** LATEST ** – The next launch attempt is now scheduled for Thursday 20th April. Check the latest news at Spaceflight Now.
Monday’s planned test flight of the Super Heavy booster carrying Starship was called off due to a pressurisation issue caused by a failed valve. The booster’s ability to carry a significant load (like a fully fuelled Starship) depends on the fuel tanks being pressurised at all times. It’s the same process that makes drinks cans so strong despite being very thin walls. An empty can crumples whereas an unopened can is pressurised and is significantly stronger.
If the valve issue can be fixed on Tuesday, there might be a new launch attempt on Wednesday. Watch this space (no pun intended).
Just a short post this time, to alert anyone who may not know… SpaceX is planning the first ever launch of Starship on an orbital flight tomorrow, Monday 17th April.
There are several places you can watch this attempt live on YouTube. I recommend three of them in particular. If you’re new to all this, try the SpaceX stream. If you’re more knowledgeable you might prefer one of the others.
Felix Schlang, a German who moved to Florida to be closer to the action
Marcus House, an Australian spaceflight enthusiast in Tasmania
Prepare for much better and more natural interaction with devices like Alexa, your satnav, book readers, aids for the blind and much more. No more need to remember the right words and phrases to use.
What does a conversation with ChatGPT look like? I test it out below and add some short notes and thoughts on what it might mean for the future.
I ran a simple chat session with ChatGPT, just to get an idea of how good it is at understanding questions and returning understandable, useful answers in ordinary language. Everything in the conversation below with a yellow background was typed by me, the rest is from ChatGPT. Where my typing is an aside for you, my readers, and not sent to ChatGPT, I’ve put it in braces {}.
The headquarters of Open AI, the developers of ChatGPT – From Wikimedia
The conversation is quite long, but I hope it will interest you and perhaps cause you to raise questions in your own mind. If you want to discuss any thoughts on AI in general (and ChatGPT in particular) just leave them in the comments section below. Thanks.
The conversation
Chris – Hi, my name is Chris and I’d like you to introduce yourself; please don’t be nervous, just give me an informal introduction.
ChatGPT – Hi Chris! I’m ChatGPT, a language model designed to communicate with humans and assist with various tasks. Think of me as a robot that can talk with you through text. I’m always eager to learn new things and help you in any way I can, so feel free to ask me anything!
Chris – Thanks! Good to meet you. OK, I’ve got the idea that you are robot-like. There are a couple of things I’d like to know. Why are you called ‘ChatGPT’? And what is a language model?
ChatGPT – Good to meet you too, Chris!
ChatGPT is named after the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language model architecture, which is used to build me. GPT is a type of neural network that is trained on massive amounts of text data, allowing it to generate coherent and natural-sounding text. The “Chat” part of my name refers to my ability to chat with humans like you, using text as our mode of communication.
Speaking of language models, a language model is a type of artificial intelligence that can analyze and generate human language. Essentially, a language model is a computer program that is trained on large amounts of text data, allowing it to learn the rules and patterns of language. Once trained, a language model can perform a wide variety of tasks, such as generating text, translating between languages, or answering questions. I’m a particularly advanced type of language model, based on the GPT-3.5 architecture, which allows me to handle a wide range of tasks and communicate with people like you in a natural and engaging way.
Chris – I must congratulate you, your replies are certainly engaging and natural. Do you mind if I ask some more questions? This is an interesting conversation.
ChatGPT – Thank you, Chris! I’m always happy to answer questions and have interesting conversations, so please feel free to ask me anything you’d like.
{I thought I’d introduce some typos next, to see if ChatGPT would struggle to parse the text. But it didn’t bat an electronic eyelid, answering quickly and correctly.}
Chris – What sort of toxt deta were you trainers with? Do you know where it came from? A few examples of sources would be helpful.
ChatGPT – I was trained on a diverse set of text data, ranging from news articles and academic papers to social media posts and online discussions. The training data comes from various sources and domains, covering a wide range of topics and writing styles to help me understand and generate text in a natural and diverse manner.
Some examples of sources that were used to train me include:
Wikipedia: A large online encyclopedia with articles on almost every topic imaginable.
