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

Gaps in our knowledge of ancient Rome could be filled by AI. 🧪

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

The Wellcome Trust is to fund a controversial project to create artificial human DNA 25 years after the human genome was completed. 🧪

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...

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.🧪.

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...

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...

1/ Great perspective by @pallabg.bsky.social on the prospects for 'conscious AI' - featuring @davidchalmers.bsky.social, Murray Shanahan, @lenoreblum.bsky.social Manuel Blum, Brett Kagan, & me among others. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

3/ @pallabg.bsky.social's piece refers to our "Dreamachine" experiments at @SussexUni. It's worth clarifying that there are not the same as the public Dreamahine programme. I was the lead scientist for the latter, but it was led by Collective Act dreamachine.world

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.

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

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.

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...

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...

Lovely to be paired up with the legendary @pallabg.bsky.social!

Are AI systems on the verge of becoming conscious? If so, what should we do?🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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. 🧪

Watch the launch of a mission to grow food in space to cut astronauts' food bills on @BBCNews youtu.be/9RCh1cUFf4Q?... via @YouTube 🧪

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...

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...

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?

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.

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.

What is the lilklihood of finding life on other worlds and what will it do to teh human psyche? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wow! Are we about to answer the biggest question in science: are we alone in the Universe? Researchers have found promising hints of life on a distant planet orbiting a faraway star. 🧪

The mysterious force called Dark Energy, which drives the expansion of the Universe, might be changing in a way that challenges our current understanding of time and space. 🧪

The UK's Food Standards Agency aiming to speed up the approvals process for lab grown food. That's great news for the companies making the food who say they have been falling behind competitors in other countries. 🧪https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ern1zjkvyo

Gotta start small. Is Jeff Goldblum involved?

Why do we need mammoths? Why couldn't far too cute fluffy mice be the end goal in itself?

We have develpment of a woolly mouse as a step to creating a mammoth like creature by gentically modifying elephants. The firm involved, Colossal Biosciences say they can do it in five years, but the development and claim has bought considerable criticsm and concern.🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

With threats to GPS increasing quantum scientists @qepnt_hub and @npl say its now time to change time with a new, portable version of gps with each of us carrying our own miniaturised atomic clocks.

Loved seeing @astronomyedinburgh.bsky.social President Mark Phillips & neighbours on the 10pm BBC News last night, complemented by @robertmassey.bsky.social & some high-tech planet graphics. Thanks so much @pallabg.bsky.social for encouraging everyone to look up at the #PlanetaryParade! 🔭 #scicomm

A wonderful, heartfelt tribute to the Guardian’s former Science Editor, Tim Radford who has recently passed away, by his friend and Hon President of the ABSW Roger Highfield www.absw.org.uk/articles/tim...

I’m so sorry to hear the sad news that my fellow science journalist Tim Radford, formerly of the Guardian, has passed away. He wrote with beauty and he acted always with kindness. R.I.P. Tim. I shall miss you.

Nasa needs saving from itself. But is billionaire Jared Isaacman the right person to do the job? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Following yesterday's report from the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, this in-depth article from BBC Science Correspondent @pallabg.bsky.social showcases the vast potential, and industrial applications, of #engineeringbiology. #synbio #biotech 🧪

The BBC investigates the urgent need to invest in #bioengineering with a feature on remarkable research at the University of Edinburgh. A new House of Lords report says Labour recommitting to the 2023 National Vision for #EngineeringBiology would make a huge difference to the UK. buff.ly/42bwVbx

Researchers can now turn grease from sewers into perfume, plastic bottles into vnailla essence and sugar into handbags, using a technology called engineering biology. Britain led the way in the field. But sadly, not any more. :-(. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A new DNA test is being used on thousands of bones from Anglo-Saxon burial sites to shed new light on Britain’s history. 🧪 www.bbc.com/news/article...

New research shows modern humans leaving Africa went extinct multiple times and they may have been helped to survive by interbreeding with Neanderthals - whose may have impimproved our immune system, healing, focus and ability to be morning people! 🧪https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydgyy8120o

A Christmas galaxy! #FireflySparkle 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🧪Something BIG is coming very soon to @bbcnews.bsky.social

There's a BIG space story coming up later today on @bbcnews.bsky.social, TV, radio and online.

Tomorrow night will see one of the Astronomical highlights of the year, Jupiter at opposition. It's absolute brightest appearance. 🔭 🧪

NASA delays astronaut flight around the Moon. 🔭 🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Dr Simeon Barber @OpenUniversity: “Isaacman is going to bring a new pair of eyes over how Nasa operates. And it's hard to predict what this combination of Isaacman, Musk and Trump might mean for Nasa as we know it." www.bbc.com/news/article...

"SLS is an old-school rocket. It is not reusable like Starship, hence very expensive, and it has taken a long time to get it operational. And slow and expensive is a precarious position to be in when the incoming president, we expect, is looking to save costs” - Dr Simeon Barber @Openuniversity.

What @Nasa’s latest delay to it’s plans to land astronauts on the Moon means for the Agency. It comes just after criticism of its public sector funded rocket and the nomination of a private sector billionaire as the agency’s new chief.🧪

Two sets of footprints made within hours of each other at Koobi Fora; Homo erectus and Paranthropus, researchers suggest. www.science.org/content/arti...