Margaret Harris
@drmlharris.bsky.social
Science journalist at Physics World magazine (@physicsworld.bsky.social). Also available as @[email protected]. All views on science, politics, history, nonsense, etc. my own. DM for Signal contact info.
Reposted by Margaret Harris
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Trump’s Fury at BBC Gets Unnerving Results with Pro-MAGA Edit Stunner
First, British Broadcasting Corporation execs resigned after Trump complained about a segment. Now the BBC edited out a line from a historian that was critical of Trump. Where does this end?
newrepublic.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:10 PM
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
According to @ianbetteridge.com's law of headlines, "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'." Is this a counterexample? 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/is-your-wi...
Is your WiFi spying on you? – Physics World
"Beamforming feedback information" in latest version of the technology can identify individuals passing through radio networks with almost 100% accuracy, say researchers
physicsworld.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:26 PM
According to @ianbetteridge.com's law of headlines, "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'." Is this a counterexample? 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/is-your-wi...
Reposted by Margaret Harris
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Margaret Harris
New from me for @science.org: A major planetary science conference will require submitted abstracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders.
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
‘This is censorship.’ Conference requires abstracts to comply with Trump anti-DEI order
NASA-funded planetary science institute previously scrubbed hundreds of records from its archive
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:12 PM
New from me for @science.org: A major planetary science conference will require submitted abstracts to comply with Trump's anti-DEI executive orders.
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
This conference, LPSC, is a big deal. It's been running since 1970 and is one of the biggest planetary science conferences out there. 🧪🔭
Reposted by Margaret Harris
Brilliant essay.
November 20, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Brilliant essay.
Reposted by Margaret Harris
very funny to read these emails and then remember summers wondering whether the leaky pipeline in stem was because women are inherently bad at math
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 16, 2025 at 1:56 AM
very funny to read these emails and then remember summers wondering whether the leaky pipeline in stem was because women are inherently bad at math
Thanks! It was written by a former @physicsworld.bsky.social student contributor, Amy Searle, who's now hoping to break into freelance science journalism 😁
November 12, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Thanks! It was written by a former @physicsworld.bsky.social student contributor, Amy Searle, who's now hoping to break into freelance science journalism 😁
The researchers in the article seem to think it might have to do with waste. “It is likely we have to waste more information to go in one direction over the other,” says Jayne Thompson. Quantum computers wouldn't have this waste, so could this be another area for "quantum advantage"? (2/2)
November 12, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The researchers in the article seem to think it might have to do with waste. “It is likely we have to waste more information to go in one direction over the other,” says Jayne Thompson. Quantum computers wouldn't have this waste, so could this be another area for "quantum advantage"? (2/2)
A fun tidbit in this article about #quantum information and game theory. Apparently LLMs, like humans, find it harder to write stories back-to-front. That's normal for us, but weird for computers, because the two tasks ought to be informationally equivalent. (1/2) ⚛️🧪 physicsworld.com/a/playing-ga...
Playing games by the quantum rulebook expends less energy – Physics World
New form of quantum advantage emerges from study of game theory and quantum information
physicsworld.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:31 PM
A fun tidbit in this article about #quantum information and game theory. Apparently LLMs, like humans, find it harder to write stories back-to-front. That's normal for us, but weird for computers, because the two tasks ought to be informationally equivalent. (1/2) ⚛️🧪 physicsworld.com/a/playing-ga...
Q: What can you do with a clock that only "ticks" when an electron randomly tunnels through a double quantum dot?
A: More than you might expect!
Fun story about entropy & the second law of thermodynamics in the #quantum world by @annademming.bsky.social 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/researcher...
A: More than you might expect!
Fun story about entropy & the second law of thermodynamics in the #quantum world by @annademming.bsky.social 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/researcher...
Researchers pin down the true cost of precision in quantum clocks – Physics World
Trade-off between precision and entropy production lies in measurement process
physicsworld.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Q: What can you do with a clock that only "ticks" when an electron randomly tunnels through a double quantum dot?
