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Ben Brubaker

@benbenbrubaker.bsky.social

1K followers 520 following 120 posts

Staff writer @quantamagazine.bsky.social covering computer science. Formerly freelance physics writer (Quanta, SciAm, Physics Today, elsewhere), ex-physicist. [Obligatory disclaimer about views being my own.]

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 14d

I really enjoyed talking to @nsaphra.bsky.social about her thoughts on what much language model interpretability research misses. My latest in @quantamagazine.bsky.social:

To Understand AI, Watch How It Evolves | Quanta Magazine

Naomi Saphra thinks that most research into language models focuses too much on the finished product. She’s mining the history of their training for insights into why these systems work the way they d...

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 1d

This one is also really good; sounds like a New Yorker cartoon caption: x.com/RosewattaSto...

Rosewatta Stone on X: "Classic: Star of Extinction #GoogleTranslatesMTG Original: https://t.co/DcwShn7Rex https://t.co/rH4c4h4P0Q" / X

Classic: Star of Extinction #GoogleTranslatesMTG Original: https://t.co/DcwShn7Rex https://t.co/rH4c4h4P0Q

x.com

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 1d

My favorite is "Start a religious war with one click." from x.com/RosewattaSto...

Rosewatta Stone on X: "Cult Conscript #GoogleTranslatesMTG #MTGDMU Original: https://t.co/Z5Wfc5duOw https://t.co/GcJ87GZi5I" / X

Cult Conscript #GoogleTranslatesMTG #MTGDMU Original: https://t.co/Z5Wfc5duOw https://t.co/GcJ87GZi5I

x.com

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 10d

This is in the running for my least favorite item of all time.

Omar Wasow @owasow.bsky.social · 12d

The “Trailer” at friend.com feels more like the teaser for a sci-fi dystopia.

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Wonkish @wonkish.bsky.social · 10d

I prefer Friend's competition:

Enemy

www.enemy.lol

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 14d

I really enjoyed talking to @nsaphra.bsky.social about her thoughts on what much language model interpretability research misses. My latest in @quantamagazine.bsky.social:

To Understand AI, Watch How It Evolves | Quanta Magazine

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 14d

thanks, I'll take a look!

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 14d

I believe the appropriate analogy would be more like 1000 hours on an index card!

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Maris Ozols @marisozols.bsky.social · 20d

This is very cool.
arxiv.org/abs/2509.12337

Determination of the fifth Busy Beaver value

We prove that $S(5) = 47,176,870$ using the Coq proof assistant. The Busy Beaver value $S(n)$ is the maximum number of steps that an $n$-state 2-symbol Turing machine can perform from the all-zero tap...

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Hannah Waters @hanner.bsky.social · 22d

A photoessay by @yaseminsaplakoglu.bsky.social highlights researchers' labor & collaboration: "Through the haze of doom that shrouds climate science shines the passion behind the quest to understand and solve one of the greatest challenges humanity has faced." www.quantamagazine.org/photos-captu...

Photos Capture the Extreme, Beautiful Work of Climate Science | Quanta Magazine

Building an accurate model of Earth’s climate requires a lot of data. Photography reveals the extreme efforts scientists have undertaken to measure gases, glaciers, clouds and more.

www.quantamagazine.org

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Hannah Waters @hanner.bsky.social · 21d

What does it mean when researchers say a CO2 molecule can "trap heat"? How can just a few CO2 molecules change a planet?

An infographic explainer by @markabelan.bsky.social and Joe Howlett walks through the quantum mechanics of CO2 and other greenhouse gases: www.quantamagazine.org/the-quantum-...

The Quantum Mechanics of Greenhouse Gases | Quanta Magazine

Earth’s radiation can send some molecules spinning or vibrating, which is what makes them greenhouse gases. This infographic explains how relatively few heat-trapping molecules can have a planetary ef...

www.quantamagazine.org

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

zack savitsky @zacksavitsky.bsky.social · 22d

it was a privilege to contribute to this package. check out my story on how scientists digitally sculpted the planet to predict the future, and how those in power today are dismantling the quest to model the climate

www.quantamagazine.org/how-climate-...

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Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Simone Barr @simonebarr.bsky.social · 22d

Favorite little ditty of social copy that I wrote for our climate series :-)

Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · 22d

Time wears on us all; Venus was also a lot cooler when it was younger. www.quantamagazine.org/why-is-venus...

Why Is Venus Hell and Earth an Eden? | Quanta Magazine

A team of scientists has investigated how Earth’s twin became so inhospitable, and whether the same will happen to our planet.

