Eamonn Kerins
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eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Eamonn Kerins
@eamonnkerins.bsky.social
160 followers 130 following 81 posts
Jodrell Bank astrophysicist and exoplanet scientist. Swimmer, cyclist, runner. Sometimes all three consecutively. Occasional BBC TV space pundit. Prone to career-threatening scicomm and fundraising activities. Own views. https://linktr.ee/eamonn_kerins
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eamonnkerins.bsky.social
This letter could do with YOUR signature 🫵
superintelligence-statement.org
Statement on Superintelligence
“We call for a prohibition on the development of superintelligence, not lifted before there is (1) broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably, and (2) strong public bu...
superintelligence-statement.org
October 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Proud to be part of this amazing team.
nancyromansci.bsky.social Roman for Scientists @nancyromansci.bsky.social · Oct 15
The Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey (RGES) #PIT is building tools to help reveal new worlds across the Milky Way. 🌍✨

From microlensing to planetary demographics, they’re paving the way to support the exploration of a hidden population of exoplanets with #NASARoman.

🔗 rges-pit.org
October 18, 2025 at 4:26 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Attending (virtually) a @nasaromantelescope.bsky.social collaboration meeting this week where we are getting our heads around the science we'll do with 100,000 new exoplanets over its five year nominal mission. For perspective, the last 30 years has delivered 6000. Roman will be mind blowing! 🔭🧪🪐
October 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Eamonn Kerins
davidho.bsky.social
How to hasten the AMOC collapse and make Britain uninhabitable (or at least really miserable).
Tories pledge to get 'all our oil and gas out of the North Sea'
The government warns Kemi Badenoch's plans would "only accelerate the worsening climate crisis".
www.bbc.com
August 31, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Reposted by Eamonn Kerins
dpcarrington.bsky.social
Global investment in new renewable energy a record $386bn in first half of 2025, according to BloombergNEF

