tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1824923061422567732024-03-08T17:40:08.434+10:00Science TakeawaySmall bits of Science you can take home with you!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-15195381868438578212016-01-14T13:37:00.000+10:002016-01-14T13:37:13.998+10:00Up and down, but always forward
How much of an academic career is down to planning, or simply luck? Does taking risk pay off? These are recurrent questions, and it is always nice to get the perspective of a more senior colleague. Jenny Martin's latest blog post is particularly interesting, as she has just accepted the role of Director of the Eskitis Drug Discovery Institute at Griffith University. Many of us could do a lot Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-10389312902384903932015-05-15T15:33:00.001+10:002015-05-15T15:33:34.100+10:00Back!
Last year I decided that, in the interest of time, it was better to put all my online efforts into a single place.
As
it made absolutely no difference, I am working on reverting that
change and will use this blog again (as it is better referenced
that the other one). I have also started to transfer the content
here. Do not be surprised if you see old posts popping up.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-43233812501039213092014-04-16T21:00:00.000+10:002016-01-14T13:18:59.678+10:00Going to Japan as a researcher (1)
[note: this is a repost, on 15/05/2015 of an article I had prepared for another version of my blog(s). It was originally posted in April 2014, so some of the information may have changed. Leave a comment below if you have a question]
There are quite a few people interested in coming to work in Japan, so I suppose some of them might be researchers looking for opportunities here [back in 2014, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-81146602658104609372012-10-10T21:45:00.002+10:002012-10-10T21:45:43.594+10:00Recherche et politique
Les travaux de Shinya Yamanaka sur les cellules souches pluripotentes induites (iPSC pour faire court), qui lui ont valu de recevoir cette semaine le Prix Nobel de physiologie ou médecine (partagé avec John Gurdon), sont très intéressants.
Sa récompense n'est pas une surprise, et le toujours-excellent blog de Tom Roud en parlait dès 2008, (et je vous conseille d'ailleurs d'aller, comme il le Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-5975525443592975342012-09-29T01:19:00.002+10:002012-09-29T01:19:48.079+10:00Transparence ?
Avant le passage de Gilles-Eric Séralini dans l'émission "Des Cliques et des Claques" sur Europe 1 hier soir, je me posais la question d'un emballement (génétiquement modifié) à propos du traitement médiatique réservé à son étude sur la toxicité d'une souche bien précise de maïs OGM. Dans ce billet, je parlais assez brièvement des limitations de l'étude elle-même (d'autres l'ont déjà fait),Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-87966963141235994502012-09-27T20:49:00.001+10:002012-09-27T20:49:27.961+10:00Emballement génétiquement modifié
Cela fait maintenant un peu plus d'une semaine que l'étude de Gilles-Eric Séralini et ses collègues sur les effets du maïs OGM sur la santé des rats est disponible en ligne. Je suppose que ceux qui sont intéressés par l'étude elle-même l'ont déjà lue depuis plusieurs jours mais, dans le cas contraire, vous pouvez la récupérer sur ScienceDirect.
Depuis une semaine les réactions sont nombreuses, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-75547905288182805442012-08-02T23:35:00.000+10:002016-01-14T13:18:59.681+10:00The postdoctoral tightrope walk
(I wrote this piece for a column context a year and a half ago. It made it all the way to the final round of reviews but did not win anything, so I have decided to publish it here, unedited.)Doing a PhD is often compared to running a marathon, perhaps rightly so. Both are lengthy efforts, and sometimes have an unexplainable aura to outsiders. For every runner who hit the invisible wall a few Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-21250383459117903582011-09-07T21:08:00.001+10:002011-09-07T21:08:57.209+10:00Electricity consumption in Japan
Most people are probably aware that, following the March-11 earthquake and tsunami, Japan had to reduce its electricity consumption. As one of the measures was to shift activity away from the peak hours (by starting work earlier, or working on week-ends), there has been some discussion as to whether this only resulted in evening out consumption and reducing peak-hour demand, or if this really Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-49398857210547332372011-02-25T11:32:00.005+10:002011-05-25T22:27:46.633+10:00Currently offlineThis blog was created in 2009. The idea, back then, was to take a few scientific topics (from my own research or from the news), and to explain them to a lay audience.I think the idea was good, but the timing was not, as it came at a stage in my career when I rarely had enough spare time to post useful content here.I have therefore decided to temporarily suspend this blog, and to return to it Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-83955093702142419462010-01-11T23:23:00.019+10:002011-09-07T12:43:37.014+10:00Can the future be modelled?[This post is based on an earlier one posted, in French, about a month ago]My principal research area is complex systems modelling. Without getting too technical, the main purpose is to develop computer-based representation of some interesting phenomena.There is no definite consensus in the scientific community as to when a system becomes complex, but you will probably agree that genetics, the Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-19434320388494116302009-12-10T05:38:00.023+10:002011-09-07T12:43:27.171+10:00Un futur, des futurs ?Mon domaine de prédilection, en tant que chercheur, est la modélisation des systèmes complexes. Sans rentrer dans les détails techniques, il s'agit de développer des représentations informatiques expliquant des phénomènes spécifiques.Dans le milieu, la définition exacte d'un système complexe prête encore au débat mais, intuitivement, vous conviendrez que la génétique, le climat, le système Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-8102585024460841682009-12-09T02:21:00.009+10:002011-09-07T12:41:45.117+10:00Economics of EcologyEcology is often said to be detrimental to our modern economies. Fighting