Paul Marks
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paulmarks12.bsky.social
Paul Marks
@paulmarks12.bsky.social
Journalist writing on technology, aviation & spaceflight ✍🏻 New Scientist, Economist, BBC Future, Aerospace America, ACM News, Guardian🎙️📺 BBCR4, NPR, SkyNews, Richard&Judy, OneShow.

Woodland conservation volunteer.

authory.com/PaulMarks
Pinned
When night falls on a lunar surface mission, temperatures plummet - and spacecraft die a frozen death. To the rescue comes Volta Space, which is planning to beam mission-saving laser power to rovers and landers from lunar orbit. #SBSP aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/...
Obviously. And authors and writers. Every book says "not for storage in a data retrieval system" or somesuch - and deepnet weights are merely thinly-disguised data.
November 11, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Hope you all are having a blessed Thursday
October 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Turing Award laureate Rich Sutton now critiques pure LLMs—echoing @garymarcus.bsky.social . Time to move beyond science fiction and refocus on scientific rigour. #AI #LLM #Neurosymbolic #RichSutton #GaryMarcus

garymarcus.substack.com/p/game-over-...
Game over for pure LLMs. Even Turing Award Winner Rich Sutton has gotten off the bus.
One by one, all the big names have turned around. What should we do next?
garymarcus.substack.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Once again, this is not how copyright law works!
October 6, 2025 at 6:14 AM
The BBC has posted about 50 episodes of its much-missed arts series, Arena, on iPlayer - including this paean to @forduk's most-stolen-car of the 60s, the Ford Cortina. Includes Alexei Sayle on Mastermind - with some terribly tough Cortina questioning. 🥸 www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Arena - The Private Life of the Ford Cortina
This programme looks at the history of the Ford Cortina, Britain's most popular, most stolen and most misunderstood car.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
someone check on Gregg’s’ cyber security, we got lucky with M&S
Japan is just a few days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry as the producer of the nation’s most popular beer wrestles with a devastating cyber attack that has shut down its domestic breweries www.ft.com/content/bb86...
Japan days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry after cyber attack
Vast majority of factories of nation’s most popular beer have stopped work this week
www.ft.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Just to be clear:
- Paracetamol does not cause autism.
- Sadiq Khan is not introducing Sharia law in the UK
- We do not have a massive free speech problem here.
- Britain is not on the verge of civil war.
These are not controversial subjects or contested, they're just not true.
September 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Brain food KLAXON ...
Push the boundaries of your thoughts – we're enjoying listening to @jomarchant.bsky.social's Where The Wild Thoughts Are; a science podcast that encourages you to think differently about how you see the world, from cosmology and quantum physics to neuroscience, archaeology, ecology, it's got it all:
Where The Wild Thoughts Are
Conversations in science and beyond
linkprotect.cudasvc.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Brain food KLAXON ...
Push the boundaries of your thoughts – we're enjoying listening to @jomarchant.bsky.social's Where The Wild Thoughts Are; a science podcast that encourages you to think differently about how you see the world, from cosmology and quantum physics to neuroscience, archaeology, ecology, it's got it all:
Where The Wild Thoughts Are
Conversations in science and beyond
linkprotect.cudasvc.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
This is a deeper dive than my brief NewScientist op-ed into the RAeS conference on the dangerous idea of cockpit AI replacing airliner copilots. Kicked into the long grass for now, unions worry the cost-cutting idea will be back.
The #aviation industry would like to test flights with only one pilot, assisted by an #AI copilot, which would decrease costs but might degrade performance in unusual situations or ones calling for social judgment, explains @paulmarks12.bsky.social

cacm.acm.org/news/can-ai-...
Can AI Replace Copilots on Passenger Jets? – Communications of the ACM
cacm.acm.org
July 8, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
So long, Elon: the cuts didn’t go to plan, but you completely shredded your reputation | Marina Hyde
So long, Elon: the cuts didn’t go to plan, but you completely shredded your reputation | Marina Hyde
Judging by Musk’s approval ratings, Tesla investors won’t be the only ones happy to see the dethroning of the king of Doge, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
May 30, 2025 at 11:18 AM
SuperHeavy and Starship launch ...
May 27, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Another destructive (i.e. no recovery) rocket test imminent: booster and second stage will be ditched in the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean respectively. Two holds so far.
May 27, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Making America Grounded Again
WSJ: After tech to manage air traffic failed several times in recent days, 20% of the FAA controllers at Newark Airport walked out.

Now, United has canceled 35 daily RT flights from Newark. FAA staffing at Newark is too low to handle the planes scheduled, United's CEO said. Gift link!
United Airlines Cancels Newark Flights After FAA Staff Walks Out
United has been urging the government to limit the number of flights to what an airport can realistically manage based on staffing, CEO Scott Kirby said.
www.wsj.com
May 3, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Musk’s Possible Role in Meink, Isaacman Nominations Continues to Raise Concerns spacepolicyonline.com/news/musks-p...
April 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Airlines plan to replace copilots with #AI pilots in future, aiming to reduce costs but perhaps raising unacceptable risks in unusual situations, explains @paulmarks12.bsky.social

www.newscientist.com/article/mg26... #aviation #automation #safety
Why pilots are worried about plans to replace co-pilots with AI
A cost-cutting initiative in the world of passenger aviation could see flight-deck staff reduced to just a captain, with their co-pilot replaced by AI. It may save money, but it's a risk too far, argu...
www.newscientist.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
@computerweekly.bsky.social has learned of serious security and data protection issues surrounding One Login, the UK government's flagship digital identity system 🧵(1/4)

www.computerweekly.com/news/3666225...
Government faces claims of serious security and data protection problems in One Login digital ID | Computer Weekly
The Government Digital Service (GDS) was warned by the Cabinet Office and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) that its One Login digital identity system had “serious data protection failings” an...
www.computerweekly.com
April 14, 2025 at 11:22 AM
@uk.theconversation.com Your error is still in the story: there is no parachute on the Mars sample return capsule.
Wrong: there's no parachute on the return capsule. It's coming in too fast, on an interplanetary ballistic trajectory. NASA can only pray the capsule is not breached by space debris, or its (terminal velocity) ground impact - potentially releasing biohazards we cannot combat in our atmosphere.
Scientists will have to check whether the samples contain living microbes before they can be safely studied.
April 11, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Reposted by Paul Marks
pursuing economic policies that were outdated as of 4 months before the declaration of independence was written is really really something isn't it
April 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
Wrong: there's no parachute on the return capsule. It's coming in too fast, on an interplanetary ballistic trajectory. NASA can only pray the capsule is not breached by space debris, or its (terminal velocity) ground impact - potentially releasing biohazards we cannot combat in our atmosphere.
April 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Wrong: there's no parachute on the return capsule. It's coming in too fast, on an interplanetary ballistic trajectory. NASA can only pray the capsule is not breached by space debris, or its (terminal velocity) ground impact - potentially releasing biohazards we cannot combat in our atmosphere.
April 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
I should also include the footnote index to the above.
April 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Paul Marks
If you read the actual letter attached to this Axios report, it doesn't only go after Elon Musk, but it calls Jared Issacman, the nominee for the NASA Administrator position into question as well. Mr. Issacman faces his confirmation hearing this week. Here's an excerpt:
April 7, 2025 at 7:46 PM