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Nature tidbits [10 July 2025]

Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, University life with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 27, 2025 by xi'an

With a beautiful cover and a wealth of papers following China’s mission on the hidden side of the Moon, this issue offers

  • another “feel-good” editorial on the need for a highly ambitious UN treaty on plastics, or rather against plastic, at the August meeting in Geneva this month. Given the opposition of major producers like the USA (now more than ever!) and China, as well as all oil producers, the terrible impact of plastics  on life as a whole (also documented in this issue) is again likely to be ignored in favour of short-term commercial goals. (As illustrated by a feature article on metal-organic frameworks that capture CO² but are posing clear biosafety and environmental challenges, not mention in the article.)
  • a second editorial on the rise of metascience, a term I had not X’ed previously, which appears to be the science of scientific practice and impact. Given the limited impact scientists have on governments and societies, now more than ever!,  it is hard to forecast that metascientists will do better…
  • a rather tone-deaf tribune by the president of the Weizmann Institute on how they are reconstructing the institute after the Iranian attacks of 15 June (following the Israeli attacks of 13 June that hit several universities and assassinated several nuclear scientists). With empty words for “scientists in Gaza” when the very same Israeli government that funds Weizmann has flattened all academic and medical institutions in Gaza. (The asymmetry was later pointed out by a letter to the Nature editor from an Iranian scientist.) Followed a few pages later by the covarege an independent survey on a likely 80,000 death toll in Gaza.
  • A news article on the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine failing to take a stand against Trump 2.0, and too readily engaging into collaboration and censorship. And another one on the growing number of foreign scientists arrested at the border for carrying biological material. While I have (in the long past!) carried a raw milk Camembert in my bag and into the US, mea culpa (Io), I am less sympathetic to these cases since some of the material was hazardous, beyond being undeclared. What has changed in the recent is Homeland Security jumping on these cases to increase their deportation figures…
  • A long comment by Cantabrigians on the ambivalent role of AIs in writing and reviewing papers, with a proposed fix through the Conservative Evidence database, in Cambridge, England. A lot of coulds, woulds, and shoulds, imposing an international involvement, open access, and reliable procedures separating chaff from grain…

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Nature tidbits [06 Feb 2025]

Posted in Statistics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2025 by xi'an

Entries about the scary rise in H5N1 risks of a human transmission, compounded by Trump’s America leaving WHO, hence the US connection with global monitoring and its substantial funding of the organization. Advising against drinking raw milk as a primary precaution. Even camembert?!

A (naïve, imho) call by the presidente of the Union of Concerned Scientists to boost scientific integrity to protect (US) federal research despite the chainsaw massacre unfolding daily in (US) federal agencies. And the disregard of said massacrers for accountability and legal boundaries. And unions, definitely unions.

Also entries (and two Nature collections) on the one hundredth anniversary of the Taung Child fossil uncovering, as the first Australophitecus africanus  that opened the way for the theory that Africa was the birthplace of humanity, along with other extended books reviews. On quantum theory (it’s complicated!, according to Sean Carroll) and Kepler mission (by Jason Steffen). And a show at Cité des Sciences in La Villette about silence that I would love to attend.

A quick assessment of deepseek against its competitors. Mostly praising its open code. And another one on 23andMe losses and trouble,  reflecting the one-shot strategy of the company that cannot sell its analysis more than once (despite repeatedly trying, as I can confirm from their frequent emails). And opening concerns about their data or rather our data. Since there is very little protection in the US for this kind of data, considered out of healthcare.

New challenges of large carnivores in Western Europe, with a rise of wolverines, success story for the Iberian lynx, talks of reintroducing wolves to Scotland (to cull red deer like those who roam Buachaille Mor), degrading setting in France with looser rules for shooting wolves.

Microplastics in the brain, unsurprisingly increasing the chances of clots and surprisingly easily moving into blood vessels and the brain. And, speakiMicroplastics in the brainng of plastic, recycling, at last? Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) mentioned as evaluating the life-cycle analysis of a new approach with superheated water. Exposing the elephant in the room, namely that there is very little true recycling going on and that part of the recycled plastic ends up as fuel, hence contributing to pollution. Costs and impact of turning used products into new material are mentioned (and staggering albeit not compared with the initial costs and impact.

And I remain perplexed by the Two-Eyed Seeing Indigenous perspective for neuroscience article. As I do not see the scientific component, besides directions to work with local communities.

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cheese myths [and mites]

Posted in Kids, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2021 by xi'an

The Guardian published a somewhat hilarious article on cheese myths, with which I have no beef! Here are some.

  1. You can cook with cheap cheese. What’s the point, then?!
  2. Pre-grated cheese is fine. Sawdust is even cheaper…
  3. The older, the better. It depends. Which is why my regular cheesemonger is an affineur.
  4. Wrap in clingfilm or keep in an airtight container. I have given up using clingfilm altogether.
  5. You can store it in the fridge door. Not enough space and too dry. Until they retired, my parents never store cheese in a fridge as they enjoyed a perfect underground cellar with an unpaved floor.
  6. If it goes mouldy, it’s bad. Erm, there is no cheese without mould, mites, or bacteria. If worse comes to worse, scrap the offending part! (My affineur actually saves mites when brushing his olrder cheese to sprinkle them on younger ones and accelerate the aging process.)
  7. The temperature of your room is “room temperature”. At least, it is better than straight out of the fridge. (See 5. above.)
  8. You need specialist cheese knives. Never heard of cheese knives! Except for a cheese plane I use for extra-old and -hard Dutch cheese. The important point is in having sharp knives and cleaning them when switching cheese
  9. … and a cheese board. This is the most contentious point as cheese need be cut properly on a flat surface, especially hard cheese. Outside a large plate or a board, what is the alternative?! Unless the argument is in avoiding over-consumption.
  10. Rinds are inedible. Unless made of foreign materials like was, wood or straw, or too hard to chew, the rinds are part of the taste!
  11. Just slice any way you like. De-fi-ni-te-ly not!! Each slice, from the first to the last, should be the same. It otherwise modifies the taste and the aging, while potentially generating more waste.

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the invasion of the American cheeses

Posted in Travel, Wines with tags , , , , , , , , on October 15, 2018 by xi'an

Part of the new Nafta agreement between the USA and its neighbours, Canada and Mexico, is lifting restrictions on the export of American cheeses to these countries. Having tasted high quality cheeses from Québec on my last visit to Montréal, and having yet to find similar performances in a US cheese, I looked at the list of cheese involved in the agreement, only to discover a collection of European cheese that should be protected by AOC rules under EU regulations (and only attributed to cheeses produced in the original regions):

Brie [de Meaux or de Melun?]
Burrata [di Andria?]
Camembert [missing the de Normandie to be AOC]
Coulommiers [actually not AOC!]
Emmenthal [which should be AOC Emmentaler Switzerland!]
Pecorino [all five Italian varieties being PDO]
Provolone [both Italian versions being PDO]

Plus another imposition that British Columbia wines be no longer segregated from US wines in British Columbia! Which sounds somewhat absurd if wine like those from (BC) Okanagan Valley or (Washington) Walla Walla is to be enjoyed with some more subtlety than diet coke… Owning a winery apparently does not necessarily require such subtlety!

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Camembert day?!

Posted in Kids, pictures, Wines with tags , , , , on April 28, 2017 by xi'an

Google France is celebrating the 256th anniversary of the birth of Marie Harel, who, according to local legend, invented Camembert cheese. Enjoy (if you can!).

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