Pallab Ghosh
@pallabg.bsky.social
3.2K followers 200 following 48 posts
I am a science correspondent for BBC News. I post mostly about science, sometimes science journalism and very occasionally, Spurs. Please share any hot stories, ideas and opinions on all three and anything else currently inspiring you.
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pallabg.bsky.social
The crew of Artemis II say they are ready to fly to the Moon "for all humanity". All four say they have been inspired by the Apollo Moon missions of the 1960s and early 1970s. 🧪https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg0kv8rq0xo
Artemis II: astronauts ready to go to Moon
Astronauts of Nasa's first crewed mission to the Moon for more than 50 years hope their journey inspires a new generation.
www.bbc.co.uk
pallabg.bsky.social
Gaps in our knowledge of ancient Rome could be filled by AI. 🧪
pallabg.bsky.social
Animals react to secret sounds from plants according to new research. The discovery suggests that there has been a hitherto unkown natural world wide web exchanging infomration between plants and insects for millions of years. 🧪https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8e4860n9rpo
Animals react to secret sounds from plants, say scientists
It opens up the possibility that an invisible ecosystem might exist between plants and animals.
www.bbc.co.uk
pallabg.bsky.social
The Wellcome Trust is to fund a controversial project to create artificial human DNA 25 years after the human genome was completed. 🧪
pallabg.bsky.social
See a new video by @esa.int of the Sun's south pole tha thas never been seen before. It is a thing of beauty and will help scientists learn more about the processes that make our closest star cycle between raging storms and quieter periods. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Solar Orbiter spacecraft snaps first images of Sun's south pole
Never before seen pictures will help scientists learn how the Sun's activity changes from stormy to quiet periods
www.bbc.co.uk
pallabg.bsky.social
The Trump-Musk row has fuelled the biggest crisis ever' at @NASA. The science budget has been cut by half and the agency’s focus is now to send astronauts to the Moon before the Chinese and to plant a US flag on Mars.🧪.
pallabg.bsky.social
No-one knows exactly how LLMs work. That's worrying Prof ‪@mpshanahan.bsky.social‬ tells BBC News: "Having a better understanding of how they work will enable us to steer them in the direction we want and to ensure that they are safe."🧪
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
pallabg.bsky.social
Prof ‪@lenoreblum.bsky.social tells @BBCNews "AI consciousness is inevitable."
Her husband Manuel says they will be the "next stage in humanity's evolution. They are our progeny and will be on Earth and maybe on other planets when we are no longer around”.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
hachi19.bsky.social
How about we come to a consensus on what the term "conscious" means First?

I have a feeling we're about to have some very serious, very ill-informed conversations about things we cannot comprehend, much less relate to in any meaningful way.
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
politicalpat.bsky.social
The problem is defining "conscious" and "sentient." Understanding language through pattern recognition, accessing memory w/o considering context/aging relevance, and learning normal human behavior still omits pain/pleasure, risk/reward, and regret. AI mimics conscious behavior but doesn't fear death
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
politicalpat.bsky.social
It's a good article - but the answer is in the opening paragraph. The author experiences organic fear - AI can't.

I can make AI mimic fear and pain with appropriate responses based on variable sensors, but it doesn't care if I send it into an endless loop, hallucination hell, or turn it off.
pallabg.bsky.social
Prof Manuel Blum tells BBC News “Conscious robots are our progeny. Down the road, machines like these will be entities that will be on Earth and maybe on other planets when we are no longer around". 🧪
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
pallabg.bsky.social
Could so brain cells grown in a lab, called organoids, become conscious? Brett Kagan of Cortical Labs tells BBCNews that it’s possible, but wannabe organoid overlords could easily be defeated by pouring bleach on them.🧪

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
pallabg.bsky.social
Scientists in a US-led project, DUNE, are ready to build their underground detector to catch up with a Japanese experiment, Hyper-K, in a race to discover why our Universe exists. 🧪
pallabg.bsky.social
Watch the launch of a mission to grow food in space to cut astronauts' food bills on @BBCNews youtu.be/9RCh1cUFf4Q?... via @YouTube 🧪
Mission to grow food in space to cut astronauts' eating bill | BBC News
YouTube video by BBC News
youtu.be
pallabg.bsky.social
A mission to boldly grow food from cells in space has been launched today to make astronaut grub not only cheaper, but tastier too! 🧪. Mission to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off www.bbc.com/news/article...
Trial to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off
The mission will explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut.
www.bbc.com
pallabg.bsky.social
Astronomers have found hints of a gas that might be produced by living organisms in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a faraway star. Watch the BBC News report. #K2-18b 🧪 youtube.com/watch?v=HjWw...
youtube.com
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
katejaneway35.bsky.social
I love physics and cosmology but sometimes their experts think a little too grandly of their quests. It's a big question if we're alone or not, but what about ground breaking work in our understanding of the human brain, which might be the only example of the cosmos knowing itself?
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
martynslater.bsky.social
Absolutely extremely rare however given the vast size of the universe, I can't find an appropriate adjective to convey the size, it will have happened else where. However given that communication is impractical, just one message could take many human lifetimes to receive, we may find proof tricky.
Reposted by Pallab Ghosh
martynslater.bsky.social
Not sure it's the biggest question. Given the number of planets it's a certain yes. Of course proving it is a very big deal though only a matter of time.