Matthew Sparkes

"Like any chatbots, the AI agents on Moltbook are just creating statistically plausible strings of words – there is no understanding, intent or intelligence. And in any case, there’s plenty of evidence that much of what we can read on the site is actually written by humans."

A social network for AI looks disturbing, but it's not what you think A social network where humans are banned and AI models talk openly of world domination has led to claims that the "singularity" has begun, but the truth is that much of the content is written by human...

Moltbook is a social network for AI - no humans allowed. They're on there plotting world domination and discussing human quirks. Scary stuff. But all is not what it seems...

www.newscientist.com/article/2514...

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

UK intelligence services predict wars over food and water caused by climate change, but I'm sure it'll all sort itself out if governments keep ignoring it - crack on and expand those airports.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In which @rowhoop.bsky.social calls me an old man and I launch an age discrimination employment tribunal against him.

bsky.app/profile/rowh...

Chernobyl cooling systems have lost power but meltdown risk is low An electrical outage at Chernobyl nuclear power plant risks dangerous fuel overheating, but experts say that the chances are extremely slim due to the age of the reactors, which were shut down over tw...

There are a lot of logical things to worry about when it comes to the situation at Chernobyl, but the loss of electrical power leading to spent fuel meltdown is not one of them.

www.newscientist.com/article/2512...

Crowdsourcing Wikipedia’s encyclopedia: Best ideas of the century The internet is typically defined by conflict. Yet a crowdsourced encyclopedia, open for anyone to edit, has transformed into one of the world's most essential knowledge hubs

New Scientist has a round-up of the best ideas of the 21st century. I contributed a couple of bits: Wikipedia and end-to-end encryption.

www.newscientist.com/article/2510...

www.newscientist.com/article/2510...

He could get a job catching fare dodgers at TfL

All major AI models risk encouraging dangerous science experiments Researchers risk fire, explosion or poisoning by allowing AI to design experiments, warn scientists. Some 19 different AI models were tested on hundreds of questions to assess their ability to spot an...

Scientists are using AI to design new experiments, but research shows that all major models fail to spot serious safety problems that risk causing fires, explosions or poisonings.

www.newscientist.com/article/2511...

We're getting intimate with chatbots. A new book asks what this means AI chatbots can take on many roles in our lives. James Muldoon's Love Machines looks into the relationships we're forging with them

Big Tech is making an enormous and costly bet on AI, and, in turn, is forcing it on users to make good on this investment. Many are embracing it for writing or admin, but a minority are going a step further and forming intimate relationships with it.

www.newscientist.com/article/mg26...

In Ukraine your service station coffee currently earns loyalty points which go towards supplying the army with drones.

Great 8-bit design on those flames.

I don't trust it to tell me how to descale my espresso machine, FFS.

West Midlands police chief apologises after AI error used to justify Maccabi Tel Aviv ban Craig Guildford says he gave incorrect evidence to MPs and mistake arose from ‘use of Microsoft Copilot’

Staggering to see people putting such faith in AI. It makes stuff up, it doesn't understand your question. It just cobbles together a statistically-likely bit of text that might follow your bit of text. Don't trust it with documents that may end your career.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Reports claim that not only has Iran's government shutdown internet access, but they're jamming Starlink signals on a wide scale too.

They *really* don't want people organising - and perhaps also don't want the world watching their crackdown on protests.

iranwire.com/en/features/...

I didn't know we were getting our old voting system back. That makes things far more straightforward and fair. Great move.

‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing? The bioscience startup has attracted billions in investment – and a flurry of criticism, but founder tells the Guardian plans to bring back the woolly mammoth will not be derailed

Nice to see @newscientist.com stories @mjflepage.bsky.social and I did on Colossal highlighted in this @theguardian.com long read.

Biased take, obviously, but nobody cuts through the hype and explains the facts behind new science claims as well as New Scientist.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

My garden path is alternating rows of lighter and darker bricks. Snow only settled on the lighter bricks today: slightly warmer because they absorb more energy from the sun?

Winter blooming of hundreds of plants in UK ‘visible signal’ of climate breakdown New year plant hunt shows rising temperatures are shifting natural cycles of wildflowers such as daisies

I have salvia amistad and calendula officinalis still flowering in the garden here in London - two plants the RHS lists as flowering in autumn but not winter. Lots of other anomalies too.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Russia-US nuclear pact set to end in 2026 and we won't see another After the New START treaty expires in February, there will be no cap on the number of US and Russian nuclear weapons - but some are sceptical about whether the deal actually made the world safer

In February, for the first time in decades, there will be no treaty limiting the size of the US and Russian nuclear arsenals. Experts are divided on whether New START genuinely made the world safer, but there is agreement on one thing: a replacement is unlikely.

www.newscientist.com/article/2504...

Drone from RAF Waddington flying loops around the Wash this afternoon, while a Eurofighter watches on. Likely to be more tests of the RAF's Protector: www.raf.mod.uk/news/article...

Very hard to judge with the limited information leaked publicly, but it would be easy to infer from what we have here that Europe has no handle at all on how to tackle drone incursions.

bsky.app/profile/nycs...

Why is AI making computers and games consoles more expensive? The AI industry consumes vast amounts of energy, fresh water and investor cash. Now it also needs memory chips - the same ones used in laptops, smartphones and games consoles

The AI industry consumes vast amounts of energy, fresh water and investor cash. Now it also needs memory chips - the same ones used in laptops, smartphones and games consoles. It's dramatically pushing up prices and unlikely to stop any time soon.

www.newscientist.com/article/2507...

"Take two airport expansions, a new oil field and a motorway widening project, and call me in the morning"

bsky.app/profile/jjar...

Just-a-speck-tacular

What would Russia's inability to launch crewed missions mean for ISS? Russia's only launch site capable of sending humans to orbit has suffered serious damage that may take two years to fix. Will NASA keep supporting the ISS without Russian involvement, or is this the e...

The ISS may soon become slightly less international. Russia’s only launch pad capable of sending humans to orbit is damaged and may be out of commission for two years. That would pose a dilemma for NASA: take on more costs and responsibility or let the ISS die. www.newscientist.com/article/2506...

I can tell you that @chelswhyte.bsky.social is still fighting this one.

AI is going to absolutely destroy music, isn't it?

bsky.app/profile/junl...

Freezing fuel duty and a promise of £9bn for a new motorway tunnel under the Thames. But no Bakerloo Line extension for London. Really a cracking Budget for continuing to prop-up driving at the expense of public transport...

Climate emergency? What climate emergency?

Mosquito proboscis repurposed as a fine nozzle for 3D printing When engineers struggled to make 3D printer nozzles narrow enough for their needs, they turned to nature and found the proboscis of a female mosquito had exactly the properties they needed

My only hope is that after my death my proboscis can be useful to science.

www.newscientist.com/article/2504...

Rachel Reeves to curb high-end bike purchases in Cycle to Work scheme Introduction of new cap comes after retailers warned some higher-rate taxpayers were exploiting the perk

A £4k electric bike sounds high-end but is actually just a cheap and practical alternative to a car.

Nobody baulks at people spending £30k on a little hatchback, but a £4k electric bike is seen as extravagant.

Gov should be begging people to start cycling.

www.ft.com/content/e41e...

How preppers plan to save us if the whole internet collapses Recent outages have revealed how vulnerable the internet is, but there seems to be no official plan in the event of a catastrophic failure. Meet the team of hackers who are ready to jump into action

A team of experts doesn't trust our governments are doing enough to protect society from technological collapse caused by Russian hackers, solar storms, floods...

So they're planning to do it themselves.

www.newscientist.com/article/2500...