Joerg Heber
@joergheber.com
Research Compliance Officer at Berkeley Lab. All views expressed are my own.
https://joergheber.com
https://joergheber.com
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Felix Klein lectured “On Hilbert’s first note on the foundations of physics" at the Mathematical Society of Göttingen #OTD in 1918. He included excerpts from letters in which he and Hilbert give priority to Emmy Noether’s results on conservation of energy in general relativity. (1/n) 🧪 ⚛️ 👩🔬
January 22, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Felix Klein lectured “On Hilbert’s first note on the foundations of physics" at the Mathematical Society of Göttingen #OTD in 1918. He included excerpts from letters in which he and Hilbert give priority to Emmy Noether’s results on conservation of energy in general relativity. (1/n) 🧪 ⚛️ 👩🔬
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Credit in research goes hand in hand with responsibility. In this week’s editorial we argue that when things go wrong & a retraction is needed, if it is clear who among the authors is responsible they should be named in the retraction note. COPE agrees
🧪 #AcademicSky
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AcademicSky
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
January 15, 2026 at 7:03 AM
Credit in research goes hand in hand with responsibility. In this week’s editorial we argue that when things go wrong & a retraction is needed, if it is clear who among the authors is responsible they should be named in the retraction note. COPE agrees
🧪 #AcademicSky
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪 #AcademicSky
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
In 1977, American physicist John H. Van Vleck won the Nobel prize for his work on magnetism. In his Nobel lecture, amid a discussion of rare earth elements, one sentence leaps out:
"Miss Frank and I made the relevant calculations."
Who was Amelia Frank?
theconversation.com/who-was-amel...
"Miss Frank and I made the relevant calculations."
Who was Amelia Frank?
theconversation.com/who-was-amel...
Who was Amelia Frank? The life of a forgotten physicist
In the 1930s, this quantum mechanical pioneer faced obstacles that still confront women in physics today.
theconversation.com
December 27, 2025 at 5:46 PM
In 1977, American physicist John H. Van Vleck won the Nobel prize for his work on magnetism. In his Nobel lecture, amid a discussion of rare earth elements, one sentence leaps out:
"Miss Frank and I made the relevant calculations."
Who was Amelia Frank?
theconversation.com/who-was-amel...
"Miss Frank and I made the relevant calculations."
Who was Amelia Frank?
theconversation.com/who-was-amel...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
A federal court has terminated a former researcher’s lawsuit against the U.S. government agency that barred her from receiving federal funds following an agency investigation that lasted 10 years.
Court tosses out researcher’s bid to overturn funding ban
A federal court has terminated a former researcher’s lawsuit against the U.S. government agency that barred her from receiving federal funds following an agency investigation that lasted 10 years. …
retractionwatch.com
December 23, 2025 at 6:59 PM
A federal court has terminated a former researcher’s lawsuit against the U.S. government agency that barred her from receiving federal funds following an agency investigation that lasted 10 years.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Well, I am not sure whether replicating the publishing ecosystem but with AI will solve the problems that the system has as is. But we'll find out I suppose.
"A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI"
www.science.org/content/arti...
"A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI"
www.science.org/content/arti...
A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI
With human peer review struggling to keep pace with machine-generated science, aiXiv enlists bots to help
www.science.org
December 11, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Well, I am not sure whether replicating the publishing ecosystem but with AI will solve the problems that the system has as is. But we'll find out I suppose.
"A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI"
www.science.org/content/arti...
"A new preprint server welcomes papers written and reviewed by AI"
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Ancient Roman cement has stood for centuries and is much more durable than its modern equivalent. Now we know why.
Pompeii Time Capsule Reveals Why Ancient Romans Were Such Incredible Builders
Lime granules trapped in ancient walls show Romans relied on a reactive hot-mix method to making concrete that could now inspire modern engineers
www.scientificamerican.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Ancient Roman cement has stood for centuries and is much more durable than its modern equivalent. Now we know why.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
10 years since CRediT was introduced, >20% adoption (of full text in Dimensions). Now, we need to build on this to comprehensively integrate CRediT in metadata and make sure the taxonomy evolves to remain fit for purpose. doi.org/10.1038/d415...
W/ @sjcporter.bsky.social Liz Allen Ruth Whitman
W/ @sjcporter.bsky.social Liz Allen Ruth Whitman
A ten-year drive to credit authors for their work — and why there’s still more to do
Information about the roles of each author of a paper can help to build trust, integrity and responsible research assessment. Coordinated efforts are needed to consolidate progress.
doi.org
November 29, 2025 at 4:41 PM
10 years since CRediT was introduced, >20% adoption (of full text in Dimensions). Now, we need to build on this to comprehensively integrate CRediT in metadata and make sure the taxonomy evolves to remain fit for purpose. doi.org/10.1038/d415...
W/ @sjcporter.bsky.social Liz Allen Ruth Whitman
W/ @sjcporter.bsky.social Liz Allen Ruth Whitman
Reposted by Joerg Heber
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
In 2022, archaeologists at @uni-kiel.de's @neolithicbodies.bsky.social found 34 decapitated skeletons piled in a space the size of a parking spot. In the 3 years since, they’ve found 50 more. The mass grave is evidence for the collapse of the 1st pan-European culture 7,000 years ago. @science.org 🏺💀
Reposted by Joerg Heber
A judge has dismissed a final claim by prominent biologist David Sabatini against his former employer and curtailed Sabatini’s lawsuit directed at the woman who accused him of sexual harassment. https://scim.ag/3JBnQCc
Biologist David Sabatini loses again in legal fight against Whitehead Institute
Judge dismisses final claim against scientist’s former employer and curtails lawsuit against woman who accused him of sexual harassment
www.science.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:28 PM
A judge has dismissed a final claim by prominent biologist David Sabatini against his former employer and curtailed Sabatini’s lawsuit directed at the woman who accused him of sexual harassment. https://scim.ag/3JBnQCc
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Now is a GREAT time to learn about nuclear testing. As it happens, earlier this year I published a story from the very tunnels where America's most top-secret tests are done. First time journalists had been inside since the 1990s.
www.npr.org/2025/01/29/n...
www.npr.org/2025/01/29/n...
Step inside the secret lab where America tests its nukes
A thousand feet beneath the desert, the United States conducts experiments to verify that its weapons work. But some fear a live test could come soon.
www.npr.org
October 30, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Now is a GREAT time to learn about nuclear testing. As it happens, earlier this year I published a story from the very tunnels where America's most top-secret tests are done. First time journalists had been inside since the 1990s.
www.npr.org/2025/01/29/n...
www.npr.org/2025/01/29/n...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Math has publication fraud, too.
For a long time, mathematicians thought that as long as they keep away from predatory journals or paper mills, the problem does not affect them. This turned out to be wrong.
For a long time, mathematicians thought that as long as they keep away from predatory journals or paper mills, the problem does not affect them. This turned out to be wrong.
Math has publication fraud, too
Ilka AgricolaCredit: Thorsten Richter Scholarly publishing in mathematics is unlike many other fields, marked by fewer papers, fewer coauthors per paper and fewer citations. But that doesn’t mean t…
retractionwatch.com
September 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Math has publication fraud, too.
For a long time, mathematicians thought that as long as they keep away from predatory journals or paper mills, the problem does not affect them. This turned out to be wrong.
For a long time, mathematicians thought that as long as they keep away from predatory journals or paper mills, the problem does not affect them. This turned out to be wrong.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
everyone should take three hours out of their day and watch THE LEOPARD, a total masterpiece of a film. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se...
Claudia Cardinale, glamorous star of The Leopard and Once Upon a Time in the West, dies aged 87
The husky-voiced, chain-smoking actor had a reputation as a fiercely independent, free-spirited woman
www.theguardian.com
September 23, 2025 at 11:03 PM
everyone should take three hours out of their day and watch THE LEOPARD, a total masterpiece of a film. www.theguardian.com/film/2025/se...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
A nice thread on Weiss & the origins of LIGO 💡🧪
1/ Rainer Weiss, who conceived of the idea of a gravitational wave detector (which eventually became LIGO), has died.
I was at MIT when the first gravitational wave detection was announced, and he gave perhaps the most inspiring colloquium I have ever heard.
news.mit.edu/2025/profess...
I was at MIT when the first gravitational wave detection was announced, and he gave perhaps the most inspiring colloquium I have ever heard.
news.mit.edu/2025/profess...
Professor Emeritus Rainer Weiss, influential physicist who forged new paths to understanding the universe, dies at 92
MIT Professor Emeritus Rainer Weiss, a renowned experimental physicist and Nobel laureate whose groundbreaking work on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed a longst...
news.mit.edu
September 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
A nice thread on Weiss & the origins of LIGO 💡🧪
Reposted by Joerg Heber
PLOS responds to a new PNAS study that uses openly available articles to map the scale of paper mill and peer review ring activity across scholarly publishing.
August 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
PLOS responds to a new PNAS study that uses openly available articles to map the scale of paper mill and peer review ring activity across scholarly publishing.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
The university of California is a powerhouse of innovation, healthcare, and social mobility for California and the US.
June 7, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The university of California is a powerhouse of innovation, healthcare, and social mobility for California and the US.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Places are becoming unliveable. #NomadCentury
How a mysterious epidemic of kidney disease is killing thousands of young men.
Repeated damage from extreme heat over time seems to be a leading factor causing kidneys to fail.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Repeated damage from extreme heat over time seems to be a leading factor causing kidneys to fail.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How a mysterious epidemic of kidney disease is killing thousands of young men
Repeated damage from extreme heat over time seems to be a leading factor causing kidneys to fail.
www.nature.com
June 5, 2025 at 6:45 AM
Places are becoming unliveable. #NomadCentury
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Colleagues, Students, Postdocs, Collaborators and Friends of Sir Fraser Stoddart: I am writing with the sad news that Fraser passed away suddenly on 31 Dec (Australia time) while on holiday with family. No details yet on any services. He is irreplaceable.
December 30, 2024 at 11:57 PM
Colleagues, Students, Postdocs, Collaborators and Friends of Sir Fraser Stoddart: I am writing with the sad news that Fraser passed away suddenly on 31 Dec (Australia time) while on holiday with family. No details yet on any services. He is irreplaceable.
Reposted by Joerg Heber
It's widely agreed that scholars are supposed to say when they use ChatGPT. Yet phrases like "I am an AI language model"—with no disclosure—are popping up in papers.
I wrote about how journals seemingly aren't enforcing their AI policies, according to a new study: www.chronicle.com/article/scho...
I wrote about how journals seemingly aren't enforcing their AI policies, according to a new study: www.chronicle.com/article/scho...
Scholars Are Supposed to Say When They Use AI. Do They?
Journals have policies about disclosing ChatGPT writing, but enforcing them is another matter, according to a new study.
www.chronicle.com
December 18, 2024 at 9:02 PM
It's widely agreed that scholars are supposed to say when they use ChatGPT. Yet phrases like "I am an AI language model"—with no disclosure—are popping up in papers.
I wrote about how journals seemingly aren't enforcing their AI policies, according to a new study: www.chronicle.com/article/scho...
I wrote about how journals seemingly aren't enforcing their AI policies, according to a new study: www.chronicle.com/article/scho...
Reposted by Joerg Heber
If an #H5N1 pandemic starts tomorrow or in three months, there will be little mystery as to how it happened. The conditions are all there. They have been for a while.
So in some ways the more interesting question to me at the moment is: Why aren’t we in a pandemic yet?
Story here, 🧵 to come:
🧪#IDSky
So in some ways the more interesting question to me at the moment is: Why aren’t we in a pandemic yet?
Story here, 🧵 to come:
🧪#IDSky
Why hasn’t the bird flu pandemic started?
Some scientists examining mutations found in H5N1 viruses fear major outbreak is imminent but others says pathogen remains unpredictable
www.science.org
December 6, 2024 at 12:54 PM
If an #H5N1 pandemic starts tomorrow or in three months, there will be little mystery as to how it happened. The conditions are all there. They have been for a while.
So in some ways the more interesting question to me at the moment is: Why aren’t we in a pandemic yet?
Story here, 🧵 to come:
🧪#IDSky
So in some ways the more interesting question to me at the moment is: Why aren’t we in a pandemic yet?
Story here, 🧵 to come:
🧪#IDSky
Reposted by Joerg Heber
This is the content I’m here for!
A 🧵 about the recently published discovery of a sabre-tooth kitten, including some personal reflections and thoughts on its age...
🧪🏺⚒️
🧪🏺⚒️
November 26, 2024 at 1:47 PM
This is the content I’m here for!
Reposted by Joerg Heber
Optimist: the cup is half full.
Pessimist: the cup is half empty.
Publication Ethics Editor: the half full cup in Fig 1 appears strikingly similar to the half empty cup in Fig 5 despite representing different experimental conditions. Please provide the underlying data.
Pessimist: the cup is half empty.
Publication Ethics Editor: the half full cup in Fig 1 appears strikingly similar to the half empty cup in Fig 5 despite representing different experimental conditions. Please provide the underlying data.
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Journal editor: Did the cup sign the author forms?
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Journal editor: Did the cup sign the author forms?
Optimist: The cup is half full
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Cosmologist: The cup is dusty or full of gravitational waves
Pessimist: The cup is half empty
Cosmologist: The cup is dusty or full of gravitational waves
November 24, 2024 at 12:28 AM
Optimist: the cup is half full.
Pessimist: the cup is half empty.
Publication Ethics Editor: the half full cup in Fig 1 appears strikingly similar to the half empty cup in Fig 5 despite representing different experimental conditions. Please provide the underlying data.
Pessimist: the cup is half empty.
Publication Ethics Editor: the half full cup in Fig 1 appears strikingly similar to the half empty cup in Fig 5 despite representing different experimental conditions. Please provide the underlying data.