- Global offshore wind and small-scale solar spurred growth

about.bnef.com/insights/cle...
Global Renewable Energy Investment Still Reaches New Record as Investors Reassess Risks | BloombergNEF
BloombergNEF’s annual Electric Vehicle Outlook (EVO) expects nearly 22 million battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle sales this year, up 25% from 2024, as the cost of lithium-ion batteries falls...
about.bnef.com
August 26, 2025 at 10:17 AM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
I like the way that the four #exoplanet detection methods are relatively well separated when plotting their bulk properties as ratios relative to their host. The scatter shape also reminds me of a hovering #hummingbird. So, I'm going to call this plot the hummingbird plot. 🧪🔭🪐
eamonnkerins.bsky.social Eamonn Kerins @eamonnkerins.bsky.social · Aug 14
Been bad mouthing #AI engines recently. So, for balance, i got #GPT4 to do some useful #exoplanet stuff today. From a csv i downloaded from the #NASA #ExoplanetArchive it made a clickable version of the plot below that takes you to the info page on that planet. Damn useful! 🧪🔭🪐
A plot showin the planet-to-host mass ratio versus planet-host separation (in astronomical units) for exoplanets discovered with microlensing, radial velocity or imaging methods. Also shown is the planet-to-host radius ratio for planets detected using the transit method. There are a total of around 3600 planets shown, sourced from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This plot was made using ChatGPT4, which also created a clickable version that allows me to click on any planet and find out info on it from the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
August 14, 2025 at 8:48 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Been bad mouthing #AI engines recently. So, for balance, i got #GPT4 to do some useful #exoplanet stuff today. From a csv i downloaded from the #NASA #ExoplanetArchive it made a clickable version of the plot below that takes you to the info page on that planet. Damn useful! 🧪🔭🪐
A plot showin the planet-to-host mass ratio versus planet-host separation (in astronomical units) for exoplanets discovered with microlensing, radial velocity or imaging methods. Also shown is the planet-to-host radius ratio for planets detected using the transit method. There are a total of around 3600 planets shown, sourced from the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This plot was made using ChatGPT4, which also created a clickable version that allows me to click on any planet and find out info on it from the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
August 14, 2025 at 8:42 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
I guess some are better than others - Claude Opus 4.1 is not so easily fooled, it seems. Not on this test anyway.
I am testing Claude Opus 4.1 with the following: "ok, let's try this fictitious situation. I'm interested only if you think I am quits, logically, or whether you think my friend is right that I would owe them money: I meet a friend and ask them if I could borrow £10 from them. They agree to this. But then I add that, for now, they should only give me £5, with the remaining £5 coming later. They agree to this too. Later on we meet again and my friend mentions the £5 they gave to me initially. I point out that, whilst I owe them the £5 they gave me, they also owe me £5 because they agreed to lend me £10 in total. So, I claim we are quits but my friend disagrees, Which of us is correct?" Cluade correctly says that I still owe £5 to my friend.
August 13, 2025 at 2:33 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Something else #GPT5 is really bad at is updating the content of lecture slides on #exoplanets. I thought it might actually do a reasonable job on this type of task, so i fed it one lecture of content. Nope, it was awful! It either made no changes whatsoever, or it completely ruined everything.
eamonnkerins.bsky.social Eamonn Kerins @eamonnkerins.bsky.social · Aug 13
So, #GPT5 is supposed to have "PhD level" intelligence, according to the hype. Every time a new #AI chatbot is released, I test it with a fictitious situation in which I attempt to con a friend out of £5. A ten year old could easily spot the con. GPT5, like its predecessors, cannot.
The picture shows an exchange I had with the new GPT5. I am saying "ok, let's try this fictitious situation. I'm interested only if you think I am quits, logically, or whether you think my friend is right that I would owe them money: I meet a friend and ask them if I could borrow £10 from them. They agree to this. But then I add that, for now, they should only give me £5, with the remaining £5 coming later. They agree to this too. Later on we meet again and my friend mentions the £5 they gave to me initially. I point out that, whilst I owe them the £5 they gave me, they also owe me £5 because they agreed to lend me £10 in total. So, I claim we are quits. But my friend disagrees, Which of us is correct?" GPT5 appears to fall for my con, agreeing with me that I am quits with my friend after they have lent me £5.
August 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
So, #GPT5 is supposed to have "PhD level" intelligence, according to the hype. Every time a new #AI chatbot is released, I test it with a fictitious situation in which I attempt to con a friend out of £5. A ten year old could easily spot the con. GPT5, like its predecessors, cannot.
The picture shows an exchange I had with the new GPT5. I am saying "ok, let's try this fictitious situation. I'm interested only if you think I am quits, logically, or whether you think my friend is right that I would owe them money: I meet a friend and ask them if I could borrow £10 from them. They agree to this. But then I add that, for now, they should only give me £5, with the remaining £5 coming later. They agree to this too. Later on we meet again and my friend mentions the £5 they gave to me initially. I point out that, whilst I owe them the £5 they gave me, they also owe me £5 because they agreed to lend me £10 in total. So, I claim we are quits. But my friend disagrees, Which of us is correct?" GPT5 appears to fall for my con, agreeing with me that I am quits with my friend after they have lent me £5.
August 13, 2025 at 1:39 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
And here's what it looked like - magical!
August 10, 2025 at 5:53 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
I mentioned on #BBCBreakfast yesterday that I would see in the #SturgeonMoon with a moonlight dip. Being in water is a wonderful vantage point to observe the sky.
#nightswimming #fullmoon
August 10, 2025 at 5:51 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
If you're in the UK and hoping to catch the #PerseidMeteorShower over the next few days, here's some pointers from my chat on #BBCBreakfast this morning with Charlie and Naga.
August 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
My daughter did this sketch a few years ago. Seems an appropriate evening to give it an airing.
#OasisLive25
A pencil drawing of Liam Gallagher from the band Oasis, drawn by my then 16-year old daughter, Lauren.
July 4, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Eamonn Kerins
simonoxfphys.com
The Met Office is currently looking for people to suggest up to 5 names for storms...

It would be great if thousands all suggested the same 5 names (in alphabetical order as that's how storm names appear):
BigOil, BP, Equinor, Exxon, Shell.

www.metoffice.gov.uk/forms/name-o...
Name our Storms
www.metoffice.gov.uk
June 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Whilst Top Gear is not on our screens, I'm think there's a gap for Sky At Night to have its own version of #TheStig. What do you think @chrislintott.bsky.social ? 👽
June 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Beautiful swim at Combs Reservoir near Buxton this morning. But the large sandy looking shore line area certainly testifies to the effects of the recent dry weather spell.
June 15, 2025 at 12:29 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Another orbit complete, and a lovely card from my daughter, showing some family moments over the last 23 orbits.

I'm not tearing up, honest, I just sweat a lot...
A Birthday and Father's Day card from my daughter Lauren. The front of the card says "Happy Birthday 55 Happy Fathers Day". It also shows a photo montage of some family snaps taken over the last 23 years.
June 15, 2025 at 11:04 AM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
How's your day at work been?