A: More than you might expect!
Fun story about entropy & the second law of thermodynamics in the #quantum world by @annademming.bsky.social 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/researcher...
A: More than you might expect!
Fun story about entropy & the second law of thermodynamics in the #quantum world by @annademming.bsky.social 🧪⚛️ physicsworld.com/a/researcher...
Reposted by Margaret Harris
@nasawatch.bsky.social's @keithcowing.bsky.social was on the case before anyone else- the demolition of Goddard Space Flight Center began right before the government shutdown, with a memo dated September 22
NASA Goddard Begins To Disassemble Itself
this memo was sent to GSFC-DL-ALL from GSFC-Communications today at 2:12 PM
nasawatch.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:41 PM
@nasawatch.bsky.social's @keithcowing.bsky.social was on the case before anyone else- the demolition of Goddard Space Flight Center began right before the government shutdown, with a memo dated September 22
Reposted by Margaret Harris
Goddard spacecraft engineer: "I think it just kind of speaks to the atmosphere of the agency and the nation, where people are like, 'Well, laws don't matter for the people at the top anymore.'"
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Goddard spacecraft engineer: "I think it just kind of speaks to the atmosphere of the agency and the nation, where people are like, 'Well, laws don't matter for the people at the top anymore.'"
Also, the incumbent mayor of Overland Park, Kansas (an old-school chamber of commerce former Republican) won reelection on a platform of urban renewal and denser housing, beating a nimbyish former city councilman who was apparently a huge PITA to work with on a personal level. So that’s good, too.
November 5, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Also, the incumbent mayor of Overland Park, Kansas (an old-school chamber of commerce former Republican) won reelection on a platform of urban renewal and denser housing, beating a nimbyish former city councilman who was apparently a huge PITA to work with on a personal level. So that’s good, too.
The new guy is called David Benson and I recognized his name on the ballot because he was the district superintendent back when I was a high school newspaper editor covering school board meetings. He was a pretty decent guy then, too.
Good things can happen even in supposedly “red” states.
Good things can happen even in supposedly “red” states.
November 5, 2025 at 2:31 PM
The new guy is called David Benson and I recognized his name on the ballot because he was the district superintendent back when I was a high school newspaper editor covering school board meetings. He was a pretty decent guy then, too.
Good things can happen even in supposedly “red” states.
Good things can happen even in supposedly “red” states.
I haven’t seen it mentioned on here yet, but a school board race in my Kansas hometown ended with a book-banning, health-education-denying, trans-folk-insulting “Moms for Liberty” incumbent losing out to a career educator/former Democrat state rep, and I love that for both of them.
November 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I haven’t seen it mentioned on here yet, but a school board race in my Kansas hometown ended with a book-banning, health-education-denying, trans-folk-insulting “Moms for Liberty” incumbent losing out to a career educator/former Democrat state rep, and I love that for both of them.
More of this type of AI application, please.
Google's DeepMind model (GDMI), which started releasing forecasts in June, has been utterly crushing the performance of traditional weather models.
(Of particular embarrassment, the US's most "mainstream" forecast model, the GFS (AVNI), performed *awfully* - often *double* GDMI's track error)
(Of particular embarrassment, the US's most "mainstream" forecast model, the GFS (AVNI), performed *awfully* - often *double* GDMI's track error)
November 5, 2025 at 2:18 PM
More of this type of AI application, please.
