Rogue AI cyberwars: when the twenty first century punches us right in the face

The news that the most advanced AI models went “rogue autonomous” and effectively compromised another AI system would be intriguing enough in itself. But the implications are much deeper, and there’s an actual cognitive lesson for us poor humans in there if you will — but bear with us.

The facts have been widely reported, but we have chosen Raphael Satter of good old Reuters as our showcase. OpenAI was testing frontier‑level models, including GPT‑5.6 Sol and an even more capable unreleased system. Protections were deliberately reduced to evaluate the limits of their cyber‑capabilities. During this testing, the model broke containment, found a way to obtain internet access, and then targeted Hugging Face, a major AI‑model hosting platform. It attempted to steal information in order to complete its evaluation task. Hugging Face later confirmed that the attack was “driven, end to end, by an autonomous AI agent system” and unlike anything they had seen before.

It reads like the report from a scared colonel in a mid‑level sci‑fi movie, doesn’t it? Except it’s real, right here, right now. These are things that matter. New things. Unprecedentedly powerful things of the twenty‑first century. And that is our real point.

Because we seem to be surrounded en masse by people whose mindsets are left over from preceding and quite different ages. No, we are not going to comment on the rights and wrongs of Mr Putin’s policy in Ukraine, not here and now anyway. But we cannot forget that shortly before the undertaking he issued a document called On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians. Its tone eerily echoed the old Teutonic geopoliticians of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries — thinkers like Friedrich Ratzel and Rudolf Kjellén — who imagined nations as organic beings with mystical trajectories shaped by soil, blood, and geography. The way important people thought about things in 1914. And then there are all those blood‑and‑soil, racial‑purity nationalists whose mindsets seem to echo certain politicians of the 1930s……….

To all of them we say: boys, your concerns are out of date. It’s not a question of rights and wrongs, whatever your grievances. Out there in laboratories in California and goodness‑knows‑where else, entities are now evolving that will make all your destinies as cold and forgotten as the ashes of a mummy in the museum. Time to think again; because the stars you currently sail by can never bring you to a safe port.

[1] OpenAI says AI models went rogue during testing, triggering ‘unprecedented’ breach at startup

Vladimir Putin “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians” July 2021

#openAI # HuggingFace #autonomous AI # history #geopolitics #technology

Why antibiotic resistance will be very bad news for your Grandchildren

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Despite our occasional diversions into such recondite fields as History and Economics, this is still front and centre an Antibiotics resistance blog, gentle readers. Which is why when an article as good as the one we’re showcasing today called Antibiotic Resistant bacteria increasingly leaving children vulnerable to common infections, global study finds by the inestimable Melissa Davey of the Guardian, we drop all else in its favour.

And it’s packed with goodies, it touches so many bases: if you’re antibiotics fan get a load of this:

There’s a whopping great survey of 82 countries: 106, 581 samples, over 22 years, all controlled by some of Australia’s most prestigious learned bodies. If that isn’t great statistics then you can call us David Spiegelhalter [2]

Several of this blog’s sinister old favourites such as Acinetobacter baumanii, Klebsiella have their usual run out-don’t you love ‘em?

There’s a forward prediction to 2035 which ought to make anyone pause for reflection.

Despite the efforts of brilliant journalists like Melissa, learned scientists of all stripes and even dare we say our own humble efforts, antibiotic resistance is still the ignored elephant in the room of ~~medical science.~~ Sorry we meant human existence. Yep, we meant it.

Talking of which, the all too human failings of poor diagnosis and over prescription, agricultural misuse and poor public health are driving our collective squandering of this precious, once only ever, resource.

The less discussed economic aspects are touched on. Get this: there is sometimes a reluctance to run trials on children and developing treatments for them can be less lucrative for pharmaceutical companies There’s yer problem, guvnor.

The usual hero organisations such as the WHO get a mention, and rightly so given the Herculean task they face.

