On Earth, in space. Happily married.

Joined March 2018
2,265 Photos and videos
Watch out, World!
πŸ¦”A researcher invented a fake eye condition called bixonimania, uploaded two obviously fraudulent papers about it to an academic server, and watched major AI systems present it as real medicine within weeks. The fake papers thanked Starfleet Academy, cited funding from the Professor Sideshow Bob Foundation and the University of Fellowship of the Ring, and stated mid-paper that the entire thing was made up. Google's Gemini told users it was caused by blue light. Perplexity cited its prevalence at one in 90,000 people. ChatGPT advised users whether their symptoms matched. The fake research was then cited in a peer-reviewed journal that only retracted it after Nature contacted the publisher. My Take The researcher made the papers as obviously fake as possible on purpose. The AI systems didn't catch it. Neither did the human researchers who cited it in real journals, which means people are feeding AI-generated references into their work without reading what they're actually citing. I've covered the FDA using AI for drug review, the NYC hospital CEO ready to replace radiologists, and ChatGPT Health launching this year. All of that is happening in the same environment where a condition funded by a Simpsons character and endorsed by the crew of the Enterprise was being presented as emerging medical consensus. The people making these deployment decisions seem to believe the pipeline from research to AI to patient is more supervised than it actually is. This experiment suggests it isn't supervised much at all. HedgieπŸ€— nature.com/articles/d41586-0…
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it’s probably in a better mood
How is this bottle of mustard any different than you at this moment?
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Triple inverted pendulum in transition control A classic control problem, done in real time. This setup moves smoothly between all eight equilibrium points of a triple inverted pendulum. The system reacts every 1 millisecond, which shows how fast modern control loops can be. β€’ Real-time control at 1 ms sampling β€’ Stable transitions between multiple balance points β€’ Built with Simulink and LW-RCP02 hardware This is a beautiful example of how theory meets practice in advanced control engineering. Video: youtube.com/watch?v=Rh7JuL3P… Credit: Embedded Control Lab, Inha University β€”- Weekly robotics and AI insights. Subscribe free: scalingdeep.tech
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
AstroBin's Image of the Day: "IC1805, IC1848, SNRG132.7 1.3, Mosaic X 3 (1000hrs Deep Exposure)" by zhiyuan wan, 小卑子 and Bruce Shi astrobin.com/w254o4/ #astrophotography
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Here’s a video showing how I captured @BlackGryph0n transiting the sun during free-fall. I still can’t believe we pulled it off!
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
30 Oct 2025
Starship continues to simultaneously be the fastest path to returning humans to the surface of the Moon and a core enabler of the Artemis program’s goal to establish a permanent, sustainable presence on the lunar surface β†’ spacex.com/updates/#moon-and…
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Three stacks of beacons.
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Best ground photo I’ve ever seen of Uranus, hands down
A quick snap of Uranus with the 24in scope low in the sky before twilight. To my surprise, the elusive rings were readily visible in just 15 minutes of exposure, and far surpasses anything I've achieved with my other 16in scope - the power of aperture showing its face once again
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
8 Aug 2025
We are saddened by the passing of Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13 and a four-time spaceflight veteran. Lovell's life and work inspired millions. His courage under pressure helped forge our path to the Moon and beyondβ€”a journey that continues today. go.nasa.gov/41tbrpq
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Bonus shot from my latest capture of the ISS transiting the sun: One of the captured frames sat right on the limb against these background prominences. The ISS is so iconic, I'm going to miss it when it's gone.
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
You can now pan & zoom the full Rubin First look images in their glory here: projects.cosmicds.cfa.harvar…
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
23 Jun 2025
First light, Vera Rubin Observatory
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Another look at this massive sunspot on the sun. Using a combination of broadband and narrowband imaging, I can see much more than the sunspot. The chaotic plasma in the chromosphere around it is visible here, bound to the sun's powerful magnetic field.
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
Congrats to the @SpaceX Dragon team on the third Dragon launch in 38 days!!! This smashes the previous record of three launches in 56 days last year. It’s not daily human flights, but at least we’re headed the right direction πŸ˜œπŸš€ One of my favorite photos from the last month is from @1sigari . He captured the perfect moment of @satofishi and the @framonauts descending to Earth
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
My two images of 61 Cygni allow me to create a 3D image, but it's a bit too much movement. A five-year gap would be better, so that's when I'll have another go.
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Simon Merton πŸ₯• retweeted
17 Feb 2025
Great post in my opinion from Peter Kellner on the unsustainability of Brexit from a geopolitical, economic or I would say any vantage point. To summarise, Starmer needs to overrule whoever it is who advises him (they are wrong), reverse his manifesto pledge and rejoin the SM and Customs Union asap. Reform et al are welcome to stand on re-leaving the SM and CU at the next election. Good luck with that. kellnerp.substack.com/p/the-…

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