Books: A wide range of books on various topics, from fiction to non-fiction.
Web pages: Crawled from the internet, including blog posts, news articles, and online discussions.
Social media: Posts from popular social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit.
Scientific journals: Academic papers from various scientific disciplines.
News sources: Articles from major news outlets like CNN and the New York Times.
The training data was collected from various sources and pre-processed to remove irrelevant or duplicated content, ensuring that the data was of high quality and diverse enough to train me to generate human-like text.
Chris – In that case let’s try to draw on some of the material you’ve seen from those sources. I live in an English town called Cirencester. It’s in a region called The Cotswolds. Please write a short essay about Cirencester for me.
ChatGPT – Sure, I’d be happy to write a short essay about Cirencester for you!
Cirencester is a charming town located in the heart of the Cotswolds, a picturesque region known for its rolling hills, quaint villages, and traditional architecture. With a history dating back to Roman times, Cirencester is home to a wealth of historical and cultural attractions that draw visitors from around the world.
One of the town’s most notable landmarks is the Cirencester Parish Church of St. John Baptist, a stunning example of medieval architecture that has been standing for over 900 years. The church is home to a variety of beautiful stained-glass windows, intricate stone carvings, and historical artifacts that provide a glimpse into the town’s rich history.
Another must-visit attraction in Cirencester is the Corinium Museum, which houses an impressive collection of Roman artifacts and exhibits that showcase the town’s Roman heritage. Visitors can explore the museum’s extensive collection of mosaics, coins, and pottery, as well as learn about the daily lives of the Roman citizens who once called Cirencester home.
In addition to its historical attractions, Cirencester is also known for its natural beauty and outdoor activities. The town is surrounded by idyllic countryside, with plenty of opportunities for hiking, cycling, and exploring the Cotswold Way, a 100-mile walking trail that winds through the region’s stunning landscapes.
Whether you’re interested in history, culture, or outdoor activities, Cirencester has something to offer. With its unique blend of ancient and modern, this charming town is a must-visit destination for anyone looking to experience the best of the Cotswolds.
Chris – That was really good! Do you write poetry as well? How about a short poem (three or four verses) about Cirencester?
ChatGPT – Sure, I can certainly give it a try! Here’s a short poem about Cirencester:
In the heart of the Cotswolds lies a town, With Roman roots and ancient renown. Cirencester, where history meets charm, And natural beauty keeps us calm.
Streets lined with stone and buildings grand, A parish church that still does stand. Corinium’s past in the museum’s keep, A town that makes our hearts leap.
Cirencester, oh, how you inspire, In every season, by every fire. A gem in the Cotswolds, a treasure to see, A place where our hearts are free.
Chris – Great! Here’s something a bit harder, can you do a haiku on Cirencester?
ChatGPT – Sure, here’s a haiku about Cirencester:
Roman walls stand tall, Cirencester’s ancient embrace, Cotswold’s heart of stone.
Chris – Great again, and hard to do. I have one last question for you; how should I solve a quadratic?
ChatGPT – To solve a quadratic equation, there are several methods, but one of the most commonly used is the quadratic formula. The quadratic formula states that for an equation of the form ax^2 + bx + c = 0, the solution for x is given by:
x = (-b ± sqrt(b^2 – 4ac)) / 2a
where “sqrt” denotes the square root function.
To use this formula, you simply plug in the values of a, b, and c from your quadratic equation into the formula, and then simplify the expression to find the solutions for x.
It’s worth noting that there are other methods for solving quadratic equations, such as factoring and completing the square, but the quadratic formula is generally considered the most reliable and efficient method, especially for more complex equations.
Chris – Thanks! Enjoy your time chatting to some other people. By the way, how many people can you converse with at the same time? I can only manage four or five.
ChatGPT – As an AI language model, I can theoretically converse with an unlimited number of people simultaneously, as long as the incoming messages are not too frequent and I have enough computing resources to process them all in a timely manner. However, I can only provide individualized responses to each person based on the messages they send me, so the more people involved in the conversation, the more difficult it may be to keep track of multiple threads of conversation at once.
