Philip Ball
@philipcball.bsky.social
Science writer and author of books including Bright Earth, The Music Instinct, Beyond Weird, How Life Works.
Very nice obituary by Pete Wrobel for Mike Kenward, giving a snapshot of the early days of modern sci comm and the reimagining of New Scientist.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
Michael Kenward obituary
Other lives: Editor of New Scientist who transformed it into a truly popular magazine
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Very nice obituary by Pete Wrobel for Mike Kenward, giving a snapshot of the early days of modern sci comm and the reimagining of New Scientist.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
If we want something that better mimics human-like reasoning, I think the answer is definitely yes. That mere scaling of LLMs will get you that is a faith-based proposition.
Rather than just scaling, is it time to bring the neural networks behind LLMs together with old school rule-based 'symbolic' AI?
Lots of opportunities and challenges in this great story by @nicolakimjones.bsky.social 🧪🤖
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Lots of opportunities and challenges in this great story by @nicolakimjones.bsky.social 🧪🤖
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This AI combo could unlock human-level intelligence
Blending ‘old-fashioned’ logic systems with the neural networks that power large language models is one of the hottest trends in artificial intelligence.
www.nature.com
December 1, 2025 at 11:34 AM
If we want something that better mimics human-like reasoning, I think the answer is definitely yes. That mere scaling of LLMs will get you that is a faith-based proposition.
Quantum carpets, anyone?
(Also Higgs quasiparticles, and supersolids. But I knew about those. Quantum carpets are new to me.)
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
(Also Higgs quasiparticles, and supersolids. But I knew about those. Quantum carpets are new to me.)
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
journals.aps.org
December 1, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Quantum carpets, anyone?
(Also Higgs quasiparticles, and supersolids. But I knew about those. Quantum carpets are new to me.)
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
(Also Higgs quasiparticles, and supersolids. But I knew about those. Quantum carpets are new to me.)
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract...
Grumpy old man time: I saw "begs the question" misused twice in the weekend papers. Clue: if you have to say which question you think is "begged" after using the phrase ("begs the question of why...", you've misused it. Yes, I know this battle is lost, but still.
December 1, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Grumpy old man time: I saw "begs the question" misused twice in the weekend papers. Clue: if you have to say which question you think is "begged" after using the phrase ("begs the question of why...", you've misused it. Yes, I know this battle is lost, but still.
Reposted by Philip Ball
Great to see this excellent deep dive into the influential Hard Steps model for the evolution of intelligence and our paper showing why it’s wrong.
I wrote this piece at the start of the year, so it's nice to see it finally out before the year's end! It looks at the notion of "hard steps" in evolution that allegedly make intelligent life rare in the universe, and why that might not be correct after all.
nautil.us/we-might-not...
nautil.us/we-might-not...
We Might Not Be So Strange
We Might Not Be So Strange: Perhaps intelligent life wasn’t so unlikely after all.
nautil.us
November 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Great to see this excellent deep dive into the influential Hard Steps model for the evolution of intelligence and our paper showing why it’s wrong.
👍
“I have no beef with someone who has a different view to me…I do have beef with people who use their money and power and influence to try to make lives worse for people, or who write pieces that are not in good faith, or who tell outright lies.”
My interview with @naomialderman.bsky.social
My interview with @naomialderman.bsky.social
Naomi Alderman: 'The right side is not largely defined by your opinions'
Being right or wrong is not as important as what you do in the service of those opinions and how far you are willing to go
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 12:14 PM
👍
The sad news about Tom Stoppard has awoken a memory about learning and teaching. Way back in the 1970s I was taking Drama O level (look it up kids) when my teacher died suddenly, early in the course. So we got as an emergency replacement a young man probably straight out of college...
November 29, 2025 at 11:32 PM
The sad news about Tom Stoppard has awoken a memory about learning and teaching. Way back in the 1970s I was taking Drama O level (look it up kids) when my teacher died suddenly, early in the course. So we got as an emergency replacement a young man probably straight out of college...
Great story!
If a universe exists with no one to observe it, does it even exist at all?
