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Marcus Chown

@marcuschown.bsky.social
11K followers 960 following 4.3K posts

Writer. Books include A Crack in Everything, Breakthrough, The Ascent of Gravity, Infinity in the Palm of Your Hand, Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You & Solar System for iPad. See www.marcuschown.com

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Reposted by Marcus Chown
Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 7h
Hey, get Putin on a plane to join them!
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 9h
Esther Rantzen changed my life. I read an article about her in which she said she'd never done any job she'd liked until she was 25. I was 25 and neither had I. So I decided to have a go at writing, which I'd really enjoyed at school. And, soon, with a lot of luck, I was doing something I liked
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Afterglow of Creation www.hive.co.uk/product/marc...
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 14h
New Google Maps images reveal massive scale of devastation in Gaza
theguardian.com
New Google Maps images reveal massive scale of devastation in Gaza
Satellite imagery shows further destruction of homes, businesses and places of worship since fragile ceasefire An update to Google Maps has revealed the extent of devastation during the three-year Gaza war and the severity of the continuing humanitarian crisis faced by the territory’s 2.3 million inhabitants. The images were taken in June this year and show further destruction of homes, businesses, places of worship and infrastructure since a fragile ceasefire came into effect almost 12 months ago. Continue reading...
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AIPAC Tracker @trackaipac.com · 29/09/2026
Google Maps has released updated satellite images of Gaza. These images should be front page news around the world.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 3h
Bloody hell, sculptors expect you to do all the work these days! #Frieze #RegentsPark #London #art #artfair #sculpture
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
I was trying to convey how amazing is the “afterglow” of the bang, which accounts for 99.9% of all photons & is the most striking feature of our universe I thought, if you had glasses that could see microwaves instead of visible light, the whole sky, from horizon to horizon, would be glowing white
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christina 死神 @chhopsky.tv · 29/12/2024
a 32-bit signed int has a maximum value of 2,147,483,647 at 3:14am (and 7 seconds) on january 19, 2038, it will be more than 2,147,483,647 seconds since the timestamp epoch anything using signed 32 bit integers for time will be affected by this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_20...
en.wikipedia.org
Year 2038 problem - Wikipedia
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joemag @joemag.games · 01/01/2024
2038, when time stops being expressable as a 32-bit value of seconds since January 1970.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Year 2038 problem - Wikipedia
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Seamus @combinatorial.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Why aren't you concerned about the unix 2038 problem?
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Mind you, I am quite repetitive!
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Not sure that this AI that sent me this e-mail - and I get these kinds of e-mails several times a week - is one of the better AIs!
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 6h
Afterglow of Creation www.hive.co.uk/product/marc...
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Patt Morrison @pattmlatimes.bsky.social · 17h
Oh hell, HELL no. Unaccountable, unanswerable supra-power? Elon "I am the richest man in the world so I must be the smartest" Musk? Newt "Contract With America" Gingrich? And Palmer "how is this not insider trading" Luckey? Will even Congressional Republicans buy this? thehill.com/policy/defen...
thehill.com
Hegseth puts Musk, Luckey, Gingrich in charge of military future warfare review
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced that SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk, Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will lead a new Pentagon effort to study…
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Ms. Misanthrope 🇺🇸 @lilmsmisanthrope.bsky.social · 15h
The Guardian (September 30, 2026) reported the Pentagon will study the future of warfare for 120 days with Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, whose companies hold extensive Pentagon contracts. Asking the vendors what the customer needs is called a sales call. Here it is called Project Meridian.
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thicc husband and father @lukeisamazing.bsky.social · 7h
well, that settles it, the downfall of America is assured
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 7h
Hey, get Putin on a plane to join them!
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We Own It @weownit.org.uk · 7h
Repealing Thatcher's ban on public ownership of water companies is only meaningful if Andy Burnham brings water into public ownership Over 9 in 10 of us want our water in public ownership. Let's do it, starting with Thames Water
Screenshot of Independent article that includes a quote from Cat Hobbs that says, "Cat Hobbs, director of public ownership campaign We Own It, repeated calls for Thames Water to be nationalised urgently.  She said: “Repealing the ban on public ownership of water companies is a welcome step in the right direction, but it is far from meeting the scale of the crisis.  “Thames Water should have been in special administration yesterday.  “It is in £20 billion of debt and teetering on the brink of financial collapse.  “The only option to keep it privatised is to hand it over to a group of US hedge funds.  “How can this Government be serious about their promise to reverse Thatcher’s legacy of privatisation, if they are not urgently bringing it into public hands?”"
