Archive for Trump administration
اليوم العالمي للتضامن مع الشعب الفلسطيني
Posted in Kids, pictures, Travel with tags Gaza, Gaza war, genocide, illegal settlement, Israeli bombardments, Israeli government, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Palestinian Authority, settlers, Trump administration, UN, United Nations, war crimes, West Bank, West Bank annexation on November 30, 2025 by xi'an
Nature tidbits [23 October 2025]
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Running, Travel, University life with tags @ScientistTrump, academic freedom, Adolph Northen, Agents4Science 2025, Austin, Australia, Berezina, book review, Brazil, Brown University, cognitive biases, cover, dark energy, dark matter, Edwin Hubble, emigration, ERC Synergy Grant, Federal Government, France, Garching, Google, Hubble constant, imitation game, immigration, Italy, Max Planck Institute, mental health, Milky Way, MIT, Napoléon Bonaparte, Nature, PhD position, PhD students, PhD thesis, protect, quantum computing, Reionization, Royal Society, Russian campaign, Stanford University, Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, The University of Texas at Austin, Trump administration, Turing's test, UCLA, ultra-marathon, University of Pennsylvania on November 27, 2025 by xi'an
a discussion on the nature of the “little red dots” that have been recently observed and whose nature remains open, the most popular explanation (I was given during lunch) being black holes surrounded by gas (even though I cannot understand why the gas is not attracted by the black hole!) [and would have produced a more exciting cover!]
a review of the recent book Discordance: The Troubled History of the Hubble Constant by Jim Baggott, entitled Why we still don’t understand the Universe — even after a century of dispute! A review that regrets that more time is spent on the Hubble “constant” (which varies with time!) rather than more controversial issues like dark matter and dark energy (And strangely bemoans that the book is focussed on scientific developments, missing sociological ones. Duh?! (Bonus for a picture of suit-and-tie Edwin Hubble sitting at the centre of a telescope),
two entries on the well-being [or lack thereof] of PhD students, with nothing particularly surprising (eg, inclusivity and respect help!), and Brazil, Australia and Italy ranking top locations but in a comparative study that does not mention France (as often in international comparisons found in Nature) despite the place being in the top 10 countries delivering PhD degrees, not that I believe PhD students are particularly well-treated in French academia!, the (unexplained) surprise being Italy ranking so high given the close resemblance between the two countries (low stipends, shortage of postdoc and permanent positions, high teaching loads for the advisor, limited travel budgets),
a conference (purposedly) made of AI-written papers reviewed by AI referees, Agents4Science 2025, how universities are rushed into adapting to AI-fluent students, whose skills are changing, and the rise in fake authors produced by paper mills, with a limited range of acceptable solutions,
why Trump 2.0‘s blackmail on pharmaceutical companies is counter-productive and likely to slow down progress, and why his massive increase of highly qualified scientists is shooting (or nuking) USelf in the foot, given the huge proportion) of im/emigrated Nobel prize winners (for physics, chemistry, and medicine), along the (post-) Nobel prize in economics is a direct or indirect reply to this regression by awarding the Prize to economists who worked on the importance of creativity and science on growth (not very surprising at first look!)
Nature tidbits [30th October 2025]
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Running, Travel, University life with tags @ScientistTrump, academic freedom, Adolph Northen, Austin, Berezina, book review, Brown University, cognitive biases, cover, ERC Synergy Grant, Federal Government, Garching, Google, imitation game, Max Planck Institute, Milky Way, MIT, Napoléon Bonaparte, Nature, PhD position, quantum computing, Reionization, Royal Society, Russian campaign, The University of Texas at Austin, Trump administration, Turing's test, UCLA, ultra-marathon, University of Pennsylvania on November 22, 2025 by xi'an
Google claim a significant ‘quantum advantage’ by quantum-echoes algorithms that they say is 13,000 faster than classical algorithms, but it is unclear from the nature article where and when their algorithms can be used, apparently missing to apply to realistic scientific applications… (Along with a paper on an “atom-array architecture that enables continuous operation with reloading rates of up to 30,000 initialized qubits per second while preserving coherence across a rearranged large-scale qubit array”.)
