, 2025 at 4:10pmWeb
Show threadKhleedrilJun 14, 2025

@sellathechemist @deevybee " Nothing like meta-data to help fill in the blanks, right?"

There are two types of people in the world:

1) Those that can extrapolate from incomplete data,

Show threadSellaTheChemistJun 14, 2025

@khleedril @deevybee and…… ? 🤣

(I plan to plagiarise that one!)

Show threadDorothy BishopJun 14, 2025
@sellathechemist One weird thing that’s happening to me that may be Musk-related is occasional deluges of automated messages on email from various help-desks that I haven’t contacted. The timing suggest they are probably from US and I suspect a disgruntled Musk fan. So far they are no more than a minor irritation, but let me know if you get anything similar
Show threadSellaTheChemistJun 14, 2025
@deevybee Weird. And unpleasant. The anonymity is what makes it unsettling.
Show threadStephen RoyleJun 14, 2025
@deevybee sorry to interject, but I also recently started getting these helpdesk emails (to my university address). I signed Stephen's letter but beyond that I don't think I'm a target of Musk fanboys. @sellathechemist
Show threadDorothy BishopJun 14, 2025
@steveroyle @sellathechemist interesting!