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Nelly Probin @lillmagill.bsky.social · 8h
Things we owned in the 1970's Water Gas and electricity NHS Schools Council houses British Rail Royal Mail Things we had in the 1970's Hope A social safety net A future And the best music 🙂
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Roger Highfield @rogerhighfield.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"It practically broke me." Graham Farmelo spent six years on the authorised life of Stephen Hawking, published in the UK today rogerhighfield.substack.com/p/it-practic...
rogerhighfield.substack.com
“It practically broke me”: on unlocking Stephen Hawking’s life
A father's coded diaries, black holes, a boy who died in the next hospital bed and more from Graham Farmelo’s monumental biography.
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Caroline Fiennes @carolinefiennes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Review of a book abt Stephen Hawking, incl his behaviour, eg, failing to credit others, narcissism, talking "total crap" [Peter Higgs!] abt physics outside his specialist area, dismissing others' ideas & then claiming them when they turn out to be right, sexism 😳 www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Hawking by Graham Farmelo review – the dark side of genius
A biography of the physicist recognises his achievements, but also reveals the selfish narcissist underneath
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kottke.org @kottke.org · 18/09/2026
Review of a new book on Stephen Hawking. “The uncomfortable truth is that Hawking’s overweening ambition and self-promotion, his repeated failure to acknowledge the work of others, his sexism and controlling behaviour were largely ignored…” [theguardian.com]
theguardian.com
Hawking by Graham Farmelo review – the dark side of genius
A biography of the physicist recognises his achievements, but also reveals the selfish narcissist underneath.
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Defend Our Juries @defendourjuries.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
BREAKING: 94 year old Jewish human rights barrister, Margaret Owen arrested under the Terrorism Act outside Andy Burnham’s Labour Party conference. UK taxpayers are funding these arrests while masked men terrorise the streets in coastal towns. Lift The Ban on Palestine Action.
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Alan Falconer @alanfalconer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
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bystander1.bsky.social @bystander1.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
"One of the TBI’s biggest sources of cash is the foundation set up by Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle and ally of the US president, Donald Trump. Filings in the US show the foundation gave the TBI more than £52m in 2023 and had promised another $218m (£163m)."
theguardian.com
Blair’s net zero intervention invites scrutiny of his institute’s donors
Labour insider rebukes ‘tech bros’ within Tony Blair Institute as critics question past work with petrostates
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Alan Falconer @alanfalconer.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Larry Ellison’s cash, >£275m, given or pledged to Blair’s think tank has transformed the TBI, aligning it with the interests of a US billionaire who wants access to what he sees as Britain’s most valuable asset: NHS health data. "Inside the Tony Blair Institute." open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
open.substack.com
Inside the Tony Blair Institute
A former PM, tech tycoon Larry Ellison and Britain's data - what could go wrong?
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Stuart Hoddinott @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Read this article before reading any Tony Blair Institute report that proposes using AI in govt "Some TBI staff say cash [from Oracle] has produced a culture that is dominated by a form of AI boosterism, and which [...] amounts to lobbying for Oracle" www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...
newstatesman.com
Inside the Tony Blair Institute
Who really benefits from the former PM’s tech evangelism?
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 9h
Esther Rantzen changed my life. I read an article about her in which she said she'd never done any job she'd liked until she was 25. I was 25 and neither had I. So I decided to have a go at writing, which I'd really enjoyed at school. And, soon, with a lot of luck, I was doing something I liked
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Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 11h
Small islanders still not ready
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Before we work on artificial intelligence why don’t we do something about natural stupidity?” - Steve Polyak
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 14/09/2026
Katie Phang on a Russian oligarch bankrolling Don Jr.’s wedding: “They’re so dumb, we see it happening in real time. But because there’s no consequence or accountability, they just do it in the wide open.”
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giorgio_inlove @inlove1.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
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Josephine Imperato @bakingfool.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
We're all rooting for President Zelensky and Ukraine. Victory to Ukraine! 👍🙏💙🇺🇦
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23/09/2026
Zelenskyy: "For first time in Russia’s history, we now hear that its oil industry is running on fumes. Our target is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal & destructive. Russia’s finances & Russia’s production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped”
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Gizmodo @gizmodo.com · 30/09/2026