Some thoughts on what you’ve just read
I think you’ll agree that ChatGPT is pretty good at giving understandable and useful responses in English to a range of questions. It’s pretty much the sort of conversation you’d expect from a very well-read human. It seems most unlikely that today’s AI systems, including ChatGPT, actually ‘think’ in anything like a human way. It manipulates language very cleverly in ways that are useful and seem human-like. But these AI systems don’t understand meaning, they don’t have feelings or emotions, they don’t have thoughts or opinions.
Might they have the earliest glimmerings of these things? There’s no evidence that they do. But the teams developing such systems have sometimes expressed caution. The danger here is that any much more advanced future system that did have a spark of self-awareness might arise without us even knowing about it, and if it was capable of modifying itself it could become exponentially more clever. Even a few days of exponential improvement could result in a more powerful mind than any human. After that, the AI could outwit us with ease and make decisions that we might not like. The difficulty is that the time available for us to intervene would be a much smaller window than we might suppose or plan for.
In the near future (likely starting in months, not years) a welcome development will improve those systems that already use speech recognition and/or speech generation. Prepare for much better and more natural interaction with devices like Alexa, your satnav, book readers, aids for the blind and much more. No more need to remember the right words and phrases to use, fewer misunderstood commands, the ability to ask for more or different information.
Expect help with programming, planning astronomical observing sessions, writing up research, having your articles proof read and copy edited. Perhaps soon you’ll be able to throw away your keyboard! Laptops might start to look like tablets. Bedtime? Ask for a story.
ChatGPT can do that already…
Chris – Write me a children’s bedtime story about a dog, a mouse, an oak tree and an ant hill.
ChatGPT – Once upon a time, there was a friendly dog named Max. Max loved exploring the forest near his home and making new friends. One day, while he was wandering through the woods, he met a tiny mouse named Mimi. Max and Mimi quickly became best friends and spent hours playing together.
As they were playing, Max noticed a beautiful oak tree nearby. The tree was enormous, with branches stretching high into the sky. Max and Mimi decided to climb up the tree and see what they could find. When they reached the top, they discovered a bustling ant hill. Thousands of tiny ants were working together to gather food and build their home.
Max and Mimi watched in awe as the ants worked tirelessly. They were amazed at how much the little ants could accomplish when they worked together. Max and Mimi decided to help the ants by gathering food for them. Max used his strong nose to sniff out berries, while Mimi used her quick reflexes to catch insects.
The ants were overjoyed to receive Max and Mimi’s help. They thanked the two friends by giving them a special gift – a magical acorn that would grant them one wish. Max and Mimi thought long and hard about what they should wish for.
Finally, Max said, “I wish for all the animals in the forest to be friends, just like us.” Mimi nodded in agreement. She added, “And I wish for the oak tree to grow even taller and stronger, so it can provide shelter for even more creatures.”
Their wish was granted, and from that day forward, all the animals in the forest were friends. The oak tree grew taller and stronger, and even more animals found shelter in its branches. Max and Mimi continued to play together and explore the forest, knowing that their wish had made a difference in the lives of so many creatures.
As the sun began to set, Max and Mimi said goodnight to their new friends and curled up together under the oak tree. The stars twinkled above them, and the gentle breeze rustled the leaves. Max and Mimi felt grateful for the adventure they had shared and fell asleep with happy hearts, dreaming of all the fun they would have tomorrow.
It can write essays, explain more or less anything you might ask, it can even pass many written exams on all kinds of topics
If you’ve been paying attention to the technology scene recently, you cannot fail to have heard of ChatGPT. What is it? Quite simply it’s a chatbot, a type and read interface for version 3.5 of the GPT engine developed by Open AI.
If all that sounds confusing, a chatbot is artificial intelligence (AI) software, in this case presented as a webpage, where you can have a conversation with a computer program. You type in a question and the chatbot sends a reply. Repeated questions and replies form a conversation, in ChatGPT’s case a remarkably smooth, almost ‘human’ experience.
If you haven’t yet tried it, then you really should. It’s free and very easy to use. I encourage you to visit chat.openai.com, sign up for a free account, and type a question. There are no rules about what you can and cannot type; ChatGPT is accomplished at understanding ordinary language and gives good, conversational replies.
