Pierre de Buyl
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pierre-epsilon.bsky.social
Pierre de Buyl
@pierre-epsilon.bsky.social
75 followers 110 following 120 posts
Curieux/curieuzeneus/curious.
Scientist at the Belgian "met office" - this account is personal.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
climatecentrebe.bsky.social
On VRT NWS Laat, Rozemien de Troch, our Climate Services Lead, noted the Paris Agreement cut Belgium's projected extra hot days from 51 to 23. To limit the 1.5°C overshoot, we need rapid emission cuts & CO₂ removal. #COP30 #ClimateAction @vrtnws.be
🔗 Replay: www.vrt.be/vrtmax/a-z/v...
November 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
benbraun.bsky.social
The central argument in this excellent paper & thread is that the open-access turn has neglected profit; indeed, it turbo-charged publishers’ margins. As political economists who know a thing or two about profit and power we should speak up a lot more. As it says below: What we’re doing is crazy.
hansonmark.bsky.social Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 2d
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
carobxl.bsky.social
Total soutien au personnel de l'école
Piquet de grève devant une école avec une banderole "un coup de klaxon= soutien à l'éducation"
November 10, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
climateadam.bsky.social
OK. Some (mostly negative) thoughts on Bill Gates.

With special shoutout to @timinclimate.bsky.social & @drkatemarvel.bsky.social for their wise words.

youtu.be/9MmqKEkOtwo
Climate Scientist Responds to Bill Gates
YouTube video by ClimateAdam
youtu.be
November 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
mdmlesoir.bsky.social
Le monde ne parvient toujours pas à infléchir la trajectoire du réchauffement, selon l'Unep. Si les politiques actuelles continuent, le réchauffement atteindra 2,8°C. Avec les promesses tenues, il resterait entre 2,3 et 2,5°C. #COP30 #climat #transition #planète www.lesoir.be/708966/artic...
Climat : le monde ne parvient toujours pas à infléchir la trajectoire du réchauffement
Si les politiques actuelles continuent, le réchauffement atteindra 2,8°C. Même avec les promesses tenues, il resterait entre 2,3 et 2,5°C. L’ONU alerte : la limite de 1,5°C de réchauffement sera vrais...
www.lesoir.be
November 4, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
meteobe.bsky.social
🏆Scientists affiliated with the RMI, VUB, UGent and FWO win the 2025 Annual Science Communication Award with their interactive and accessible workshop entitled “Instant urban climate model with AI”.

🔗 More info on our website:
[FR] www.meteo.be/fr/infos/act...
[NL] www.meteo.be/nl/info/nieu...
IRM - Un atelier interdisciplinaire sur le climat urbain remporte le Prix annuel de la communication scientifique 2025
www.meteo.be
October 29, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
python.org
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
pierre-epsilon.bsky.social
Thanks @olivia.science for sharing this article: apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
#AI #Education #Academia

She and others take position on the toxicity of #AI in academia.
October 24, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
olivia.science
I am close to tears; they listened and made an english version apache.be/2025/10/24/b...

@apache.be you rule 🖤
October 24, 2025 at 10:13 AM
pierre-epsilon.bsky.social
Hello bsky-verse, I am looking for a reviewer for the article "HiMAP: Hidden Markov for Advanced Prognostics" for the Journal of Open Source Software.

The job: review the (short) article and the software. Pre-review issue: github.com/openjournals...
#OpenScience
[PRE REVIEW]: HiMAP: Hidden Markov for Advanced Prognostics · Issue #7977 · openjournals/joss-reviews
Submitting author: @mariana-sc (Mariana Salinas-Camus) Repository: https://github.com/GroupiSP/himap Branch with paper.md (empty if default branch): Version: v1.0.0 Editor: @pdebuyl Reviewers: @Ann...
github.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
bertrandhenne.bsky.social
Au bout du compte, deux légitimités se font face ce matin. La légitimité des urnes, et celle de la rue. Pourtant le deux font la démocratie. La rue sans les urnes, c’est la chienlit assurée ; les urnes sans la rue, c’est la dictature assurée. www.rtbf.be/article/la-r...
La rue et les urnes, l’éternel combat - RTBF Actus
Du simple au double de manifestants ? C'est d’abord une bataille sur les chiffres. On est face à un écart...
www.rtbf.be
October 15, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
cdtsylvestre.bsky.social
X (l'Ecole Polytechnique) tourne le dos à Microsoft 365. Inspiration pour des centres de recherche et universités belges qui imposent toujours plus de contraintes de sécurité et confidentialité à leurs chercheurs en laissant la porte de derrière grande ouverte ?
www.lesnumeriques.com/informatique...
“Une première victoire” : Polytechnique claque la porte à Microsoft 365 et choisit le logiciel libre, la révolte gagne les universités
L'École polytechnique suspend sa migration vers Microsoft 365, contrainte par une mobilisation inédite. Une victoire qui révèle les failles béantes de la stratégie numérique de l'enseignement supérieu...
www.lesnumeriques.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
sciensano.be
👩‍⚕️👨‍⚕️ INFIRMIERS, INFIRMIÈRES & AIDES-SOIGNANT·E·S RECHERCHÉ·E·S !