On the Trump vs. Science scene, a predicted drop in PhD admissions as an adaptation to (uncertain) Trump’s cuts, bans, visa restrictions, and other attempts at arm-bending and blackmailing (And the novelty of me receiving applications from the US, a first!) Some U.S. departments have simply cancelled PhD admissions… But some universities have so far resisted the Orange pressure. Namely, the MIT, Brown University, (good old) Penn, UCLA, the University of Virginia (albeit agreeing to a deal), Dartmouth College, and the University of Arizona in Tucson. Vanderbilt has given in. (UT Austin and Harvard seem to be continuing the discussion with the Trump administration.) Meanwhile, China is zooming past! The issue also contains articles on how fundamental science discoveries have had hugely practical consequences, in case one need argue with a sceptic.
As a less urgent issue, some researchers at Institut Pasteur in Paris identified new diseases that did not help Napoléon’s Grande Armée as it retreated from Moscow, from the DNA of 13 soldiers buried in Lithuania. (With nature failing to give credit to the painter Adolph Northen for his famous “Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow” illustrating the story, attributed to the researchers in the paper!)
In this period of ERC announcements of their grantees, an analysis of the two-digit rise in applications. Unsurprising, given the international context. Along with a decrease in funding due to a lack of adjustment against inflation since 2007. (Incidentally, I found out this week that Torsten Elßin—at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics—I visited once had been selected for a Synergy grant on a 3D Milky Way Atlas. Along another cosmology Synergy grant at MPA on the Epoch of Reionization.)
A runner’s must-read that starts with the statement “the human body has a ‘metabolic ceiling’ that even the most extreme athletes cannot surpass”. Which would be 2.4 times the basal metabolic rate (BMR) for extended periods—by which the authors mean 30 weeks and over!, not a half-marathon. Not so exciting a paper in the end.
As predicted by the cover, a Royal Society meeting acknowledging the AI language models killed Turing’ test and questioning the next one. Since assessing the capacities and limitations of novel AIs and AGIs sounds more relevant and societally important. To wit, “;the Turing test of the future should question whether an AI is safe, reliable and provides meaningful benefit, he said, and should also ask who bears the cost of that benefit”. (As discussed in the book review of The Means of Prediction: How AI Really Works (and Who Benefits) by Maximilian Kasy, in the same volume. And yet another paper on AI biases.)
Nature tidbits [25 Sept 2025]
Posted in Books, Kids, University life with tags Agent Orange, China, cover, foreign students, Hereford, heresy, medieval Europe, Nature, NMITE, NYT, student fees, Trump administration, UK universities, US universities on October 29, 2025 by xi'an
ISBA World meeting(s) 2028
Posted in Books, Travel, University life with tags Bayes at CIRM, Bayesian conference, CIRM, France, ISBA, ISBA 2028, Luminy, Marseille, Milwaukee, mirror workshop, social media, travel ban, Trump administration, United States of America, USA, visa revocation, Wisconsin on October 28, 2025 by xi'an
An item of news I had missed in the June issue of the ISBA Bulletin is that the 2028 ISBA World meeting will take place in Milwaukee, USA. As pointed out by Michelle Guindani, this is is the first time the main conference of ISBA takes place in the United States since 1993 (which I did not attend). Rotation of locations between strategically located places makes sense, esp. in countries with a large IBSA membership like the US. Unfortunately, and as for BayesComp 2027 at Texas A&M, this will take place during the Trump administration, administration that set an entry prohibition for citizens of only dog knows how many countries by then and arbitrary border checks linked with activism that runs counter to their far right ideology. I thus hope hybrid options will be available for those who cannot or fear to attend in person, with many mirror gatherings like the one we ran for ISBA 2022, towards more inclusivity and social interactions.