Assuming you tried it out and have found your way back to my blog post, I’d like to explain a bit more about it. ChatGPT was released as a website at the end of November in 2022 and has grown in popularity very, very fast. If you tried it out for yourself, I’m sure you will understand why. It’s compelling, it can write essays, explain more or less anything you might ask, it can even pass many written exams on all kinds of topics. And version 4.0 of the engine is already available as a paid option and is far more capable. It can take images as input as well as text and has, for example, built a working website based on a sketch and a description of what the website should do. That is little short of astounding!
The company, Open AI, was created to work on artificial intelligence with safety very much in mind. Sometimes, ChatGPT generates false answers; that can be an issue but it is not deliberate. What if more advanced AI became able to reason as people do, what if it started to think and develop it’s own goals, and what if its intellect became faster and more nimble than our own? Could we prevent it from taking over? Would it be benign, or might it become hostile? Would we be able to control it? These are serious issues. We need to think these things through now, before it becomes too late.
I don’t want to be alarmist, and AI as we currently experience it is far from becoming a threat. It may prove useful in many ways and we’ll see that begin to happen very soon. But we’ll need to manage it in ways that prevent it helping people do bad things. We don’t want such technology to enhance criminal activity, for example. So there’s a great deal to consider right now, and the need for that will only increase as AI systems become more and more capable. For more on this I recommend Sean Carroll’s podcast episode 230, linked below.
I’m going to close this blog post at this point, but I’ll be back soon with a sort of interview with ChatGPT. I’ll ask some questions, let the software answer, and publish the conversation.
Meanwhile, have some ChatGPT conversations for yourself and see what you think.
Notes from bygone years – March after March after March
Two years ago
There were no posts in March 2021, but I walked a long section of the old Thames and Severn Canal. The photo shows the towpath on the left and the bed of the canal on the right. The canal is being restored, but it will be a long time before this section can carry barges again.
The old canal and towpath
Five years ago
In March 2018 I posted about moving into our new house and adding an extension (‘Our new home in the Cotswolds‘). The building work was disruptive in the extreme, of course. We had to move out for four weeks, and make do with just part of the original space for much longer than that. But it was worth it.
We used to watch TV here!
Ten years ago
Grasshopper landing
In March 2013 I wrote about a TED interview with Elon Musk. Perhaps you haven’t heard of the TED talks, but everybody has heard of Elon. The post is interesting: Musk was already experimentally landing rockets ten years ago, and TED continues to be a great ideas platform. Take a look and explore the links in the original post.
Rachael also shared a picture of an old-fashioned plough making furrows. The soil needs to be churned up and overturned before something new can be grown. There is a necessary process of breaking before the land can be used.
We thought about how Father releases us from ourselves. At the beginning he said, ‘Let there be light’; he still speaks those words into his people today and pours light into the darkest places in our hearts.
Twenty years ago
March 2003, another early blog post about a meeting at home. This time there were only two of us, but we heard such a lot! For example, that the tiny stonecrop, the great cedar, and the mighty oak tree were all planted by Father’s hand. The important thing is not to be big or strong, but to be planted by the master.
For this first flight both parts of the vehicle will be lost after landing on the sea (but hopefully not before)
Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, is close to the first launch of their new spacecraft – Starship. This is an exciting step forward in space flight technology as fully reusable Starship versions are planned to return NASA astronauts to the moon, act as orbital fuel tankers, take people and materials to destinations throughout the solar system, and colonise Mars.
The world’s most powerful rocket is likely to make its first orbital flight attempt during March. Whatever happens, the attempt will be spectacular in the extreme! With twice the thrust of NASA’s SLS rocket, SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster will attempt a launch from Starbase on the Texas coast, heading east. The Starship will separate and pass between Florida and Cuba.
The Super Heavy booster will attempt a landing on the surface of the sea, offshore of its launch point. When fully operational, SpaceX intends that Super Heavy boosters will return to the launch site to be caught in mid-air by arms on the launch tower. Starship will attempt a landing, also on the sea surface, north of Hawaii, but again, the intention is to eventually catch Starship at the launch site as well.
