From Big Bang to ChatGPT: Astronomy, Data and Society
It was very special to return to Oxford after so long: meeting so many fascinating academics, students and alumni working in many different fields and walks of life reminded me of how incredibly stimulating the place always is. The opportunity was an invitation to speak Hertford College Festival, in conversation with Physics Fellow and astronomer […]
In conversation with Melanie Mitchell
As part of the activities of the Premio Cosmos 2023, for which I am a member of the jury, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing computer scientist, Santa Fe Institute professor and author Melanie Mitchell, on the topic of her book, Artificial Intelligence: A guide for thinking humans, published in Italy last year and among […]
LIBRA – a play on satellite mega-constellations
At the end of September 2022, I’ve had the pleasure to visit Reggio Calabria, at the far South-Western tip of Italy, where the theatre play I co-wrote opened the Cosmos Festival 2022. LIBRA – The Play It is 2042, and a global corporation has taken over the market of satellite-based internet ads. The sky is […]
The need for humanities in an AI-dominated future
I was delighted to return to Imperial’s Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication in early Nov to deliver the 2022 Char Brinson honorary lecture on my view regarding the future of AI and the place of humans (and humanities) in it. Here’s a short summary of the main points I raised. When we hear the […]
The Future of Life on Earth
My final lecture as Visiting Professor of Cosmology at Gresham college looks at the threats to life on Earth, with a reflection straddling cosmology, astrophysics, history and environmental issues. I argue that what we need to worry about are not the dangers that are out there, but the ones that are in here – inside […]
The Love Makers
How artificial intelligence and robotics are transforming the future of love and desire: a philosophical thriller and essays. I’m thrilled that this wonderful book by Aifric Campbell, including fiction and non-fiction writing, has been published by MIT press. A chance encounter between two women and a road trip into the future: It’s Christmas Eve, and […]
The Broken Cosmic Distance Ladder
When Albert Einstein tweaked his newl Measuring distances to astronomical objects outside our Galaxy is a surprisingly hard challenge: it wasn’t until 1923 that Edwin Hubble obtained proof that Andromeda is indeed a galaxy in its own right. Today, astronomers extend distance measurements in the cosmos to the edge of the visible Universe, building up […]
Picturing the Invisible
Exploring interdisciplinary synergies from the arts and the sciences. I’m delighted to have been able to contribute to this cross-disciplinary group, and the ensuing book that’s now been published by UCL Press (Open access download here). Picturing the Invisible presents different disciplinary approaches to articulating the invisible, that which is not known or that which […]
The Edge of the Sky | Oir Nan Speur
The Edge of the Sky | Oir Nan Speur is a beautiful new ‘analogue theatre show’ in which two astronomers try to unravel a story from the past following a cataclysmic event. It will premiere on February 18th, 2022 at the Hebridean Dark Skies festival, on the Isle of Lewis. Performed in English and Gaelic, it is a uniquely […]
Einstein’s Blunder
A lecture given as Visiting Professor of Cosmology at Gresham College, part of the series “The Frontiers of Knowledge” When Albert Einstein tweaked his newly invented equations of General Relativity in 1917, he had one goal in mind: to find a solution that described a closed, static, eternal universe. He therefore minted a new universal […]