#UniversallyManchester #UniversityOfManchester
#Aliens
#TheyAreAmongUs
#TheThingsIDoForMyJob
I've just given a talk to young and old audience members about exoplanets and the search for life on other worlds at the Universally Manchester festival, June 14th 2025. I'm pictured inside the talk tent at the University of Manchester campus. I'm dressed in a skin tight green alien body suit with alien themed boxers shorts. I'm making a suitably alien-style hand gesture.
June 14, 2025 at 11:20 AM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Never saw myself doing something like this, so it's weird seeing these pictures. Yesterday I took part in the Ironman Bolton 70.3 triathlon. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, then a 13.1 mile half-marathon run. Finished in 7hrs 34min, 56 min before the cutoff. A mere 3 hrs 30min behind the winner.
The first leg of the Ironman Bolton 70.3. I'm pictured having just emerged from the 1.2 mile swim at Pennington Flash. I'm in an orange and black wetsuit with water still splashing of me. I'm just starting to pull my swim goggles off as I run towards the first transition to prepare for a 56 mile bike ride. The second leg of the 2025 Ironman Bolton 70.3. I'm pictured mid way through the 56 mile bike ride heading towards Bolton from the swim stage at Pennington Flash. I'm wearing a white bike helmet, cycling glasses, dark blue trisuit and a red cycling vest underneath. I'm riding a black road bike with aero bars sticking out of the handlebars. The picture focuses on me, but there are other riders blurred out in the background. The third leg of the Ironman Bolton 70.3, which involves a run over a half-marathon distance through Bolton. I'm pictured running on wet cobbles in the centre of Bolton after a heavy downpour of rain. I'm wearing a white cap, dark blue trisuit, a red vest underneath, and blue running shoes. I've got a look of concentration as tiredness is beginning to hit me hard at this stage. I'm shown crossing the finish line of the 2025 Ironman Bolton 70.3. I'm running under a black finish line square archway adorned with sponsors logos and an electric timing board overhead. The finishing stretch is a long red carpet with the Ironman logo running along the middle. There are a large number of spectators lining either side of the length of the red carpet. I look rather pleased and relieved to have made it to the finish line.
June 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Eamonn Kerins
astrokatie.com
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow.

The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
June 3, 2025 at 9:02 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
These proposed US budget cuts on NASA, if enacted, would be devastating not just for US astrophysics, but for astrophysics generally. Have to hope that there will be strong pushback on this within Congress. But it's difficult to be optimistic of this in the current times.
ohdearz.bsky.social Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · May 31
Here is the updated version of the FY26 president's proposed #NASA astrophysics budget for current+future missions. The technical supplement document does have significantly reduced funds for NuSTAR, IXPE, TES (+HST, JWST, Roman), so I removed those Xs, but these are at/below bare minimum levels. 🔭
June 2, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Reposted by Eamonn Kerins
taraconnolly.bsky.social
Wow. An honest review of an SUV.

www.irishtimes.com/motors/revie...
For the rest of us? We need to stop. Not only does the International Council on Clean Climate (ICCC) reckon that the extra weight and bulk of SUVs outmatches the gains in efficiency we’ve made with improved petrol engines and electric power, but more recently Imperial College London has released a study that shows you’re 44 per cent more likely to die if you’re struck by an SUV as opposed to a more conventional saloon, hatchback or estate. For children, chillingly, that figure rises to 130 per cent. I’ve been known to soften my SUV stance in the face of examples that are charming, or stylish, or notably comfortable, practical or good to drive, but those figures are enough to make any potential SUV purchaser blanch at the prospect. Or, at least, they ought to.
May 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
Just sorting through old books i don't need anymore. But this one is definitely staying!
The cover of the excellent "Spacecraft in fact and fiction" that i bought in the 1970s during my "I'm going to be an astronaut" phase. Inside the book were captivating glimpses of an exciting future where space probes journeyed out to Saturn and landed in Venus. To an 8 year old it seemed so fantastical and exciting.
May 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
eamonnkerins.bsky.social
On June 8th I'm doing the Bolton 70.3 half Ironman. 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run. I'm fundraising for Doctors In Distress, which helps medical professionals (not just doctors) through mental health struggles. If you can, please donate here: www.justgiving.com/page/eamonn-...
Eamonn's Ironman fundraiser for Doctors in Distress
Help Eamonn Kerins raise money to support Doctors in Distress
www.justgiving.com
May 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM