Musings from astrophysics to ecology

François
François
@Francois@lookingup.francois-rincon.org
28 posts
38 followers
  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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,…

  • Honest research is a chance and a necessity

    Two weeks ago, I crossed the Pyrénees with two colleagues from our ecology lab to attend a marine ecology/biology workshop in Barcelona — my first ecology conference, going through the mountains to learn about the ocean! More importantly, I learned a big lesson there, and it wasn’t a scientific one. The initial objective for me…

  • Mas Que Nada

    With 2024 fading out, yesterday I thought I would make a hard-review of how I’ve spent my time and what I have achieved (or not) since March 2023, when I started this research transition. The exercice offers instructive insights into the challenges of attempting a major reorientation like this in the middle of an active…

  • One year, and taking off

    This blog is turning one year old today, and I haven’t posted much in recent months. Not that the the whole project is falling apart, quite the opposite actually: I am really busy running things in parallel, and am prioritizing science developments ! But, after a perfect rejuvinating autumnal week-end in Pyrenean nature thinking about…

  • Compared to what ? Musings on climate vs. ecological modelling

    I have spent the summer reading scientific articles and books I had put aside in springtime. The highlight of this period has not been reading ecology, but rather the recent book “Computing the climate: how we know what we know about climate change” by Steve Easterbrook. Indeed, the book has given me plenty of food…

  • Last dance

    I’m on my way to the UK where I was invited to an astro conference doubling with a birthday celebration of a famous US astrophysicist. I tend to travel abroad minimalistically these days, but I didn’t have the heart to decline this one by respect for my colleague and for all the close colleagues (some…