Taxpayers Have Been Subsidizing Meta's AI Data Centers: Report gizmodo.com/taxpayers-have-been-sub…
gizmodo.com
Taxpayers Have Been Subsidizing Meta's AI Data Centers: Report
Meta has been controversially taking advantage of a tax credit to build its AI data centers, the New York Times finds.
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Brexit Bin 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @brexitbin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Always remember ... Brexit was the first salvo in a Putin-backed attack upon the West. The same battle is now being fought throughout Europe. If the UK finally bins Brexit and rejoins the EU, it will be seen as a victory for the whole of Europe — and a decisive strike against Putin-backed populism.
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Nereide @drnereide.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#OTD in 1901, #EnricoFermi was born. His scientific work stands out for originality and range. He was an exceptional scientist, capable of lightning-fast intuitions, but also a tireless worker, deeply human towards colleagues, students, family, friends. A thread.⤵️ ⚛️🔭🧪 #HistSci #Physics
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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This mindset is the least we deserve from a leader. Of course it has to be turned into action. But this kind of ambition and love for the country, this kind of personal but positive vision is what takes people with you. How feeble-minded Farage and Badenoch seem. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Photo of Burnham waving to the audience in front of HOPE AGAIN backdrop Burnham was not going to die wondering. He knew he might be delivering one of the longest suicide notes in history, but he did it anyway. Because he couldn't not do it. Better to go down remaining true to his principles than being slowly airbrushed out of history like the previous six prime ministers. Failures all. Andy was prepared to burn through all his political capital right there in Liverpool, right then. Not just for his own legacy but for a country he wanted to rebuild. It was the only way he could look himself in the mirror.
Honour his parents.
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Marcus Chown @marcuschown.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Before we work on artificial intelligence why don’t we do something about natural stupidity?” - Steve Polyak
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"Super Intelligence."
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 29/09/2026
The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has hosted panels featuring, and sponsored by, big tech companies that are driving a dramatic expansion of fossil fuel production in order to power their energy intensive data centres. www.desmog.com/2026/09/29/t...
desmog.com
Tony Blair Institute Brings Gas-Guzzling Tech Giants to Labour Conference
LIVERPOOL – The think tank led by former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair has hosted a number of events sponsored by Trump-donating tech firms at this year’s party conference. The Tony Blair…
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Here's the full story that the Tony Blair Institute doesn't want to answer questions about, on Democracy for Sale
democracyforsale.substack.com
Tony’s minor tantrum: how Blair’s institute responded to fresh “cash for access” questions
We asked TBI about allegations of £500,000 corporate memberships and a logo that vanished at Labour conference. They said they’re not talking to us anymore
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Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🔴 We asked Tony Blair's think tank about charging businesses £500k for political access at party conferences and why one of its sponsor's logos disappeared after our reporting last week on TBI's alleged cash for access scheme This is what they said
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Paul Evans @pauliewaulie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
A thoroughly disrespectful approach to serious and responsible journalism.
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Rex Huppke @rexhuppke.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Here's what the AI chatbot Claude had to say about the AI security "deal" Trump and tech executives signed today. 😅
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Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 29/09/2026
😆
Screenshot from the Trump Administration’s new AI Chatbot:

Can the president rename
Artificial Intelligence?

No. Official sources do not show that a president can rename the term "artificial intelligence" itself.
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Headquarters @headquartersnews.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump's new AI chatbot says Trump has kicked over 10 million people off their health insurance coverage
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neveratrueword.bsky.social @neveratrueword.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
No one seems to be taking this seriously
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Extreme Temperatures Around the World @extremetemps.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
45C IN SOUTH AMERICA Brutal heat specially between Paraguay,Bolivia and Argentina. MONTHLY RECORDS ARGENTINA 43.9 Las Lomitas PARAGUAY 43.6 Mariscal Estigarribia 40.2 Encarnacion HIGH MIN:28.0 Asuncion BOLIVIA HIGH MIN:25.2 Concepcion GUYANA 38.1 Lethem Even hotter tomorrow !
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Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 30/09/2026
Sen. Eric Schmitt was so overzealous to try and get Jack Smith, a good and honest man who has done great work, that Schmitt embarrassed himself by accusing Smith of going to the wrong basketball game. You can't make this stuff up. And right wing media will pretend it never happened.
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