Unveiling Cosmic Mysteries: New Insights into AI, Earth Sciences, and the Enigma of Betelgeuse

Even more interesting answers to interesting questions were found in the Astronomy and Earth Science Research Center recently, which we have now collected.

Even AI doesn’t know everything exactly

More and more people are using language modules such as the ChatGPT, Bard or the Hungarian PULI GPT-3SX, because they are easy to access and without special programming knowledge you can process an incredible amount of information with them. However, several worrying problems have arisen related to these, such as distortions in the responses, data protection risks related to the files uploaded by users and the data provided, lack of detailed description on their work, lack of transparency, and just wrong answers.

Researchers from the German Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences and Climate Risk Analysis investigated the validity of the 100 questions compiled by ChatGPT, which are considered the most important for earth sciences. , and is there a difference in the answers if the same meaning is “Earth Sciences” or “Geosciences” we use synonyms in the question.

Their study shows that although the words “Earth Sciences” and “Geosciences” have the same meaning in English, they appeared with different meanings in the questions asked of the language models. During the study, it was revealed that large language models based on artificial intelligence cannot be independent from the distortion of the data used to teach them. According to the researchers, this is why we must always critically examine the answers we receive from them.

The first article degruyter.compublished on, read more here you can read about it.

They worked out how long it took for our sun to form

An international collaboration of researchers, including the Konkoly Thege Miklós Institute of Astronomy of the HUN-REN CSFK and astronomers of the University of Szeged, was able to estimate the time scale of the formation of our main star even in a 4.6 billion year view. .

First, they successfully measured the reduction of highly ionized thallium ions using the special particle accelerator of the GSI / FAIR laboratory in Germany, and then based on the test results, they calculated the amount of lead radioactive (205Pb) produced inside the stars. .

It can come from meteorites ²⁰⁵Compared to the amount of Pb, it was determined that the sun turned into a star relatively quickly, within 10-20 million years, from the gaseous material of its formation area. This is consistent with other radioactive nuclei formed in the same stars. This means that our Sun was not born alone, but in a large family of stars, together with many of his brothers, who had long since dispersed and lost each other.

The first article Nature published in the journal, more information here you can read about it.

It is probably a cousin of the red super star

The brightness and dimming of the star Betelgeuze has puzzled astronomers for years, with some convinced that it could be the cause of an impending supernova explosion. However, according to the new results of HUN-REN CSFK researchers and their American colleagues, the real cause of the light changes may be a hitherto unknown companion.

Betelgeuse, the tenth brightest star in the night sky, may not be close to supernova yet. This is what a new study claims, which concluded, after studying the changes in the star’s light, that they are much more likely to be caused by another, as yet unknown, orbiting star around him.

The “Betel-Brother” (“Betelbuddy”, as the main author of the scientific article, Jared Goldberg, named in the original English), it works like a kind of snow shovel: it clears the interstellar dust created by the giant star, which obscures its light. Because of this, we see Betelgeuze from time to time brighter and then dim again as its companion orbits.

Researchers are still not able to clearly determine what kind of celestial body Betel’s brother could be. A Sun-like star is the most likely candidate, but other researchers believe the companion is a neutron star. The researchers’ current plan is to catch and capture the companion, which will have its best view around December 6 this year.

The article is first arxiv.orgpublished on, read more here you can read about it.

HUN-REN has been updated

It updates the organization Hungarian Research Network aims to be one of the most effective research organizations in Europe. The goal of the new HUN-REN leadership is to create a well-funded open scientific institute system focused on social and economic problems, which will contribute significantly to the social and economic success of Hungary.

Researchers working in the Hungarian Research Network can count on a long-term, consistent, value-based and performance-based funding system, a mutually reinforcing structure and activity, a competitive salary at the domestic level and international, and a prospective research career path. an organization with a strong entrepreneurial and collaborative approach, the work of researchers they help with administrative and procurement services, and they also place great emphasis on relationships outside the academic field.