Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 4h

Over at @naturepodcast.bsky.social we also made a super short vid on this year's physics Nobel Prize. Quantum phenomena at the macroscopic scale in two minutes... go! With me, and Ben Thompson & camera work by the fab @emzywb.bsky.social 🧪⚛️

www.youtube.com/shorts/krita...

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Reposted by Elizabeth Gibney

Davide Castelvecchi @castelvecchi.bsky.social · 23h

John Martinis’ wife didn’t wake him in the middle of the night (California time) to tell him he had won a Nobel. “I got up a little bit before 6. Then I opened my computer and saw John and Michel’s and my pictures."
Story by @lizziegibney.bsky.social and me

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Groundbreaking quantum-tunnelling experiments win physics Nobel

John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis discovered quantum physics on a macroscopic scale, paving the way for quantum computing.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 2d

Have you heard loads about "AI agents", but have little idea what they are, what they can do for researchers and whether to believe the hype? Then this is for you! 🧪🤖https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03246-7

A scientist’s guide to AI agents — how could they help your research?

Researchers are increasingly turning to artificial-intelligence tools that can handle complex, multi-step processes.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 6d

Is there a reason we picked this slightly terrifying still? 🤣

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 9d

Nature's news team is now recruiting for our paid US intern position for January to June 2026. It's a great opportunity to come join our team & publish important stories 🧪
Apply by 16 Oct springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...

News Intern, Nature News

Job Title: News Intern, Nature News Location: Washington, D.C or New York — Hybrid Working Application Deadline: October 15, 2025 About Springer Nature Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers...

springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 12d

I'm sure there's valuable science in there but experts I consulted were not super convinced by the paper (why does it work better with noise? Why didn't they compare to the best available classical algo?) We won't cover it. Alas others already have&without outside comment www.ft.com/content/d9d4...

HSBC claims quantum trading breakthrough

Europe’s largest lender tested a tool developed by IBM on bond market data

www.ft.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 12d

I was going to post a rant about the perils of quantum computing hype, following the claim by #HSBC & #IBM that they have improved bond market predictions using a QC, but instead I will just link to Scott Aaronson's blog which says it all scottaaronson.blog?p=9170 🧪⚛️ cc @bullshitquantum.bsky.social

HSBC unleashes yet another “qombie”: a zombie claim of quantum advantage that isn’t

Today, I got email after email asking me to comment on a new paper from HSBC—yes, the bank—together with IBM. The paper claims to use a quantum computer to get a 34% advantage in predic…

scottaaronson.blog

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 15d

Also read @helenpearson.bsky.social & @heidiledford.bsky.social's excellent story unpicking the origins of Trump's paracetamol/autism claims www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This quote sums it up: "We do not think that taking acetaminophen is in any way contributing to actually causing autism"

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 20d

And here's Nature's take on why more AI developers should follow suit and put their LLMs through the peer review wringer. The process is far from perfect, but it seems a valuable counterbalance against AI hype and good for clarity & safety www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Bring us your LLMs: why peer review is good for AI models

Deepseek’s R1 model has been peer reviewed. Others should follow the firm’s example.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 20d

The paper is here -- and kudos to #deepseek for going through the peer review process for such a cutting edge, general model www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The peer review exchanges with 8 external experts (linked from the paper) are well worth a read

DeepSeek-R1 incentivizes reasoning in LLMs through reinforcement learning - Nature

A new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-R1, is introduced, demonstrating that the reasoning abilities of large language models can be incentivized through pure reinforcement learning, removing t...

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 20d

Remember DeepSeek's R1 model that crashed the US stock market in Jan? DeepSeek has said it did not boost the model by training on OpenAI outputs. This and much more (eg $$ to train & technical details) revealed in the firm's peer reviewed paper out in Nature today 🧪🤖 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Secrets of DeepSeek AI model revealed in landmark paper

First peer reviewed study shows how a Chinese start-up firm made the market-shaking LLM for US$300,000.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 27d

The top line is we're never going to get rid of hallucinations as it's just the way LLMs are built: they're not understanding, they're guessing based on stats. But maybe LLMs can be better fine-tuned to sound less confident, so humans aren't so taken in by them & use them more appropriately?

