Jim Al-Khalili
@jimalkhalili.bsky.social
Jim Al-Khalili CBE FRS HonFREng Emeritus Professor of Physics @UniofSurrey, theoretical physicist, author, broadcaster, humanist. "Affable Egghead" (Sunday Times).
https://jimal-khalili.com
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/jim-al-khalili
https://jimal-khalili.com
https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/jim-al-khalili
Pinned
Jim Al-Khalili
@jimalkhalili.bsky.social
· Nov 14
I’m on Bluesky. Hello.
🧪 I have a new TV offering: a 2-part Horizon special on BBC2 going out on 29th Sep and 6th October. It is called Secrets of the Brain. See
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Two - Secrets of the Brain, Series 1, Episode 1
Jim Al-Khalili reveals how the staggeringly complex human brain evolved.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
🧪 I have a new TV offering: a 2-part Horizon special on BBC2 going out on 29th Sep and 6th October. It is called Secrets of the Brain. See
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
See www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
🧪Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows
From nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
From nature.com
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
July 30, 2025 at 12:55 PM
🧪Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows
From nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
From nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Why should we let science 🧪 get in the way of making America sick again. We and our kids are fully vaccinated.
theconversation.com/im-a-physici...
theconversation.com/im-a-physici...
I’m a physician who has looked at hundreds of studies of vaccine safety, and here’s some of what RFK Jr. gets wrong
The health secretary has made many inaccurate statements about vaccines. But the science is clear that vaccines have dramatically reduced childhood illness, disability and death.
theconversation.com
June 26, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Why should we let science 🧪 get in the way of making America sick again. We and our kids are fully vaccinated.
theconversation.com/im-a-physici...
theconversation.com/im-a-physici...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
The Life Scientific at the Mary Rose Museum
Jim Al-Khalili in conversation with Eleanor Schofield, Director of Collections @jimalkhalili.bsky.social @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social maryrose.org/events/the-l...
Jim Al-Khalili in conversation with Eleanor Schofield, Director of Collections @jimalkhalili.bsky.social @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social maryrose.org/events/the-l...
The Life Scientific at the Mary Rose Museum - The Mary Rose
In a special event recorded for BBC Radio 4’s programme 'The Life Scientific', Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to Professor Eleanor Schofield.
maryrose.org
June 23, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The Life Scientific at the Mary Rose Museum
Jim Al-Khalili in conversation with Eleanor Schofield, Director of Collections @jimalkhalili.bsky.social @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social maryrose.org/events/the-l...
Jim Al-Khalili in conversation with Eleanor Schofield, Director of Collections @jimalkhalili.bsky.social @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social maryrose.org/events/the-l...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Many tens of thousands of people in the years to come will have better lives and better deaths because of @kimleadbeatermp.bsky.social - her calm principled leadership has been an inspiration. Few legislators have so great and permanent a positive impact and she takes her place among that noble few.
June 20, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Many tens of thousands of people in the years to come will have better lives and better deaths because of @kimleadbeatermp.bsky.social - her calm principled leadership has been an inspiration. Few legislators have so great and permanent a positive impact and she takes her place among that noble few.
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Honoured (though a little surprised) to be last lab coat up in the current series of #LifeScientific. Lovely to chat with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social for this. Tune in tomorrow Radio 4 9am. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Kevin Fong on medical planning for Mars and Earth-based emergencies
Kevin Fong on pestering Nasa, medical planning for Mars and handling major A&E incidents.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 16, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Honoured (though a little surprised) to be last lab coat up in the current series of #LifeScientific. Lovely to chat with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social for this. Tune in tomorrow Radio 4 9am. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
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There's a special episode of The Sky at Night tomorrow night, celebrating thee 350th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. I was delighted to be asked to take part in the dinner party and discussion! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Four - The Sky at Night, Greenwich: A Journey Through Space and Time
The team celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Observatory.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 8, 2025 at 1:33 PM
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What a joy to listen to @astroroyalscot.bsky.social talking to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social about @vrubinobs.bsky.social and all things #astronomy on The Life Scientific today. Her passion for helping people become interested in astronomy transmits through the airwaves! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Life Scientific - Catherine Heymans on the lighter side of the dark universe - BBC Sounds
Astronomer Royal for Scotland Catherine Heymans talks telescopes, dark matter and comedy.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 4, 2025 at 7:17 AM
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Huge thanks to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social who is so wonderfully warm & spot-on smart and intelligent; the fab LS producer Lucy Taylor who is just the nicest person you could hope to meet; and to my dear friend, colleague & comedy partner @joezuntz.bsky.social who this show is actually all about.