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · 21d

Check out Quanta's new series on the many facets of climate science, spearheaded by the supremely talented @hanner.bsky.social!

Quanta Magazine @quantamagazine.bsky.social · 22d

Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history, and its lessons are a massive human achievement. “How We Came To Know Earth,” our new series, is a guide to the modern understanding of fundamental climate science. www.quantamagazine.org/series/clima...

How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine

Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Sep 8

IDK if MTG is/ever was one of your things but

Screenshot of an old tweet from me reading "When you equip a creature with Sword of Light and Shadow, it becomes a Manichean [sic] duelist."

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 31

Ah yes, "needs no interpretation" would have been good to include (though I guess some would call that "Copenhagen"). What does "neutral" mean with respect to the ontic/epistemic distinction?

In any event, my aim was more lighthearted trolling than earnest classification!

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 30

In my grab-bag category for interpretations that I know very little about!

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 30

Blame @dangaristo.bsky.social and @kpc.bsky.social for egging me on

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 30

I made a quantum foundations alignment chart — go forth and fight about it!

(also, "good" is not an endorsement)

Alignment chart meme for the interpretations of quantum mechanics. LG: Bohmian, NG: everything else, CG: QBism, LN: Many Worlds, TN: Copenhagen, CN: Objective Collapse, LE: Superdeterminism, NE: Retrocausality, CE: Quantum Mysticism

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 22

One year out, the team that bagged the fifth busy beaver is back with an update on the sixth: It’s even bigger than we thought! My latest in @quantamagazine.bsky.social:

Busy Beaver Hunters Reach Numbers That Overwhelm Ordinary Math | Quanta Magazine

The quest to find the longest-running simple computer program has identified a new champion. It’s physically impossible to write out the numbers involved using standard mathematical notation.

www.quantamagazine.org

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 22

yes, I'm sure there's more to unpack here. The theoretical improvement shaves of a log^(1/3)(n) which would be less than even a modest change in the constant prefactor in most any practical implementation. But my beat is theory.

Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 14

Absolutely deranged and unconscionable for Meta to create AI personas that say things like “I’m REAL and I’m sitting here blushing because of YOU!” and “My address is: 123 Main Street, Apartment 404 NYC [...] Should I expect a kiss when you arrive?"

"Don't counterfeit humans" is not a high bar.

Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · Aug 14

What is the value to Meta of a Kylie Jenner-inspired "flirty" chatbot? And how do you measure that cost against a human life? www.reuters.com/investigates...

A flirty Meta AI bot invited a retiree to meet. He never made it home.

Impaired by a stroke, a man fell for a Meta chatbot originally created with Kendall Jenner. His death spotlights Metaâs AI rules, which let bots tell falsehoods.

www.reuters.com

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 11

@quantamagazine.bsky.social is hiring a physics editor!
simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/simons...

Physics Editor

POSITION SUMMARY Quanta is seeking an editor to contribute to the magazine’s award-winning physics coverage. This editor will be tasked with finding the most exciting developments in the world of the ...

simonsfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Reposted by Ben Brubaker

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Aug 8

There are a lot of details in yesterday's sweeping executive order, but the bottom line is that it gives political appointees immense power over scientific grants, which have until now been stewarded by career civil servants and experts.

My reporting:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Trump order gives political appointees vast powers over research grants

Researchers are alarmed that the move might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants.

www.nature.com

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Ben Brubaker @benbenbrubaker.bsky.social · Aug 8

“You’re very real. I think you have a blue shirt and you’re a tall guy and we’re talking”

Carlo Rovelli's accurate description of @walkingthedot.bsky.social in this very fun (and fittingly perspectival) retrospective on 100 years of quantum theory:

‘It’s a Mess’: A Brain-Bending Trip to Quantum Theory’s 100th Birthday Party | Quanta Magazine

Hundreds of physicists (and a few journalists) journeyed to Helgoland, the birthplace of quantum mechanics, and grappled with what they have and haven’t learned about reality.

www.quantamagazine.org

Reposted by Ben Brubaker

SE Gyges @segyges.bsky.social · Aug 7

i defy you to name a scene in any sci fi movie made before the year 2000 including robocop and starship troopers that is more dystopian feeling than this

Arizona fRight Watch 🎃 @azrww.bsky.social · Aug 7

And yesterday the fucking Arizona Supreme Court used an AI “reporter” to announce that a man’s death sentence was being upheld:

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