Margaret Harris

Royal Society right to keep Elon Musk as member, says new astronomer royal Prof Michele Dougherty, first woman to hold position, is upbeat about role of private sector in space exploration

Academics' moral compass is only money and ego. That's why they see Musk as their own.
This one would've installed Wernher von Braun as FRS. www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Image of an analogue clock with quantum equations in the background. Text reads Quantum on the Clock - competition for students in their final two years of school in the UK and Ireland. Deadline 4 October 2025.

Quantum on the Clock is officially open! Know a young person in their final two years of school in the UK or Ireland that has a passion for quantum science or tech? Encourage them to enter! They need to create a 3-minute video explaining any quantum concept creatively.

🔗 www.iop.org/physics-comm...

Why Did National Geographic Disappear Its Own Documentary About A Queer Climate Scientist? | Defector If you’re not a particular kind of mountain sports nerd, you might not be familiar with the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour. But for people who live their lives in the overlapping circl...

Last fall, I attended the premiere of a film that meant a lot to me. In late January, all of its hundreds of planned screenings were canceled without explanation. For @defector.com, I went digging:

I have been in the PI business long enough to know she was trouble the moment she walked in.

“Have a seat” I told her. But she fidgeted like a cat on a hot tin roof, never at one place.

“I have lost some valuable information” she said, “at a joint they call the Black Hole.”

🧪⚛️🧵

A Google Streetview photo taken from the A9 between Thurso and Georgemas Junction. There’s a winter-bare hedge in the foreground, and the background is flat, empty fields

That’s not bad, there’s a bit of a Flint Hills vibe there, but I was thinking flatter, emptier and farm-ier. Like this, only minus the hedges.

Are you going all the way to Thurso? If you are, there's a wee bit of the railway line just south of there where the flat, empty landscape looks almost exactly like Kansas, where I grew up. I'd love it if you could take a photo even if it's not the most impressive scenery!

Why "vibe physics" is the ultimate example of AI slop The conversation you're having with an LLM about groundbreaking new ideas in theoretical physics is completely meritless. Here's why.

Why "vibe physics" is the ultimate example of AI slop

Know anyone who's been collaborating with an LLM to develop their novel theory of physics?

Turns out the only thing they're developing is a novel species of crackpot.

bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #ai #science #space

If the doctors back in the 1990s could have given her even just two more years, she would have lived to see me study Spanish in high school. We could have chattered away together at family reunions, glorying in the fact that nobody else could understand our gossip. We would both have loved that.

Optical imaging probe designed to increase safety and efficacy of glioblastoma surgery – Physics World Novel imaging probe combines a long-chain fatty acid with a near-infrared dye to improve intraoperative visualization of brain tumour margins

My great-aunt, who taught Spanish, wore stylish scarves, claimed she couldn't play Boggle bc she was bilingual, & waltzed into every family Christmas with a giant ¡Hola!, died of glioblastoma >30 yrs ago. I think of her whenever I see progress towards treating it. 🧪 physicsworld.com/a/optical-im...

22 years, different careers, same sentiment.

There’s a figure showing 300-700nm response in the paper that makes it look like it’s unlikely to drop off entirely beyond that, and the article states that the team behind it is most interested in hyperspectral imaging applications, rather than consumer-level visible light imaging.

The paper states that “Foveon-type vertically stacked architectures still struggle to deliver optimal performance owing to their lack of colour selectivity, making them inefficient for precise colour imaging.” The team is especially interested in using the new device for hyperspectral imaging.

Stacked perovskite photodetector outperforms conventional silicon image sensors – Physics World New device could lead to sensitive, artefact-free imaging with improved colour fidelity

This new photodetector seems like it could be a big deal. It's made of stacked perovskite materials that each intrinsically absorb specific wavelengths of light, which is far more efficient than broad-spectrum silicon-based detectors with filters slapped on top. 🧪💡⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/stacked-pe...

Yeah, K-State dodged a bullet by not hiring this guy. Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya, a-hole.