June 4, 2025 at 7:17 AM
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Really enjoyed chatting with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social on the Life Scientific episode that was broadcast this morning. Thank you for having me on.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Life Scientific - Tim Coulson on how predators shape ecosystems and evolution - BBC Sounds
Professor Tim Coulson on how the wolves of Yellowstone National Park shape the ecosystem.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM
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Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Really enjoyed chatting with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social on the Life Scientific episode that was broadcast this morning. Thank you for having me on.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Life Scientific - Tim Coulson on how predators shape ecosystems and evolution - BBC Sounds
Professor Tim Coulson on how the wolves of Yellowstone National Park shape the ecosystem.
www.bbc.co.uk
May 27, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Really enjoyed chatting with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social on the Life Scientific episode that was broadcast this morning. Thank you for having me on.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Put it this way, Elon Musk may be an FRS, but he’ll never be an FLS.
But listen out for first ep of Life Scientific’s next run (29 Apr) when my guest will be Tony Fauci (FRS, FLS).
But listen out for first ep of Life Scientific’s next run (29 Apr) when my guest will be Tony Fauci (FRS, FLS).
April 8, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Put it this way, Elon Musk may be an FRS, but he’ll never be an FLS.
But listen out for first ep of Life Scientific’s next run (29 Apr) when my guest will be Tony Fauci (FRS, FLS).
But listen out for first ep of Life Scientific’s next run (29 Apr) when my guest will be Tony Fauci (FRS, FLS).
For my scientific and engineering colleagues, what are the more prestigious letters after a name: FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) or FLS (Fellow of the Life Scientific)? 😊🧪
April 8, 2025 at 12:26 PM
For my scientific and engineering colleagues, what are the more prestigious letters after a name: FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) or FLS (Fellow of the Life Scientific)? 😊🧪
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Yes, LLMs can now pass the Turing test, but don’t confuse this with AGI, which is a long way off.
arxiv.org/abs/2503.23674
Yes, LLMs can now pass the Turing test, but don’t confuse this with AGI, which is a long way off.
arxiv.org/abs/2503.23674
Large Language Models Pass the Turing Test
We evaluated 4 systems (ELIZA, GPT-4o, LLaMa-3.1-405B, and GPT-4.5) in two randomised, controlled, and pre-registered Turing tests on independent populations. Participants had 5 minute conversations s...
arxiv.org
April 3, 2025 at 7:21 AM
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Yes, LLMs can now pass the Turing test, but don’t confuse this with AGI, which is a long way off.
arxiv.org/abs/2503.23674
Yes, LLMs can now pass the Turing test, but don’t confuse this with AGI, which is a long way off.
arxiv.org/abs/2503.23674
My review of Quantum Drama by physicist and science writer Jim Baggott and the late historian of science John L Heilbron. cerncourier.com/a/beyond-boh...
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Beyond Bohr and Einstein – CERN Courier
Jim Al-Khalili reviews Quantum Drama, a new book by physicist and science writer Jim Baggott and the late historian of science John L Heilbron.
cerncourier.com
March 26, 2025 at 11:43 PM
My review of Quantum Drama by physicist and science writer Jim Baggott and the late historian of science John L Heilbron. cerncourier.com/a/beyond-boh...
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If dark energy is weakening then, yes this means it could approach zero in the future and gravity may yet gain the upper hand and lead to a Big Crunch. But this is preliminary data. It does hint at dark energy changing over time, but my money is still on a big freeze (not big rip or Big Crunch).
So weakening expansion, will this lead to the Big Crunch with dark energy getting stronger as universe shrinks?
March 20, 2025 at 9:25 AM
If dark energy is weakening then, yes this means it could approach zero in the future and gravity may yet gain the upper hand and lead to a Big Crunch. But this is preliminary data. It does hint at dark energy changing over time, but my money is still on a big freeze (not big rip or Big Crunch).
Too early to call this a discovery, but not too early to sit up and take notice.
Congrats to @desisurvey.bsky.social - it's looking more & more like dark energy isn't Einstein's cosmological constant! If you've woken up to the news & are searching for the publications, they don't appear to be on arxiv 🤷♀️ but they are online. 🔭 #cosmology 🧪
ℹ️: data.desi.lbl.gov/public/paper...
