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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample
@iansample.bsky.social
1.8K followers 130 following 74 posts
Guardian Science Editor and co-host at Science Weekly. Author of Massive | Sony Gold Award | PhD in Biomedical Materials https://www.theguardian.com/profile/iansample
www.theguardian.com
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Reposted by Ian Sample
hazelcheeseman.bsky.social
Hazel Cheeseman @hazelcheeseman.bsky.social · 12d
Great article from @iansample.bsky.social. Starts with info on the significant harms to oral health from smoking and moves on to give nuanced assessment of the more limited evidence on vaping. If all coverage was like this then a majority of Brits would not think that vaping was as bad as smoking.
ashorguk.bsky.social
Action on Smoking Health (UK) @ashorguk.bsky.social · 12d
There's been a few articles this week about vaping and oral health. This excellent article sets out the facts and crucially also highlights the extreme damage that smoking does to oral health.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
What is the impact of vaping on teeth and oral health?
We look at the science behind vaping and the claims it causes tooth decay, gum disease and dry mouth
www.theguardian.com
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Reposted by Ian Sample
thehandlab.bsky.social
Nick Holmes @thehandlab.bsky.social · 12d
The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast is great, it's up there with More or Less for the best media science output.

This latest on paracetamol, vaccines & #autism is superb. Madeleine Finlay, Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social , & their production crew 👏👏👏

open.spotify.com/episode/5LRh...
Fact-checking Trump’s autism announcement
open.spotify.com
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Reposted by Ian Sample
hansonmark.bsky.social
Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 6d
Thanks @iansample.bsky.social at @theguardian.com podcast for chatting #ScientificPublishing.

This pod follows from The Strain on Scientific Publishing & reports of publisher profit margins rivalling Google etc...

Paper: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...

Pod: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...
Fraud, AI slop and huge profits: is science publishing broken?
Podcast Episode · Science Weekly · 02/10/2025 · 18m
podcasts.apple.com
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Reposted by Ian Sample
hansonmark.bsky.social
Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 6d
If you'd like to read more on this, see @iansample.bsky.social 's article.

Article: www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Paper: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
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Reposted by Ian Sample
madifinlay.bsky.social
Madeleine Finlay @madifinlay.bsky.social · 6d
The wonderful, brilliant Jane Goodall.

Global environment editor @jonathan-watts.bsky.social tells @iansample.bsky.social about Jane's revolutionary work, her tireless activism, and the powerful legacy she leaves us all.

www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
Remembering primatologist Jane Goodall – podcast
The renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has died aged 91. She will be remembered for her observations that revolutionised our understanding of chimpanzees, as well as her tireless environmental advoca...
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 22d
Putin, Xi and the obsession with radical life extension. Fascinating chat with @prof-tregoning.bsky.social and @pjotrsauer.bsky.social 🧪
With @elliebury.bsky.social
And Tom Glasser
www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
Putin’s quest for longevity – podcast
At a recent ceremony for world leaders in Beijing, a hot mic picked up a surprising exchange between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping about the possibility of living to 150. Putin suggested the secret mi...
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 27d
I have stacks of questions about how the model’s working: how is the grammar intact, why are certain words repeated, are any lowest probability? But I like it.
AI threatens to reduce human experience by steering our choices to popular ones. This is feeble, silly pushback. Or token subversion?
🤖🧠🧪
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 27d
Using least probable tokens, the answer was a hoot:

“A great city emerges through kaleidoscope sandwiches of perpetual thunder. It integrates gelatinous traffic systems of whispering algorithms. It preserves holographic fountains of magnetic jam and encourages staircases of wandering moons.”
🤖🧠🧪
iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 27d
The question I posed was: What features make a great city? The normal (most probable, single token) response highlighted the richness of a city’s culture, the diversity of its people and the strength of its public spaces.

Fair enough.

But a bit dull.
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 27d
I asked ChatGPT to emulate Least Probable Token Selection across single, double and triplet tokens. Instead of building sentences from the most probable next token(s), it chooses them from the long tail of lowest probabilities.

