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The merits of doing something (else)
A few weeks ago, my musician friend Sknob released a song and video, “Do something”. It reminded me about sharing here how the manual and artistic activities I am doing not-for-a-living deeply improve my research process, my mental health, and how they ground me in reality too — which is, let’s be honest, quite essential…
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An open letter to academic colleagues consuming genAI
We are living through unprecedented trying times for research, times that increasingly look like a crepuscule, a moment of high existential danger for research communities and academic freedoms. Now is the time for academics to take a stand or go to hell after making a Faustian pact. This is my public plea to tenured colleagues…
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500 miles high
A few months ago, I wrote about becoming deputy-director of the SETE in Moulis next year, in a transient 2-years arrangement. Well, that situation escalated quickly ! After a few months acquainting myself more with the direction tasks, getting to know the nitty-gritty of the lab, and writing a detailed direction program, I received the…
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After the heat wave
France and Western Europe have been plagued by a massive heat wave over the last ten days, already the second one of 2026 in the region. It is taking an unprecedented toll on people’s physical and mental health and is increasingly looking like a moment of truth, the moment we, a rich, developed group of…
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On the use of AI: an update
For those of you who found my earlier exhaustive technical and moral takedown of the use of AI in research and in astrophysics too long to read, and even more for those of my direct colleagues who may have stumbled on that post and found it excessive or subversive, good news, I have a much…
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On AI in research and astrophysics
Long time no post, very busy times. And although I would have dearly loved to talk about ecology, in the current flux of news and articles I’m reading I feel obliged to make a post about *drumrolls* AI *crash cymbal* in research, and astrophysics. Oh wait. So this IS inevitably going to be, to some…
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Giant steps
This blog has been very quiet in 2025, and you readers are entitled to the question : is this thing still running ? How is the whole project going ? What are you up to ? I am here today to provide some good, important (at least for me) news : pending internal mobility procedures…
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Nuno
One of my best friends and colleagues, Nuno Loureiro, who I had known for almost twenty years, was shot in his house in Boston on Monday, and tragically passed away shortly after that. He was a professor and researcher in plasma physics at MIT. It took me a few days to fathom the news and…
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Reaffirming and defending an ethical and responsible science in service of a humanist and ecological society
French version here. Preamble. I started writing this text almost a month ago while attending a conference in Spain and thinking about our chance to do research, and its necessity, right after the first federal research cuts of the new US government. I thought of publishing it as an op-ed in a newspaper but the…
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Réaffirmer et défendre une science éthique et responsable au service d’une société humaniste et écologique
Edit 08/03: English version can now be found here. Avant-propos. Voilà un texte, exceptionnellement en français sur ce blog, que j’ai commencé à écrire il y a presque un mois alors que je me trouvais en conférence en Espagne et réfléchissais à notre chance de pouvoir encore pratiquer la recherche, et la nécessité de celle-ci,…