Sciensano lance la grande étude nationale BELPASS et est à la recherche d'infirmiers/ères et aides-soignant·e·s indépendant·e·s pour collecter des données de santé au domicile de participants en Wallonie et à Bruxelles.
October 14, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
gaelvaroquaux.bsky.social
A speech about what drives me, how science and open source are bitter victories, unable to make improve the world if society does not embrace them for the better:
gael-varoquaux.info/personnal/a-...
A national recognition; but science and open source are bitter victories
I have recently been awarded France’s national order of merit, for my career, in science, in open source, and around AI. The speech that I gave carries messages important to me (French below;...
gael-varoquaux.info
October 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
climatecentrebe.bsky.social
🌡️ The global average temperature (Oct 2024–Sept 2025) is 1.51 °C above pre‑industrial levels. With 2025 so far the 2⃣️‑warmest on record, it’s very likely the year will end as the 2⃣️ or 3⃣️‑warmest ever.
climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-...
October 9, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
jeremymberg.bsky.social
I have been trying to get this published as an op-ed, but I am going to post it here since I think it is timely in light of the "consent" extortion events.

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...

1/14
jeremymberg.github.io
October 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
khinsen.net
New publication: "Reviewing research software"

Unlike experimental or theoretical methods, software is almost never peer reviewed. Maybe this should change. But is it possible at all?

doi.org/10.1109/MCSE...

Preprint: hal.science/hal-05274018

🧪 #openscience #metascience
Reviewing Research Software
Every research project in computational science requires writing some code, even if it’s only a few scripts. This code is instrumental in generating results, and often important for understanding in d...
doi.org
October 9, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
🕓 Avez-vous déjà rêvé de voyager dans le temps à Bruxelles ? Et de voir à quoi ressemblait votre maison, votre quartier, il y a 10, 50... ou presque 100 ans ?

Grâce à cet outil interactif, c'est possible !

amcaw.github.io/orthophotosw...
October 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
cdtsylvestre.bsky.social
C'est super gentil, Amazon, mais on peut vivre avec des colis livrés à J+2 par BPost, vous savez. Si j'osais... Allez, on préférerait que vous donniez plutôt ces sous à Mme Degryse et Monsieur Dolimont qui semblent en avoir grand besoin. Bises.
October 8, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
mdmlesoir.bsky.social
Toute la Belgique est enfin d’accord sur le Plan énergie-climat. Tous les objectifs européens ne sont pas atteints. Et il y a une surprise sur le nucléaire. Les chiffres revus à la baisse #climat #transition #planète
October 6, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
oxinabox.bsky.social
as a girl with a PhD in natural language processing and machine learning it's actually offensive to me when you say "we don't know how LLMs work so they might be conscious"

I didn't spend 10 years in mines of academia to be told ignorance is morally equal knowledge.

We know exactly how LLMs work.
October 4, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
signal.org
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
October 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
mrtnrey.bsky.social
Vanmorgen verscheen er een vrij zeldzame rode regenboog aan de hemel, vooral in Limburg, maar ook elders in België en Nederland.
Gebruikers van de KMI app deelden deze prachtige beelden!
October 3, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Pierre de Buyl
philipcball.bsky.social
I'd not seen this quote from Milgram before. Needs no further comment. (From Alan Jay's talk #TT75
October 2, 2025 at 12:43 PM