Cosmic Paradox Reveals the Awful Consequence of an Observer-Free Universe | Quanta Magazine
Encouraged by successes in understanding black holes, theoretical physicists are applying what they’ve learned to whole universes. What they’re finding has them questioning fundamental assumptions…
www.quantamagazine.org
November 29, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Great story!
I wrote this piece at the start of the year, so it's nice to see it finally out before the year's end! It looks at the notion of "hard steps" in evolution that allegedly make intelligent life rare in the universe, and why that might not be correct after all.
nautil.us/we-might-not...
nautil.us/we-might-not...
We Might Not Be So Strange
We Might Not Be So Strange: Perhaps intelligent life wasn’t so unlikely after all.
nautil.us
November 28, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I wrote this piece at the start of the year, so it's nice to see it finally out before the year's end! It looks at the notion of "hard steps" in evolution that allegedly make intelligent life rare in the universe, and why that might not be correct after all.
nautil.us/we-might-not...
nautil.us/we-might-not...
It was fun to do this interview in Barcelona with the wonderful Cristina Saez. A bit taken aback by the headline though - that statement is inevitably true, but doesn't take away from the fact that the current evidence points quite strongly to a natural origin.
en.ara.cat/science-tech...
en.ara.cat/science-tech...
Philip Ball: "We still cannot be 100% sure that the Covid virus was not a leak from a laboratory."
Writer and science communicator
en.ara.cat
November 28, 2025 at 6:03 PM
It was fun to do this interview in Barcelona with the wonderful Cristina Saez. A bit taken aback by the headline though - that statement is inevitably true, but doesn't take away from the fact that the current evidence points quite strongly to a natural origin.
en.ara.cat/science-tech...
en.ara.cat/science-tech...
"Vaguely revolting". Exactly that.
Even when there are no obvious artifacts, the generated images often have a weird uncanny sheen to them that I personally find vaguely revolting. I can’t really turn that reaction off.
November 28, 2025 at 4:50 PM
"Vaguely revolting". Exactly that.
Reposted by Philip Ball
Print version of @thelancet.com's review of #ScienceUnderSiege
November 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Print version of @thelancet.com's review of #ScienceUnderSiege
Badly, I fear. I don't have high hopes for the UK or Europe, but in the US I would fully expect catastrophe. Sorry, but there it is.
The opposite of readiness for the next pandemic
by @dwallacewells.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/o...
by @dwallacewells.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/o...
November 28, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Badly, I fear. I don't have high hopes for the UK or Europe, but in the US I would fully expect catastrophe. Sorry, but there it is.
For fans of colour and of 19th C natural history, this is a rather glorious read.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Capturing colour on HMS Beagle: Charles Darwin and Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours (1821) | The British Journal for the History of Science | Cambridge Core
Capturing colour on HMS Beagle: Charles Darwin and Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours (1821)
www.cambridge.org
November 28, 2025 at 2:10 PM
For fans of colour and of 19th C natural history, this is a rather glorious read.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
What a great story from Heidi. "“We need a molecular definition of what is normal.” In the light of this work, one has to wonder if the molecular is the right place to look for that at all.
One for the heredity scolds: construct a multi-tissue GRM where people
are differentially related to themselves.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
are differentially related to themselves.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
We are all mosaics: vast genetic diversity found between cells in a single person
Technical advances allow researchers to trace the genetic changes that occur over time.
www.nature.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:53 AM
What a great story from Heidi. "“We need a molecular definition of what is normal.” In the light of this work, one has to wonder if the molecular is the right place to look for that at all.
The Bohr effect had nothing to do with Niels but was discovered by his physiologist father Christian. Taught now as the first example of allostery in protein action, it touched on deeper questions about the nature of living organisms. My lastest column for CW
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-...
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-...
The wide-ranging influence of the Bohr effect
While not a Nobel prize-winning discovery in itself, this challenge to the reductionist view of physiology has links to several other winners
www.chemistryworld.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:48 AM
The Bohr effect had nothing to do with Niels but was discovered by his physiologist father Christian. Taught now as the first example of allostery in protein action, it touched on deeper questions about the nature of living organisms. My lastest column for CW
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-...
www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/the-...
Very useful analysis of how the metaphors have changed over time.