For this first flight both parts of the vehicle will be lost after landing on the sea (but hopefully not before). It’s likely they will attempt to hover above the sea surface to practice the manoeuvre they will need to perform for a catch. Once landing precision is good enough, SpaceX will attempt the first catches. But that’s something for future flights and will depend on data returned from this first attempt. You can’t put a note in your diary to watch the launch as we don’t yet know exactly when it will happen. But I’ll keep you posted here on JHM.
The previous step forward for Starship was a static fire by the Super Heavy booster on 9th February. This is worth watching in this video clip from NASA. Thirty-one of the booster’s thirty-three engines fired for the duration of the test, one was not ignited at all, and one shut down early. The engines fired at half thrust during the test, but for the first launch they’ll be run at 90% thrust.
See also:
The SpaceX website carries an introduction to the concept of the Starship system.
The launch is listed on Spaceflight Now’s Launch Schedule page and on Next Spaceflight’s SpaceX Launch Manifest page. You can check those sources for schedule updates as they become available.
Wikipedia has a good article about the Starship vehicle covering details of size, thrust, the development process, purpose, capabilities and so on.
I sum these topics up on my Twitter profile as biology, web, science, technology, family, faith, history, and travel.
Having recently restarted blogging after a long pause, I’ve been thinking through how best to move forward – what should I change, what should I drop, and what should I keep?
Today’s post explains some of this, I’ll share what I’m doing and what I plan to do next. I’ll consider any comments you may leave, either here on the blog, or on Twitter or Facebook. But here’s how I see things right now.
Buy me a coffee
I’m offering everything I publish for free, but will always be delighted to receive a small gift, especially if you have sold or republished something (though even then it’s optional). Details are at coffee.scilla.org.uk .
Cruising the Gospel
This is a moribund blog that I’m in the process of restarting. I’m not sure yet whether to continue it in its present form, or to roll it into Journeys of Heart and Mind (JHM) as a topic in its own right. Currently I’m inclined to keep it as it is, and perhaps generate some PDFs from each book I complete. See it at gospel.scilla.org.uk .
Gateway
My Gateway site is mainly for my own use, but it’s full of links about Cirencester (my home town in England), local time and weather, some Christian links, local and national news, science and technology links and so forth. Some of you might like to take a peek. If so, head to gate.scilla.org.uk .
JDMC
JDMC stands for Jesus, Disciple, Mission, Church and is an introduction to Alan Hirsch’s Forgotten Ways. To learn more and download a copy to print (or read online), visit jdmc.scilla.org.uk . I need to update this booklet and plan to when I have time, unfortunately the web links in the PDF open OK, but using the browser to return take you back to the title page; I’ve been unable to fix this so far. If you open the links in a new tab you’ll be OK, but it’s easy to forget.
Journeys of Heart and mind
I intend to continue with this more or less as it stands. That means a mix of topics will appear here, articles about all of the things that motivate me as they occur to me (so in no particular order). I sum these topics up on my Twitter profile as biology, web, science, technology, family, faith, history, and travel. Others include photography, astronomy, spaceflight, archaeology and a few more. One thing I will add is a way of seeing just posts on one of these topics at a time, I think that will be useful; not everyone wants to see everything. You’re reading on this site at the moment.
Photos
I use Smugmug to display my photos and will continue with this, but I need to rearrange things in topic folders to make it more usable. Visit photos.scilla.org.uk to browse my all time favourites.
Twitter
My main Twitter account is ChrisJJ, but I have a second account, JHM. I haven’t used the JHM account for a long while, but might post tweets about faith topics there, and everything else on ChrisJJ. My mind is far from made up on this as there are quite a few pros and cons.
By showering less often I’m cutting my water use to less than half, and turning down the flow rate reduces water use by about half again.
I’ve just watched the latest ‘Just have a think’ video from Dave Borlace. I really enjoy his videos – they are well produced, clear, uncompromising, polite, thorough … well, you get the idea. The latest one asks what we can do individually to help reduce the pace of climate change, and he describes a survey that shows most people are just waiting for someone else to do something about it.
That rings true!
Here’s the video, watch it, then scroll on down and read my personal take on, ‘What can I do?’ I believe we can have a large impact – if we all pull together.