The results are fun.
🤖🧠🧪
iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · 27d
Accordion staircases of wandering moons

AI chatbots churn out answers by repeatedly predicting the next token, be that a word, subword or character. Building sentences from highly probable next tokens isn’t a bad way to extract consensus from language.
But it's boring.
So I had a word.
🤖🧠🧪
iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Sep 8
In case you missed it at the time - this is dark stuff.
arambaut.bsky.social
Andrew Rambaut @arambaut.bsky.social · Sep 7
Also a character in this bizarre story: www.computerweekly.com/news/3665534...
Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group | Computer Weekly
One of the world’s most prestigious general science journals, was the target of a two-year long sustained and virulent secret attack by a conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists with high-lev...
www.computerweekly.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Sep 8
Dostoevsky, bliss and the absence of prediction error between expectation and experience. Fascinating stuff from @jomarchant.bsky.social and Fabienne Picard at University Hospital Geneva 🧪

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...
Epilepsy, ecstasy and the nature of reality
Podcast Episode · Where The Wild Thoughts Are · 08/09/2025 · 35m
podcasts.apple.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Sep 7
The Prof Angus Dalgleish mentioned in this story being the one who stood for Parliament in 2015 as a member of UKIP.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Doctor uses Reform conference speech to link king’s cancer to Covid vaccine
Aseem Malhotra claimed ‘eminent oncologist’ said jab was ‘significant factor in the cancer of members of royal family’
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Sep 2
We spoke to Dr Mandy Cohen, a former director of the CDC, and journalist @melodyschreiber.com about the absolute disaster unfolding at the CDC 🧪

www.theguardian.com/science/audi...
RFK Jr and the chaos at the CDC - podcast
Science editor Ian Sample hears from health reporter Melody Schreiber and former CDC director Mandy Cohen to find out what a week of chaos at the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention could me...
www.theguardian.com
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Reposted by Ian Sample
lisaocarroll.bsky.social
Lisa O’Carroll @lisaocarroll.bsky.social · Sep 1
The Guardian has today printed the names, and where possible, images, of all the media workers killed in Gaza, as part of an international day of action involving more than 150 media organisations.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
The deadly toll on journalists in the Gaza war
With foreign media barred, Palestinians have reported alone, facing the ‘most deliberate effort to kill and silence’ them ever
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Sep 1
Huge congrats to @jomarchant.bsky.social on her new science podcast! 🧪

In the first three eps, the NYT bestselling author delves into plant cognition and potential hints of life elsewhere, and hears that there may be no laws of physics🤘

jomarchant.com/wildthoughts

youtube.com/playlist?lis...
Where the Wild Thoughts Are
jomarchant.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Aug 4
Such a ludicrously enjoyable piece from @barneyronay.bsky.social on yesterday at The Oval: www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/a...
Brook’s hoodlum hundred deserves to sit in its own brilliant square of light | Barney Ronay
An England victory on the final day against India would probably nudge his 111 as the greatest at the Oval in the modern age
www.theguardian.com
iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Aug 2
“The world is sitting back and watching a genocide being carried out.”

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
How will the UK’s recognition of Palestine help those starving in Gaza?
Podcast Episode · Today in Focus · 31/07/2025 · 28m
podcasts.apple.com
Reposted by Ian Sample
ucs.org
Union of Concerned Scientists @ucs.org · Aug 1
This made us laugh… and cry. If you felt it too, here’s one way to help two agencies in the bunker 👇
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Jul 29
This is brilliant from @lukeharding1968.bsky.social and @helenpidd.bsky.social on Ukraine under intensifying drone attacks and autocracy vs democracy:

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
Today in Focus
Daily News Podcast · Updated daily · Hosted by Michael Safi and Helen Pidd, Today in Focus brings you closer to Guardian journalism. Combining storytelling with insightful analysis and personal testim...
podcasts.apple.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Jul 26
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
The Guardian :: Senior Science Investigative Reporter
workforus.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Jul 21
A few letters came in on my piece about the state of scientific publishing. One line that leaps out: “The academic publishing market systematically diverts public research funds into shareholder profits.” 🧪

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Scientific publishing needs urgent reform to retain trust in research process | Letters
Letters: Readers respond to an article on how too many low-quality papers and journals are being churned out
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · May 15
I don’t know where to look.

From @jessicaglenza.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
RFK Jr tells Congress ‘people shouldn’t take medical advice from me’
Health secretary demurs on questions about vaccine stance and defends Republican plans to cut healthcare
www.theguardian.com
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iansample.bsky.social
Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social · Apr 29
“Today, the Trump administration senselessly took a hatchet to a crucial and comprehensive U.S. climate science report by dismissing its authors without cause or a plan.”

www.ucs.org/about/news/a...
Authors for Forthcoming Sixth National Climate Assessment Disbanded by Trump Administration
Authors of the Sixth National Climate Assessment were disbanded today by the Trump administration with a notice that the assessment is being “reevaluated.” Statement by Dr. Rachel Cleetus, a UCS exper...
www.ucs.org
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