Blog – RL

A selection of science-society and science popularization blog posts that may interest non-French readers, as well as some reading notes and comments on original research papers.

OpenAI business model: towards private AGI?

liberation

IA

economics

cognitive sciences

An essay exploring the perspectives of tech giants through the lens of advanced AI.

RL, Libération

Could Covid-19 Have Originated on American Soil?

liberation

covid19

politics

media

Donald Trump’s insinuations that Covid-19 originated from a Chinese laboratory are currently making the rounds worldwide. It is thus time to recall that the United States is not beyond suspicion either.

RL, Libération

Origins of the Pandemic: Why Should We Refrain from Blaming China?

liberation

covid19

politics

media

The consensus held that the Covid-19 pandemic began in China, at the market of a large industrial megacity named Wuhan. Until three scientific studies challenged this hypothesis.

RL, Libération

Didier Raoult Accused of Scientific Fraud: What Should We Believe?

liberation

covid19

research

A scathing article on Didier Raoult published at a time when the media and politicians were still showering him with praise.

RL, Libération

Towards Self-Assessment and Horizontal Resource Control in Academia?

liberation

neuroscience

economics

research

Critiques of the Existing System and Possible Alternatives

RL, Libération

Brain Weather: How Our Emotions Fluctuate with the Seasons

liberation

neuroscience

neuromodulation

psychiatry

The French team is the world champion and Brigitte Macron is lounging by the pool waiting for the liberal ratatouille vintage 2018 to finish simmering in Parliament. In short, it’s mid-August and the sun is shining above our heads.

RL, Libération

A Remarkable Brain Factory

neuroscience

research

cuba

Report published in the monthly supplement of Le Monde Diplomatique following a trip to Cuba and a visit to the Havana Neuroscience Center

RL, Manières de voir

Presidential Elections and Filter Bubbles: Scrutinizing Facebook’s Political Referencing

liberation

politics

citizen science

medias

social network

The opinions and content shared daily on Facebook are increasingly playing a role in the democratic process. Given the opacity of the algorithms that control information transmission on the social network, only citizen experimentation can assess their neutrality and their impact on our perception of the political world.

RL, Libération

Reflecting on Defiance with Henri Laborit

liberation

neuroscience

inequalities

politics

books

Henri Laborit (1914-1995), a physician, researcher, and philosopher, believed that the dissemination of knowledge in neuroscience would play a liberating role for societies. He particularly focused on describing the psychobiological mechanisms of dominance and submission, as well as the conditions for overcoming them. Thirty years later, his conclusions remain strikingly modern.

RL, Libération

Is Trump’s Victory a Defeat for Intelligence?

neuro89

cognitive sciences

politics

inequalities

To what extent did voters’ intelligence determine the outcome of the American presidential election? A scientific study published on November 3, 2016, explores this question.

RL, Libération

500,000 British Brains Scanned by MRI by 2022, and Then What?

liberation

neuroscience

genetics

Major neuroscience research programs are crucial for combating neurodegenerative diseases. However, they also represent a new type of societal challenge…

RL, Libération

Social Inequalities: The Cognitive Profile of Those Who Don’t Care.

politics

inequalities

psychiatry

cognitive sciences

The power dynamics governing French society were exposed in the spring of 2016. What lessons can we learn, and more importantly, what should we do? This rant offers some answers inspired by research in cognitive and social sciences.

Neuroimaging of LSD: A World First at the Frontiers of Science

neuro89

psychedelics

neuroscience

psychiatry

Popular science article written on the occasion of the first fMRI study involving LSD and human subjects.

Between 1 Euro and 1 Billion: Your Budget for Eternal Life

neuro89

neuroscience

future

inequalities

A slightly ironic essay on the quest for eternal life, its illusions, and its cost.

The ‘Brain Behind the Attacks’ Taken Literally

neuro89

terrorism

neuroscience

conspiracy theories

media

Widely adopted by the press and numerous politicians, the ‘brain behind the attacks’ is one of those ready-made expressions that first reflect the difficulty, if not the abandonment, of thinking about terrorism beyond clichés and misleading rhetoric.

Conspiracy Theories: Why Does the Brain Get Tangled When It Gets Involved?

neuro89

terrorism

cognitive sciences

conspiracy theories

Rue89 has chosen conspiracy theories as its first major theme of 2016. Should this be seen as a form of preventive treatment, just days before the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, or should it be viewed as a reminder to bring back into focus certain facts left unexplained in 2015?