Archive for Svalbarði

Nature tidbits [28 Aug 25]

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 24, 2025 by xi'an

A nice cover (and a used pun) on the cover of this issue of Nature. That (reminded of trees from the Guadeloupean rainforest and) which refers to the rich microbiomes found in trees, with a partition between sapwood and heartwood. Along

  • an editorial call for “hazardous” research, namely the relevance of studies on urban gullies that endanger surrounding populations and have unpredictable dynamics, albeit scientists alone cannot provide solutions.
  • a Columbian study on how the microbial communities acting during the fermentation of cocoa and could be controlled towards finer chocolat).
  • the alas now usual articles on the impacts of Trump.2.0 on science and academia, with US Minister of Health Kennedy launching a call for finding the environmental cause of autism. When most researchers blame primarily genetics and associate the rise in cases with a rise in detection and awareness. And pointed out at the earlier drop in NIH funds for autism research, the overall balance being negative.
  • plus a useful debunking of five quantum theory myths! Along with the story of a 2020 Science paper by Vaitiekėnas et al. on Majoranas that raised enough questions for Science to publish an expression of concern, now lifted after the publication of a long correction.
  • (a video of) rappelling robots diving into a lava tube!!
  • a Verne-esque proposal to create a lunar biodepository, a (dubious imho) mix between Noah’s Ark and the (unscientific) faith in cryogeny
  • a more sobering call for more frequent data inputs (forcing datasets) to calibrate climate models, with no mention made of statistics or machine learning…
  • an operative “mind-reading” device… with a protection password (and a 74% efficiency)!
  • two research articles on AI unification of cognitive theories.
  • Another one on the (revolutionary) construction of an optical encoder-decoder network towards generating images.

ABC in… everywhere [programme]

Posted in Mountains, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2021 by xi'an

The ABC in Svalbard workshop is taking place on-line next week (and most sadly not in Svalbard). The programme is available on the ABC site. It starts (in Australia) at 4:00GMT (14 AEST) and finishes (in France) at 15:30GMT (17:30 CET). Registration is free but needed to access the Zoom codes!  See you on Zoom next week!!!

ABC not in Svalbard [this time!]

Posted in Mountains, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2021 by xi'an

Alas, thrice alas!, there will be no one attending the ABC in Svalbard in Svalbard  next April. As the travel conditions to and around Norway are getting tougher, it is just too unrealistic to expect traveling to the Far North even from Oslo. Too bad, but hopefully there will be another opportunity in a near enough future…

However, don’t give up the fight!, the mirror meetings in Brisbane and Grenoble are still planned to take place, along with an on-line version accommodating most of the speakers invited so far. Anyone interested in holding another mirror meeting?! Please contact me.

ABC in Svalbard [update]

Posted in Mountains, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 16, 2020 by xi'an

Even though no one can tell at this stage who will be allowed to travel to Svalbard mid April 2021, we are keeping the workshop to physically take place as planned in Longyearbyen. With at least a group of volunteers made of researchers from Oslo (since at the current time, travel between mainland Norway and Svalbard is authorised). The conference room reservation has been confirmed yesterday and there are a few hotel rooms pre-booked through Hurtigrutensvlabard.com. Anyone planning to attend just need to (i) register on the workshop webpage, (ii) book an hotel room for the duration of the workshop (or more)., and (iii) reserve a plane ticket as there are not that many flights planned.

Obviously this option should only attract a few brave souls (from nearby countries). We are thus running at the same time three mirror workshops in Brisbane (QUT), Coventry (University of Warwick), and Grenoble (IMAG & INRIA). Except for Warwick, where the current pandemic restrictions do not allow for a workshop to take place, the mirror workshops will take place in university buildings and be face-to-face (with video connections as well). Julyan Arbel has set-up a mirror webpage as well. With a (free) registration deadline of 31 March, the workshop being open to all who can attend. Hopefully enough of us will gather here or there to keep up with the spirit of the earlier ABC workshops. (To make the mirror places truly ABCesque, it should have been set in A as Autrans rather than Grenoble!)

from Svalbard [with snow]

Posted in Statistics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2020 by xi'an