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · 27d

ICYMI, this week I wrote about GPT-5 and the effort to stop LLMs from hallucinating, as well as saying they've done tasks they haven't. With web search to verify facts, finding citations is getting a lot better. But as soon as it's off, things can still go very wonky🧪🤖 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Can researchers stop AI making up citations?

OpenAI’s GPT-5 hallucinates less than previous models do, but cutting hallucination completely might prove impossible.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Aug 21

My colleague Traci wrote a piece about what preprint servers are doing to try to tackle this. It sounds like a very gnarly problem www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI content is tainting preprints: how moderators are fighting back

Preprint servers are seeing a rise in submissions seemingly produced by paper mills or with help from AI tools.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Aug 7

OpenAI's new open-weight #AI model looks to be a powerful reasoner. It's small enough to use locally and they've done loads to make it available.

But has it entered the game too late to become the go-to for researchers? Do ping me if you're trying it out!

www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🤖🧪

OpenAI launches reasoning LLM that you can download and tweak

One version of the gpt-oss large language model can run on a laptop, and performs nearly as well as the company’s most powerful models.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Aug 5

Hey quantum fans. Here's a slightly different #quantum survey from my mind-boggling one on interpretations, but seems important! This group hopes to understand how to help quantum scientists to stay in the field & thrive. If you have time, you can fill it out here👇 www.diviq.org/survey 🧪⚛️

Global Quantum Needs Assessment Survey — Diversity In Quantum

www.diviq.org

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

Oh & THERE'S A QUIZ! In the vein of "what Spice Girl are you?" from a 90s issue of Bliss, just answer a few questions (in the story www.nature.com/articles/d41...) & we will tell you which quantum interpretation you are (& do let me know which one you think correlates with which spice girl 😂)

Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows

First major attempt to chart researchers’ views finds interpretations in conflict.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

Please read, share and disagree with my write up in the spirit of Bohr, Einstein and the best in quantum physics 😃All the data is also available to download, if you'd like to analyse it yourself.

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

Thanks also to the organisers of the Helgoland2025 conference who helped distribute the survey, to the +1,100 people who kindly responded & to editor extraordinaire @richvn.bsky.social, who learned far more about quantum foundations than he ever wished to & it would have been impossible without 🙏

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

We asked a bunch more in-depth questions in a survey crafted in consultation with experts @fdlevi.bsky.social @seanmcarroll.bsky.social @philipcball.bsky.social Renato Renner & Elise Crull, to whom I am extremely grateful (& who all put up with me badgering them repeatedly over the last few months)

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

I found it fascinating to unpack how there is so much disagreement, given that everyone is working with the same equations. As Renner put it, each interpretation has its faults & the price someone is willing to pay comes down to something personal. “It’s a very deeply emotional thing,” he says.

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

But epistemic approaches, which say quantum states capture information or knowledge rather than anything real, seem to be growing in prominence at 17% (+4% for @rovelli.bsky.social's relational quantum mechanics). "Many worlds" had a strong following at 15% & lots of folk had their own explanations

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

It may be no surprise to some, but we found there exists a LOT of disagreement, even among the most eminent in the field, about what quantum mechanics means for reality. The survey revealed that 36% of respondents favourite the traditional Copenhagen interpretation (particularly experimentalists)

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 30

This year quantum physics turns 100, so @nature.com decided to conduct the biggest ever survey of what lies behind it. Do physicists really believe in multiple universes? Can influences happen instantaneously? Is the Copenhagen interpretation all it's cut out to be? ⚛️🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows

First major attempt to chart researchers’ views finds interpretations in conflict.

www.nature.com

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Elizabeth Gibney @lizziegibney.bsky.social · Jul 26

The Thirty Meter Telescope — long planned to be built in Hawaii but now with its US funding on the chopping block — could be given a new lease of life in Spain, following a government bid to host at the telescope on La Palma. Will the TMT board accept?
🧪🔭 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Spain bids €400 million to host mega telescope at risk in US budget cuts

New Canary Islands home could save controversial Thirty Meter Telescope first proposed for Hawaii.

www.nature.com

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