This is my last post in the 'metaphors for AI' trilogy. I never thought there was so much to say about it all. But this is it for now! Comments welcome. #AI #metaphor makingsciencepublic.com/2025/11/28/o...
Observing shifts in metaphors for AI: What changed and why it matters
In my previous two posts I have made the case for an AI metaphor observatory and surveyed the recent academic landscape of studies dealing with metaphors for AI in the sense of GenAI and LLMs. In t…
makingsciencepublic.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Very useful analysis of how the metaphors have changed over time.
The nature of print cycles means this is rather late in appearing, but here are my thoughts on Hitler's DNA, for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
Was analysing Hitler's DNA worth it?
There is no reason to suppose that we learn anything significant from the genetic data about what made the dictator the man he was
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 8:43 AM
The nature of print cycles means this is rather late in appearing, but here are my thoughts on Hitler's DNA, for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
www.thenewworld.co.uk/philip-ball-...
Nature went to the MAHA Summit. It was wild. Can we please take a moment to appreciate how brilliantly Max nails it by simply presenting facts, expertly mashalled.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Nature went to the MAHA Summit. It was wild. Can we please take a moment to appreciate how brilliantly Max nails it by simply presenting facts, expertly mashalled.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Philip Ball
I chatted with Evan McLoughlin on The Giant's Shoulder podcast about the flaws that undermine claims of a link between autism and the microbiome cc @statsepi.bsky.social @deevybee.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie0S...
Dr Kevin Mitchell: What Really Causes Autism?, Tylenol & The Gut Microbiome!
YouTube video by Giant's Shoulder
www.youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I chatted with Evan McLoughlin on The Giant's Shoulder podcast about the flaws that undermine claims of a link between autism and the microbiome cc @statsepi.bsky.social @deevybee.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie0S...
Reposted by Philip Ball
There's also currently a 50% off promo code FIFTY until 30th November. Bargain!
It's time to be thinking about Christmas presents, and what could be a finer gift than the set of beautiful books Quarto Press has created with me? First, and most recently, this illustrated history of alchemy.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Alchemy - Yale University Press London
Flush with hundreds of illustrations, this book revisits the histories of chemistry, medicine, ideas, and culture through the lens of alchemy “Ph...
yalebooks.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
There's also currently a 50% off promo code FIFTY until 30th November. Bargain!
Reposted by Philip Ball
👍 And btw, Yale Press gives 50% off, 1–30 Nov, promo code FIFTY
November 27, 2025 at 11:44 AM
👍 And btw, Yale Press gives 50% off, 1–30 Nov, promo code FIFTY
It's time to be thinking about Christmas presents, and what could be a finer gift than the set of beautiful books Quarto Press has created with me? First, and most recently, this illustrated history of alchemy.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Alchemy - Yale University Press London
Flush with hundreds of illustrations, this book revisits the histories of chemistry, medicine, ideas, and culture through the lens of alchemy “Ph...
yalebooks.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
It's time to be thinking about Christmas presents, and what could be a finer gift than the set of beautiful books Quarto Press has created with me? First, and most recently, this illustrated history of alchemy.
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
"I want every task that is possible to be automated with artificial intelligence to be automated with artificial intelligence." Trouble is, these people have no judgement about how to make those calls.You can in principle use AI to plan your child's birthday party.So...?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Nvidia CEO Says You're "Insane" If You Don't Use AI to Do Literally Everything
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said it was "insane" to suggest his employees not use AI to do everything possible.
futurism.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:02 AM
"I want every task that is possible to be automated with artificial intelligence to be automated with artificial intelligence." Trouble is, these people have no judgement about how to make those calls.You can in principle use AI to plan your child's birthday party.So...?
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Looks timely.
Cover Reveal!
“The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" arrives on August 4, 2026.
How extremist tech billionaires are dismantling democracy to crown themselves as kings—and what we can do about it.
Please pre-order! ➡️ www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
“The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy" arrives on August 4, 2026.
How extremist tech billionaires are dismantling democracy to crown themselves as kings—and what we can do about it.
Please pre-order! ➡️ www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Ne...
November 26, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Looks timely.