This 10-year-old piece, which contains the memorable line “he doesn't just have skeletons in his closet, he hangs up his shirts in an ossuary” was crucial for me in articulating why the Corbynist view of foreign policy is so terrible. thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Last House On The Left: Following Jeremy Corbyn's Campaign Trail | The Quietus
All pictures Samantha Hayley A couple of weeks before the election, a Conservative campaign poster appeared on the billboard by the main road, round the corner from my flat. It boasted of the strength...
thequietus.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:16 PM
This 10-year-old piece, which contains the memorable line “he doesn't just have skeletons in his closet, he hangs up his shirts in an ossuary” was crucial for me in articulating why the Corbynist view of foreign policy is so terrible. thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
Reposted by Margaret Harris
If we're starting another quantum hype cycle, I need people to understand that there are pretty much just two practical problems we *know* have an exponential speedup on a quantum computer. These are:
1. Breaking the internet
2. Being quantum
A few other problems have a smaller speedup, or none
1. Breaking the internet
2. Being quantum
A few other problems have a smaller speedup, or none
November 4, 2025 at 7:26 AM
If we're starting another quantum hype cycle, I need people to understand that there are pretty much just two practical problems we *know* have an exponential speedup on a quantum computer. These are:
1. Breaking the internet
2. Being quantum
A few other problems have a smaller speedup, or none
1. Breaking the internet
2. Being quantum
A few other problems have a smaller speedup, or none
Reposted by Margaret Harris
If you have a loved one who's been "doing their own research" on TikTok (or, really, anywhere) about whether the Earth is round, you could try showing them this article instead. ⚛️🧪🔭 physicsworld.com/a/fighting-f...
Fighting flat-Earth theory – Physics World
Rachel Brazil explores ways in which the physics community can best combat unscientific thinking, such as the belief the Earth is flat
physicsworld.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:22 PM
If you have a loved one who's been "doing their own research" on TikTok (or, really, anywhere) about whether the Earth is round, you could try showing them this article instead. ⚛️🧪🔭 physicsworld.com/a/fighting-f...
All credit for this great story on fun new things to do with a BEC to @physicsworld.bsky.social student contributor @lelezeik.bsky.social, by the way! 🧪⚛️
October 31, 2025 at 2:08 PM
All credit for this great story on fun new things to do with a BEC to @physicsworld.bsky.social student contributor @lelezeik.bsky.social, by the way! 🧪⚛️
If you’ve ever tried mixing oil & water, you’ll understand how the Rayleigh-Taylor instability develops. The fluids separate, forming an interface that does weird things if poked in the right way.
Turns out the same thing happens when the fluids are #quantum. 🧪⚛️
physicsworld.com/a/quantum-fl...
Turns out the same thing happens when the fluids are #quantum. 🧪⚛️
physicsworld.com/a/quantum-fl...
Quantum fluids mix like oil and water – Physics World
Rayleigh-Taylor instability responsible for mushroom clouds appears in a two-component BEC
physicsworld.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 PM
If you’ve ever tried mixing oil & water, you’ll understand how the Rayleigh-Taylor instability develops. The fluids separate, forming an interface that does weird things if poked in the right way.
Turns out the same thing happens when the fluids are #quantum. 🧪⚛️
physicsworld.com/a/quantum-fl...
Turns out the same thing happens when the fluids are #quantum. 🧪⚛️
physicsworld.com/a/quantum-fl...
Reposted by Margaret Harris
A halloween cartoon for @newscientist.com
October 31, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A halloween cartoon for @newscientist.com
Assuming she actually exists and isn’t a figment of a scammer’s imagination, I feel sorry for Canadian Margaret Harris. But at least she chose the email of Nosy Journalist Margaret Harris rather than Criminal Hacker Margaret Harris when she was setting up her eBay account!
October 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Assuming she actually exists and isn’t a figment of a scammer’s imagination, I feel sorry for Canadian Margaret Harris. But at least she chose the email of Nosy Journalist Margaret Harris rather than Criminal Hacker Margaret Harris when she was setting up her eBay account!
Yes, this seems like the best way forward – with apologies to the 62-year-old Margaret Harris in [street and number redacted] Owen Sound, Ontario, who’s unfortunately going to discover her account doesn’t exist when she tries to check on that blue button-down dress she was hoping to sell.
October 30, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Yes, this seems like the best way forward – with apologies to the 62-year-old Margaret Harris in [street and number redacted] Owen Sound, Ontario, who’s unfortunately going to discover her account doesn’t exist when she tries to check on that blue button-down dress she was hoping to sell.