Archive for London
un.be.lie.va.ble! [thrice]
Posted in Running with tags Addidas, carbon plate, homologation, London, London marathon, running shoes, Sabastian Sawe, tail wind, Tigst Assefa, two hour barrier, World record on April 28, 2026 by xi'an
Nature squeakbits [26 February 2026]
Posted in Books, pictures, Running, Travel with tags Antarctica, basketball shoes, book review, China Initiative, Chinese Government, climate change, climate science, COVID-19, EPA, ERC Advanced Grant, ERC Consolidator Grant, ERC Starting Grant, France, French politics, greenhouse-gas emissions, Indonesia, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeffrey Epstein, large language models, London, London calling, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, measles, Nature, nuclear weapons elimination day, perspective, rock art, SARS-CoV-2, snippet, START treaty, Sulawesi Island, The Clash, Trump administration, UKRI, unilateral nuclear disarmament, US Government, US politics, West Antarctica Ice Sheet, WHO on April 16, 2026 by xi'anIn this issue of Nature, uncovering the fundamental (and Ig-Nobel worth) reason why basketball shoes are squeaking, the reason being a shockwave travelling through the sole!, two tribunes against nuclear testing and “must & should” towards a successor to the START treaty… While we should ask & act for a global and if not unilateral nuclear disarmament! This alas coïncides with France announcing the increase of its nuclear arsenal and the extension of its “umbrella” to several EU countries…
And another coverage of the deplorable Trump administration dismantling the biodefense and pandemic preparedness branches of the US NIAID, presumably a late under-the-belt jab at the national institute Anthony Fauci directed for 38 years. Meaning one of the forefronts for pandemic research and vaccine development has been dismantled. Plus the US EPA revoking the 2009 statement that climate change is endangering the US population and removing greenhouse-gas emission rules. In tune with the Drill, baby, drill! motto of the Trump supporters more interested in their short-term profits than in the long-term (no-)future of the country. Paradoxically sitting in the same issue as a comment calling for a policy-making assessment of avoidable climate-change risks. Illustrated by London’s drownin’ below
And a summary of their conclusions from 23 of the 27 members (from 27 countries) of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origin of Novel Pathogens for the WHO. After 3.5 years of debate on the origin of COVID-19! Four hypotheses are examined and other hoaxes and conspiracies are debunked.
Another political entry about the EU and its Horizon Europe programme (that is funding my ERC Synergy grant) baring (researchers from) Chinese research organisations from applying for its grants in sensitive methodologies, in order to prevent “the undesired transfer of IP”. Following similar and earlier actions in the US with the (newspeak!) China Initiative launched by Trump 1.0 that turned into a witch hunt.
An exciting 228 metres of rock and mud providing a window on the past 23 million year weather. Obtained from the West Antarctica Ice Sheet.
London Meeting on Computational Statistics 28-29 April 2026, plus a UCL lecture by Lester Mackey
Posted in Books, pictures, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags Augustus de Morgan, Britain, computational statistical physics, gradient flows, London, London Mathematical Society, Monte Carlo methods, Monte Carlo Statistical Methods, simulation-based inference, The Shard, UCL, UCL Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, United Kingdom, University College London, variational inference on February 6, 2026 by xi'an
Kaw frogs [Wildlife Photographer of the Year]
Posted in Mountains, pictures, Travel with tags caiman, France, French Amazone, French Guiana, frogs, Guyane, Kaw, London, marais de Kaw, Montagne de Kaw, Natural History Museum, overseas, pothole, The Guardian, toucan, Wildlife Photographer of the Year, wildlife photography on November 24, 2025 by xi'an
prosecution of UK protestors [Bansky’s version]
Posted in Books, Kids, pictures, Running, Travel with tags Amnesty International, Bansky, Britain, Defend Our Juries, French government, French politics, Gaza war, genocide, London, Palestine, Palestine Action, protest, Royal Courts of Justice, Stop the War, terrorism, UK politics, United Kingdom on September 21, 2025 by xi'an
Xi'an's Og 