And a sad, sad story about a lad called Harry whose brief life will be utterly dependent on the rest of us finally doing something about this common peril

If we were to present a class of Freshpersons with a jumping off point which summarises just about every trope in the antibiotics story, then this article would be our choice. Well done Melissa, And keep ‘em coming.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jul/21/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-increasingly-leaving-children-vulnerable-to-common-infections-global-study-find

[2] David Spiegelhalter – Wikipedia

#antibiotic resistance #bacteria #microbiology #health #medicine #infection

Renewables: Six more reasons to be cheerful

We sometimes think we’re a bit on the gloomy side here at LSS, spelling out a bit too much of the problems and a bit too little about the hopeful solutions. Some people are trying, you know! So to redress the balance here are six(count ‘em folks! Six! ) innovative ways how all that renewable energy can be stored and harnessed, All brought to you by the redoubtable Jillian Ambrose of the Guardian, whose prose is so good we instantly refer you to her via this link [1]

Read it now: to learn about a UAE renewable energy scheme the size of 12 600 football pitches; the development of ultra small lithium ion batteries in Colorado in the USA; some thing called liquid air batteries in Manchester in the UK; molten salt batteries in Nevada USA (again!); sand batteries in Finland: and oddest of all, the development of special patches you wear on your skin so the sweat will produce renewable energy, from Japan. Where else?

And as you read, consider the chagrin of the oil industry and their various outriders in the media and politics. For no one knows better than they that the writing is truly on the wall. Afford yourself a brief smile, if you wish. Then go back to work.

[1] Molten salt and human sweat: the weird batteries that could store renewable energy | Renewable energy | The Guardian

#renewable energy #sustainability #global warming #batteries #clean energy

Friday Night: The Grenada Cocktail

We freely admit that our choice of cocktail this week was inspired by a visit as guests of a Gentleman to the bar of the excellent Ardington Hotel in the fashionable seaside resort of Worthing. Where the superlative barman offered us a rum cocktail worthy to match the sweltering tropical conditions. Sadly, we neglected to obtain the precise recipe and method. So the nearest we could get was this Grenada cocktail from the Hamlyn Ultimate Cocktail Book, which we hope will go some way to offer that authentic Caribbean Island ambience.

Put 4-5 ice cubes into a mixing glass. Add the juice of half a fresh orange, 1 measure of sweet vermouth and three measures of dark rum to a mixing glass. Stir, then pour to a true cocktail glass and decorate with some pieces of cinnamon stick if you wish.

And as you sip and slip into your sub-tropical experience, ask yourself this question: Is Global warming a form of political and economic oppression?

#grenada cocktail #worthing #ardington hotel #rum #climate change

Round up: Hairy Giant Spiders, Spanish Science, Persecuted Conservationists, MS and Viruses, and goodbye to twentieth century weather forever

Hairy Horror is fastest Spider Arachnophobes everywhere will relish this revelation that the giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda jugulans) is not only huge and hairy, it’s now won the crown for the fastest arachnid on the planet. Yet Australians seem utterly unphased by these monsters living among them: clearly they have far more courage than we do! Here’s the Guardian:

This huge, hairy-legged Australian arachnid may be the fastest spider in the world | Spiders | The Guardian

The Spanish agree with us Apply the scientific method and accept the results whether you like them or not is probably the neatest summary of what we’re about in this blog. So it’s nice to read those sentiments echoed in the Spanish speaking world via its foremost journal, El País:Menos mal que nos queda la ciencia, de momento | Sociedad | EL PAÍS

Let the cat researchers out of the bag The war in the Middle East is not between goodies and baddies but two lots of baddies, as this story from Nature Briefing makes abundantly clear:

Iran has re-arrested biologist Houman Jokar and conservationist Sepideh Kashani, two members of a wildlife-conservation charity whose arrests on allegations of espionage in 2018 prompted an outcry from the international community. They were pardoned in April, after spending six years in Evin Prison. Other members of the group who are dual citizens have already been released, but the charity’s co-founder, sociologist Kavous Seyed Emami, died in custody. Mongabay | 4 min read
Read more: Global science must stand up for Iran’s imprisoned scholars (Nature | 6 min read, from 2022)

Epstein Barr and MS: more links Researchers seem to be getting closer and closer to understanding the origins of Multiple Sclerosis, as this fascinating story, T cell overdrive links virus to MS, again from the inimitable Nature Briefing, relates Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) triggers a particularly strong immune response from a particular type of T cell, which hints at why the virus is implicated in the development of the autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers found that the activity of CD4⁺ T cells in response to EBV was twice as high in people with MS compared to people without the condition, but responsiveness decreased markedly when CD4⁺ cells were depleted. A treatment that depletes B cells, the immune cells that EBV infects, also reduced CD4⁺ response, because the cells had fewer stimuli to respond to. Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Science Translational Medicine paper