ℹ️: data.desi.lbl.gov/public/paper...
![A graph of the evolution of the dark energy (vertical axis) as a function of time (redshift on the horizontal axis) - showing an offset from the cosmological constant (a flat horizontal line). Here is the figure caption from the paper:
FIG. 12. Comparison of the constraints on the equation of
state of dark energy using the CPL parametrization and a bin-
ning reconstruction approach, using DESI+CMB+DESY5.
The solid green line shows the best-fit w(z) based on w0 and
wa inference and the green contours around it represent the
68% and 95% confidence intervals. We also show in blue the
constraints from the binning approach [47], with the hori-
zontal bars indicating the bin width (which is fixed) and the
vertical bars representing the 1σ error. Additionally, we in-
clude in gray the 1D posterior for each binning parameter.
The ΛCDM limit corresponds to the horizontal gray dashed
line.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ok3ms3dzop7gcwejp7lswhpi/bafkreiaa64kyfu7u5ber7u6kwk2zzkuet66j6o3l4lr5ftl5sef67pzham@jpeg)
March 20, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Too early to call this a discovery, but not too early to sit up and take notice.
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Why so serious? Scientists should crack more jokes when communicating their work, study finds 🧪🤣
It would boost engagement and trust in their research
Plus, 12 of my favourite science jokes, including submissions from @jimalkhalili.bsky.social and Martin Rees www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
It would boost engagement and trust in their research
Plus, 12 of my favourite science jokes, including submissions from @jimalkhalili.bsky.social and Martin Rees www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Scientists ‘should crack more jokes’ to win the public’s trust
A study has found that humour can play an important role in getting the public to engage with scientists and see them as a legitimate source of information
www.thetimes.com
March 10, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Why so serious? Scientists should crack more jokes when communicating their work, study finds 🧪🤣
It would boost engagement and trust in their research
Plus, 12 of my favourite science jokes, including submissions from @jimalkhalili.bsky.social and Martin Rees www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
It would boost engagement and trust in their research
Plus, 12 of my favourite science jokes, including submissions from @jimalkhalili.bsky.social and Martin Rees www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
And the second day is here, ending with a panel discussion including me and @jimalkhalili.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/live/TMi8pDQ...
www.youtube.com/live/TMi8pDQ...
Transforming our future: Quantum Information Day Two
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
And the second day is here, ending with a panel discussion including me and @jimalkhalili.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/live/TMi8pDQ...
www.youtube.com/live/TMi8pDQ...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
The videos of the Royal Society's Quantum Information meeting last month are now online. The first day is here:
www.youtube.com/live/ytqFQxP...
www.youtube.com/live/ytqFQxP...
Transforming our future: Quantum Information Day One
YouTube video by The Royal Society
www.youtube.com
March 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
The videos of the Royal Society's Quantum Information meeting last month are now online. The first day is here:
www.youtube.com/live/ytqFQxP...
www.youtube.com/live/ytqFQxP...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Ahead of this International Women's Day, we're celebrating the women changing the research landscape!
Watch Dr Priya Sharma explain her work in quantum computing to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social: daphnejackson.org/fellow/dr-pr...
Watch Dr Priya Sharma explain her work in quantum computing to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social: daphnejackson.org/fellow/dr-pr...
Dr Priya Sharma - Daphne Jackson Trust
Name: Dr Priya SharmaField: Engineering & Technology; Physical Sciences Specialisms: Research and qualifications: Returning to her research after her second career break, Priya’s Fellowship is entitle...
daphnejackson.org
March 4, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Ahead of this International Women's Day, we're celebrating the women changing the research landscape!
Watch Dr Priya Sharma explain her work in quantum computing to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social: daphnejackson.org/fellow/dr-pr...
Watch Dr Priya Sharma explain her work in quantum computing to @jimalkhalili.bsky.social: daphnejackson.org/fellow/dr-pr...
Reposted by Jim Al-Khalili
Related, @toriherridge.bsky.social, a palaeobiologist specialising in mammoths and extinct elephants (and my fabulous friend!), just did the most wonderful & refreshing #TheLifeScientific episode, interviewed by @jimalkhalili.bsky.social, mentioning these issues
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
March 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Related, @toriherridge.bsky.social, a palaeobiologist specialising in mammoths and extinct elephants (and my fabulous friend!), just did the most wonderful & refreshing #TheLifeScientific episode, interviewed by @jimalkhalili.bsky.social, mentioning these issues
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...