to protect biodiversity, or to tackle global warming, should apparently not be priorities, because it would have a negative impact on growth. Nature recently featured an interesting reply to these views, in particular through an interview with Pavan Sukhdev, who leads a study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-68747889149480238072009-12-08T00:02:00.036+10:002011-09-07T12:41:33.359+10:00Économie de l'ÉcologieOn oppose souvent Économie et Écologie. Lutter pour la biodiversité et contre le réchauffement climatique ne devraient pas être des priorités, car cela mettrait en danger la croissance. Nature est récemment revenu sur cette opposition, notamment au travers d'une interview avec Pavan Sukhdev, qui travaille sur l'Économie des écosystèmes et de la biodiversité, (projet TEEB).Le point de départ de Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-67314775120404806972009-08-28T17:39:00.003+10:002011-09-07T12:43:57.777+10:00Stand-byAs you have probably noticed, it has been quite a while since my last post here...This blog is currently on stand-by, as I have very little time to write decent posts for this page. In the meantime, if you have a subject you would like me to cover, please feel free to leave a comment below this post, and I will do my best to help.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-66978110608691904912009-05-19T20:16:00.010+10:002011-09-07T12:27:18.766+10:00On the same page with WHOThis post comes third in a series focusing on the influenza outbreak. Earlier posts are available here and here.The most crucial point in these texts was that the WHO pandemic scale only takes virus spread into account, and does not include any considerations on its virulence. This was a concern, because of the subsequent media coverage and the long-term risk of complacency.It is, therefore, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-68708676285822145042009-05-19T19:51:00.006+10:002011-09-07T12:44:07.782+10:00L'OMS est sur la même ligneCe post fait suite déja mes précédents billets sur l'épidémie de grippe, que vous pouvez retrouver ici et ici.Dans ces textes, j'insistais notamment sur le fait que l'échelle de l'OMS ne prend en compte que la propagation du virus, et pas sa gravité. Je suis donc ravi que cette notion soit désormais prise en compte par les médias. Ainsi le Monde.fr cite Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, porte-parole de l'OMS Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-44601079976603808922009-05-15T07:12:00.006+10:002011-09-07T12:44:14.028+10:00Bac+8 pour changer une ampoule ?Ce matin, en regardant le journal de Radio Canada sur TV5, une chose m'a frappée.Il était question de la sélection de deux nouveaux astronautes canadiens, et de leurs impressionnants cursus. Mais est-il vraiment nécessaire d'avoir ce niveau d'étude pour être efficace dans l'espace ?Je suis donc parti à la recherche d'informations sur l'actuelle mission sur le télescope Hubble, et sur ses Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-70595968193398441552009-05-12T06:51:00.006+10:002011-09-07T12:44:24.363+10:00Complaisance, ou réaction disproportionnée ?L'épidémie de grippe a en partie disparu des journaux, mais reste un sujet majeur des publications scientifiques telles que Nature.Dans sa dernière édition (7 mai), on trouve par exemple un éditorial très intéressant: Between a virus and a hard place (jeu de mot sur la version anglaise de "entre le marteau et l'enclume").Le but de cet éditorial is de souligner que la complaisance est plus Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-42193660218823481292009-05-12T05:46:00.010+10:002011-09-07T15:58:05.694+10:00Complacency, or overreaction?The influenza outbreaks has almost disappeared from mainstream news, but remains an important focus in high-profile scientific publications such as Nature.Its latest issue (May 7th) features an interesting editorial: Between a virus and a hard place. In brief, the main message of this editorial is that "complacency, not overreaction, is the greatest danger posed by the flu pandemic".In a way, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-25034251510563727232009-05-05T08:50:00.003+10:002011-09-07T12:44:44.143+10:00Pandemics: more but less?One of the advantages of having a fairly recent blog is that there is little readers to complain about the lack of update of the recent weeks. That being said, this silence was not exactly planned, and I will try to post more often in the future.The recent flu outbreak has captured the headlines, and I have wondering about the way scientific information is broadcast to the general population.In Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-57982495161220813062009-05-04T04:15:00.024+10:002011-09-07T12:27:08.570+10:00Précision, ou confusion ?Peu de temps libre en ce moment, et la rédaction de billets pour ce blog en a donc pris un coup. L'actualité récente est pourtant intéressante, donc je vais essayer d'être concis et précis à la fois.La précision est d'ailleurs justement le thème qui me chatouillait les doigts et m'a fait revenir vers mon clavier.Vous l'aurez sans doute remarqué, la grippe porcine/mexicaine/A-H1N1 (rayez les Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-84163911082378262492009-03-27T21:03:00.003+10:002011-09-07T15:58:49.224+10:00Bienvenue !Bienvenue sur ce blog !J'aimerais ici, en quelques lignes, vous expliquez la raison derrière la création de ce blog, alors que mon emploi du temps n'est pourtant pas extensible à l'infini.Une part non négligeable du travail d'un chercheur est la dissémination des résultats et implications de ses travaux. Cela se déroule à deux niveaux.Bien entendu, la principale "cible" de cet effort de partage Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182492306142256773.post-48589358044102486722009-03-27T02:16:00.014+10:002011-09-07T15:58:43.369+10:00Welcome here!Welcome on this blog!If you allow me, I will take a few minutes to explain the rationale behind the creation of this blog. As you may know, a researcher spends a fair amount of his/her time trying to efficiently disseminate the results he/she obtained. If we look at it in a very crude way, there are two levels of dissemination.Obviously, the primary "target" of this effort is the scientific Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07307842984322024456noreply@blogger.com0