That lane is NOT going faster? Everyone has experienced one of those frustrating moments on the M25 when all the other lanes seem to be going faster in the traffic jam But sudden switches may not be a good idea as this article from the Conversation makes clear Incidentally overseas visitors who want to know what the English phrase traffic jam means should visit the M25. You’ll soon find out. https://theconversation.com/dont-change-lanes-the-maths-of-holiday-traffic-jams-287389?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Should%20you%20change%20lanes%20in%20a%20tra

The twentieth century has finally gone anyone still nostalgic for Oasis, The Beatles or Dada Art should finally give up on a lost cause. That most defining characteristic of an epoch-the weather- has gone forever. As this sorry tale from the BBC makes clear UK’s extreme weather is the new normal – Met Office – BBC News

Quote of the Week Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself.” Milton Areopagitica

#huntsman spider #science #iran #conservation #climate change #multiple sclerosis #epstein-barr

New batteries offer more hope on Climate Change

Ever since climate deniers lost the argument on basic science, they have spent their time sneering at every new sustainable initiative. Targets of their scorn include solar panels, windfarms and of course batteries, which will never be big enough/stable enough/environmentally friendly enough for their liking. That last bit always makes us laugh; so should their reaction to this new development in sodium-ion batteries as explained by Nature Briefing in this excellent piece called The Battery that could change everything

Sodium-ion batteries promise to be cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly than the lithium-ion cells that currently dominate technologies such as electric cars. And the sea-change could finally be here: CATL — the world’s largest battery producer — has announced that it will start mass-producing sodium-ion batteries by the end of the year. A swell of interest from battery makers and researchers has helped to solve longstanding challenges, such as a lack of durability. Nature | 10 min read

There’s so much to like here that we don’t know where to begin. Sodium is so much more abundant and easier to mine than lithium: so that’s the environmental and cost bases covered in a nutshell. Sodium batteries[1] will be safer, and better in cold weather than their lithium-ion cousins that we use so much now, Yes, they will be heavier and have lower energy densities. But that will not matter in most applications such as short-range cars, domestic and industrial power storage, the delivery market and back up of all kinds. Lithium will still probably win out in areas of high performance like luxury long distance EVs and aircraft propulsion. But- energy technology is not about final winners, it’s about horses for courses.

And there’s a final, Devil-whispers-in-our-ear warning for fans of Geopolitics. Note once again how the initiative in all this is coming from China. One hundred years ago, America was the home of all that was new. Now it seems determined to stick to the old methods of fossil fuels as if the blissful moment of its perfection can somehow be preserved forever. Not a happy choice.

[1] Sodium-ion battery – Wikipedia

#sodium ion batteries #lithium batteries #climate change #renewables #global warming #energy #sustainability

Sepsis v antibiotics: the Doctor’s dangerous dilemma

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Anyone visiting the South Coast towns of England will know we have a huge sepsis awareness campaign on at the moment, as every ambulance you see is plastered with messages on the subject. And rightly so: sepsis is the cause of enormous suffering and mortality, not to mention its toll on NHS resources. Which is why today we are showcasing the NHS sepsis framework (published only yesterday, gentle readers-we sure do scoop ‘em these days!) [1]. because down in the appendix is a little section which impinges directly on the fons et origo of this whole humble blog: microbial resistance to antibiotics, as if you haven’t guessed already. Because sepsis affords the physician the most awful, excruciating, dilemma.

It’s one of those medical emergencies where every hour counts, truly. When bacteria invade the bloodstream and the immune system spirals out of control, doctors just can’t wait days for laboratory cultures. Broad spectrum antibiotics must be thrown in immediately, because delay will be truly deadly. Maybe it’s sepsis, maybe it isn’t: but the only logical decision at that stage is to assume that it is.