What can I do?
I’m going to share one idea with you, something I’ve been doing for a long time now, and something I’m finding quite easy that also makes a big difference. Just remember though, this one idea is just an example. Maybe you can think of something in your own life that you could change that would also have a useful impact.
I used to shower every day, after all it takes less time, water and energy than having a bath and that has to be a good thing, right? Well, yes.
But for a number of years now, I’ve made a point of showering once every two or three days, turning down the water flow, turning down the temperature, and also minimising my use of shower gel. I still enjoy my showers, the temperature’s warm enough to be pleasant, I’m not advocating cold showers!
So how does this help?
Much more than you might think. By showering less often I’m cutting my water use to less than half, and turning down the flow rate reduces water use by about half again. So I’m using only 25% as much overall. Turning down the temperature a little combined with the reduced water use reduces the heating energy required to perhaps just 20%. I only use shower gel under my arms and around the more personal parts of my body, cutting consumption by 50% or maybe a bit more. Combined with showering less often my use of shower gel is therefore down to 20 or 25% overall.
Bear in mind that shower gel takes energy to manufacture as do the plastic bottles that it comes in, as does disposing of the empties. Add in the energy cost of producing and supplying water, and of removing and treating the waste water, and it all begins to add up.
I hope this illustrates the energy savings that can be achieved by one, small change in one person’s lifestyle. And there are other benefits too. For example, my skin microbiome is probably more healthy for the reduced frequency and coverage of shower gel. If we all did this, and thought of other ways to reduce our individual energy use, we could make a huge difference.
Don’t just leave it to others. Work out what you can do – and make a difference!
I’ve always been interested in their symmetry, their beautiful shapes, and their infinite variety
Since I first saw a photograph of a snowflake under the microscope, I’ve always been interested in their symmetry, their beautiful shapes, and their infinite variety. But never had I imagined that it would be possible to create such snowflakes in the lab or control their growth to order.
Meet Ken Libbrecht, the snowflake guy. He began by investigating how they form, and can now build snowflakes more or less to order. Amazing! Watch this video in which Ken demonstrates his work to Derek Muller on Veritasium.
Ken has discovered so much about the conditions that cause snowflakes to form. He also understands the subtleties of humidity, temperature and so on that produce different kinds of snowflake growth, why they show the six-fold radial symmetry that they do, why they branch at particular places, and why individual ‘arms’ of a snowflake are almost identical to one another while different snowflakes are unique.
A computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms
Today I want to share two striking YouTube videos that I found recently. Maybe you’d like to watch them yourself.
Introduction – The animation shows the molecular structure of DNA, rotating so you can visualise it more easily. Watson and Crick famously published this structure in April 1953.
DNA contains the genetic information that specifies the nature of plants, animals and other life forms. Each species has it’s own form of this DNA ‘instruction book’. Amongst other things, a species’ DNA controls the basic structure of the brain just as it does for other body parts. But here’s an interesting fact: The coding and behaviour of DNA can be simulated by strings of characters stored in a computer.
Brains involve cells called neurons with connections between them, and neural networks running on a computer can behave in a similar way to a very simple brain. Building a computer program that simulates coding and inheritance on the one hand, and neural function on the other, permits the emulation of simple animal-like organisms, and there are applications out there that do just this.
First example – One such program is Minute Labs’ Evolution Simulator (check out their YouTube to see it in action).
Second example – Another program, and I want to focus mainly on this one, is from David Randall Miller. He wrote a particularly fascinating simulator, see his YouTube demo and explanation below for some quite deep insights. It’s a long video, but breaks into logical chunks for easier viewing; I suggest viewing the first section and continuing if it seems interesting.
It’s a really helpful approach for anyone wanting to better understand evolution. It assumes only fundamental levels of the topics, but will enhance your appreciation of maths and computing while also demonstrating the basics of genetics, inheritance, simple neural networks, and animal behaviour. That’s quite a lot of benefit from just one video!
Some questions to ask yourself…
What new understandings did you gain?
Did you disagree with anything?
If so, why?
What conclusions did you draw about the nature of living things?
Journeys of Heart and Mind 