Only other Kansans are allowed to talk about Manhattan (KS) like it's a one-horse town in the back of beyond compared to Lawrence, the Athens of the Plains. #rockchalk

Physicists turn atomic motion from a nuisance to a resource – Physics World New "erasure correction cooling" method stores quantum information in atoms’ motional states

If life gives you quantum lemons, make quantum lemonade! This cool story about erasure correction cooling @caltech.edu was written by @physicsworld.bsky.social student contributor Thilagaraj Ravi, please give it a read! ⚛️🧪 physicsworld.com/a/physicists...

Those Cotswold pubs had better lock up their sofas.

New experiment uses levitated magnets to search for dark matter – Physics World Although it hasn’t detected dark matter yet, its developers say it offers an alternative path that is worth exploring

Two physicists from different disciplines met at a climate protest (as you do). They got to talking about their research (as you do). Within a year or so, they'd designed a new type of dark matter detector experiment (as you...wait, what?). First results here: 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/new-experi...

We’re hiring for a major role in the US, an investigative journalist to cover what’s happening with science in the US and beyond. This is extremely important territory for us. 🧪

workforus.theguardian.com/jobs/795 The Guardian :: Senior Science Investigative Reporter

Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland or Bohemian Wonderland?

(Good luck!)

Astronomical sense and nonsense – Physics World <b>Margaret Harris</b> reviews <i>Hindsight and Popular Astronomy</i> by Alan B Whiting

In related news, my favourite book I reviewed when I was PW's book reviews editor was called "Hindsight and Popular Astronomy." It analysed how staggeringly, confidently wrong various eminent pre-1920s (ish) science popularizers were in their often bestselling books. physicsworld.com/a/astronomic...

Expert interlocutors like this? "My Spidey sense is tingling and telling me that this is going to be real. I have been looking all my career for forces and particles beyond what we know already, and this is it. This is the moment that I have been waiting for."

Poor guy. Must be so disappointing!

Yes! Hype inflation is definitely something we have to guard against. But there has to be a pretty darn impressive molehill there to begin with before most journalists will take it upon themselves to turn it into a mountain.

So I'm afraid it's just not true that "scientists don't say" things like this. They do. All the time. And it's not even necessarily entirely a bad thing when they do!

After all, it got people talking about their research, didn't it?

(7/ends)

The Indy headline "Life might have come from outer space" is a *bit* less nuanced than the press release's "The evolution of life may have its origins in outer space." It's also shorter, pithier, and very much coming not just from the same ballpark, but the *same part of the same ballpark*. (6/n)

Screen shot of a press release on EurekAlert. The headline of the press release is "The evolution of life may have its origins in outer space". There's an image of a planet-forming disc in the centre of the press release.

Let's take the example of the story @adamrutherford.bsky.social complained about. Here is the press release that the Independent journo most likely used to write their story. We @physicsworld.bsky.social saw it too, but decided against writing about it. Too many papers, too little time, sigh. (5/n)

This finding of spin in journal abstracts is important. It means that not only are journalists (mostly) not the originators of scientific hype, it ain't coming from the press officers either. Scientists normally have to approve press releases before they go out. This includes the headline. (4/n)

The Cardiff researchers built on work re: “spin” in reporting of randomized controlled trials. Out of 70 press releases + associated journal abstracts (leading to 41 news stories) this earlier study found only 4 cases where news contained spin but the associated journal abstract did not. (3/n)

A little over 10 years ago, some researchers at Cardiff University found a very strong correlation between hype ("exaggerated causal claims") appearing in press releases and hype that showed up in news articles. Here's their paper; it's open access: www.bmj.com/content/349/... (2/n)

Actually scientists *do* say things like this. They are usually super excited about their work. Many have incentives to play it up as much as possible. Journalists sometimes *add* to the hype, but it generally doesn't start with us.

Don't believe me? Here's what the science says! 🧪 (1/n)

Squid use Bragg reflectors in their skin to change colour – Physics World New holotomography measurements reveal that the tuneable optical properties of these cephalopods come from winding columns of platelets in iridescent cells

🎶Squids! I don't know what's wrong with these squids today. Squids! Who can understand anything they say? Squids, you can talk and talk 'til your dorsal mantle's blue. Squids, and their Bragg reflectors will turn any colour you want them to...🎵 🧪⚛️

physicsworld.com/a/squid-use-...