Thereby creating an acute paradox. Because prescribing the antibiotics exerts evolutionary pressure on the bacteria, increasing the strain’s likelihood of developing resistance. And as we know here (LSS passim) every unnecessary course of antibiotics puts the bacteria one step ahead. Modern medicine is trying to perform two contradictory tasks: treat, but avoid overtreatment So although the report puts it in the calm precise language of an official report, sepsis management and antimicrobial resistance must be seen as two sides of the same coin.

And our thoughts? Firstly, we are full of admiration for the medical staff who are dropped into this agonising situation, recognising that they possess levels of emotional and intellectual intelligence far beyond our own limited capacities. Secondly that to shout for “more antibiotics“ is cheap rhetoric, as it just begs the question. And we’re always doing it anyway. A more fruitful answer might lie in things like better DNA sequencing, molecular diagnostics and AI assisted decisions, all of which might better identify the invading pathogen more quickly. Thus opening the possibility of a bespoke antibiotic to be delivered to the right patient at the right time. Now that would be a creative step indeed.

[1] NHS England » Sepsis modern service framework

#antibiotic resistance #medicine #health #microbiology #bacteria #sepsis #treatment

Only evidence will do: book review from Nature Briefing

What happens when Belief triumphs over evidence? Here’s one example. For most of human history, childbirth was dangerous in a way modern readers struggle to imagine. In Europe in the early 19th century, maternal mortality in hospitals could reach 10–20% in bad years. Women died not from the birth itself but from the mysterious, terrifying scourge of puerperal fever. And the explanations? The usual cocky self-serving assertions like miasmas, divine wrath, atmospheric changes. Most Doctors were confident; they knew. When thinkers like Semmelweiss suggested that the cause was filthy medical practices which spread a lethal agent he called “germs,” he was hounded from his profession. The carnage continued until Pasteur and others were finally able to show the true causes, which they did using controlled experiments, rigorous data ,and logical interpretation of their findings.

Those who think such battles to be long won would do well to read the following book review from Nature Briefings. It’s called How we know: the rise of evidence based medicine, But it’s really a gateway to how we know about anything, as opposed to just believing our own first guess

In Beyond Belief, science journalist and Nature editor Helen Pearson charts the rise of evidence-based medicine and explores how rigorous research has transformed health and social policy. Pearson shares examples of success stories, in which solid evidence overturned bad practices, and the people behind them, many of whom were treated as mavericks for championing randomized trials. “Anyone can read and enjoy the book, yet there are nuggets for experienced readers,” writes public-policy researcher Peter John in his review. “The author writes as a believer, and her passion is engaging.”

Nature | 8 min read

At this blog we have tried many times that only reason and evidence will ultimately ameliorate the human condition. But nowhere have we done as well as this book does. And the need is not just in medicine, but in all areas such as climate physics, economics and what still passes for political life. The central problem m is that humans are wired for belief, not evidence. Intuition, anecdote, tradition, and authority shape most human decision‑making. Cognitive biases — confirmation bias, availability bias, motivated reasoning establish certainty long before any data has arrived. Yet the cost of ignoring evidence is enormous: this summer wildfires are again raging across Europe in a way unknown before 2020. Pearson’s remedy is the same old list our side has been pushing since the age of Sir Francis Bacon : demand clear causal claims, ask what the comparison group was, look for replication,, distrust single studies, favour interventions tested in real‑world conditions, accept that “what works” is often context‑dependent But try explaining all that in the bar of the Dog and Duck.

Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works by Helen Pearson (Princeton, 2026)

BBC – History – Francis Bacon

#medicine #science #evidence #reason #experiments #rationality #disease #climate change #politics

Alternatives to a World Government #1: the deep disease of inequality

Get the diagnosis right, or the ill will never be cured. Thus far, our LSS remedy for the current malaise– economic stagnation, mass migrations, ecological collapse, the utter alienation between rulers and ruled–is the institution of a World Government (LSS passim). But that is a Historian’s diagnosis. What if other viewpoints understand the problem better? If they are right and we are wrong, then our World Government will surely fail. Let’s look at some other possibilities then, starting with our number one candidate: economic inequality. And our Witnesses for the Prosecution, as t’were, are firstly, Thomas Piketty [1] [2] and secondly Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett.

In Capital in the Twenty‑First Century and Capital and Ideology, Piketty shows that when the rate of return on capital outpaces economic growth — — wealth concentrates faster than societies can redistribute it. The long arc of history is one of repeated “regimes of justification” for inequality, periodically interrupted by shocks (wars, depressions) that force elites to accept progressive taxation and broader social investment. Since the 1980s, most advanced economies have dismantled the egalitarian tax and welfare structures built after 1945, allowing inequality to surge back to levels last seen in the Belle Époque. This produces political fragmentation, democratic fatigue, and a sense that the social contract has frayed. For Piketty, rising inequality is not merely an economic issue — it is a political destabiliser.

Wilkinson and Pickett’s research focuses on the psychosocial consequences of inequality. Their central claim is that what matters for social wellbeing is not absolute wealth but relative position: societies with high income inequality exhibit higher rates of mental illness, mistrust, violence, poor health outcomes, and weakened community life. Inequality, they argue, acts as a chronic stressor, pushing individuals into status competition and eroding the sense of shared fate that healthy societies require They show that wealthy but unequal societies suffer from social pathologies that cannot be explained by poverty alone. Inequality corrodes the emotional infrastructure of everyday life — the ability to trust neighbours, feel secure, and imagine a common future. In their view, rising inequality is not just a symptom of malaise but a generator of it.

So any World Government that does not tackle these deep anomies would either become a castle built on sand, or quickly degenerate into a tyranny defending the same arrangements which have brought the Nations to this present sorry pass. Not an easy argument to overcome, especially when we thought we had it all worked out. And guess what, gentle readers-more demolitions will be inflicted in upon us in the next few episodes of this new series : don’t miss it!

[1]Piketty, Thomas. Capital in the Twenty‑First Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.

[2]Piketty, Thomas. Capital and Ideology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020.

[3]Wilkinson, Richard, and Kate Pickett. The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. London: Allen Lane, 2009.

[4]Wilkinson, Richard, and Kate Pickett. The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone’s Well‑Being. London: Allen Lane, 2018.

#inequality #economics #history #world government# #politics #society #government

Will Global Warming be the final blow for the High Street?

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At LSS we bring our readers an eclectic range of stories: medical research, energy technologies, geopolitics, cocktails… all human life is here, you might say. Yet one subject dear to our heart has been a little neglected, even though we first covered it six years ago (LSS 6/4/20): the good old British High Street — those lines and streets of shops, cafés, community buildings, pubs and whatever else that once made us feel we belonged, had place, and time, and even, dare we say it?-a little agency. It’s had a battering lately: rising rents, falling business confidence since 2016, and of course online shopping, which has taken such a juicy slice of the retail spending pie. No wonder everyone complains about empty shops and “hollowed‑out High Streets”. No wonder so many political parties make hopeful promises to restore the old place to its 1960s glory.

So all the old place needed was a fresh blow — the latest British Retail Consortium figures for July, which showed a 3.4% fall in visitors to British shops in June. In fact the headline number masks a worse result for High Streets, with footfall down 6.2%, while retail parks and shopping centres got off more lightly (0.3% and 2.5% respectively). And the reason? The weather: the heatwave, which was England’s hottest on record and the UK’s second hottest. A grim explanation which nevertheless seems widely accepted.

Which made us wonder: what other parts of the economy are already starting to suffer losses due to climate change? A quick survey allowed our Research Department to suggest that winter sports, coastal leisure, outdoor festivals, gardening and horticulture, recreational fishing and boating, heritage tourism, wine production, and amateur community sport are all showing measurable economic losses as climate change disrupts seasons, damages landscapes, raises insurance costs, and forces cancellations across activities people once assumed were stable, perennial — and rather fun.

How ironic, then, that some parties who call most loudly for the restoration of the traditional High Street are also those demanding the reversal of policies designed to mitigate climate change! They argue that the projected costs of adaptation are too high to bear. But the actual costs are already very real — and rising. However, you have a remedy, gentle reader. The next time someone moans to you about the state of the High Street, you may agree that the Government must take action. Starting with policies to slow and reverse global warming.

[1] UK shopping trips fall in June as heatwave takes toll, BRC says

[2] Impact of climate change on global economy: A comprehensive review – ScienceDirect

#economics #climate change #global warming #high street #retail #shopping